Author's Note

EDIT: Changed a little detail that could have created a lot of questions if it wasn't changed. It might be added onto further later.

SPOILERS FOR UNDYING ANGEL ABOUND

This is a crossover with Show Stopper's story, The Undying Angel. I know it's a bit long, so, sorry for that. I'm also sorry because there are a few parts of it that may seem a little typical of Displaced stories, but me and Stopper did our best to lessen them as much as we could. It was a bit hard, considering Skull's situation and personality, especially.

Also, don't worry too much about this crossover affecting the story too much. Honestly, I was planning on a quick transition for the more serious things to really start chugging along, and this crossover fit the bill nicely. Much as that may sound like an 'inexperienced Displaced author', it's not my intent, and I honestly feel it's more of me being a bit of an opportunist who also wanted to use this crossover to practice with romance themes more.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. Leave a comment below if you so feel like it, I do so enjoy reading them.

Thanks for reading.

-Timeless Celestial

5 - Intermission: A Change In The Winds (EDIT...Again.)

Monsters ravage Equus.

Beasts among Beasts destroy cities.

Purest of Monsters destroy, pillage, deceive, and kill by the score.

And Misunderstood flood the outer wilds, trying to survive.

A Cursebringer, marked by a pure white Skull, stands strong in the white.

Curses are brought to all.

Skull sighed deeply as he trudged up to his cabin on the peak of Mount Everhoof. He walked towards the front door, opening it with a creak of wood, greeted by the sight of his happy little home.

On one side of the cabin were his weapons. A Heavy Bowgun that looked like a literal cannon, a Greatsword with flesh wrapped around small barbs and steel-like, reflective scales that made up the large, hefty blade, and the fan-favorite, a Switch Axe of bone and what looked like rotted flesh wrapped around parts of it’s length.

All of them were folded and hanging neatly from the wall, and he approached said wall, walking over the rug made of a skinned Blangonga. He pulled the other Heavy Bowgun from his back, the long, spiked and bone-laden sniper rifle being placed securely in its place on the wall.

He looked to his hearth, walked over, and grabbed a log of firewood from the pile next to it, tossing it into the flames to keep it going. He looked at the flames for a time, then grabbed another log for good measure and tossed it in as well.

He then turned to the small workshop which was right under his weapon rack, and opened the chest next to the workshop table, pulling his bag from his hip and dumping a load of monster materials and ores into the large red chest. He did the same with the eight other bags, pouches, and satchels he had on his belt. That done, he stretched, popping his bones, and walked out the side door of the cabin to the carving spit he made for carving monsters. The Blango was already near it, and he sat down on his folding chair, grabbing his carving knives from their sheaths and starting to get ready to gut the beast.

Only for a tear in reality to appear, and a young woman to tumble out, rolling into a crouch. She looked about twenty years old, well-built and beautiful. Her metallic white hair was cut short in a boyish style, her gold eyes sharp as they surveyed the small roofed area just off the cabin. She was dressed in some sort of military garb, brown slacks and shirt stained with dirt and blood and decorated with several stripes and stars across the shoulders. She glanced up at Skull, her eyes narrowing. “Well,” she said, her voice as sharp as her eyes, “that was interesting. Usually I get a chance to refuse if I’m summoned.”

Skull just stared for a moment, pausing just as he was about to slit the Blango’s gut. And then, an annoyingly familiar voice called from the portal. One he despised.

“Oh, that’d be because of the trade, dearie,” came the female voice, and out came a very well dressed woman with a typical Noble’s mask found at royal balls, a rich, red Victorian tailcoat, straight black hair, and a cane along with fair skin. “You gave me that cookie, and I gave you a free ride to my favorite little boy!”

Skull growled. “Trader. I. Am. 34. And please, leave before I carve you up like the monsters you gave this world.”

Trader giggled. “Oh, always so feisty and spirited!” She waltzed over and patted his skull. “That’s why you’re my favorite little boy.”

A series of metallic notes sounded, heralding a blade that pressed against Trader’s throat. “I think it’s time you left,” the white-haired girl said, standing calmly as she kept her blade to the Void Dweller’s neck. Skull was surprised to see that the blade flowed naturally from her arm. “Unless you and your kind have more misery to inflict.” The Trader giggled, grabbing the girl’s blade and gently pulling it away.

“Fine, fine, I’m not my Father anyway. I just make trades, he just makes…” she shuddered. “...sales.” She shook her head. “Anyway, have fun you two, and try to not fall over each other later~.” Trader then disappeared by falling through a portal, which closed quickly, along with the other.

Skull seemed to glare at where Trader had been, though it was hard, since he didn’t seem to have any actual eyes. Before long, he just grunted and went back to trying to carve the Blango. He tossed the girl a carving knife.

“If you’re gonna be here, unwilling or not, then you’re gonna help me fix dinner for us,” he said simply, slitting open the Blangos gut.

The girl shrugged, her blade turning into a butcher’s knife. “Might as well. I could port home if I wanted, but they should be able to handle that nest without me.” She sighed as she pulled up a chair, sitting down to help with the carving. “Freaking stubborn dragons. I’m Angel, by the way. The Undying Angel, if you want to get formal.”

Skull grunted. “First, you don’t know Trader. She likely blocked you off from that ability, or just put a barrier up. She’s a bitch like that.” He pulled some entrails out, tossing them into a gorey basket. “Also, just call me Skull. I’ve gotten used to it, and I lost the right to my old name four years ago.”

Angel scoffed, hacking off a leg and beginning to skin it. “Lost the right? Please. Whatever you did, it wasn’t your choice. And however bad it was, I’ve done worse.” She grinned up at him. “Ever nuked a Centaur from the inside?”

He shook his head. “No. I’ve nuked at least five hundred monsters with my Switch Axe, though. Either with Lightning or Dragon. Different element from everything else, by the way, Dragon. Not fire, not lightning, not ice, water, or even magic.”

Angel let out a low whistle. “Five hundred, huh? Respectable.” She paused for a moment, looking up into the distance. “I wonder who my five hundredth was…” She shrugged and went back to carving. “At least your little beasties weren’t sapient. I’ve lost track of how many families have vowed to tear out my entrails for killing their fathers, sons, et cetera.” She snorted. “Not that that would do much to me.”

Skull chuckled darkly, pulling a heart out and placing it on a wooden tray by his chair. “Girl, have you seen what I fight? Every day I go out to secure my home, I run into a monster that can, with just a few swipes, disembowel me. Or, well, they used to, before I reinforced this armor.” He patted the strange plate armor he wore. It looked less like plate armor and more like molded metal, but the outlines of the abs were glowing purple, and there were spines spreading out from his shoulders. Furthermore, the more she looked, the more she noted the armor looked… somehow like hide.

“Okay,” she muttered, putting her slab of meat down. “This I’ve got to check out.” She held out her arm, a familiar metallic chiming sounding as her blade morphed into a hand. She reached out in front of her, two fingers extended, and drew a line through the air. A hole in reality opened up, revealing a small, stone cubby where a laptop sat. “Subspace pocket,” Angel explained, slipping the laptop out and opening it up. “You have no idea how happy I was to figure out the code for that.” She winced as she started typing, looking up at Skull’s armor occasionally. “Or how many times I died trying to get it right. Aha!” She grinned up at him. “Monster Hunter, right? Man, it’s been ages since I even thought about that game. A friend of mine used to go on about it all the time.”

Skull grunted. “Been living it for 4 years. But I don’t just have elements from that game either. Rune Factory and Dragon Quest, too. And Dragon Quest monsters, despite being very comical looking, hit. Fucking. Hard.” Skull grunted again, pulling a third slab of meat out. After searching around for a bit, he removed his hand from the beast’s innards. “Alright, I’m gonna take this meat and get it ready for supper. Mind cutting off it’s tail, fangs, and fur for me? Just put them in the chest over there.” He pointed to a blue chest, then walked over to the meat, picked it all up, and carried it inside the cabin without another word.

Angel watched him go, sighing to herself. She put away her laptop, the portal closing and vanishing as if it had never existed. She shifted both of her hands into blades and got to work on the rest of the carcass. “I don’t know whether it’s nice or sad to see another Displaced managing to live through Hell,” she muttered.

She noted it took her a bit longer to cut off it’s fur, and resolved to ask him why that was later. She’d never had so much trouble cutting unscaled flesh. When she was done and had placed the materials in the chest, she walked into the cabin and smelt fresh, cooking meat, stew, sausages, and even fish. “Ooooooh yeeeeeeah,” she moaned, licking her lips. “Now that’s a good smell. Sweet Celestia, even the gryphons don’t cook this good. Almost smells like home.”

Skull chuckled, and she turned to see him cooking more meat for himself, while a plate was already on a dinner table in the middle of the cabin, waiting for her. He nodded to it with his head. “Go ahead. I’ve got Monster Brand Beer coming up too back in the brewery. Or tea if you like.”

Angel grimaced, sitting down to her plate. “Ugh, water’s fine. I can’t stand tea, and I refuse to allow myself to get drunk. A drunk soldier kills his comrades; a drunk general kills thousands.” Skull shrugged.

“Alright then. In that case, does mineral water sound good? I got a lot of it from the lakes nearby today,” he offered, flipping some strange kind of fish she’d never seen before over.

Angel nodded, picking up her meat with her bare hands. “That’ll be fine. Thanks.” She tore into the meat, leaning back and moaning as she chewed. “Oh mighty Luna, that’s good. Real meat. Not fish. Not hayburgers. MEAT!” She swallowed her mouthful and quickly took another bite.

He chuckled again, and walked over with his own plate, placing some mineral water down next to her plate. He gestured to her stew. “Try it. Broth of it is made from diluted Tigrex blood, as well as royal honey and curry sauce.”

Angel set her meat down, grabbing the bowl and taking a long drink. She hummed in pleasure, setting the empty bowl on the table. “Wow. Mind if I set up a teleport beacon here? I’d love to stop by every once in a while to get a REAL meal. Rations just don’t compare.” Skull nodded.

“Sure, go ahead,” he replied, sitting down with his plate.

Skull then, to Angel’s surprise, pulled the skull that was his namesake off, thus revealing it was a mask. But underneath was a very handsome man, with a five o'clock shadow, long, scraggly black hair, and golden eyes. On his forehead was a strange, almost metallic looking tattoo. He had tan, sun-kissed skin that seemed quite unusual for someone living this far north. “Damn,” Angel muttered, staring unashamedly at him. “First human I see in a couple years and this is what I get? Must be doin’ something right.” Skull looked at her for a moment, before groaning.

“Greeat. Was hoping Trader had lied to me back then, since ponies weren’t affected, but nope, she kicked me in the head like a dumb puppy and made me attractive to humans and not ponies…” he grumbled to himself. He dug into his food much like she had, though he drank the beer like a champ without even a single clue of being tipsy.

“Heh, well, I ain’t complaining.” Angel went back to her meal. “I mean, ponies are cute and all, and minotaurs are buffer than any guy I’ve ever met,” her eyes darted back up to Skull, “present company possibly excluded, but dating a cow or a horse would just be weird.” Her expression morphed into a scowl. “Not that I would have had time for it anyway.” He spared a glance to her after wiping his lips of beer.

“Really? Girl like you, not even bothering to make time?” He shrugged. “Well, loss for any guys then.” He quickly finished his meal, then stood up and went to what she assumed was his bedroom. He, much to her interest, started to shed his armor. It was only part way through, and after he’d pulled off his chestplate, revealing a back more toned than any minotaur she’d seen, that he realised a woman was present. “Uhhh… Shit, not used to being in company anymore. Uh, mind just looking away or something?” He had quickly pulled his shirt back on after saying that.

A shirt hit him in the back of the head, followed by a pair of pants. “Eh, I gave up the nudity taboo years ago.” Skull turned in shock, his face going red as he saw Angel dressed only in a set of simple underwear, running her fingers through the air again. She pulled a sleeping bag and pillow out of the portal that formed and lay them down on the ground. “Kind of inevitable when you’re surrounded by naked ponies and, especially, minotaurs who’ve never heard of modesty.” She crawled into her sleeping bag, propping herself up on her pillow and grinning at him. “Well? You aren’t going to sleep half-dressed, are you?”

