I have ventured through uncountable planes of existence, have done the impossible countless of times, achieved more than most immortals could ever dream off, defeated foes whose very presence lightyears away could shatter minds and worlds by the thousands alike. No battle was too grand, no obstacle too large, no challenge too hard and proudly can I say that I've only lost once in my long journey.

Yet, after the long wars and battles have worn themselves into my soul and essence, the hope and chance for life to be so casual and boring most would wish for an apocalypse to happen to make their day in any way more interesting dimmed. Now I begin to question if this is too much for me.

-Mathael.

The streets of Canterlot were a place at which the wealthiest and most powerful of the elite would walk through, their usual business considers everything from monotonous and often mandatory chattering and the trade of information of scandals or darker dealings, some which would bring them to the chopping block in an instance if it ever to be found out. This very day, however, the beautifully paved streets that went past the expensive markets, mighty mansions and shops only the richest could afford, were in turmoil. The road known as the saddle alley was dead silent, not one tone was dared to be made as all eyes were focused onto a single individual marching through the city of Canterlot. His hooves clipping and clacking caused those with a faint heart to twitch with each motion, and even the strong-hearted, those who seemingly dared with the devil himself daily would have sweat running down their forehead.

The dark being a question, a dark-furred Stallion, imposing as the mightiest of Minotaur and fear-inducing as the most grotesque monster, was the spawn of anger and evil, but what had brought forth his most foul demeanor?

Mathael was in a bad mood. His giant form haunched forward, one of his hands in his pocket while the other was close to tearing the bag he was holding apart by the force he was holding it. The Nephalem's eyes were burning with psionic energy, radiating, and seemingly telling them the message that any mortal who dared to approach him might lose his or her souls. His muscles threatened to burst through his clothes from his heavy breathing alone, the steam coming from his nose made this threat only more evident. Mathael's scowl was that of a ferocious war dog while his teeth showed themselves slightly.

"You-you've got to get this beast of the streets. It's threatening public safety!" Shouted a noble pony at the one guard who made the horrible decision to patrol through this art of Canterlot.

The guard's eyes went towards Mathael, who in question stopped in his path and lazily let his eyes roll towards the guard. The Guard swore that for one moment, he could read something on Mathael's eyes. 'They will never find the body.' The Guard gulped and turned back to the noble, before swiftly answering. "I am sorry, sir, but unlike you, I value my life." Before smashing the staff of his spear into his own face, letting his unconscious body hit the ground.

The Noble gave Mathael one quick glance before fleeing the scene, or rather, preventing it from becoming a scene - a murder scene.

Mathael rolled his eyes before letting his thoughts rerun havoc. "I fucking hate Therapy." Mathael was an island, he has always been, and although he has found unmeasurable enjoyment- fulfillment even -since he was able to spend time with Darkness, one of the very few creatures to not turn around and scream upon first sight, this was beyond ridicules. He understood that some things needed to be said, but now he not only had to retell his whole fucking life, at least, most of his journey he remembered but replay his worst memories and speak about how he felt back then compared to now. Being forced to talk to a stranger about all the things that go on in your head is the most degrading and humiliating experience to just have someone probe around your skull to understand how you think. Good luck, mortals, I'm literal five parallel universes ahead when it comes to my brain capacity. Yes, the Therapist, Pony. She- this 'being' -pony, called Horsenround irked his ire on so many levels that if it was not for his promise, then he'd either left, but not before give her a piece of his mind.

It wasn't just that Mathael had to deal with that mare, but also with the other ponies she sent him to like some lowly minion. Some of the example being doctors who made checks on his mental and physical health, he had never been asked so many times if he hurt himself or if he had dangerous thoughts as if they didn't know his 'job' or the fact that he could regenerate after being turned to a pile of mush. The physiotherapist was also obsessed with him, he swore that to the first flame.

He shocked his head, the dark thoughts made his demonic souls twitch, the temptation to let loose all worry and care in the world. 'This shit's been going on for over a month, and now the entire fucking timeline is broken!' Mathael thought with anger, worry, and partial fear. Since Shining Armor was gravely wounded, Cadenza, a surprisingly loveable pony who was nice to spend time with outside the topic of love and romance, spent most of her free time pouring her energy into accelerating the healing process for the bastard called shinning. Mathael was not going to say the truth now, she would not believe him, given how deep their bond was right now, but at least understood that he'd not heal Shinning as he denied his service not only back then, but also when his fiance was attempting to persuade him. Love makes blind, but then again, he could understand how sweet and colorful the world was when you had someone in your arms.

Darkness...

He stopped once again, his head slowly angled itself upwards, a cold wind caused a loud rusting above him. Right to his impressive hearing, his gaze met with a grand oak tree, the golden and rustic colored leaves began to fall a few days ago, now less than half of them even remained, yet this sight always made his thoughts cool down. A leave broke away from the main body with an audible crack, flowing downwards softly, his eyes followed it until it landed onto his snout. He scrunched his nose before swapping it away. His eyes then darted at the location where the dried piece of plant matter had landed, right in front of a bench, one which he decided would sit on.

'Darkness...' Mathael thought again, his heart pushing the second beat at the moment this thought went through his brain. The female Thestral's health condition had significantly improved, although still undead, she had regained most of her internal organs and quiet a lot of flesh, at least, he could no longer see her heart pumping in her chest. Skin still looked like death, and fur was lacking in several places, but it was much better than before. Most of her day was spent with sleeping, the process she endured was incredibly time-consuming, but her time in the waking world was spent with him and her friends while her dreams were as sweet as they could be. He had millions of memories stole from love birds and couples alike, the mild sensation of affection, yet it all paled compared to what he was feeling while being with her, but... it made his fear and worry about losing her ever so high. Darkness did not know about the deal with death, already a good chunk of the required 'currency' was collected from irredeemable sinners deserving nothing short than death, she would not approve the deaths of so many for her, but without her then so many would die... eventually. The gathering was mostly done by shadow clones who were given soul cages; his energy was drained continuously and part of the reason why right at this moment, his power was that of a normal stallion. Well, he was in no way defenseless, but a bomb could smear him across the street; he would regenerate, but that didn't change anything.

Mathael's 'other projects' were running smoothly as well, but its efficiency came at the cost of his momentary unavailability of magic. He had to give it away to Andros to complete and power the operation, this project was titanic and was necessary to stop this war into the next stage, but of course, he still needed to wait for the most crucial moment to happen. The lack of magic itself was also not really a problem as he had no use for it, he had Andors create him portals if he needed to travel, but that was it. Apparently, Darkness's condition caused the magic that made up his food to rot, ultimately making it taste horrible, unlike his original theory, which involved that undead just could not enjoy fine dining. While talking about fine dining, there also was to mention that, the stuff that Erebus forced him to chow down on, gave him practically nothing of the power of the original strength. It was just because of his unique talent to assimilate skills and weave them together, so that any power he stole- ehem -acquired, would not only be more potent than the original but would empower all of his other abilities too.

On a different note, no, he still did not find a way to regenerate his genitals, but also has to do with the fact that he was not wasting time with it. That was his opinion, Erebus would, and has, disagreed. Then there was also the thing with Night Watch, or rather, all girls from that fucked up Fall of Equestria world... He desperately needs to talk with them, but his entire calendar has been either filled with Darkness or some time with the Princesses, time is such an annoying thing...

"Mister, can you spare a moment?" asked a young, shy, and high pitched voice in front of him, causing the old stallion to break out of his deep thoughts and focus on the one demanding an audience.

"Huh?" blurted the old stallion out as he lowered his face down to the see the one approaching him. A filly, scrawny as a withered scrub, clothed in attire sewed from various sources, yet still practically covered in holes. Her pink fur was thin and the mane, long and going down to the middle of her back, falling apart. "Dear oh dear, what happened, little girl? Do you want something to eat?" Mathael asked with concern, his chef's heart ached while his Food Luck yearned.

The little girl nodded shyly; her clothes shifted slightly as her seemingly meatless body could not support her dress; if it was made to go down to her ankles or just to her knees was impossible to be made out with so many rips and tears.

Mathael opened his bag, groceries packed for the day and bought at the market, and pulled out the fresh apple, before handing it to the foal. The princesses found out about his source of income and were rather displeased, though understanding that he could not be left unrewarded for his deeds. In the end, it was decided to have him get one platinum coin ever month, approximately ten thousand bits, which was the highest pay someone working directly under the crown got.

"Thanks, mister!" The girl proclaimed cheerfully as she packed the fruit into a pocket in her dress, but perhaps it was just another hole, who knew?

"What's your name?" Asked Mathael concerned as the girl was about to turn around. "Where are your parents? Did you lose them somewhere around here, and why do they not feed you?" His concerns grew more prominent as he could make out not only nearly all of her bones but also several rashes, patches at which fur did not grow, and even a few colorful spots.

The girl stared up to Mathael, her brown eyes, so large she could practically act as a mirror, stared deep into his eyes, tearfully and heartbreaking.

"Hey, hey, it's all right." Mathael laid the bag onto the ground and attempted to soothe the girl's sadness with a few kind words. "I'm sorry if I hit a wound spot. I'm Mathael, and what's your na-what?" Mathael cited out when he heard a rustling under him, looking down he caught one glance at a somewhat cocky looking face before the thief, a young colt with orange fur and brown hair, who shared the filly's figure, snatched the bag from under him and ran forth with the girl not falling much behind.

"Hey! Wait for a second, you can keep the groceries, but stop and let us talk!" Mathael shouted as he stood up and ran after the foals. His eyes were glued onto the younglings' backs as he ran after him, he was much faster than them, but just a moment before he caught them, they knocked away a large piece of cardboard and ran through a thin alley. Mathael cursed silently, his mind already formed possibilities and attempted to understand what was happening, but to little avail, as he slowly pushed his form through the tight space between the building, his suit paid for that dearly as shreds of cloth and buttons broke off and fell to the ground, yet he did not return to collect them but stood focused on the foals.

The foals gasped loudly when they saw him pass through the pass. The colt jumped up and climbed the fence, while the girls crawled down and under the rusty, metallic wall. Both of them reached the other side in record time as if they did this for years, barely were they in need of a breather.

'gotta give it to those brats, sporty are they.' Mathael thought with a smirk as he ran towards the gate, each step causing dents in the poorly paved path, crushing both brick and dirt alike before he took a strong leap into the air, his form turned until his head was pointing downward, but instead of hitting the fence, he pushed both of his hands downwards onto the top of the fence when he was at his highest. He twirled in the air before landing gracefully on his hooves, yet sadly, the children did not bother to look back and instead ran further down the dark alleyway and into the light at its end.

Mathael shook his head before running after the pair of thieves, only to stop with a look of shock, surprise, and confusion to dominate him when he saw what lay beyond the radiant light. A large house, a mansion perhaps, two stories high and surrounded by overgrown nature. The building started to break down countless years ago, nearly all windows were shattered, walls have begun to break down, and all colors had long been stripped of all those years of wear and tear. Mathael could barely make out the colors pink, a light beige tone, and green that once painted the building. The equipment that seemingly made out a personal playground for the former house owner, all rotted and rusted, now only remained countless opportunities to hurt and kill their users.

Mathael could only stare in utter shock to see such a run-down place in the middle of Canterlot, buried behind the expensive shop and houses it was barely visible. His interest in the interior was suddenly caught when the two perpetrators had shut the does behind them loudly and closed the shades and hid behind them, he knew this as he could still see them through the holes. 'Why do they live in such a hole?' Mathael wondered before taking a step towards the building in hopes of lifting this mystery, only for pain, an agony not in physical or mental variety to league him. He grasped his heart with pain as he fell to his knees, this sensation, it was unlike he has ever seen. Mathael forced his head to look away from the ground, towards the building, the strain lifting slightly as he could feel a decay, the foulest of fragrance steam off this building like fire as if he was standing in front of the physical manifestation of rot.

Mathael grit his teeth as he pulled himself upwards, his fists clenched just like his jaw as he stomped his way towards the building, no matter what lied in there, a beacon of so much negativity that it made a demon physically ill was a threat to all life. Mathael did not look as he walked through the former playground, several attractions which stood on their last leg shattered or even turned to dust upon touching him, his eyes were glued onto the door, the one thing still standing in his path. His march was impeccable, unholdable, unstoppable as his very steps threatened to shatter the moldy planks under his hooves, yet he stopped, lifted his fist upwards, and reared it back before knocking thrice.

Nothing happened as several seconds passed.

"Get out of there!" Mathael shouted, louder than he initially wished, so with his voice now sounding more threatening than demanding. Dozens of footsteps could be heard scrambling and panicking with an underline tune of falling objects. "I know you're in there, I don't want you any ill, but you need to leave this place, it's not safe!" This time only silence was still there to answer for the disobedient children. "Fine, if you won't come out, then I'll just go inside, but don't say I didn't warn you." His voice drifted off into silence as he slowly opened the door, the squealing and screeching of the door hinges caused his ears to twitch ever so slight, and his nose scrounged up when he was hit with a cloud of fumes, dust, and spots of both shroom and mold, a reeking scent making Mathael wish he had a mortal nose instead of his blessed one instead.

Mathael held his hand in front of his nose as he looked at what secrets the inside of this mansion held. In front of him, he could see a staircase, dark wood be it by rot or determination was unknown, several steps had gone missing, and the upper area was shrouded in darkness, a door could bee seen on the side of the staircase, but it was locked by a chain. Looking to his right, he could make out what once used to be a kitchen, the cabinets have all but one fallen to the ground and shattered, this was made only more apparent by the broken pieces of porcelain on the ground. The table stood only on three legs, the fourth gone missing, and the chairs gone with few remnants still lying around. Rats ran through this junkyard with little care or worry as they preyed on the cockroaches which poured out of every possible creek, hole and cranny like sink and opening in the wall in hopes of reaching the glowing green moss in the corner, this was made only more horrible by the stains of both feces and other unsanitary substances.

'Dear goodness, this place needs to be purged... Why are children at this dreadful place.' Mathael thought as he felt a pit of dread form in his stomach, now he could feel this rot seep into his bones, it was so hateful and angry, yet the sadness that this place plagued hurt his heart ever so more as if the memories of once better days still lingered in the air. He could only imagine who this place gathered so much corruption, and now that he paid closer attention, could feel two hotspots, one above and the other below, spreading their crimson mold across this world like an infection.

A gasp coming from the left stole his attention.

Mathael turned towards the originate of the noise and could a shattered vase, it designs long loose, but the object was destroyed not long ago, visualized by the puddle of moldy water and the rotten weed inside, the flower that once was placed inside unrecognizable and the stench disgusted him. "I don't want to hurt you, just please come out and let us talk," Mathael asked quietly, yet audible enough to be heard, his voice now more of a soft plead than a stern demand, he had hidden in many ruins in his young days as a slave to the corruption, no one would go there unless there was a damn good reason.

One pair of clicks and clacks could be heard; the shaking of the being's bones was easily bearable. From the side slowly crept up a frail and bony hand, before the head of the little filly pocked out and looked at Mathael yet again. Mathael nodded shyly as he crouched down and held out his hand, his grin showed not one tooth, and his smile went from ear to ear. The filly slowly walked towards him, each step more confident, and the anticipation was high; the little hand came closer to the large ones he bore.

"Get away from her!" shouted a croaked, dry and angry voice from Mathael's side, he turned around and stood up, but before he could look who shouted he felt a deep sting, the pain oh so familiar, warm blood running out of the wound. His eyes slowly rolled downwards, still savoring this sensation of mortal pain, his organs pulsating and throbbing around the metal that pierced his stomach and nearly daring to bend and shatter it. The little thief, the colt from head to hooves colored with hues of fall, grit his teeth, his breath uneven as he shakingly retracted the blade, still unsure what he had just done, but as the blade, first few centimeters of the blade left their bloody home, a shadowy hand shot down, wrapping around both hands of the colts alongside the blade with painful force.

"Auch, ouch, ouch, Let go it hurts, it-" whined the Colt, only to be silenced.