He stared for a long moment, then groaned and continued to undress. He had a pair of plain plaid boxers on, framing a toned rear and legs thick enough to be ancient oak trunks. Guessing by that, she assumed he ran. A lot. He grunted and climbed into his fur bed, hiding his red blush by turning away from her.

Angel giggled as she lay back, placing her hands behind her head as she relaxed. Now, let’s see just how cut off I am. “Calling Spot,” she muttered. A faint static filled her ears, causing her to frown. “Spot?” she whispered. “Spot, can you hear me?”

“crtz Very faintly, General,” a voice replied in her ear. “Looks like wherever you are, it’s causing interference. What happened?”

Angel sighed. “Took a cookie from a nice-looking zebra filly. Next thing I know, someone called ‘Trader’ is throwing me through a portal to another Displaced’s world. Thankfully, he’s hospitable, but I’m not sure how long I’m going to be stuck here. I’ll try to port back tomorrow, but it might be a while before Trader lets me go.”

“ctzsh Thought it might be something like that. Good thing we took out Firestorm last week. We’ll stick to small fry until our fearless leader can return.”

“Don’t give me too long,” Angel muttered. “If I’m not back in two weeks, get moving on Diamondscale. She’s been roosting and hunting a little too close to the Equestrian border for my tastes. She needs a reminder of why I left in the first place.”

“Roger, Mrs. Immortal. ctshz Spot out.” The line went silent and Angel sighed, rolling onto her side and resting an arm under her pillow.

They’ll be fine, she thought, relaxing once again as sleep began to take her. Besides, I could use a vacation.

The next morning, Angel grumbled and looked to where Skull’s bed was to find he was missing. Yet his armor, weapons, and everything else in the cabin was right where it had been left.

“Well that’s either ominous or impressive,” Angel muttered. She shrugged and climbed out of her sleeping bag, stretching her back as she stood. “I’ll go with impressive. I’d rather drop the paranoia while I can.” She walked over to her uniform and balled it up, opening another rift and tossing it in. She then pulled a white t-shirt and a pair of cargo-shorts from the rift before closing it up. She quickly pulled them on and made her way out of the cabin.

“Alright,” she said, standing in the snow and breathing in deep. “First things first. Enviro-shell.” A yellow glow surrounded her briefly before fading away, Angel sighing in relief as it did. “Hypothermia. Don’t want to cross that one off the list just yet. Now.” Twin chimes sounded in the mountain wind, Angel’s arms morphing into a pair of giant axes. “Let’s see if snow is as difficult as sand.”

Angel danced across the snow, her blades swinging from form to form, stance to stance. She sliced the air before her apart, blocking imaginary foes and decapitating others. At one point, she switched one of the axes for a long-handled warhammer, her forms shifting to accommodate the new style. Ten minutes into her exercise, a pair of wings sprouted form her back. “Let’s see what mountain wind can do!” she shouted, switching her weapons for a pair of swords and leaping skyward.

If she’d been graceful on the ground, she was liquid in the air. The raging winds tried in vain to smash her against a cliffside or plunge her down the mountain, but Angel rode the gales from gust to gust, spinning and twirling and all the while continuing her dance of death. With a final twirl, she rocketed herself down towards the cabin, flipping end over end until she came to a kneeling stop right before the door, her blades flung out to either side, her wings straight up.

And then she heard a wolf’s howl. A big wolf. She turned just in time to see the most beautiful and huge wolf she’d seen, with fur looking almost like icicles. It padded up to her, stopped, and dropped an item she noticed had been on Skull’s right arm. It was some kind of crossbow-like device, but made to wrap onto the wrist, and, she noted, the arms of it were made of horns. She looked up to the wolf to find familiar, golden eyes staring back at her.

“Huh, a shapeshifter.” She shrugged and picked up the crossbow, examining its every detail. “If you were hoping I’d be impressed, then I’m sorry to disappoint; my best friend is a changeling.”

The wolf shrugged, evidently not caring. It then spat out a number of what seemed to be ammo for the wrist-bound crossbow. All of them were little pods filled with glowing yellow insects. It nudged them toward her.

“Hm.” Angel shifted her right arm back to normal and snapped the crossbow onto her wrist. She scooped up the pods, pocketing them. She then held up her other arm as it morphed into another crossbow, this one designed of silver metal and fitted with a long scope. “Let’s see how it compares,” she said, grinning at Skull the wolf.

The wolf-formed Skull watched as she launched the first pod, and she was blinded by it’s effects as it exploded into a burst of light. The wolf seemed to chuckle somehow at her as she rubbed her eyes. “Oh sure,” she muttered, “yuck it up.” She walked to the edge of a cliff and aimed her own crossbow at a distant mountain peak. “But let’s see how it stacks up. Ammo shift: balefire.” The arms began glowing green as she gazed down the scope. “You’ll want to cover your eyes.” Something shifted in her arm, the crossbow firing a single green bolt at the mountain. Angel turned around and closed her eyes. “Three. Two. One.”

A flash brighter than the sun. A distant roar of thunder. A noxious green mushroom cloud rose slowly above the distant peak, a powerful blast of air forcing Angel to take a knee a moment later. She stood up from the shockwave and turned to survey her work. “Huh, what do you know? It worked.”

And suddenly she was slapped upside the head by a now snarling wolf. Who, in a flash of light, returned to his human form. “You idiot! You gave my fucking position away to the goddamn ponies!”

Angel raised an eyebrow. “First, ow. Second, all I gave them was an exploding mountain. If they can both get close enough to investigate it without the radiation killing them AND trace the colossal explosion back to this precise location, they probably have the skills and magic to find you anyway. Third, what the heck is wrong with ponies? Finally,” she winced, rubbing the back of her head, “not sarcastically, ow! Think you could shift back to human BEFORE you slap me? Giant wolves hit hard.”

Skull just glared at her. She stared back. He eventually sighed and looked to the destroyed mountain. “...I don’t know what your ponies back home were like. But here? Here, I’m like a demon to them. They think I brought the monsters, because they think I’m a spawn of Sombra.” He sighed and gained a tired look. “Just get back inside.” He walked to the door, holding it open for her.

Angel glanced from Skull to the smoking mountain before sighing as well. “We’re going to have to do something about that,” she said, walking up to him. “Living at odds with Equestria is about as unpleasant a life as you can get. The only way I manage it is by having friends.” She looked him in the eye as she reached him. “Something you seem to be severely lacking in.” She passed him and made her way inside.

He just grunted, walking inside and walking over to a red chest by a workshop table, which Angel noted had a strange, silver and gold pot with white, metal wings. He opened the chest and began looking through it.

“So what happened between you and Equestria, anyway?” Angel asked, pulling off her workout clothes and opening another pocket dimension. She tossed the clothes in and took out a towel which she used to begin wiping the sweat from her body. “‘Cause let me tell you, it takes A LOT to piss off these ponies enough to make you have to live in exile. I had to actively work at it. Hired a lawyer and everything.”

Skull growled as he continued searching. “I literally walked into their Empire, and they attacked me. I’m lucky their weapons can’t even scratch my armor, that’s all.”

Angel chuckled, pulling out a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt before closing the portal. “No offence dude, but have you looked in a mirror lately? Even without your helmet, you look like you could slaughter a city on a slow day. You can’t really blame them for overreacting. Did you try just, you know, talking to them while their slings and arrows of outrageous do-nothing bounced off of you?”

Skull grabbed a set of fur clothes. She noted it was the same fur as that monster they’d carved. “Yes. Multiple times. All they did was call me a monster, or Sombra Spawn. They didn’t believe anything I ever said, and only ever gave me less than five minutes to do so. Next thing I know,” he pulled the fur shirt over himself. “I’m Skull, the Cursebringer, and…” He frowned, then shook his head. “No. Second title doesn’t matter now.”

“Hm.” Angel contemplated that for a moment. “You ever try a smaller village? You know, somewhere that wasn’t a major capital city? Not much a small town could do to you, and they’d get the hint after about an hour of you just standing there and calmly talking that you weren’t there to hurt them. Heck, the way I got my introductory ice broken was by summoning a friend who grabbed RD by the tail and threatened her with no cider if she didn’t stop misbehaving. Heh, don’t think any of them could see him as much of a threat after that line.”

Skull shook his head. “Every village knows about me now. Been 4 years. The fear, hate, and prejudice is too deeply rooted. Especially after my first kill of a sentient being, accident or no.” He pulled the pants on.

Angel stiffened instantly. “Who was it?”

“...” Skull looked away in shame, not talking.

“Let me rephrase, then.” Angel grabbed Skull’s shoulder and spun him around. Her eyes were sharp enough to cut diamond, and Skull felt like they were cutting right to his soul. “Tell me who you killed.”

She saw nothing but shame and guilt in his eyes as he lowered his head and said in a soft, shaking voice, “...The husband of an Element Bearer. Discord.”

Angel hissed through clenched teeth, turning and beginning to pace the room. “Not good. Definitely not good. Discord’s too big a piece to work around, even without complicating it with a relationship with one of the Mane 6. If this is four years after Sombrero…” Angel winced. “Dang it, that’s beyond what I know from the show. Nothing there’s going to help. Another nation, maybe? It’d have to be done quietly at first, and there’s no guarantee…” She stopped and turned back to Skull. “What other nations exist outside of Equestria? What do they think of you?”

“There’s the Yaks, I guess. I’ve been there a few times, traded furs with them and stuff. There was Griffons, too, but the ones I’ve met have all wanted to kill me for sport. Only remaining ones are Windigoes,” Skull answered, sighing as he looked to the wall.

“Crud.” Angel resumed pacing. “Gryphons are a no-go for sure, and Windigos won’t win you any points in the eyes of Equestria. The yaks… no. No, their culture is too violent. If they saw them taking you in in friendship, that would just cause tension.” She sighed and rested her head in one hand. “So, befriending another nation as a sign of genuine goodness is out too. You happen to know of any impending disasters? Something from season eight or nine or something?”

Skull shook his head. “Only disaster is the other nations being threatened by the monsters. And with the two hard hitting groups of Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest monsters, they have their work cut out for them.” He sighed, sitting in a chair by the workshop table. “Dragon Quest monsters are similar to Monster Hunter monsters in that a lot of them are just...there. But there’s also loads more that come about from sentient or sapient beings. Demons, beasts, humanoids, the whole nine yards. And all of them have crazy magic, most of it unique. Hell, there’s literally a spell in Dragon Quest that can kill. No ifs, ands or buts. They cast it, and you die without any fanfare. Then there’s the upgraded forms of it that kill entire parties.”

“...damn,” Angel muttered. “And here I thought a civil war was tough.” She sighed and shook her head. “Dang it, I’m trying to figure something out to help you, but I can’t think of anything that you could use to prove yourself to them. Unless you let me go down there and represent you…”

“...Well, there is one other option,” Skull said. “But it could just as easily reinforce their claim that I’m an undead.” He raised a finger. “I have a spell, called Zing. It fully resurrects a single target, but it can fail. It costs a lot of MP, too.”

Angel pondered that for a moment. “That… could work. I imagine they’d still distrust you, but at least it would be restitution. They might even give you a chance to explain yourself.” Angel glared at the ground. “But something tells me there’s a catch, or you would have tried it already.”

Skull nodded. “It doesn’t seem to work on those who want to stay dead. The only time I couldn’t figure it out beyond that was with Discord. It was like his soul just…didn’t exist anymore. Not that it didn’t want to come back, but it was just…gone.”

Angel began pacing again, muttering to herself under her breath. Skull caught the words “fan theories” and “chaotic biology” a couple of times. Angel stopped, sighing as she massaged the bridge of her nose. “Nothing for it, I’m going to have to figure out exactly what this world’s Discord was if we’re going to figure out why his soul couldn’t return.” She looked up at Skull. “Which way to the Crystal Empire?”

Skull shook his head. “You can’t. Not as they are now. They’ll just call you my spawn, or Sombra’s Spawn, and continue to disbelieve you, or shoot you or kill you on sight. Especially after what I did last night before you arrived.” He sighed, crossing his arms. “I’m just hoping they’ve learned to not look for me anymore.”

“Kill me on sight, huh?” Angel grimaced, placing her fist under her chin. “Well, I’d have preferred to keep growing, but I guess I was bound to get swallowed by a dragon eventually.”

“What are you-” Skull was interrupted as a metallic chime sounded, a blade erupting from Angel’s arm and piercing her skull. She stood there for a moment, a grimace on her face as blood slowly seeped out of the top and bottom of her head.

And then she fell face-first to the floor, dead as a doornail. Skull’s eyes widened, and he shot over to her. “No! No no no no no! Goddammit! Why?!” His hand glowed a golden green, and he swung it upwards. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. Again and again he tried, and nothing worked, and he ran out of MP, panting. “No…” He gently cradled her to his chest, a tear running down his cheek. “You stupid girl…”

“I resemble that remark.” Skull gasped and stared down in shock. A younger looking Angel sat in his arms, sixteen and long-haired. Her clothes had been replaced by a tan schoolgirl uniform, and her face bore a smirk where a mess of blood had once been. “Thanks for those cure attempts, though. Looks like they made me reset faster.” He crushed her with a hug.

“Don’t you fucking do that again! I swear I’ll stop feeding you if you do!” he cried. “I thought… I thought I had lost the one friend I had…”

“You’ve - urgh! - obviously never seen Angel Beats,” Angel wheezed out. “Now, you mind letting me go before I die of crushed lungs? Pinkie’s already done that one, and I don’t get points for crossing it off the list twice.”

He loosened his grip, but didn’t let go. Steel was in his eyes. “Why did you kill yourself?”

Angel rolled hers in response. “To show you why me going down there might work. They can kill me over and over until they’re blue in the face, and all I’ll do is get bored. Eventually, they won’t have much of a choice but to listen to me.” Skull stared at her for a long moment, then got up, still cradling her in his arms as he walked to the red chest again. He put her down next to it.

“I’ll let you go there on one condition. We get you some better gear. And don’t worry, it won’t be nearly as scary as mine,” he told her. He gestured to the chest. “First step to doing that is getting you a weapon. Pick from that chest.”

Angel rolled her eyes but complied with his request. She opened the chest and looked inside, rummaging around for a bit. “Club. Ax. Club. Greatsword. You know I can summon weapons with a thought, right? I don’t need… Hello. What’s this?” She lifted two blades from the chest, each a crystal blue and looking like they’d been carved from the heart of a glacier. “Me likey.”

Skull grinned. “Good choice. High-end weapon right there.” He walked over to his pile of armor, starting to put it on. “Now, the reason why you need those, is because Monsters in Monster Hunter, as shown by the armor made from them, have very, very tough bodies. Your weapons? Trust me, they wouldn’t scratch them. The Blangos maybe, but a Blangonga? Not a chance in hell, much less likely you’ll hit it easily.” He pulled on his greaves. “I saw how you were struggling with cutting the Blango yesterday from the window. The reason it was so hard is that, no matter how you slice it, Monster Hunter materials are just so damn much better and stronger than other materials either you or me have ever seen. And I’ve only got the materials from those that come from the cold or ores. Imagine what the really strong monsters, like Elder Dragons, are like.” He pulled on his coil, then his chestplate. “You meet one, you’d be dying every time you tried.” He pulled his mask on, then turned to her. “Unless you have a Monster Hunter weapon.”

“Intriguing,” Angel muttered. She pulled another weapon from the chest at random and set it on the floor. She opened a pocket dimension and pulled her laptop back out. After opening it up and clicking a few times, she set it down and ejected the CD reader, placing the weapon, an ax of some sort, partially on top of it. “And scan,” she said, giving a final click and standing up. “Let’s see just what these guys are made of.” She picked up her new swords and hoisted them over her shoulders, stumbling a bit before she regained her balance. “Damn it, going to have to get used to this tiny body again. Now then, which way to the ponies?”

Skull shook his head. “Oh, we’re not done getting gear for you yet.” He walked over to her, patting her head. “You’ll get better trust from them if you don’t die and come back. That’ll just give that idea of you being a zombie and spawn of me more reinforcement.” He shook his head. “No, what we’re doing is getting you armor. Though the one set I have in mind is more like…” He shook his head. “Well, nevermind. It’s still heavy duty shit they won’t be able to pierce.”

Angel narrowed her eyes. “Let me guess. Female armor in Monster Hunter operates under the Valkyrie Law of Inverse Armor Protection.” Skull chuckled.

“Only with a few sets. No worries though, this set is actually very conservative. Has to be, since it’s in the cold and cold monsters are all that’s available to us right now,” He answered.

Angel nodded. “Good to know. Also…” She grabbed his wrist, turning and throwing him over her shoulder. He slammed into the floor, the edge of Angel’s foot lodging itself up against his neck. “Don’t pat me on the head. I’m still the damn High General of Zebrica and Champion of the Minotaurs, even in this schoolgirl body.”

He simply laughed, unaffected. “Noted. Now, mind getting off me? That tickles.” Angel rolled her eyes, removing her foot and letting go of his wrist. He stood up, then walked over to his weapon rack. He hummed, then grabbed the Greatsword. “Can’t very well leave you out of the fun too long, eh, Fury?” He chuckled, running a hand down it’s serrated edge.

Angel rolled her eyes. “And you wonder why they think you’re a threat to them? Do any of your weapons look normal? What’s wrong with a simple, undecorated blade?”

Skull chuckled. “Angel, every weapon in Monster Hunter is decorated to this degree. No getting around it. Plus-” he pointed to the small pot with wings on the workshop table. “-that forces me to use the standard shapes and designs of everything I make. I literally can’t get around it. Ain’t that right, Krak Pot?”

To Angel’s surprise, the pot talked back. “Quite so, sir!” it answered in a British, Cockney voice.

Angel sighed, shaking her head. “So glad I can program my own abilities. Anyway, you say you’ve got armor for me?”

Skull shook his head, turning back to her after placing the Greatsword on his back. She swore there was a cheeky grin under that first set of teeth that was the mask. “Nope, not yet. That’s why we’re gonna kill a Gammoth for it.”

“A what?”

“Think woolie mammoth, but with boney plates on the head, legs, and trunk, and able to create ice armor and blow snow out of said trunk. Oh, and it’s also two times the size of one,” Skull replied, and she could imagine his grin growing.

Angel raised an eyebrow before sitting in front of her laptop again. She entered a few keystrokes before her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “...oh.” A grin split her face. “Oh this is going to be good.”

“Yup. Now come on,” he motioned her over as he walked to the front door. “We got a mammoth to hunt.”

“It’s a good thing you have that ability,” Skull comments over the howling blizzard as the duo trudge through heavy snow. “Otherwise you’d have died of frost by now. It’s also a good thing the armor you’ll get will help immensely with that.”

“Well it’s not luck, I’ll tell you that,” Angel replied, trudging along beside him. “My trainer, Spot, made me program ‘environmental adaptation abilities’ for every climate, including underwater.” She cast a glare southward. “That one was particularly useful when a minotaur assassin tried to drown me in my bed.”

“Has he now?” Skull asked, intrigued as he scanned about while they marched through the heavy snow.

“Hmm,” Angel hummed in reply. “Those and about two dozen other contingency abilities I’ve never had to use. Though his idea for ‘Nonverbal Command’ has been pretty useful. Hard to counter the sword in your gut exploding when you don’t know that it’s coming.”

“That does sound handy,” Skull agreed with a nod. Relative silence reigned as they continued, having made it away from the mountain an hour ago.

“It’s strange,” Angel muttered.

Skull quirked a brow under his mask, turning to look at her. “How so?”

Angel jumped a bit, not having realized she’d spoken aloud. “Just, all of this,” she replied, gesturing around. “I’m not used to exploring other worlds’ wildernesses like this. I know the lands south and south-east of my Equestria well enough, but I’ve only ever really been called to other worlds to fight or talk. Seeing somewhere totally new like this… I’m just kind of surprised at how normal another world can be.”

Skull continued to look at her.

“And the fact that it’s a tundra is even weirder,” Angel continued. “I’ve never seen this much snow in one place before, being from Texas and all. The few times it has snowed any significant amount, I had to bundle myself up until I looked like an eskimo. And now I’m out here in a skirt?” She sighed and shook her head. “And then there’s the thirty-something-year-old with magic charisma powers checking out sixteen-year-old me.” She smirked up at him. “Got a thing for schoolgirls or something?”

He just continued to stare as they walked. He then started to laugh. Loudly.

Angel’s eyes narrowed and she gave him a playful glare. “Oy! I’m serious!” She struck a pose. “This is the epitome of schoolgirl moe right here. What, do I need some glasses or pigtails to complete the image or something?”

He laughed harder, but soon calmed down. “Ah… God, I needed that.” He shook his head. “You may be pretty, but if anything, you’re just mostly cute. Even when you looked older.”

“Oh please.” Angel rolled her eyes. “Sure, maybe when I was throwing my clothes at you, but when I first rolled out? Admit it; I looked badass as all get-out.”

Skull paused in his walking to make a thinking pose. He made a good show of it, too. After a short while, he shook his head. “Nope. Just cute.” He then continued walking.

Angel huffed, stomping after him and grumbling under her breath. “Wait ‘till you see how ‘cute’ I look covered in blood and entrails.”

Again, he heard her. “Meh. If you were covered in that stuff, it’d just bring out those pretty gold eyes.” He continued walking.

Angel came to an abrupt halt, her face filled with shock. She quickly darted forward again, keeping behind him to hide the reddening of her cheeks. Pretty?

Sadly, he looked back at her at her lack of a response. “Something wrong?”

Angel waved him off. “J-Just my heating ability going a bit too far. I have to turn it down a little.” A blatant lie, as the ability was designed to regulate the temperature around her perfectly, but Angel happily deactivated it for a couple of seconds to help her face cool down. “See?” she said, smiling and striding forward confidently. “Completely fine.” He continued looking at her for a time, before shrugging and continuing on.

“Well, good to hear,” he replied.

They walked in silence for a time, Angel quickly becoming bored of the snowy landscape. “So, where are all of the monsters?” she asked. “Something that big shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“Well-,” he began, before an ear splitting roar shook the earth and made their ears ring. They then heard and felt very heavy footfalls from the northwest direction. “-that’d be her!”

Angel grinned, summoning a pair of steel wings and crouching low. “Finally!” She launched herself skyward, leveling with the clouds before she looked down. A giant mammoth, far larger than any elephant she’d ever imagined, was plowing through the snow in Skull’s direction. It’s face was covered in a plate of bone, it’s tusks more akin to small trees than the smooth ivory she was used to. “Oh yeah,” Angel muttered, licking her lips as she dove, taking her blades from off her back. “This is going to be fun.”

She quickly reached the ground and hovered by Skull’s side. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked. “Tactics? Weak points? Vulnerabilities? Blind spots? Give me everything.”

“Break off its tusks and it won’t be able to skewer us, cut or damage its trunk,” he drew his Greatsword, “and it can’t make ice armor for itself or blow snow. Break the plates on its legs and the ice won’t form right on them. The fins are just breakable for fun, but we do need the pieces.” He flourished his blade. “Other than that, it’s weak to fire and lightning. Now…” He suddenly leapt at the beast, launching himself forward in a corkscrew, right in front of its trunk. He then stabbed his greatsword into said trunk, making it cry out in pain as it flailed the limb, trying to get him off. “TIME FOR A RODEO!”

“OY!” Angel shouted, leaping back into the air and diving for the creature. “FIRST BLOOD DOESN’T COUNT IF IT’S A SURPRISE ATTACK!” She dove beneath the Gammoth, swinging her blades on either side and smiling as she heard the roar of pain and felt four sprays of blood soak her. She flew out the other side and angled immediately into the sky, looking back to see how much damage she’d done.

To her dismay, it had done less than she thought, and the Gammoth quickly managed to fling Skull off it’s trunk, who landed gracefully on his feet. And, she noted that while her blades had done some damage, when she looked to it’s trunk, she found that it had a large, open wound weeping blood from Skull’s Greatsword. He hefted said weapon over his shoulder.

“Seems you ain’t used to the weapons still, much less them to you,” he noted, and she could hear the grin as he slowly walked towards the Gammoth, who pawed the ground.