"Silence!" Shouted Mathael, releasing just enough grip for the pain to stop. "You never, ever use a kitchen knife to kill, you understand!?" He roared, the colt stared with wide, tearful eyes as if it was yet to decide whether he wanted to cry or scream. "You understand!?" Mathael asked again; this time, the colt furiously nodded. "A cocking knife mirrors your soul, and if you stain it with needles murder, you rot both it and yourself." Mathael glared down at the boy, tears now were close to falling, but fear was still dominant.

Mathael jerked suddenly, stopping as if he saw something that should have been there, an old memory, of himself, starved to the bones, filth, and dirt covering his form as he held a kitchen knife and tried the same thing so long ago. He closed his eyes, the memories were some of the most painful, his teeth ground silently with another as he closed his index finger and thumb, letting the colt fall onto his flank, yet he could not stop but stare at Mathael. Mathael pulled out the blade and whipped his claws over the blade, all blood was absorbed back into the main body, and the tool sharpened, removing all scratches and rust.

Mathael crouched down yet again and held the knife by the blade tip with the handle pointing towards the scared colt. "I'm... sorry, you have brought forth an excruciating memory." He apologized with a saddened tone, the colt stared for a few more moments with all emotions drained before shakingly reaching towards the handle, waiting for Mathael to spring a trap, but it never came, and the child snatched away the blade and quickly backed away.

"Are... are you going to be ok?" The filly asked carefully as she reached into the air in front of her, as if she tried to touch the wound, yet not daring enough to step any closer.

"I am not a pony... not a normal pony that is, I was made to survive anything, do not worry about me," Mathael said as his voice added into silence. "Why are you residing in this place?" The two foals stared at another with confusion. "Why do you live here and not somewhere nicer?" He asked again, this time more bluntly

"We don't have a choice." Said the little foal, her voice scared and shy.

"Its the rule. Only leave for food and then immediately come back. It not safe outside. The evil adults start screaming and throwing things when they see us." The colt explained.

"The rule? Who made that rule?" Mathael asked with concern, who would keep children to starve at such a desolated and isolated place? What rotten individual would even consider doing such deeds, for what purpose even?

"Golden Bell." squeaked the filly as she hid behind her mane, the colt turned his head to her and aggressively shushed her as if she had committed a crime or done a taboo.

"Why do you wish her name not to be spoken about, do you not have them or is there something I should know?" Mathael raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head, his voice becoming more friendly by each word spoken.

"If you say the name of someone who gone sleeping, they'll wake up." The colt said with a hint of mystery mixed into his voice as if he tried to make this rule sound ominous.

"So... don't wake the sleepyheads, got it," Mathael stated with a nod, making the girl giggle slightly. "Do you know how long she has been sleeping for and when she might wake up? I'd like to have a talk with her."

"She's been sleeping for a re-e-e-e-ly long time!" The filly said as she drew a half-circle with her arms spread out wide.

"No one knows when she wakes up again." The colt added.

"aha... I see..." Mathael said with a nod as he held two fingers at his chin. "Now, while we wait... can you tell me what you two are doing here? It must be really boring here with only you two present, no?"

"Copper!"

The colt twitched violently as he turned around his eyes widened as he saw a little pegasus filly, perhaps the age of 6, stumble around the corner with her arms wide open. "Copper, Silver is shivering again, and we're hungry, did you get something today?" the little girl whined loudly, her stomach complained loudly as it was nothing but a bid, he could see her hip bones as her clothes barely managed to stay together and on her body. Her fur was pale blue while her mane was short and had two hued, streaked hair in a darker blue and yellow.

"Lapiz, go back and warm Silver, were going to eat soon," Copper said sternly, making the little foal both whine and cheer at the same time, though the smile she bore as she went back ultimately proved that she was still more joyous than saddened.

"Who... who is Silver? How many are you even?" Mathael asked rapidly, his concerns and worries grew more as the foals he saw became thinner and more fragile.

"she's a really special pony!" The filly proclaimed happily. "At least, that's what Golden Bell always said that." The girls frantically switched between emotions, now being thoughtful.

"Can I see the rest of you? I just-just want to make sure everything is alright." 'Nothing is alright, this is a nightmare, the most horrid and unjust of all' "I promise that I only have only the best for you in mind." Mathael said with a smile as he slowly stood up.

"I don't know." Copper thought loudly as he scratches his thin hair. "But then again, you seem different than the other adults... fine, but don't hurt anyone, or you'll regret it," Copper answered, though the threat meant little for Mathael's health, he still took it seriously.

Mathael slowly nodded as he peaked in height and followed the colt and filly carefully, with each passing moment, he could see more and more of the room that followed. The window was still intact, but covering dirt and handprints, the fireplace was buried in rust and ashes; only a few cinders burned in what appeared to be wood chips. The pictures that hung above the only source of warmth in this cold building showed a time at which this place shone, a large sign reading 'Golden Coin's Orphanage.' Soon the ground could no longer be seen, only piles of cushions and carpets all stacked and piled on each other, stains and rips and tears spread everywhere, and this mountain grew only taller as he continued to walk.

After a few moments, his eyes met with five more ponies. One was the filly, with the name of Lapis, the other three with one of them being another colt and the other two fillies, only one more remained. The last pony, a filly Mathael believed, was as pale as snow, yet there was not one hair covering the little girl as she furiously shivered. Her skin was matt, her slit eyes, beautifully crimson eyes of deep red, where empty as she stared outside as if she had never been there. Like the others, she was starved to the bone, in constant pain, whoever only she resided.

Mathael slowly took his hand to his muzzle to cover his silent gasp.

"Who's that?" The little filly, covered entirely in fluffy blankets, asked as she turned her head in all directions, attempting to find the source of the noise. Her voice was so soft and feeble that it hurt his heart to even listen.

"That's..." Copper started as he looked between Mathael and Silver with unease and lack of confidence in his voice. "...a friend..." He ended his sentence with a cricket tone if it was out of suspicion or just the start of puberty better remained a riddle.

"Oh... that's nice... I'm... Silver bite... Who are... you?" Silver asked in between breaths, her chest rising and sinking considerably with each breath as this deed was sucking away at her very life.

"I'm Mathael, it's nice to meet you all." He said, the worry and need to lift this mystery sank into the back of his mind, like the pain subdued to did his heavy heart grow lighter, yet heavier at the same time. "I... don't know what has happened here, but I'll try to help as much as I can."

"Why?" asked the filly with the pink coat with confusion. A lack of trust allowed one to go far in a hostile world, Mathael never needed to, he had enough firepower to go through any wall (literally), but from all the memories he had from others, it was in most cases better to have a silver tongue than a shining blade.

"I... have my reasons," Mathael admitted, what should he have said? 'Oh, I'm just here to eradicate this corruption heart' or 'I'm just a really nice person.' Yeah, ain't no one gonna believe you. "May I ask what your name is?"

"That's rose quartz," Copper answered. "I'm Copper Coin, that little pale filly is Silver Bite, and she is Lapis sky." He listed off. "Then there is Iron Ore, Ruby Rose, and Garnet Thorn." Copper listed off, first pointing at a colt, the same young age as Lapiz and the other young ponies, his fur was grey while a fluffy, yet dusty iron-colored mane graced his head, barely not covering his pearly eyes. It was only thanks to Mathael's senses that he could find out that the colt was a unicorn. The two fillies seemed to be twins, one had a red coat, pale, but definitely caused by lack of proper nourishment, and long hair that went down to the middle of her back, her sister, both being earth ponies, shared the same properties, just with colors switched. They shared violet eyes.

"Now, why do you care?" Copper asked with crossed arms and a huff, he attempted to look serious, though his stomach betrayed him.

Mathael stared at the colt for a moment, letting his thought travel and form, ripe to not say something offensive or useless, but in the end, there just one thing to say. "You are angry." Mathael pointed his finger at the colt, making him glare at the half-demon. "And you have good reason to do so." The colt blinked with a look of surprise. "You might think that the world is your enemy, why should I have to feel this feeling, this void of pain burn in my stomach, eating me alive and not letting one sleep, think or enjoy live... I know what that feeling is like, I once was like you... I got help from a very nice man who helped me get up on my hooves." Mathael let out a sigh as he nodded his head.