“Maybe not,” Angel called back, gripping both swords in one hand as she shifted her other into her own blade. “But you’ve given me a perfect target for the weapon I am familiar with.” She dove for the Gammoth, landing on its trunk and plunging her blade deep into the wound. She held on tight as the Gammoth started thrashing around, a savage grin on her face. “Don’t need to slice,” she grunted, “when brute force will do the trick. Version Four!”

The metallic chime was lost amidst the agonized roar and the sound of flesh shredding itself apart. The end of the trunk dropped to the frozen earth, a pool of blood quickly spreading as the Gammoth reared back. Angel leapt away, her right hand now ending in a massive monstrosity of steel, the overlapping plates shaped vaguely like a rose, and colored like one with the Gammoth’s blood.

“Well, seems I underestimated you, Angel,” Skull noted, patting her shoulder. “But we aren’t done yet. This is only the beginning.” This was made evident when the Gammoth roared again, and charged them both with amazing speed. Skull raised his Greatsword up flat in front of him as he stepped in front of Angel, and to her shock, he stopped the Gammoth’s charge. “Heh, see?” And then the Gammoth punted him up into the air with the remains of it’s trunk.

Angel sighed, leaping after him and grabbing his arm as she rose. “You know,” she said, coming to a hover high above the Gammoth, “if you’re trying to impress me, you might not want to start by being tossed like a rag-doll. Now, get your sword ready.”

“Better idea,” he said, pointing to a grouping of snow clouds quickly approaching them. “Drop me there. It looks like you’ll have to deal with ol’ Woolie here. I have some other prey now.”

Angel glared off at the approaching clouds before shrugging. “Have it your way, then. Hope you don’t take falling damage.” She flipped through the air a couple of times before releasing Skull and sending him flying. She then turned back to the Gammoth, narrowing her eyes as she shifted her bladed arm back to normal and redistributed her blades. “Now, let’s see just how hardy you are.”

Skull landed right on the back of a strange Centaur, only the upper half was a tiger-human mix, and it had wings and a trident of gold. It reared back, trying to throw him off, but he simply stopped that by stabbing his Greatsword straight through it, ending its life in one stroke. He jumped off, taking his Greatsword with him, and glanced at the seven other monsters around him. “Trigertaurs and Brrearthenwarriors…” he sighed. “Great.” He readied his Greatsword as they all surrounded him.

Angel meanwhile had continued with guerrilla tactics, diving in for a few quick blows before swooping back into the air again. Every pass delt another wound or two, but Angel was annoyed to see that the bleeding trunk was still doing more harm than her clumsy attacks. “Gah, this is frustrating!” Angel huffed, studying the creature below her. “These swords are barely scratching it, and something tells me my own blades wouldn’t do much better.” She sighed, massaging her forehead. “I really don’t like cheating like this, but he did say that it’s weak against fire and lightning. Guess I’ve got no choice. Angel Horn.” She pulled her hand away as a white, spiral horn grew out of her forehead. It slowly began to glow with a red aura as Angel angled her head downward. “Let’s see if I can get at one of its cuts.”

She dove, her horn pointed straight at a shallow cut on the Gammoth’s shoulder. She quickly closed the distance to it. 500 feet away. 400 feet. 300.

At 200 feet, Angel let loose a cry. “Elemental Strike: Category Fire: Type 3.5!” A literal spear of flame shot from her horn, embedding itself in the Gammoth’s shoulder wound. Angel ignored the beast’s cry, flipping in midair and aiming her foot down at the base of the rod. Her impact shoved the spear deeper, causing the Gammoth to produce its loudest shriek yet. Angel leapt away, rolling across the snow. She came to a stop and looked up, a single word on her lips.

“Detonate.”

Skull looked back at the sound of a roaring detonation to see the Gammoth fall over on it’s side, and start flailing, trying to get back up but in too much pain at the moment to do so. It made loud whimpers each time it tried to move, but it was stubborn. Skull grinned before turning his attention back to the other monsters, blocking and deflecting a thrust from a Trigertaur and then punching it in the leg with the flat of his blade, making it crumple. He then swiftly cut it’s head off, and turned to the other opponents.

Angel meanwhile was panting for breath. “Damn,” she whispered, the aura around her horn barely flickering. “Need to practice more.” The aura slowly returned to full strength and Angel rose to her feet and approached the severely wounded Gammoth. She examined the creature’s underbelly closely before pointing with her horn again. “Elemental Strike: Category Electricity: Type 6.8.9.” A small but brilliant bolt shot from Angel’s horn, piercing the Gammoth straight to the heart. The bolt discharged, sending lightning coursing through the beast’s systems. It twitched once. Twice. Then it lay still.

Angel sighed, flapping a couple of times and alighting on the monster’s side. She turned her gaze to the clouds on the horizon, sitting down as she awaited Skull’s return.

Skull was currently finishing up with the last Trigertaur, who whistled at him, and he twitched, but otherwise the action had no affect, and he rushed it, dragging his Greatsword across the snow as he did, before cutting the entire thing in half. It’s two pieces fell to the snow with a soft splat of organs and blood, and he turned to the final two enemies, Brrearthenwarriors.

They charged him, surrounding him as their horses breathed icy mist on him, but he simply spun around with his sword, cutting the horses legs off and leaving the riders on their rears. They quickly got up, and one used a magic fueled slash of pure ice, managing to leave a trail of ice on his armor as he sidestepped and grabbed the blade, using the momentum behind it’s swing to thrust the Brrearthenwarrior’s blade into it’s comaptriot’s gut. The other one fell and crumbled into icy stone, and Skull finished the last one with a punch to the head that obliterated the icy stone that made up it’s face. And then it fell over, dead.

He panted lightly, then looked about himself. And, to his surprise, he found near the halves of the other Trigertaur a seed he recognized, his eyes widening at the sight. He quickly picked it up and rushed over to Angel.

“Hey! Got a gift for ya!” he called as he reached her sitting on the Gammoth’s body.

“Is it food?” Angel asked, jumping off and landing lightly in the snow. “Because blowing this thing to bits with magic really worked up an appetite.”

“No, better- Wait, when in the hell did you get a horn?” he queried, stopping in front of her.

“Well,” Angel said, lighting the horn and levitating the seed out of Skull’s hands, “when a mommy programmer and a daddy computer love each other very much…” She trailed off, studying the seed as it levitated before her. “So, what is this thing?”

He rolled his eyes at her explanation, before placing his Greatsword on his back. “Seed of Deftness. Rare item from Dragon Quest. Eat it, and you’ll have increased… Well, deftness. Permanently.”

“You don’t say?” Angel shrugged, pocketing the seed. “I’ll have to scan it later, see if its effects will stick when I reset. Now,” she turned and glared at the Gammoth corpse, “how the heck are we supposed to move this thing? I’m starting to wish I’d set up a Teleport Beacon back at your place.”

“We don’t. Gammoths typically weigh over four hundred tons, so, we have to carve the pieces here, and bring it all back,” Skull explained, tossing her a carving knife while he took out his own.

“And hope that no other monsters are attracted by the smell of fresh meat, right?” Angel asked. She sighed and began with the grizzly work.

“Pretty much. Especially a Tigrex. Those things are the natural predator of Gammoths,” Skull replied. He pointed to where it’s trunk had fallen. “That’s the reason we gotta be careful carrying it around, makes us a target.”

“Is that so?” Angel put down her knife and walked over to the trunk, examining it from every angle. Eventually she nodded. “Pocket Dimension: Dimension Create: Version 3 point…” She considered for a moment. “5: Opening Direction, Up.” A black, circular void opened up, swallowing the trunk and the snow that lay around it. Angel nodded. “Pocket Dimension: Dimension Close.” The void vanished and Angel walked back to her carving blade. “Sorry about the mouthful,” she said, beginning to work again. “I have to speak it aloud every time I create a new one, and I haven’t had a reason to create a sterilized dimension that big yet.”

“Ah. Well, in that case…” He pointed to the two large tusks. “Mind cutting those off and putting ‘em in the same place? I’ll grab the other parts.”

Angel nodded, walking over and starting on her work. “So how long *grunt* does this usually take you *grunt* by yourself?”

“Me? Eh, I just drag the pieces home one by one. Though that depends on if I need the part or not. Normally I don’t, since I have this armor,” He pulled out a, to her surprise, bone-like coating that layered it’s skin below the fur, and while it was certainly a lot thinner than the bony plates on its face, she doubted it was much less effective at taking damage. After that, he continued to skin and place as much of it’s fur in his pouches as he could.

Angel hummed, turning and focusing back on her task. An hour of carving later found the tusks removed and the rest of the body stripped of everything Skull deemed necessary. Once that was done, he pulled out a small wing with gold lining the edges and a crystal at the base.

“What’s that?” Angel asked. “Some sort of item?” Skull nodded.

“Yup. Chimaera Wing from Dragon Quest. Flinging it up brings you to a place you’ve already been before at the cost of its existence,” he explained.

“Huh. Useful.”

He nodded again. “Yup. Now, you’ll need to hold onto me, and hold on tight. The ride isn’t fun for first timers.”

Angel smirked as she grabbed his arm, batting her eyes at him. “You know, if you wanted to hold me tight, you didn’t have to make up an excuse.” He stiffened at that, before responding.

“J-Just shut it,” he said, before flinging the wing up, and in a flurry of blue light, the two were flung up into the sky at high speeds beyond the clouds, and then slammed back down, right in front of Skull’s cabin door. “Well, we’re here-”

“CLIFF!” Angel shouted, rushing for the nearby precipice. She fell to her knees and started heaving, her vomit freezing on the way down and shattering on the rocks below. Angel coughed a few times, holding her hand to her head. “Ugh, you weren’t kidding about it not being fun. I haven’t been that sick since the first time I blew up a minotaur.”

Skull chuckled. “Consider that payback for the teasing, then,” he said, before opening the door for her. He motioned to it. “Pretty ladies first.”

Angel turned and glared at him before sighing and standing up. “Fine, fine. I guess I had that coming.” She stopped just as she was about to pass him. “Although…” A snowball suddenly impacted his face, a couple of Angel’s fingers forcing some snow through the eyeholes. “...not quite that much.” She smirked as she passed him and made herself comfortable inside.

He grunted as he took off his mask and wiped the snow from his eyes and the inside of it, before walking in as well. “Mulier damn…” he cursed under his breath as he walked in.

“Hey, you deserved it,” Angel said, leaning back in a chair. She lifted a finger and pointed above his head. “Also this.”

A fleshy trunk and two giant tusks dropped onto Skull’s head. They bounced off of his armor, but still managed to knock him to the ground from the sheer weight and force. He looked up just in time to see the black portal close. Angel giggled. “I think that levels the playing field.” He glared at her.

“...You’re lucky that your giggle is so cute, otherwise I’d punish you,” he said as he got up with a grunt.

“Then I shall capitalize on my adorableness!” Angel cried, waving her fist in the air. “Like Dinky Doo of the Winningverse, I shall rule over all who behold me with my giggles of hypnotic dooooom!!!” She cackled evilly, the laugh turning joyous as her chair fell backwards and she rolled around on the floor. “Oh-oh man! I haven’t been able to laugh like this in ages!”

Skull just shook his head with a small smile as he picked up the two tusks with one arm, then the trunk with the other, dragging the trunk behind him. He brought them over to Krak Pot. “Alright Krak Pot, time for some fun.”

“Righto, sir!” Krak Pot said, as Skull lowered the massive tusks to him, and somehow, Krak Pot just… absorbed them. He did the same with the trunk, as well as the furs and other materials that Skull poured in after. “Righto, here we go!” Krak Pot cried as he twirled and bounced on the table, numerous, cartoonish sounds emanating from him, and soon after he spat out a set of robes, boots, gloves, and a hat. Skull grinned as he picked them up and placed them on the table in front of Angel.

Angel examined the armor for a moment before gazing up at Skull, her face deadpan. “It’s a dress.” Skull’s grin just grew.

“Just put it on. Trust me, it’s heavy duty shit. Test it with your Hand Sonic or whatever if you want,” he replied.

Angel sighed, shaking her head. “I’ll take your word for it.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When they opened again, they were the sharp eyes of a soldier. She quickly and efficiently stripped down to her underwear and stepped back from the table, turning around. “This armor is unfamiliar to me,” she said. “I would appreciate it if you would accomplish me.”

Skull blushed. “What?! We’ve only known each other a day!”

Angel glared over her shoulder. “Mind out of the trenches, soldier! I mean for you to armor me.”

Skull visibly relaxed. “Oh. Right,” he said, though he still blushed a bit as he approached her with the armor. He took the dress in his hands. “Um… Raise your hands up, please.” Angel raised her arms without hesitation. He slowly pulled the dress down over her. He gained a bit more confidence. “Put your arms through the sleeves.” She complied. He eventually pulled the dress down to cover her, trying to not look up at her rear as he kneeled to pull it all the way down. Then, he shook himself as he stood up, and handed her the gauntlets. “These, the boots, and the cap are all pretty easy to put on. Can you do them yourself?”

Angel raised an eyebrow, looking down and examining the armor. She took a couple of steps back and to the side before settling down into a combat position. “You’re joking.” She stood straight, glaring down at the armor. “You must be joking.” She stepped forward and took the gauntlets, examining them alongside the boots and cap. “This… is the simplest armor I’ve ever seen. The leather barding my zebras started with wasn’t this basic!” She sighed, and shook her head before pulling on the gauntlets. “Not that I disbelieve you about its effectiveness,” she said, kneeling down and hiking up her skirt to begin working on the boots, “but it baffles me that armor this durable is so easily donned. The Equestrian Guard would do practically anything to learn how to accomplish this, and I know several minotaurs who would gladly slaughter entire villages for even a hint.” Her eyes narrowed as she stood and donned the cap. “Then again, those brutes would be happy to slaughter a village for any reason.”

Skull looked her over for a moment once she had finished. “Wow. You… You actually look… Well, beautiful, in that.” He blurted out. He then blushed as he realized what he said.

The smallest of smirks crept onto Angel’s face. “You’re lucky I’m not your CO, or you’d be doing pushups for weeks.” She turned around and began examining her new armor more closely, the better to hide her massive blush that was overtaking her face as the General faded from her mind. Beautiful?! What the hell?! He can’t really mean that!

“Aww, such a cute couple, y’ two are!” said Krak Pot from the table.

“WH-WHAT?!?!” Skull yelled, flushing a deeper shade of cherry red.

A metallic chime heralded the presence of a giant mallet hovering over Krak Pot from the end of Angel’s arm, her eyes blazing and her red face thankfully still hidden from Skull. “Care to repeat that you overgrown Hopping Pot? Because I’d love a new soup bowl.”

“Wh-Whoa now, I didn’t mean a single thing by it! Honest!” Krak Pot replied, flapping his metallic wings frantically. “In fact, uh, um… Ah! Yes, you two actually look awful together! That’s it! Awful!”

Angel’s head tilted down, her face concealed in the shadow of her hat. “Awful, you say?” she whispered. Her head suddenly jerked up, an angelic smile gracing her features. “Well, why didn’t you say so the first time?” She rose the mallet higher, smiling sweetly as she giggled. “Say hello to Grogar for me when you get to Tartarus.” Krak Pot let out a hiss of steam in panic, jumping off the table and running for the door.

“Aw,” Angel cooed, still bearing the face of innocence. “He thinks he can get away. How cute.” The mallet morphed into a trident which she used to scoop up the pot from the inside, dangling it before Skull. “I believe this is your chamberpot, good sir.” Skull immediately picked him up, glaring at him.

“N-Now, you wouldn’t destroy you’re only way of crafting, now w-would you, sir?” Krak Pot said, his eyes somehow pleading. Skull glared at him more intensely, the blush still present on his face. “S-Sir?”

“...I’m going to put you in the attic for this,” he said, walking towards a ladder at the far end of the cabin.

“No! No! No! You can’t! It’s filthy up there!” Krak Pot pleaded, and Skull just tossed the pot through the hole leading to the attic, hearing a satisfying thunk and an “Ow!” as the living pot collided with something inside the attic. Skull then looked to Angel, blushed again, and looked away. Angel’s blush returned as well and she turned away and walked over to her laptop.

“S-So, um…” He blushed more. “I’m uh… Getting the feeling you don’t have a boyfriend. Uh… Do you?” Skull was internally screaming at himself as to why he just asked that question.

“N-No,” Angel replied, sitting down and pretending to read over the scan information. “Not really interested in non-humans, and the only humans I’ve seen since arriving in Equestria are other Displaced. We, um, never interacted enough for any sort of romance.”

“Oh, uh… Cool,” Skull said, glancing around, trying to find something else to talk about.

“Yeah,” Angel replied. “I mean, no! I mean, um, I haven’t really had time for… What about you?! Have you, um, ‘gone native?’ Or um, met any other Displaced girls you’ve, um, liked?”

“Huh?! Uh, um, n-no, you’re uh… you’re actually the first Displaced I’ve met…” He blushed more. “I uh… Don’t even have a token. Trader told me about Displaced, though.”

“Oh!” Angel shouted, jumping up and grinning, trying to fight down the blush. “I know how to handle- I mean, I can help you with that!”

“Really? Um, okay then, what do I do first?” he asked.

“Just pick an item,” Angel replied. “It can be anything, really. Put some of your power into it, and say whatever you want others to hear when they pick it up. Then give it to me, and I’ll send it out into the multiverse. Like this.” She summoned her wings, reaching back and wincing as she pulled out a feather. She cleared her throat and said, “Token Create.” The feather began to glow softly. “Token Message. This is the Undying Angel, Champion of Minos, High General of the United Zebrica, and friend of Equestria. If you ever require aid, hold this feather and call upon my name and I shall come on wings of glory, my sword yours to command. Message End.” She held the feather out to Skull. “You probably won’t have to be all formal with the commands, but that’s basically how it works.”

“Um, okay. But… Is that uh… really your message?” he asked, giving her a look.

“Of-Of course!” Angel slapped a plastic grin onto her face. “A-After all, it’s the first impression other Displaced are going to have of you! Might as well make it nice and dramatic, r-right?”

“I guess,” Skull said with a slow shrug, before looking for something to use for a Token. He walked over to the red chest, rummaging through it. “Hmmm… No, not that. Not that either…” He pulled out a shield of petrified bone. “Ah, this will work.” He placed it on the table next to him, then grabbed a glowing, diamond-shaped, dull blue crystal. He took his carving knife and started to carve a shape into the shield.

Then, once finished, he placed the crystal inside the newly made hole, and then grabbed a slimedrop of what seemed to be liquid metal, dropped it on the crystal, and secured it in place. Finally, he took a sticker from the chest, and slapped it on just below the crystal. He then turned to face Angel, and she saw that the sticker was of a goofy little blue slime.

“There. How’s that?” he queried.

Angel giggled. “I think the slime will give people pause, but a lot of Displaced will be happy for a shield that sturdy. Now just pour some of your magic into it and give it a message.”

Skull nodded. “Alright, I can do that.” He furrowed his brow as he stared intently at the shield, a light blue glow overtaking his hands and channeling into the shield. Afterwards, he hummed in thought, trying to think of a message. Finally, he had an idea.

“I am Skull, Hunter of Monsters, Ranger, and Halfbreed. If you need arms and armor, a good fight, or just some company and real meat, then just smack this shield once to come here, and twice for me to come to you,” he finished, before turning to Angel. “How’s that?”

Angel nodded, taking the shield from him. “Sounds good to me. Token Distribute.” The shield vanished. “And there it goes,” Angel said. “Off into the multiverse. I’ll probably have one waiting for me when I get back.”

“Huh. Cool,” he looked around, then back to her. He clenched and unclenched his hands. “So… Guess you’re leaving for the Empire now?”

Angel nodded, her eyes hardening. “I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do,” she muttered. “Killing Discord post-reformation… that’s not going to be easy to come back from.” She took a deep breath before shooting Skull a confident grin. “But at the very least, I’m sure I can get you off the ‘Equestria’s Most Wanted’ list.”

He nodded slowly, giving her a small smile. “I hope so.” Silence reigned for a moment, him still clenching and unclenching his hands as he looked around the cabin, then back to her.

“Guess I’d better be off,” Angel said, sighing as she walked towards the door. “Never thought I’d meet a Celestia less happy to see me than my own, but hey, first time for everything, right? Ja ne.” She opened the door and stepped outside into the harsh northern wind.

Skull stared after her as the door closed. After a short while, he sighed deeply and sat down at a chair. “...Heavenly Father… Let her come back safe… Please.”

Angel touched down in the snow as soon as the Crystal Empire came in sight. She sighed as she started walking, thinking about how she wanted to do this.

“I could go in as a warrior,” she muttered to herself. “Bust down the doors, take everyone down without killing them, and demand to speak with Cadence.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no. These ain’t minotaurs, Angel. They’re terrified ponies. I could go for shock and awe, but I don’t really have anything impressive that wouldn’t seem like an attack.” She shrugged as the walls of the Empire came within shouting distance. “Eh, guess I’m going for the Discord tactic: confuse and baffle the serious right out of them.”

She noticed the guards turn to face her and watched as they got ready to sound an alarm. “Sonorus,” she said, and took a deep breath. Just as one of the guards was about to sound his horn…

“HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO, CRYSTAL EMPIRE!!!” Angel smirked as she saw the guard drop his horn in shock. “THIS IS YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD ANGEL WISHING YOU A GOOD AFTERNOON! IT’S SUNNY OUT RIGHT NOW, THE TEMPERATURE AT A BEAUTIFUL NEGATIVE TWENTY DEGREES. BETTER STAY INSIDE THAT SHIELD WHERE IT’S NICE AND TOASTY!

“IN OTHER NEWS,” she continued, rolling her eyes as the guards only now began to react again, “I’M HERE ON BUSINESS. IT WOULD SEEM THAT MY CLIENT, ONE ‘MISTER THE CURSEBRINGER,’ FIRST NAME ‘SKULL,’ HAS BEEN MISREPRESENTED TO YOUR NATION. I AM HERE TO CORRECT THE RECORD AND YOUR ARROWS REALLY AREN’T GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO ME.” Angel brought up her blades, easily deflecting the barrage of arrows that was descending on her as she continued strolling forward. “SERIOUSLY GUYS, YOU’RE JUST WASTING AMMO HERE. ALL I WANT IS TO TALK WITH PRINCESS HEART FLANKS. IS SHE IN? I’D SETTLE FOR HER HUSBAND MR. APTLY NAMED.”

The arrows continued to pour down, causing Angel to sigh in annoyance. “RIGHT. THIS ISN’T WORKING. TELEPORT: SHORT RANGE: 300 METERS FORWARD.” She vanished in a flash of light, reappearing on the other side of the wall. She blinked a few times before shrugging and muttering, “QUIETUS.” She cleared her throat, no longer using the Royal Caps Lock. “Huh. Not often I judge distances that perfectly.”

“It’s a magic user!” cried one of the guards.

“Stay calm, men! We have it outnumbered, just surround it!” a gruff voice called, and immediately, a number of the guards rushed towards her, quickly surrounding her with spears and crossbows pointed at her.

Angel rolled her eyes. “Oh please. One, I’m not an ‘it;’ I’m a ‘her.’ Two, if I wanted to, I could Sonic Rotation all your flanks into next week. At once. Luckily for y’all, I’m here on a mission of diplomacy. Look!” She summoned her wings, spreading them wide. “Got a couple of white flags and everything.”

They all glanced at each other in confusion, then returned to glaring at her. “And why should we trust you when you’re working for The Cursebringer?” came the suspicious voice of an elderly mare, who marched up to Angel, the guards making a path for her as her crystal barding clinked and clanked with her movements.

“Well for one thing, I just met the guy,” Angel replied. “Saying that I work for him is a little much. The whole ‘client’ bit was just to get y’all confused enough for me to get a word in edgewise.” She pulled an arrow that had gotten past her guard out of where it had tangled in her hair, giving the guards an unamused frown. “Not that it worked for more than a few seconds.

“For another,” the arrow embedded itself in the street between the elderly mare’s hooves faster than she could blink. Angel gave her a cocky grin. “You don’t have much of a choice. If I wanted to, I could level this entire city in under an hour.” She shrugged and relaxed, resting her arms behind her head. “But I reeeeeally would rather just talk. Are Shiny Hiney and Princess Pink available or not?”