"What was his name? What happened to him?" Copper asked with surprise, now his interest was woken

"His name was Papa Jichon... He's dead, died defending his principle and family... He even smiled while bleeding out."

"What's dying?" Iron Pre asked with confusion

Mathael opened his mouth, closing it only moment later with a loud pop. "You're too young for that." He answered quickly, making the colt pout with annoyance. "Don't be angry, ignorance can often be bliss." Garnet Thorn lifted her hand, presumably to ask what 'bliss' meant, but was cut off by Mathael as he could no longer bear the sight and sound of hunger. "Enough of that, all of you sit here while I quickly have to do something, ok?" The foals stared at Mathael and then at his back as he quickly left the room and walked towards the kitchen, his frown could not be larger.

The Nephalem stopped at the entrance to the kitchen; the vermin continued the own circle of life, one that stood in the path of Mathael. "Get out of here you lower life forms," Mathae growled quietly as he released mere scraps of his power, the creatures froze for a moment before fleeing the house, making the whole structure shake for a moment.

'Holy fuck' Mathael thought as he lost his cool, the number of rodents must've been in the thousands. He shook his head before holding two of his fingers onto his temples and contacted Andros with his psionic powers. 'Andros, I see the psionic network is working fine. Listen, I need you to open a portal and give me a bit of my magic back.'

'Affirmative.' The robotic voice in his head answered before a small portal opened in the air, swirling with particles of energy before a glass orb with metallic bottom and top was fired out of it. Mathael caught the missile that nearly broke his pinky, and crushed his, regaining the magic back.

'This should be enough.' Mathael thought before snapping his fingers, the room was bathed in a flash of light, and a little gasp could be heard from behind him, once the illumination was gone, only a modern kitchen remained with a fully packed fridge in tow. Mathael slowly turned around, a few hairs of orange could still be seen quickly vanish behind the edge, but he did not act upon it, why ruin the fun?

He walked to the fridge and opened it, every last shred of food was of the higher grate, it were ingredients from the gourmet world, recreated with his magic. He smiled before gripping everything he could find, wheat, eggs, fish, cheese, and vegetables, a bit of everything for everyone.

"It's cooking time." He said with a smile as he used his senors to man every station at once, the oven was started, the stove turned on, several knives seemingly flew through the room and began to cut the vegetable and other ingredients in need of trimming. It was a spectacle of magic and culinary art.

At one station, eggs were cracked, and their content put into a large bowl before the flour was added, and the dough was made. A pot with tomato sauce bubbled right next to it. A part of the mixture was rolled out into several large discs before tomato sauce was spread on it, and covered with various toppings, one with tuna, another with pepperoni and another with vegetables like corn, before a layer of cheese was sprinkled onto to prevent the juices from spilling out or vaporize.

At another station, fish was gutted and separated from the bones, before being cut into sizable pieces, marinated and fried in a pan.

Somewhere else, freshly made noodles made from golden wheat were kneaded with incredible speed before being thrown into a pot with hot water. After they were nice and soft, the water was rinsed, and the content from another pot was added, the result was a high-quality mac n cheese.

The sizzling of a large pot filled with oil could be heard in the background before the sizzling erupted, and slices of potato were added to make french fries.

Mathael then took a part of the dough and put into a mold before adding pieces of apple, cinnamon, and sugar, then put on another layer of dough as the top, made a few cuts, and added a lovely template. The raw apple pie was then shoved gently into one of the ovens.

The fragrance was of fast food, perhaps high-quality junk food as they bore no sickening stench after raising for a minute or two, but it was as basic as it was. Mathael knew that these foals would even chow down pile Duran if he were to offer it, but he wanted to give them an enjoyable feast, one that filled both stomach and heart, even if it broke his culinary heart to not at least add a few pieces of black truffle on the mac n cheese. He was also aware of the dripping that came from behind him, not a leak in any pot or his lack of care to pay attention to a pot that spilled over, but the audience that watched him with great anticipation and admirable elf control. They were lucky that the pots, pans, and ovens were enchanted to cook food much faster, otherwise they might've started eating a few raw bits here and there.

A chorus of pings broke out, signalizing the final of the trial of patience.

Mathael smiled as he grabbed plates by the dozens from brand new cupboards and started to fill the plates, and grabbed several bottles of mellow cola, of course, the sugar content was significantly reduced as otherwise, these children would not be sleeping for days. He snapped his fingers, enveloping everything in a large radius with light, screams, and shouts echoed through the house.

The foals rubbed their eyes as they all suddenly appeared in the living room once again, only to find a large table set up with plates of food, cups and bottles with soda, and several fresh cushions on the ground. Their attention was suddenly gained by a loud thud, they all turned around only to see Mathael with crossed legs and a smile, his palms rested on his thighs.

"What are you waiting for? come on, get your fill lest you wish for it to become cold." He said with a smile, his voice soft and mirroring a soft tune.

The children hesitated for a moment, wondering if an illusion, or perhaps even poison was put in dish's disguise to fed them, yet their hunger got the better of them as they suddenly began to ravage the tables, it was a miracle in itself that they used forks and knife instead of their hands. The children let out moans and cheerful noises as they began to devour the meals with no mercy.

Mathael's smile suddenly vanished as he looked at Silver, the food laid in front of her, but she did not even touch it, merely staring at Mathael with empty eyes. "What's wrong, is it not to your liking? I can get something if you like." He asked

Silver shook her head weakly, aware by the smell that food was placed near her. "I'm... not... hungry." She said with a caught, blood tainted her sheets, her mouth opened wide but showed canines barely developed.

Mathael stood up and walked towards the little Thestral, before sitting down next to her and increased his body heat by shivering, not much, but the change was noticeable. "Silver, you are not a fruit Thestral, you know what the difference between that and the other kind of our race is, right?" He said, of course, he could not say that he was a demon, but he physically was just that, a Thestral.

Silver shook her head yet again, making Mathael clench his fists. "You have to listen to me and take it seriously, ok?" She nodded, weakly as if she was close to tipping over. "You need to suck my blood." Silver twitched upon hearing that, the other foals stopped the feast just as fast.

"What, why?"

"Huh?"

"Eww!"

"Gross!"

"Do not bother with it, its a Thestral thing, we don't have these for fun." Mathael waived their comment away, before smiling widely, revealing his teeth, with his four large, dagger-like canines sticking out like a drop of blood on white silk. "We get... sick if we don't drink blood." he turned back to Silver. "You need to do this, be it from a vial or from a willing creature, or you won't get better, only worse."

Silver mumbled quietly as she twirled her tongue around, the taste of her own blood that she ejected not long ago still lingered. This was either a symptom of her condition or a natural Thestral reaction where blood is spilled to attract predators to prey on. Moment, minutes passed with a thick air, nearly choking the viewers before she eagerly nodded.

"I thank you... Do not repeat what I am about to do, ever. I can do it because I heal much faster, but you all would get really... really sick." Mathael said with a soft glare, before tracing the claw on his right index finger over his left wrist, cutting away at the hairs while his sensors tilted away, before cutting his artery. The children locked away with fright, but no blood spilled, it was not ready, the virus needed to be prepared to not cause harm. "Drink," Mathael said as held the wounded wrist in front of Silver.

Silver stayed back for a moment or two, but the twitching of her nose revealed her body's interest, so did her pupils, which shrunk after the scent was identified. Sweet, sweet blood. Silver leaned forward, her jaw twitched as she suppressed the urge to bite down, before putting her lips on the blood leak and began to suck the life force out of Mathael's arm.

Mathael closed his eyes, his ears slowly fell down as he merely listened to the noises. He was not unfamiliar with this procedure, Darkness primary food source was his blood over the month, where else would she be able to find such vibrant blood? His body, mainly his fingers would twitch whenever the little fangs of Silver brushed against the wound, it was not easy to fight the instincts build over countless of years and the little filly gripping his fingers to stop them from twitching made it no easier.

"Hnnn..." Silver groaned as she released Mathaels hand and sunk into her little cloth cave. She rubbed her eyes with one hand, while the other attempted to scratch her furless skin.

"W-whats happening? What did you do?" Copper proclaimed while quartz hid behind the boy, both horrified like the rest of Silvers sudden and natural acting.

"My blood is special, it has an incredible regeneration rate, but those subjected to it might feel great discomfort when either left not sedated or the life force not in control if the later were to happen... let's not think about that." Mathael said, not taking his eyes away as he controlled his virus, he could not traumatize children by seeing him turn into a fleshy abomination, nor left the child unattended.

"But why?" Rose asked with concern and surprise.

"Was she not well before?" Thorn seemingly finished the question.

"No," Mathael answered while slowly shaking his head. Silver let out a stuttered row of gasps as he flooded her blood steam with natural a pain killer, enough to let her not feel pain, but also not to cause permanent damage, the mind was one of the few things even Mathael was fearful of carelessly interacting with.

Silvers empty eyes stared to the ceiling, her body shaking, shivering and twitching, but not one bit of the otherwise excruciating pain did she ever feel. At this very moment, millions of her body cells were being destroyed, not careless, they were mutation, killing her from the inside like a ravenous monstrosity. Her eyes slowly gained color as from the middle of her iris began a wave of color to spread, yet not further than it needed to be, while on her entire body began fur to grow at rapid speed. The children watched in shock and astonishment as in mere seconds the once to frail and weak looking foal.

"How do you feel?" Mathael asked as he gave the virus in the filly's body one last command, self-destruction, erasing their genetic information and only leaving behind useful resources.

"huh?" Silver mumbled as she crawled out of her little cave and rubbed her eyes, her eyelids twitched from the sudden influx of light after keeping them close and rubbing them for more than a few moments. She let out a confused tone at first, before slowly looking down at her hands, only to see them. "W-what?" She proclaimed as she gradually looked up, shocked faces galore with only one smiling gently at her, it was hard to decide who appeared closer to crying, Silver or Mathael?

"This is not a dream, little Silver." Mathael treasures with a nod as he reached forward with his hand and held her little one, letting her gain a sense of familiarity from the short time she touched him. The little girls shakingly looked up, Mathael smiled at her with his upper canines showing, Silver, in return, tried to do the same thing and she succeeded with not teeth her size in place. "Yes, see, I'm a Thestral as well."

Silver's other hand slowly reached up to her cheek while her eyes were locked with those of Mathael as she inspected herself. For the first time, she could see her won face and feel the sensation of having fur, no longer having to shiver despite being wrapped in a cocoon of cloth and pelt. The scared flesh of sickness and disease, gone, replaced with health and sight. Her eyes stood wide open, daring to dry out, if it was not for the tears that began to form, watering those scarlet gems, before tears started to fall like raid, yet she moved not.

"Do you want a hug?" Mathael asked slowly, but before he could even open his arms wide enough, the little Thestral slipped through and wrapped her arms around him, barely reaching his back as she wet his jacket with her tears. Mathael's hand slowly wrapped themselves around the figure of Silver, as he patted her back. "Everything will be better from now on." He shushed, yet not moving an inch as the crying grew louder and the sobbing stronger.

Hours have passed since the feast, most of the food was devoured, and only little remained other than scrabs and bits. The fragrance of the feast became one deep scent that lingered in the entire room, overshadowing the stench of mold and vermin, and allowing the feeling of homeyness to grow slowly. The children slept soundly, their belies filled after countless moons of hunger and days of worry, and for once in a long time, fate seemed to smile upon them.

Despite the peace that wavered through this room, there was one restless being who could not see the harmony in this very place that was shunned by light and dark alike to be left to rot in the abyss between the creaks of these two worlds. His form leaned forward slowly as his claws reached forward to his templates as his eyes flew over a piece of parchment, a letter. He let out a sigh from which sparks, embers, and eventually flame escaped and set the letter aflame. The paper was singed by the fire, turning to ash and smoke, before leaving as a cloud toward its destination. The Nephalem grunted slightly as he could hear the sweet call of corruption attempting to seethe into his mind, freeing the one trapped within, but this time it was unlike, any as if a mortal voice was attempting to speak out to him.

"Find me."

A voice called out, but this time not from Mathael's mind, but one he could hear with his ears, twitching in response before he turned around with shock, seeing a haze of light coming from upstairs. Mathael froze for a moment, feeling a sense of familiarity he had long not felt, before slowly standing up and walking towards the source. He jerked for a moment as he heard a quiet mulling from Rose, before ever so quietly leaving the room after making sure she would not wake. Once he stood at the bottom of the stairs, he could see that the light came from a room upstairs on the right site.

"Know me."

The voice called out yet again, this time so much clearer, yet its origin felt so foggy and wavering, yet stinging in his heart. Mathael grit his teeth as he began the climb up the stairs. Many steps were rotted, broken, or lacked entirely, with each ever so quiet squeak his heart rate spiked, he would wait a moment, before continuing his climb. After an eternity that scrambled his mind, Mathael stood atop the staircase and turned towards the door from which's other site a light shined.

"See me."

The voice called. Mathael turned to his left with a sharp motion as he took a deep breath, he could've sworn someone whispered into his ear, yet he could not find the source with any of his senses. Was his mind playing tricks on his or had a mischievous spirit found enjoyment within him.

"Keep it together, you have killed ghosts before, they can't do anything to you," Mathael whispered to himself, he had done so much and faced monstrosities thousandfold more horrible, yet this very place made his heart race and mind jump like almost none ever before.

Mathael shook his head, his eyes darted back to the door from which the previous illumination suddenly began to dim. He snorted before walking with a quick pace and a big step towards the door and gripped the rusty door handle with his hand, and opened the door.

"Gah!" Mathael exclaimed as he threw his wings forward and shielded his face from a wave of dust, but it protected him little from the horrendous stench of death and rotten meat. He caught loudly as his nose burned with the horrible smell entering his body before he got sick and threw his wings forward. The powerful wave of wind pushed the dusty air and stench forward toward the other side of the room, a loud click and creaking, a sudden surge of fresh air streamed into the room, and the smell of fire and burned candlewax filled his nose. Mathael retracted his wings and stared bewildered at a candle burned half to size as a little trail of smoke slowly flew towards the night sky. Mathael tilted his head before his eyes fell onto the remains of rats sitting in a pile in the corner of the room, but their flesh was seemingly gnawed of their bones, given the many scratches as if someone tried to eat the bones as well.

The Nephalem knew this sight all too well when the hunger grew stronger than the will, then everything started to look appetizing. He clenched his jaw shut as his eyes fell onto a single bock resting in the middle of the table, it was wide open, the ink was still fresh, and the quill that rested next to the piece of literature still dripped the dark liquid. Mathael closed the door behind him and walked towards the table. The floor did not creak once, despite its age as if something did not wish for it to fall apart. A loud clunk forced Mathael's eyes forward when the windows shut themselves, a strong wind must've hit them. Mathael shook his head before walking towards the table, noting for it to be rather small as if a teenager owned it, the entire room bore this detail. A bed, a large drawer, several shelves of books long rotten, and a few decorative items too damage to make their previous appearance and use out, they seemed to all once having belonged to a young pony. Mathael let out a sigh before sitting down onto the chair, his heart skipped a beat when he felt warmth coming from the seat, yet he did not feel any presence watching.

Mathael closed his eyes, easing his nerves, before lighting the candle once again with a snap of his finger, illuminating the table and partially the room. His gaze fell onto the book and looked at it, before grappling it and looking at the cover. It read 'Diary of Golden Bell.' Mathael put the book down again after taking a moment to reconsider if what he was about to do was justifiable, but eventually, he waved the concerns away, he needed to know what took place.

19. Mai 989
Father has been really sad since mommy went to sleep, I really miss hugging her, but Father says that I should stop thinking about her, ask about her, talk about her. He becomes furious and says I should start worrying about myself. I don't know why he is so mean lately, is it because the paintings and vases began to vanish?