The mare glared at Angel, then grunted. “Much as I’d like to see you in chains for disrespecting the Guard and for collaborating with the Cursebringer, I’m obligated to at least give you a fair trial first.” She turned her head to the countless Guards. “Stand down, men. I’ll bring her in to the Royals.”

“But General Armstrong-!” a Guard began, only for her to glare harshly at him, and he gulped.

“Was that a glimmer of insubordination, soldier?” she growled coldly. The soldier saluted.

“N-No ma’am!” he replied quickly. General Armstrong nodded.

“Good. But just in case, go see Colonel Sole for a checkup,” she ordered. The soldier gulped again, and nodded.

“Y-Y-Yes ma’am!” he replied, before galloping off. Armstrong turned back to Angel as the other Guards stood down.

“Follow me,” she said, before marching down the street.

Angel let out a low whistle before shifting one arm into a whip and cracking above her head. “Dang, girl,” she said, dismissing her weapon and walking up beside her. “Did those stallions come pre-whipped, or did you have to kill an Ursa with your bare hooves in front of them first?”

Armstrong let out a low chuckle. “Try a family of Great Gruffons and Brrearthenwarriors. Though it was closer to a company of them instead.”

“I’ll pretend to know how impressive that is,” Angel answered. “Took blowing up a few minotaurs with my blade before the Kingdom of Minos learned that I wasn’t to be messed with. Then I went to Zebrica and had to start all over again.” She sighed and crossed her arms. “Not to mention that most of my kind that I meet don’t take me seriously because of my apparent age. I envy you having everyone around you already know just how bad-A you are.”

“Can’t say I’ve heard of you, but neither can I say I can relate,” Armstrong replied, before her look hardened again. “Regardless, enough of this chatter. We’re almost there, and I’m a professional. I can't let myself be seen getting chummy with you. It’s a weakness I won’t allow.” She thus quickened her pace.

Angel took a deep breath, and General Angel let it out. “Understood.”

They eventually made it to the castle, all in silence as the ponies around the city watched on with wary looks. In time, they reached the doors, and the two Guards stationed there opened them, and they walked inside.

Soon after they were walking through the halls and corridors, up stairs and all around the castle, until they reached the doors to the throne room. Armstrong stopped in front of them, turning to Angel. “Wait here, I need to let the Royals know so they can get the others.” With that, she walked inside, the massive doors closing behind her with a resounding clamor of stone on crystal.

Angel raised an eyebrow. “The others? Must be the Princesses and the Bearers.” She sighed, opening a pocket dimension and pulling out a military uniform. “Well, best to make a proper first impression.” Ignoring the guards on either side of the door, Angel doffed her armor and placed it into the void, closing it up. She quickly donned her uniform, straightening it out before standing at attention. She waited.

The door opened after a few more quiet minutes of the Guards trying to remain stone-faced after Angel basically doing a strip show in front of them. Armstrong peeked her head out of the door.

“You can come in now,” she said.

Angel nodded and strode forward, pushing the door more fully open. She marched straight ahead, stopping a stone’s throw from the large group of ponies gathered in the throne room. All four Princesses were in attendance, Cadence accompanied by her husband and Twilight by her fellow bearers, along with Starlight Glimmer and Spike. Angel was surprised to see that the girls bore the Elements of Harmony, but was even more surprised to see three figures she’d only seen illustrated in books of legend: Mage Meadowbrook, Mistmane, and Starswirl the Bearded. She snapped off a salute. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire.” She lowered her salute and nodded in respect to the rest of the group. “And accompanying Royals and Heroes of Equestria. I am Angel the Undying, Champion of Minos, High General of the United Zebrica, and Ally of Equestria. I come before you to plead the case of Skull, known to you as ‘the Cursebringer.’ I ask that you hear my words.”

“I do not recall anyone bearing your name or titles before, yet you have said them quite bluntly,” Celestia began. She narrowed her eyes. “Just what, may I ask, are you trying to pull?”

“The case of the Cursebringer is not one to be taken lightly, either,” Luna continued.

Angel nodded. “Indeed not. I have been made aware of his most heinous crime against Equestria.” Her eyes softened as they turned to Fluttershy. “And against you personally. My condolences.” Her eyes sharpened again as they turned back to the sister Princesses. “But I seek no deception here. My name is not had in these lands for one simple reason: I am not of this world.”

Their eyes widened, before Starswirl spoke up. “You mean to tell us that you’re a resident of a different world? Yet one similar to ours?” He looked Angel up and down, then scoffed. “Hrmph, yet you’ve sided with our enemy. A pity.”

“Teacher, please, let us talk,” Celestia cut off. Starswirl grunted, but conceded. Celestia turned back to Angel. “So, you say you come from another world? And judging from your titles, one similar to ours?” Celestia leaned back in the throne. “Quite a claim to make, I must say.”

“But not exactly impossible, Princess,” Twilight spoke up.

“True, young Sparkle,” Luna concurred.

“Then the question is, why would you side with a Spawn of Sombra?” Shining Armor asked. Cadence remained quiet, but she seemed to be scrutinizing Angel.

“Your question cannot be answered,” Angel replied, “for it is rooted in fallacy. Skull is not of Sombra, but of a world far removed from this or any Equestria. As am I. Whatever he has done since his arrival, he is in no way tied to the fallen Tyrant of Shadows.”

“Then how do you explain his mangling of poor animals?! Or cutting my Dissy’s head clean off?!” Fluttershy roared, flying over to Angel’s face in mere nanoseconds, tears in her eyes.

“Fluttershy!” Applejack cried, rushing over and grabbing the mare.

“I don’t care what you say! I’ll never forgive that… That…monster!” Fluttershy said, though she didn’t struggle when Applejack pulled her back.

"Your bucking right! That plothole hurt my coltfriend!" Rainbow roared.

“Maybe we should get ya somewhere quiet, Flutters,” Applejack suggested. Fluttershy continued to cry, but also continued to glare at Angel.

“No, she’s right.” The ponies stared in shock at Angel. “She has every right to despise Skull for his actions. She has suffered a great deal, and no words from me could ever hope to appease her.” Angel turned her attention back to Fluttershy. “You say that you will never forgive him? I do not blame you. But I do take issue with you labeling him a monster. I have every confidence that, should you hear my explanation out, you will revise your opinion of him, even if forgiveness remains beyond your ability to give.” She paused for a moment. “However, I will also understand if you would find such things difficult to hear from me. If you would rather hear it from your friends later, I will not think less of you.” Her face softened, her eyes gazing through Fluttershy and seeing legions of zebras and minotaurs. “I have seen too many family members wrought with grief to label such fragility a weakness.”

Fluttershy just continued to glare, though it softened slightly as she thought. Rainbow had been glaring the whole time. Celestia watched her with a frown, then turned back to Angel.

“So, you have proof of his innocence, I assume?” she asked.

“And proof that he didn’t curse us with all these dreadful beasts?” Rarity added.

“What I have,” Angel replied, her face a steel mask once again, “is a personal account of how I arrived in my own Equestria. I can present evidence to support my claims. From there, I have a chain of logic that places Skull in a similar position to myself, thus starting his time in Equestria as a blank slate, completely innocent. I further have conjecture as to what transpired to lead to where things stand today, though that may require some information from all of you.” She turned to the side, running her fingers through the air and opening a black void. “That may seem flimsy now,” she said, “but I believe the evidence I present will prove the veracity of my origins sufficiently.” She pulled out her laptop and opened it, entering a few quick keystrokes. “From there, I would ask you to trust that I mean no deception.” She looked up at Cadence. “Would that be acceptable?”

They all looked at each other, then to Applejack. Applejack nodded. “She ain’t lied yet.”

They all turned to Angel again. “Very well. Show us, then.” Cadence urged.

Angel nodded and approached them, turning her laptop around and queuing up the first episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

“It’s called a ‘television program,’” Angel explained as the episode finished. “Simply put, it is a means of telling stories. Before I arrived in my Equestria, that’s all I believed this world to be: a story.” She sighed as she turned the laptop back around, stepping back as she began typing again. “I sometimes wish I had remained in ignorance.”

“Fascinating… How does that work, exactly? I’ve never heard of a television program,” Star Swirl queried.

“It probably uses the same kind of idea that arcades use for their machines,” Twilight explained. Everyone but Star Swirl, Meadowbrook, and Mistmane nodded in understanding.

“You mean those noisy contraptions that gave me a headache the first time you tried to show me the leaps we’ve made in technology?” Star Swirl asked. Twilight giggled nervously, rubbing the back of her head.

“Yeah… Sorry about that,” she said sheepishly, rubbing her arm.

“Well, I still don’t see how this proves anything,” Rainbow butted in.

“It is the beginning of my proof about myself,” Angel explained. She turned the computer around again, showing a depiction of a familiar sixteen-year-old, accompanied by a number of other humans standing beneath a red title. “And this is the next part. This program is called ‘Angel Beats,’ and during a summer back in my world, I attended a fan convention dressed as one of the main characters, Kanade Tachibana, aka. Angel.”

“I see…” Luna mused, hoof on her chin. “So, if I’m understanding this correctly, you’re basically saying he was in a similar situation? And that he did not come to this world of a dark birth, but of a happenstance he was not a willing subject of?”

Angel nodded. “Exactly.” She took back the laptop and began typing again. “While at the convention, I purchased this laptop from a being known to people in my situation as ‘The Merchant.’ He has taken many humans from various versions of Earth - my home planet - and placed them in various Equestrias for unknown reasons, granting them the skills and abilities of whomever they were costumed as. Skull is the victim of a different being known as ‘Trader.’ We who have been taken from our worlds and thrust into another are known as ‘the Displaced.’” She sighed, looking up from her laptop. “And unfortunately for you, we weren’t the only ones affected when these beings decided to toss us around.”

“The Monsters! Of course!” Twilight cried, clapping her hooves together.

“So, you say that our world has been infected as a result of… what? His presence? Or just some sick game by these beings?” Celestia queried.

“Seems a bit far-fetched to me,” Shining said with a scoff.

“And if it is true, it doesn’t excuse what he did to my close friends,” Star Swirl continued. He shot a glare to Angel. “He attacked us. Without reason, and with great brutality. Rockhoof is concussed, Flash Magnus is now taking mental help, and Somnambula…” He grit his teeth. “...She will never fly again. And she’ll likely be weakened for years to come.”

Angel hummed to herself, looking off into the distance. “He failed to mention that.” She turned her attention back to Starswirl. “I have a guess as to his reasons, but I would rather confer with him before voicing them. Regardless, I can confirm that Trader is the one truly responsible for bringing the monsters here.”

She turned to Twilight. “You mentioned arcade games earlier. The character that he dressed as is from a similar type of game, one titled ‘Monster Hunter.’ I assume you can figure out what the object of the game was.” She addressed the ponies as a whole. “Human history and society is a good deal more violent and restless than that of ponies. Games such as the one he is from are not uncommon. Upon his arrival, I can only assume that he began hunting these monsters as a means of survival.” She nodded to Fluttershy. “Thus an answer to your accusation of slaughter. Survival doesn’t allow for niceties.”

“Ah find that a bit hard to believe,” Applejack spoke up. “Ah’ve seen my fair share of Griffons, ‘specially recently. Never seen any take a monster’s horns, or fangs, or even it’s tail or wing, even fer sport.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Exactly! Why would he need those? What kind of pony would just take off entire limbs from a poor animal after it’s dead?”

“Again, survival,” Angel replied. “In Monster Hunter, you stripped the Monsters you killed of parts and used them to craft weapons, armor, items, et cetera. The armor I entered the city wearing was crafted from the hide, tusks, and trunk of a monster we slew this morning. A Gammoth.”

Their eyes widened, and they all backed away from her in disgust. “You wore that into the city? And you’re saying he… He uses their pieces like that?!” Fluttershy cried, muzzle scrunching up. “That’s… That’s just terrible!”

“I agree! Why in the world would he need to do that?” Twilight queried.

“Because no other weapon is effective against them,” Angel answered. “I can summon blades whose quality equals that of steel. They wouldn’t be able to so much as scratch some of the stronger Monsters. And their attacks could easily shatter my armor of similar make. The only way to fight the Monsters is to use weapons and armor crafted from them.” She hesitated before adding, “Magic also seems to work to a degree, but I’m not sure that he can use any without the aid of said weapons.”