23. July 991
Hello Diary, today was my seventh birthday, but sadly only a few maids were there, but I got a stuffed bear. Father has been really cold since last year, he barely speaks to me. The servants tell me not to press any further, they say that he's under a lot of stress. I noticed that fewer ponies work in our mansion by each month, do they not like it here anymore? I also noticed that Father started to strange ponies, they all wore really fancy clothes and always left sacks of metal, they click when they are moved.

11. August 992
Hi Diary, you wouldn't believe what happened today! Daddy and I moved out of the mansion and into a new estate. Father said that this would be a fresh start for both of us and promised that I would not be alone anymore. He said that from no one, we'd operate an orphanage. It's so lovely that daddy wants to help them, especially after his friends always complained about them being there where they shouldn't.

15. April 993
Life has been entertaining since we started to live there, but I am worried that we may not have enough beds for everyone. I'm already counting over fifty, and the numbers are growing. Father tells me not to worry about it before leaving again. He doesn't sleep here, he spends most of his day away and tells me not to leave the estate, but he'd always come back with food and other necessities.

2. Mai Juni 993
Hi Diary... Father has not come back for a week, and we have almost used up half of our food, and the clothes haven't been washed in a while. I will soon have to ask one of the older foals to buy a few groceries with the money Daddy left, he told me to stay after all.

5. Juli 993
I've sent Coal Strive to buy a few groceries in the morning. He came back a few hours later with the food, but he had a lot of wounds and was bleeding. He didn't say what happened. I'm wondering where Daddy is?

17. Juli 993
Daddy, where are you? I need you.

18. Juli 993
Coal was gotten very sick and tired since the incident. His skin is feeling like it's burning up, and he's been in pain for a long time. I send someone to buy medicine, but she came back saying that they gave it to her for free and returned the bits. I'm happy that the adults are helping.

20. Juli 993
Coal has been sleeping for the past two days, his skin has cooled down, and his groaning has stopped. I think he is starting to get better!

22. Juli 993
Coal still didn't wake up, in fact, he has been so tight I couldn't wake him, but he also started to stink and bleed from the nose, sometimes even from the eyes. The other foals are scared of him, but I told them not to worry. Father said that when the meat starts to stink that its best to put it somewhere cold. With the help of the others, we carried him to the basement and let him continue to sleep, I'm sure he'll wake up eventually.

3. August 993.
The bits are all gone, I've sent Amber Heart with the rest of our money to buy a lot of food, but she never came back. I don't understand, she went there more than once, why did she not return? Daddy, please come home, I'm scared and hungry. We all are.

2. April 994
Hi there... Diary... Daddy never came back, so I guess it was right to take over. Since we last spoke a lot of foals gone and went into a profound sleep, I'm sure Coal will be happy when he wakes up surrounded by some of his friends, although we don't go there anymore, it really stinks, so we took the old slide which broke down a while ago and use it to bring the sleepyheads down. Its good that the ponies who slumber really tight don't have to eat, things have gotten really hard over the winter, but now that a third of us are asleep, I think we won't be hungry for a while again.

29. Juli 994
Daddy, please come back... I'm hungry.

24. October 994
I'm lonely, more than half of us have gone to sleep, and now mostly the infants are left. I hope some of the colts and files will help me once they grow older.

13. March 995
I'm so hungry and tired. I've started coughing blood a while ago, but I think things are getting better. I really shouldn't have tried rat, but the others needed good food more than me.

14. May 996
Only a few of us are left, not many, but I taught them all how to steal. I know I shouldn't, but I cannot bear seeing their ribs, it's what makes me cry. Daddy won't come back, no one will, I'm alone. I can't tell them the truth... I'm scared...

23. Juli 996.
Today was my birthday, I've actually forgotten it the last few times, I was too busy with things around here. The foals have grown a bit and made me a present, I nearly cried, It's nice that they care so much about me, especially after I started to become weaker by the day. I know I shouldn't have, but I allowed myself a big meal, I caught a few rats. I wanted to cook them, but we didn't have much firewood left, so I ate them raw. It was weird, but I got used to it. I... I am drained right now, I gave my mattress away for the foals after some bugs destroyed a few beds. I think I'll just have a quick nap in the closet, I already told the others that they should not look for me, I would come out on my own when I wake up.

Mathael's look slowly twisted into one of horror, with each passage his heart grew heavier and body colder, yet he could not look away if it was his own curiosity or something else he didn't know. Breathing was hard, and his eyes nearly dried out if it was not for him, holding back tears as his mind began to form theories. The words, each painful passage of a story going downwards was not written with ink; the little vial was dried out; it was blood and tears that stained the pages. His hand shakingly went to his heart and gulped a few droplets of saliva down his dry throat. A quiet creaking from behind him made his heart stop, he waited moments before turning around and seeing the door to the closet open ever so little.

Mathael was shaking, unsure if he was about to scream or vomit, but this place was a brooding nest of dark events and a tragedy that was unlike any other. He slowly stood up, his very muscles attempting to ignore his command as he walked towards the closet, each step felt tiresome as if his strength was being sapped. His trembling hand slowly reached towards the handle and opened it, silently was the content revealed. Mathael let out a gasp as he took two steps back, his hand covered his muzzle while his eyes began to water.

There, inside this wooden piece of furniture, rested the corpse of a young filly, no older 13. Her shivered form leaned against the side of the closet, her skin had dried up and tightened around her bones, her empty eyes stared at him as if she wished for him to say something. Her limbs were wrapped around her legs as if she searched comfort in her own body warmth while her fur had fallen and now made out a thin layer of straw-like strings.

Mathael's body twitched as his heart began to beat harder, and for a moment, there was silence before the entire room combusted into flames and screams more gruesome than the lost souls of hell rang through his skull like hot needles. Yet, despite the fire, he could only fell cold, tightly hugging his form all the while sharp pain, burning worse than any fire ever could, covered his body. Despite all the physical pain, the firm grip around his heart, as if someone was trying to crush it, was what made him fall to his knees as tears began to flow.

"It wasn't my fault!" Mathael screamed while holding his head with both of his hands, the claws digging deep into his flesh in hopes of silencing the screams of long-forgotten memories.

"What wasn't your fault." asked a quiet and tired voice. Mathael quickly turned around and saw Quarts standing there while rubbing her eyes. "Bell said that we shouldn't go here unless she said so."

Mathael's eyes opened wide as he frantically looked around, the fire, screams, and pain were gone, but his heart felt not one bit better. "Oh, eh, she-she called me," Mathael answered with a nod, his face twitching. "She wanted me to see something, and told me to tell you that she loved all of you more than anything, before going back to sleep," Mathael reassured franticly, before closing the closet, it was a miracle that he opened the door closest to the room's entrance; otherwise the foals would've seen the same sight as he did.

"Oh!" Quart proclaimed; happily, her sleepiness pushed away in an instant upon hearing Mathaels reply. "I hope she's fine, we've been really missing her." Quarts then let out a long yawn.

"Come, I'll carry you downstairs." Mathael offered as he leaned down and opened his arms. Quarts smiled and accepted the offer, Mathael slowly lifted her up and held her with both of his hands, if it was more comforting for the filly or the Stallion who's fur nearly changed from black to white was unknown. The stairs did not once make any sound; the house was at peace, and it felt like a part of the dark atmosphere had left this forsaken place. Mathael did not once talk or even thought while going back to the living room. He put quartz down, wrapped a blanket around her tightly, and gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the young ones to dreams more peaceful than the nightmare that was the waking world.

Mathael slowed down his steps if it was to make less noise or his own heart begging him not to wander there where those searching rest slumbered was unknown. The cold wind of the night, so often did he ignore such details, but at moments like this h took and distraction. Yet, he could not turn around, never could he live with himself were he to leave behind those whose story must be told and those wishing to sleep never put to rest. He steadily crept towards the door, whipping away cobwebs and dust alike before stopping at the door. His hand did not tremble this time, but his heavy breathing betrayed him, despite his own fears, he opened the door.

The stench, oh by the gods and the corruption alike, this unholy smell made Mathael's demonic soul cry out as if he felt his very essence bleed out.