“I see… That would certainly align with our reports on these monsters…” Luna noted.

“It would also explain why my magic did nothing to them, and how a direct headbutt from Rockhoof didn’t even make a small one flinch…” Star Swirl mused, stroking his beard. Fluttershy’s gaze slowly softened, but it was obviously still angry and full of hurt.

“Still… The fact remains that he has committed crimes, and they cannot be ignored,” Shining put in.

“That is true, Shining Armor,” Celestia concurred, hoof on her chin as she hummed in thought, closing her eyes. Before Angel could retort, however, she spoke again. “However, it does appear that we have been wrong as well, at least to a degree.” She opened her eyes and looked to Angel. “Would you mind giving us some time to think this over? We should be done by the morning.”

Angel nodded. “Of course, Princess Celestia.” She hesitated, her eyes darting to Fluttershy and back. “However, I do have one question before I depart.”

“Oh?” Celestia said, quirking a brow.

Angel took a deep breath, steeling herself. “What were the exact circumstances behind Discord’s encounter with Skull?” Immediately, the faces of the ponies turned dark, either lowering their heads or gaining a steely determination.

“...We sent him to find out more about Skull, and if necessary, eliminate him,” Celestia answered after a few long seconds of silence.

“I see.” Angel was silent for a moment before she turned away. “Think on what I’ve told you,” she said. “Consider all of it. Bear in mind that Skull had no knowledge of this world before his arrival. Consider Discord’s appearance and demeanor. Picture a young man, far from home, confused, and constantly afraid for his life, being suddenly confronted by a being as chaotic and powerful as Discord. And then ask yourselves… were his actions those of a heartless murderer, or a cornered animal?” She walked out the doors, closing them behind her.

She immediately collapsed back against them, gasping for breath. She eyed the guard to her right. “Four alicorns, the Elements of Harmony, and Starswirl the freaking Bearded. I’m surprised I held out this long.” She chuckled to herself before pushing off of the door and standing straight. “Tell General Armstrong that I have an appointment with the Royals tomorrow morning. Until then,” she looked outward, focusing on a sense in the back of her mind. “Teleport: Long Range: Beacon: Designation - Skull’s Cabin.” In a flash of light, she was gone.

When she arrived, she stumbled a bit, then noticed a peculiar sound. It sounded like an acoustic guitar, but the song was... ominous. Sad.

She walked up to the cabin, kicking the snow from her boots and stepping inside. She saw that Skull wasn’t anywhere on the bottom floor. His armor was on a stand near his bed, and she noted the sound of the song was coming from above her.

Angel closed her eyes, listening to the tune and allowing it to fill her. She slowly began to sway to the music. She took a step. Another. The tempo picked up and she started to dance. She spun and stepped around the room, letting the unfamiliar music carry her.

It sounded like the sad tale of a man facing off alone against some ungodly horde, but with a hint of pride in the mix. When it ended, she heard some mutterings from above, and… sniffling? Angel crept up the ladder, finding Skull sitting in the attic, his back to her, but she could see an acoustic guitar in his hands, decorated with a Christian Cross, and at the far end of the attic room, a small picture with a single candle alight below it.

Skull was in the fur clothes she’d seen him wear before, instead of his armor. “I remember, Grandpa… ‘The world is against me. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise.’ I won’t forget, I promise…” he muttered with shaky breath. Krak Pot was on the floor next to Angel’s foot.

“Lad’s in a tight moment right now, miss. Could use some comfort,” he whispered to her.

Angel nodded, stepping forward. “It isn’t easy, is it?” Skull jumped and spun around, but Angel’s eyes were locked on something only she could see. “Being the sole voice of sanity shouting into the hurricane. The would-be saint, stained crimson with the blood of so many. Torn from peace, and thrust into Hell.” She turned her head down, her eyes meeting his. “It’s amazing any of us are still sane. It’s amazing any of us still care.”

He wiped an errant tear from his eye, then turned back to the picture. “...Yeah. It is,” he answered slowly.

Angel walked over and knelt on the floor beside him. “Who is it?”

“...” he was silent, but eventually gained a small, sad smile. “...My grandfather.”

“I see.” Angel sat in silence for a moment. “I envy you. I have nothing to remember my family by. Well,” she shrugged, “a saved copy of the internet, but Facebook pics and shared memes don’t really hold any weight.”

“...He used to say I was the spitting image of my dad,” Skull began. “That I was carrying on the family’s name.” He let a tear fall down his cheek. “...Then…” He shook his head, wiping his tears and standing up, walking towards the candle and snuffing it’s flame out. “...Forget it. Let’s get some food.”

Angel watched him climb down the ladder. She stood and turned back to the picture. She bowed low, holding it for a minute. “I promise,” she whispered, standing again. “On my name, the only part of me that is still my own, I will not leave him stranded. He shall have friends. Support. Strength. He will not bear this weight alone.” She turned and walked towards the ladder.

“For now, he has an Angel to watch over him.”

Skull was currently sitting by the hearth of his home, in a fur-covered wooden chair, almost tribal in style. He was nursing a wooden mug of beer, his plate of food practically untouched on the nightstand next to him. Angel’s food was on the table, still steaming.

Angel sat at the table and began eating. “They need the rest of the day to think about what I told them,” she said between bites. “But they do seem to be receptive to what I said. I’m going back tomorrow morning.”

“...Noted,” Skull said, before taking a sip of his beer.

Angel nodded as she continued. “But they also said something that concerns me. They claim that you attacked a few of them without provocation, placing one into a coma, mentally scarring another, and grounding a third. A pegasus.” She took another bite, letting her words sink in as she chewed. “I’m going to have to know your side of the story before I return.”

Silence for a few moments. Then, he sighed, placing his mug down next to his plate of untouched food and leaning back in his chair.

“...I didn’t want to do it,” he began slowly. “But after all the times I’d been tailed, after all the racism and discrimination and threats of death…” He shook his head, glancing back at her. His golden eyes shone with guilt and shame, before he looked back to the flames roaring in the hearth. “...I got desperate, and decided to send them a message.” He said nothing more as he stared into the flames.

Angel sighed, picking up a giant drumstick and tilting her chair back onto its hind legs, propping her feet up on the table. “Yeah, okay. I’ll probably be able to spin that.” She tore off a strip of meat, chewing thoughtfully and swallowing before she continued. “Although, they do seem to be associates of Starswirl the freaking Bearded, so probably ancient heroes of great renown or something. It’ll be hard to appease Equestria as a whole after that. I don’t suppose you have any healing magic in your arsenal that could help?”

He slowly nodded. “Healing magic, healing potions… Haven’t tried any of them on someone missing a wing, though. Or any limb, for that matter.”

“Let’s test it, then!” Angel put her feet down, letting the chair fall forward again. She summoned her blade and laid her other arm across the table. “If it doesn’t work, I can always just kill myself.” She shuddered. “Don’t tell Spot I said that; he spent the better part of three months beating that mentality out of me.”

“...” Skull didn’t move for a time. Then, he sighed and got up, walking over to his red storage chest and pulling out a dull orange flask with a cork in it. He walked over to her and placed it down next to her plate on the table. “Try this. It’s one of the best in the game, because it heals all your health instead of some. Just be warned that it tastes like dust and chalk, only liquid.”

Angel chuckled, raising her blade high above her head. “Can’t be worse than any of the zebra concoctions I’ve tried.” She placed the drumstick in her mouth and bit down hard as she brought the blade swinging down. The meat muffled her scream as her arm was slashed clean off, blood immediately spurting all over the table. She spat out the meat, turning her blade arm back to normal and grabbing the flask. She bit the cork and yanked her neck back, popping it out. She spat it out to the side and tipped her head back, chugging the potion like her life depended on it. She slammed the empty bottle down on the table, shivering as it flooded her system. “Damn!” she rasped. “You weren’t kidding about the taste. That waaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Angel grabbed her stump, crying out in agony. Fire shot through her arm, a thousand blades slicing away at the bloody stump at the end. Slowly, agonizingly, the flesh of her arm began to creep downward, forming new bone and sinew as it went.

“GAH!” Angel shouted, falling out of her chair and curling up on the ground. “AAAAGH!!! DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!!! GAH! CAN’T EVEN KILL MYSELF!” The flesh sped up, forming her wrist and hand in half the time it had taken for the bottom half of her lower arm. Angel shuddered a few more times before wiping away her tears and glaring up at Skull. “With how sensitive wings are, I really, really don’t envy this Somnambula mare.”

“I can’t say I can relate, but, at least it worked,” Skull replied. He offered her a hand up. “Still, you okay?” There was genuine concern in his tone. Angel noted it seemed a bit more than normal.

“Fine,” she replied, taking his hand and pulling herself up. She blinked in surprise at the lack of pain in her newly regrown arm. She flexed and rotated it, surprised at how normally it functioned. There wasn’t even a scar. “Huh. Useful stuff, that. I’ll have to see if I can get a scan of it.” She glanced at the table and winced at the image of her severed arm, still bleeding on the table. “That’s… really creepy. My body parts usually vanish when I revive. Seeing my arm like that… yeah. That’s weird.”

“Well, I’m just glad it worked. I don’t feel comfortable seeing a friend die, even if you can come back,” Skull responded. He looked to her arm. “...As a side note, maybe we should burn that. Or do something to get rid of it, at least.”

“Are you kidding?!” Angel swiped the arm from the table, grinning as she opened a portal and tossed it in. “Do you have ANY idea the pranks I could pull with that? Stick it in my sleeve, go up to shake a minotaur’s hand, and suddenly, AGH! NO! MY ARM! AAAAAAH!!!” Angel giggled, closing up the portal. “Oh, if I ever get back to Equestria, RD’s going to get a kick out of that one.” Angel’s face suddenly fell. “That is, if she forgives me for…” Silence overtook her as she stared into the distance.

Skull frowned at this. “Hey, you okay?” He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged him off. “Fine, fine. Just… I left a lot of ponies angry when last I was there. They didn’t understand… they couldn’t understand…” She sighed. “I did what I had to do, and the explanation of why would have shattered their worldview. I… wanted them to keep ahold of their innocence for as long as possible.” Her frown morphed into a scowl. “Something that the dragons are making extremely difficult.”

Skull sighed, then pulled her into a hug out of nowhere. Angel stiffened. “...I’m… Not the best at conversation anymore, or social interaction, but…” He sighed once more. “...I’m here if you need someone to talk to or shoot the breeze with, okay?”

Angel relaxed into the hug. “That’s… Thanks. I… I’ll probably take you up on that. Spot isn’t really the type to offer emotional support.” She chuckled. “Ironic. Also,” she stepped back out of the hug and smirked up at him, raising an eyebrow, “a little warning next time would be a good idea. I’m not used to anyone grabbing me like that unless they’re trying to crush my ribcage. You almost got a sword to the gut.”

Skull chuckled, blushing a bit and scratching his cheek. “W-Well, I’ll keep that in mind,” His eyes then widened. “Oh! I nearly forgot something, hang on.” He walked over to the red storage chest, rummaging through it for a bit. He pulled out three items, one a necklace with fangs and a light, bluish-gray crystal, one a simple paper charm like from Japan, and one a golden medal in the shape of a shield. “Here, these are some items I’ve gotten from walking around and hunting. They should help in a pinch.”

Angel took the items, looking them over. “Huh. Not really my style to accessorize, but I’m guessing these are no regular items.” She slipped the necklace around her neck and pinned the medal to her shirt. She held the charm in one hand, turning it over a couple of times before looking back up at Skull. “Okay, what the heck am I supposed to do with this one?”

“Tie it to a sash, or a belt, or just keep it in your pocket. Either way, try not to lose it. It helps keep, for lack of a better word, ‘critical attacks’ from hitting you,” Skull explained. He pointed to the necklace. “That will give you the ability to block normally unavoidable attacks, and also increase your invulnerability when dodging.” He pointed to the medal. “And that will up your agility a bunch.”

“Really?” Angel smiled, tucking the charm into her pocket. “I’ll have to test those out against Spot, see if he can still out-maneuver me.” She winced. “Probably not, but it’ll be worth a shot.” She smiled up at Skull. “Thanks. These should be really useful against the dragons.”