Mathael grit his teeth and closed his eyes, before opening them and walking down, facing the horrors that lied beyond. He did not act, kept bottling up his emotions, and held back his tears as he took in the sight that lay in front of him. Countless foals, many sleeping in comfortable beds, others just rested on the cold stone. All of them so peaceful, yet their bodies were cold and lifeless. Mathael could count nearly a hundred; everywhere he looked, he saw them. Some were but bones, others decomposed, and there were few recent ones as well, perhaps no older than a week.

Mathael's heart skipped a beat when he remembered the words of the little reaper. 'Would you believe that there was just a huge pile of them sittin' in some random old building in that fancy-schmancy city over there?' His eyes fell onto the nearest corpse, lying so peacefully with his eyes closet, a brown coat enveloped his starving body while a blond, silk thin mane covered his head.

Mathael could no longer hold it back, the pain, the suffering, and the spirits trapped in this haunted hell got to him and made him understand the atrocities that took place. He fell to his knees and let out a scream, one that made the very walls bleed, yet not one peep left the basement, only bodies did, and even they rarely left.

A large group of ponies gathered in front of an old, rotting building that was seemingly abandoned for years, rotting away as if it had stood there for nearly a hundred years. In front of the group stood the press, construction, and demolition ponies and to everyone's honor, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and a very rich looking pony.

"We stand in front of the old Canterlot Orphanage owned by Golden Coin that today proclaimed its closure after not having received a single new member in over five years and dealing with Canterlots orphan problem. In its place, several houses gathered a large sum of bits to build a school that at which young colts and fills will learn how to not only continue growing Equestrias economy but also how to act properly. I'm Gleaming Shell and were about to witness the destruction of this building, don't blink or you might miss it!" A reporter mare, like many that stood there, attempted to catch every last glimpse of what would take place.

"Good stallion, please fire a bolt to make the disgusting vermin flee fists. We would not want to get out fine workers sick, would we?" The rich Pony said with a smug look, to which the demolishing pony only grunted at. He raised his horn, pointed it at the wide-open door, and fired a blue bolt, burning with enough power to kill an adult Stallion if he were to be hit in the head.

The ponies gathered smiled as they watched the first step which would allow orphans who have been adopted to have a better chance for a good love later on, yet all their joy and grinning died away when they saw a filly hop through the door, smiling widely while throwing her arms around. The filly stopped with wide eyes as she saw the bolt flying towards her face and out or shock froze and closed her eyes. Just as the bolt was to hit and end a young life early, a black blur rushed in front of the filly, what followed was a sickening crunch. A large wing flew through the air and landed not far away, but the skin was blown off as if the magic did not harm the protector, yet the pressure that the orb had captured in itself did.

The dark blob turned out to be a pony, a Thestral stallion to be exact who slowly rose and turned around, his face was one of anger. Many gasps followed, seeing the one who protected Canterlot time and time again now saving a single filly, even going so far and sacrifice a wing, yet one was less than pleased.

The rich pony stomped out of the group and towards Mathael. "What are you doing at my orphanage, and why is there still a foal there! Explain yourself."

Mathael's pupils shrank as if he tried to fight his animalistic instincts from taking over. He tightened his fists while restraining every muscle. "Are you... Golden Coin... Father of Golden Bell?" His voice quivered with rage, once finished his question, he gritted his teeth to keep his breathing under control.

"No longer, she died on a disease a few ago. Now answer, why are you here!" Golden Coin said without a slither of remorse before his voice returned to one of anger as if she had said this very sentence countless times until the very meaning of it was lost.

"Go inside and tell everyone to close their eyes and ears." Mathael whispered to Quartz, to witch the filly nodded and ran away, her eyes were forced onto the separated wing for a second while passing.

Mathael's eyes then turned forward as he slowly brought his right hand to his heart, but just as he did, he felt all the hatred vanish, replaced with confidence, pride, and a hint of joy as he felt a tingling coming from his heart and flank for unknown reasons. He channeled these emotions into his claw, and to his surprise, caught fire, black flames unlike any before enveloped it as if his yearning for justice had taken of physical form. Mathael's eyes darted forward, Golden Coins still threw profanities at him, but he listened not, he only heard his heart as he marched with quick pace forward and read his hand back.

"Hey! What are you-arghhhhh!!!" Golden Coin asked, before bursting out into screams of agony when Mathael slashed his claw across Golden's face, the fire traveled over from the Nephalem to the pony and spread across his entire body. The ponies gasped loudly, some close to vomiting as they saw the noble's form change. His fur fell of as countless scars began to take form on his skin, his hide that appeared to rot away, change to a dark brown tone. It was like his body was decaying, but not dying as his flesh shrunk and fat vanished, leaving behind a starved husk. The pony fell to the ground, and shiveringly stared up, the pain stealing away his breath, yet forcing him to witness it all.

"Until penance is paid and your deeds are forgiven by those you wronged, you will never be pony again, for your outside will be just as rotten as your insides." Mathael stared down, before turning around, saying not one word more and acting, the deed was done, nothing needed to be done. All that Mathael heard before he walked inside again was a quiet thud.

The Princesses, just like nearly all ponies present, held their hand in front of their muzzles, though only royalty was able to snap themselves free from this most traumatizing sight. The sisters ran towards the house, inside or even to the other side if needed to find an answer for what has happened before this would escalate or false news would spread.

"Mathael, want is the meaning of this!?" Princess Celestia proclaimed as she entered the building, looking left and right, before seeing an open door leading to the backyard. She rushed forward with her sister, and just as she was about to shout, she froze, just like her sister.

"Sister... am I... having a nightmare?" Luna asked, unsure if her own talent had deceived her.

There stood Mathael, standing with a shower and digging in the ground, surrounded by countless blankets rolled around silhouette belonging to foals, even with the cover, the princesses needed not to have imagination to understand what was attempted to be hidden.

"Hi, Princesses!" A colt proclaimed, it was Copper. "Want to join us? Mister Mathael said that our friends might like the ground a much better sleeping place than the basement." The colt, so naive, said with joy and hopped around, yet the Princesses could not take their eyes away from the rips he was showing.

Celestia's and Luna's final push to leave and tell a tale to their citizens that would haunt horror books for years to come was when Mathael, who leaned forward with the face pointing down, slowly turned his head towards them, his eyes were tearful as if was barely able to continue the work. The royal sibling slowly left, back to the group of reporters to tell the truth and, at a later time, the full story of what had happened, leaving Mathael alone with the foals, who not long after, ran back inside to eat breakfast.

"Thank you, metal giant." said a cheerful young voice coming from a female.

Mathael's eyes opened wide; out of reflex, he tightened his grip and created a long crack in the wooden staff of the shovel. He lifted his head, and just for a moment, in the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a little girl clothed in farmer's gears, gleaming with blue light, vanish into smoke.

"No problem." He whispered as he continued his work, and despite all, he felt better than before, knowing that the corruption that filled this place, the souls that were chained to nightmare, and the foals who still were on this world, would find peace in their own way.

A lone building, a mansion of high quality and price, stood strong and tall on the edge of the fearsome, ancient forest by the name of Everfree. This estate, not old or fitting in its place or time, was very special for it was born by magic and the will of nature itself, though every last bit life traveled through.

Tap

Live was an exciting thing for anyone as nearly everyone had a different view and perspective on it, even inside the closest of bonds. Mortal beings viewed it as various things, the energy flowing through all things, the souls keeping us alive and differentiating our forms from simple, inanimate objects while some others might see it as the force keeping us to the mortal plane.

Tap

A mortals view on an immortals life as something exceptional, beyond joyful, and a gift more worth than all and nothing combined. Indeed, a creature not chained to the sand clock of life must be one of power, to change history after the wits of simple tricks of their godly fingers and guide their mortal subject throughout their journey until they meet their end and might try this journey another time in another life.

Tap

Immortals, half-immortals, gods, and creatures who simply don't age physically see it as a simple clock, the time ticking and counting our time we have, are and will remain until we ascent or diminish entirely. A mortal's life is usually separated into four categories, a fifth exists but is rare. The first and lowest tier is 'slave,' it is when an immortal has a race or culture entirely under their control and does whatever they like them to do. The second one is 'subject,' the immortal will position him/herself as the ruler of a particular group of creatures and treat them as living creatures if it goes beyond that is up to them, but usually, their citizens follow out of the free will.

Tap

The second-highest category is that of 'devotee,' it is when a certain group of creatures praise to a godly figure and either act in their name or grant their heavenly being offering.

Tap

The highest layer is the category of 'child' when an immortal has breed and born mortal creature or race onto a world or plane and chooses to raise them, or more often, a timeless being will simply choose to see a particular race or group as their own and mother them. This act of parenting can be direct contact or through blessings.

Tap

But, there was one that stands above all of them, yet rarely ever seen. It is that of 'friend.' When an immortal grow weary of their eternity, they sometimes chose to mingle under the common folk. They see the people as equal in most occasions, that them as such and enjoy being with them, not unoften even starting families or choosing to go out of their way to bring them joy. However, it is often only too late that these mighty beings realize just how frail their friends indeed are and how light a soul can leave them in their endless journey alone.

Tap

Mathael's finger froze in the air, before tapping a final time on the kitchen counter. His form hunched over while his eyes, previously fixated onto the plate below him, turned towards the cover of the newspaper held by the pony next to him. He had returned just an hour ago, not one word was spoken between each other, the tension was painfully strong, and neither was ready to make the first step. Mathael's eyes then flew over the headline and the first few lines of text.

Golden Coin discovered dead, and twelve more nobles found guilty.
The atrocities that have taken place in Canterlots orphanage have come to light after years of false reports, tax fraud, and lies. Golden Coin's mutilated body was found hanging from the ceiling, hanging by a rope around his neck. The remaining nobles in question where caught and sentenced to life long imprisonment in the dungeon while their wealth was confiscated to build a new, proper orphanage. Several nobles asked for a fair process, but a majority of Canterlot's population demands the death sentence of the perpetrators that have cost 83 foals that their life.

Mathael's eyes quivered for a moment, biting his own lip to suppress the heartache. In his reign of terror, he killed countless younglings, but not did ever suffer, and whenever Sindrael was not weary, he'd passed children bidding in building and ruin alike. He was the personification of Armageddon, but even this was too monstrous for him to do, to gruesome to watch, too painful to bear.

And despite the pain, he smiled, the nightmare was over, and although the foals will one day start to understand the true happenings of the strategy that took place, he gave them hope. 'I hope those foals will land in happy families... I swear if their new parents are abusive, they will find the deepest layer of hell where the Nazhrig'shata titans burn an enjoyable place.' Mathael cursed with his mind, but he just had to hope and wait. He could not adopt them, they needed a safe environment, not a psychopath that could blow at any given time. Mathael switched when he felt a hand on his check, coupling his face.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through this, I can't believe how horrible this must've been." Darkness comforted as she put down the newspaper, the pages flapping in the cool wind of the beginning of fall. The mare smiled kindly at him, be she undead or mortal alike, it was always the cute and charming face he'd see, and when she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his other cheek, his worries melted away. "I'm proud of you." Darkness complicated, praising him for doing the right and showing yet again that under the teeth, claws, and hide was a good heart.

Mathael's smile slowly rose, as did his form while he leaned forward. "Thank you, I needed that." He stated, before his nose started to twitch, catching the familiar scent of cigar burn in his nose, the days of him sitting in his human father's office surface. "Cigars?" He asked with confusion, causing Darkness to retreat slowly, leaning back with her smile slowly falling.

"Father has visited while you were gone." Darkness said carefully, awaiting a sudden reaction of shock, anger, or even irritation, the possibility for actions like bared claws and the summoning of weapons wasn't out of the game either, but instead, Mathael simply leaned forward, resting his head on both of his palms.

"How was it, did something happen?" Mathael asked carefully, not wishing to press any further than he needed to. He wanted not to hit a sore point, hurt her even or say something that might spark anger, yet asking was required to understand.

"It was weird..." Darkness confessed while rubbing her left shoulder. "He came just stood at the door, alone, sleeping like alcohol and cigars, but was dressed normally, and his actions did not bear signs of intoxication, but his baggy eyes said something different. He asked to enter, and I let him."

"And?" Mathael asked slowly. "What took place to sour your mood?"

"I... really don't know." Darkness shook her head while her eyes settled onto the table. "We talked a bit and how things are going... He asked if I was happy or if things are less than happy... you don't want to know what he asked exactly..."

Mathael let out a deep sigh and gulped, trying to wet his parched throat. "He's worried about you," Mathael said after a pause, making Darkness give him a bewildered look. "He misses you, always wanted what he thought was best for you, and now that you left him, he begins to question his actions."

"Well, it's a little too late for that now!" Darkness exclaimed, throwing the newspaper and a near cup of tear away with a sweep, letting both items fall to the ground as she stood up with a look of anger. "He pestered me his whole life about being the 'perfect, obedient little daughter he can show around and, and, and now this! He just comes in, asking about my life where I am finally free and begs me to come back!" Darkness grit her teeth, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she fell back into her seat, her head rested on her arm while the hand on the other arms went through her hair. "It was so hard to just decline and tell him to leave, and he left without much protest like he didn't care."

Mathael's jaw clenched as he stared onto his own hands, his vision flashed for just a moment and was replaced was the kitchen counter with an office desk, littered in paper and coffee stains with a pair of chubby hands laying ontop, cloning for dear life onto a bottle of alcohol. He let out a sigh and walked to the other side of the room, Darkness's eyes did not trace him as it already took all her strength no to break down. Mathael then sat down onto the chair next to her and wrapped his arms around her, brought his face closer to her ears, but not near enough to cause irritation.

"My human father... was not a good man... until the end. He barely spent time with me, I was always alone and wished to just spend a moment with him, but he never did. He thought he was doing the right thing, but only when I was gone did he realize what mistakes he made." Mathael started, his voice calm, collective yet a little dry. Darkness turned her head towards him with a surprised look. "We don't value what we have, understand our faults or change ourselves until the error is made until we can't undo the mistake, but it is important that when these people truly understand their misdoings, the consequences and wish to change for the better, it is up to the people who were hurt to either give them another chance or not."

"So... what you're telling me is..." Darkness started as she wished away the tears from her eyes while looking at Mathael's eyes. "...To give him another chance?" She finished, unsure if she understood the merit of Mathael's lesson or not.

Mathael, to her surprise, shook her head. "It is not up to me to decide that, I merely retold you my experience, one, where I chose not to act up, follow my heart, and to this day, I regret it. If you believe he deserves another try, that he is redeemable, then tell him so once you are ready, if you think otherwise, then either cut him out of your life so he won't hurt you again, but don't leave them hanging on this seesaw, it will only hurt you both." Mathael finished as he tightened the hug around Darkness, letting her head no longer rest on the cold table but his embrace.

The mare slowly nodded her head, thinking over what she heard and tried to decide. This was one of the instances where she was truly glad she followed this most unusual stallion on his bizarre journey through time, space and reality, but all the hassle and stress was all worth for these moments.

A dark, cold, and lifeless world flew through the vast, some say endless, expansion of space. An uncountable amount of stars graced the very background of this world, millions of stars, billions of years away. All of a sudden, from the eternal darkness that made up most of this space, a beam of red light shined upon the dead rock, its source more than five times as large. As the beam of light grew ever more abundant, it became visible that the shadow was not a lack of illumination, it was a world of pure darkness, opening its maw and enlightening its prey from the scarlet gleam within.

From this world flew forth a claw, three digits did wear and in mere minutes, grasped the world in its grip, the orb was covered in purple lighting, daring to erase any life that might've or could've been there. Just the claw gripped the world, crushing parts of its most upper crust, it began to drag the world into the belly of the beast, into the searing hot, blinding light.

Once the claw and the world were inside the beast world, a shrill sound, even deafening the continuous expansion that was space, the light grew brighter, and the maw slowly closed. Now the light was gone. The beast then slowly vanished into the shadows as if it was never there, leaving nothing behind as if it never existed.

Author's Note

Do not worry, action and excitement will happen in this story soon, but it is not very likely for it to happen again in the next two chapters. After that, this story should take on a more action-packed course again.