Skull smiled back. “Anything for a friend.” He looked out the window. “Woah, it’s that time of year again, huh?” He smiled wider and started to walk towards the door. “Follow me, we’re in for a special treat tonight.” Angel raised an eyebrow before following him out. Once outside, he ushered her towards the other side of the cabin which faced the cliff, where a wooden bench sat. He sat down on it, patting the spot next to him. “Come on, sit down, it’s about to start.”

Angel sat beside him, staring out at the landscape before her. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s about to start?”

Skull’s smile just grew. “The Dance of Ice,” he said, before pointing to the distant tundra below them.

It started with chimes, reminiscent of xylophones, but more mystical. It was slow, but it built up. She heard howls, not unlike wolves, but also similar to sirens. They grew in number, until they all did one thing she didn’t expect; they began to harmonize, like some spiritual chant.

Then, the clouds below glimmered with blue light, the forms of ethereal, blue horses diving in and out of the clouds in some strange dance. They darted to and fro, back and forth, and the glimmer of blue grew more bright. All the while the howls continued in the background.

The Wendigoe twirled around each other, countless pairs, likely couples or mates, prancing around each other in the clouds, creating waves of snow and frost from each hoofstep. The howls grew in volume as they all flipped over and flourished. The howls grew louder.

It was like the singing of northern men and women, like an ancient hymn, and drums and flutes joined in, along with many other instruments, the magic of the world helping to add to the music as the Wendigoes danced like the enchanting spirits they were.

They began dancing with more fervor, shapes forming from each flourish, from each stamp of a hoof. The shapes cascaded around them, from snowflakes to ice sculptures of countless races that moved with the Wendigoes and danced with the same fervor and enchantment that they did.

Angel stared slack-jawed at the display, her eyes dancing in delight. “It’s… it’s beautiful,” she whispered, shivering against the otherworldly nature of the display. “And ominous all at once.” She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder as she watched. “I wonder if we have something like this back home?” Skull blushed at the contact, but didn’t move.

“W-Well, maybe you should go to the Frozen North and find out. The Wendigoes can be reasoned with, if you’re careful, after all. They’re just like any regular spirit, really,” Skull explained. He hesitantly reached an arm up to wrap around her, but stopped short.

Angel sighed, her smile slipping a little. “I wish I could,” she muttered, “but I can’t leave the front for that long. Heck, spending these days here is stretching it. Not that it isn’t worth it, though.” She tilted her head up, giving Skull a sly look. “Though it would be even more worth it if you would stop being a coward and move that arm the rest of the way.”

Skull flushed a deeper shade of red, looking away as he slowly did as told, wrapping his powerful arm around her. “There, h-happy?”

Angel giggled and turned her attention back to the display below, the better to hide her own blush. They watched the Wendigoes dance into the night side by side, and while the spirits and winds of cold were all around them, they felt warmth in their hearts.

Angel murmured to herself, rolling over and doing her best to stay asleep. I’m on vacation, she thought. I’m on vacation I’m on vacation I’m on vacation I’m on vacation I’m on vacation GAH! She sat up straight, glaring at nothing in particular. Stupid military habits! She sighed as she got up, grabbing her clothes from the previous day and pulling them on.

She quickly noticed the smell of, to her delight, cooking bacon, steak, and vegetable stew. She looked to the side of the cabin with the kitchen and saw Skull in his fur clothes, cooking breakfast.

“Now that’s a sight I could get used to,” Angel muttered. Seeing Skull perk up, she blushed and coughed. “Scent, I mean. A scent I could get used to. Heh heh.”

He quirked a brow at her, then shrugged. “Well, now that you have a beacon here, you can come over for a meal or just to talk whenever you need.” He began. He motioned with a spatula to the table. “Why don’t you sit down over there?”

Angel nodded, stretching her arms above her head as she walked over to the table. “Don’t mind if I do. Going to need a LOT of protein in my diet for the next few months anyway.” She glared as she sat down. “Building muscle mass back up is the most annoying part of dying.”

“So you’re saying that each time you die you lose muscle mass and return to being sixteen?” Skull queried, flipping some of the bacon over masterfully.

“I reset entirely,” Angel confirmed. “Right back to how I was when I first arrived. Heck, even my stomach contents get reset.” Skull opened his mouth. “Don’t ask me how I know that.” He promptly closed it. Angel sighed. “And let me tell you, that made things reeeeeally difficult with the minotaurs. I died during almost every fight early on, and with their entire culture centered on strength…” She shrugged. “Let’s just say it took a lot of skill to make up for being so scrawny.”

Skull hummed in thought. He flipped another strip of bacon and took a look at the steak in the oven. After a second of gazing at it, he nodded his head, then pulled it out. Soon after the stew was done, and he went about grabbing the necessary plates and bowls for them.

After he was done with that, he set a tray down for each of them, the food all set. He then placed a glass of mineral water down in front of her, then sat down in his chair and began to eat.

“Mmmmmmm.” A smile split Angel’s face as she dug into her meal, humming in contentment. “Yeah, it’s going to suck going back to the vegetarian life after this.” She washed down her food with a quick drink before sighing and looking up at Skull. “Hey, maybe you could visit my place next time. Bet you’d be great at tearing apart dragons.”

Skull rubbed his chin. “Hmm… Could be a good idea. Who knows, might split one in two with a single strike, since most of my weapons deal Dragon damage.” He shrugged and took a bite of his steak after cutting it up.

“Probably,” Angel admitted. “They really aren’t that hard to kill, compared to the monsters that you fight.” She sighed and looked down at her stew, stirring it slowly with her spoon. “It’s collateral you have to worry about. They aren’t exactly keen on fighting the strongest warrior in the group. Most of them are content to just torch a village, grab a few shinies, and run.” Her melancholy stare shifted into a hateful grimace. “No matter how many people they kill on the way.” Skull frowned, reaching over and putting his hand on hers.

“Well, I’m always here if you need me,” he reminded her. He gained a joking grin. “Not like I have much to do around here, after all.”

“Hm, that may change, though.” She smiled up at him. “After all, I got the ponies to listen to me last night. The Princesses seem to believe me, and having AJ there to confirm that I was telling the truth certainly helped.” She sighed, her smile slipping a bit. “Fluttershy… still probably won’t forgive you unless you somehow figure out what’s keeping Discord from coming back, but at least she doesn’t want you dead anymore.” Her eyes narrowed. “I think.” She shook her head and returned to her meal. “Anyway, as long as nothing horrible happens today, everything should-”

Angel sat up ramrod straight, clasping a hand over her mouth and staring outward in horror. Skull gave her a concerned look. “What? What's wrong?”

“I said that out loud,” Angel whispered. She grit her teeth and slammed both fists down on the table, glaring at it like she wanted it to burst into flame. “I FREAKING SAID IT OUT LOUD!!! Gah, I’m an idiot!”

“Woah, woah, hold on!” He cried, waving his hands in a semi-placating motion. “What’s so bad about saying it out loud?”

“What’s so bad? WHAT’S SO BAD?!” Angel stood suddenly, her chair slamming backwards and falling to the floor. “What’s so bad is that you and I are the playthings of FREAKING VOID DWELLERS!!! You think I can tempt fate like that and they WON’T act on it?!”

“Well, it’s not like they listen to everything we say all the time, right?” Skull began.

“Incorrect, my good man,” came the familiar tones of Trader. Skull jumped out of his seat, and Trader just giggled daintily as he turned to face the woman. “Oh come now, you should know we Void Dweller’s tend to hear a lot more than you mortals ever do. Part and parcel for the gig.”

Angel snarled, glaring at the being. “So what’s it gonna be?” she asked through clenched teeth. “You lot never do things directly, so what is it? Sending a swarm of monsters to the Empire? Bringing in an evil Displaced so he can muck everything up even worse? What?!”

Trader giggled again, only louder. “Heh, heh hehe! Oh, oh you crack me up, you really do!” She slowly calmed down, shaking her head. “No, I’m not like the others. I tend to take more direct actions than my kin. So!” Trader stamped her cane on the ground, and a portal opened behind Angel. “What I’m doing is simple. I’m taking you back home, but with a final, tiny little gift.” Trader pulled a familiar shield out of her coat, the same one Skull had made for his token. “Here’s my offer. You either take this and...” she then pulled a contract out of her coat, holding it up in some unseen force of energy. “...sign this little beauty, or you never go back home.” Trader continued to smile at her, like she’d done nothing wrong.

Meanwhile, Skull seemed too shocked for words. Angel noted a glint of something in his eyes, of what she couldn’t tell. She was too focused on Trader. Her hands clenched into fists, her arms trembling. She glared at the Void Dweller, her teeth bared in a snarl, her eyes flashing red. Her breathing grew heavier and heavier until…

She calmed. Her face relaxed into a stoic mask, her eyes fading back to gold and her posture straightening into a professional stance. “I see,” she replied. “And what exactly does this contract entail? I make it a point not to take deals that I don’t fully understand the ramifications of.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “The Merchant taught me that much, at least.” Trader gained a mildly disgusted look.

“Ugh, please, I’m nothing like my father,” she shook her head. “Anyways, I’d rather we not discuss the contract whilst in company like this, so, mind walking with me outside?”

Angel gave a curt nod, before turning to face Skull, her expression softening. “I’ll be fine,” she promised. Assuming her mask again, she turned and walked out into the cold. Trader smiled and followed. Once outside, she snapped her fingers, a barrier surrounding the house. She turned to Angel.

“Now, the contents of the contract are rather simple,” she handed it to Angel, along with a pen. “I want you to come visit my favorite little boy whenever you can.” Trader’s expression never wavered from that same smile she always wore.

“Interesting,” Angel replied. “Because from the sound of it, you’re sending me away right now.” Her eyes narrowed. “There’s more to it than that.”

Trader chuckled. “Well, good to see my father picked a smart one.” She shook her head. “Regardless, you’re right. You see, Skull, as he no doubt told you, has been alone for four whole years. Not to mention the many years he spent alone back on Earth.” Trader twirled her cane absentmindedly, seeming more focused on it than Angel. “As such, he’s not very good at social interaction. He needs time to process things.” Trader shot a smirk at her. “Like the beginnings of affection.”

Angel raised an eyebrow, the only sign of emotion she allowed herself to show. “And my departure couldn’t wait until after I spoke on his behalf this morning because…”

Trader stopped twirling her cane for a moment. “Simple. Your troops need you right now.”

“I see.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “And the fact that time between worlds is malleable and you could easily have mine stand still for a few days is somehow, inexplicably and inconveniently, not a factor right now. Of course.” She sighed and signed the contract, taking the token and slinging it across her back. “Give me another minute with him; I’ll port back after that.”

Trader nodded, and Angel swore she saw her wink at her. “Just don’t take too long with him, kay~?”

Angel walked past the Void Dweller, not sparing her so much as a second glance. She entered the cabin again, her mask instantly breaking as she sighed sadly. She avoided Skull’s gaze, going over to her sleeping bag and beginning to roll it up. “I have to go. They need me back at the front.”

Skull was silent for a time. He stretched a hand out to her, but stopped short. His gaze lowered to the floor, and slowly, his hand with it.

“...Right,” he said slowly. He looked to the kitchen. “...” He sighed deeply, his face holding a frown. “...You want some food for the road?”

“...that’d be nice.” Angel finished rolling up her bag. She opened a pocket dimension and shoved it in before standing. “Not sure what the situation will be like once I get there. Better make it something light.”

“Right,” Skull said, walking over to an old ice box near the kitchen. He opened it up, then pulled out a package of what she instantly recognized as jerky, as well as some bacon. He walked over and handed them to her. “Here. It’s some jerky I made last week. The bacon is from a Mosswine.” He told her.

Angel nodded, taking them in her left hand. “Thank you.” She held her right out to him, finally looking up to meet his gaze. “Well, it was wonderful to meet you. I’ll be back as soon as I can spare time away from the front.” He stared at her hand a second or two, then clasped his own around it firmly.

“Same here,” he replied. He seemed more stiff in his movements and behavior, Angel noted. He let go of her hand. “Well, I won’t keep you. Go help your men.”

Angel nodded, stepping back and closing her eyes. She let out a melancholy sigh. “Teleport: Long Range: Beacon: Designation - Mount Sheer-Flame.” And in a flash of light, she was gone.