Possibilities: Angels of Equestria

Chapters

Prologue [EDITED]
Ch.1: "What the hell happened?"
Ch.2: The First Day
Ch.3: The Power of the Angels
Ch.4: A Friend In Need...
Ch.5: ...Is A Friend Indeed
Ch.6: A Sparring Session
Side Story Ch. 1: Runa
Side Story Ch.2: Irune part 1: The Arena

Prologue [EDITED]

Leo woke with a start, his phone's ringing resounding in his head. He picked up his phone with a groan escaping his lips.
"What in the seven hells do you want Cierra? Unlike you, I need my sleep." Leo said in a very annoyed tone. Cierra was really pushing it with the countless calls she made in the middle of the night.

"Oh Ha ha, very funny." Cierra said on the other line. Don't get me wrong. Leo and Cierra were the best of friends. It's just that Cierra often liked to use Leo in her very fucked up experiments. Because she knew he wouldn't die. He just wouldn't die. Due to him being basically immortal. And the fact that he was one of the best fighters she knew. Overall, a bad combination for Leo.

"Anyway, I need you to come to the lab tomorrow." Leo wasn't surprised. The only time Cierra ever called is if she needed help with some kind of suicidal or insane experiment. Tonight wasn't any different from the others.

"Oh god, if this involves another Narga-" Cierra cut him off.

"Oh no, this isn't anything like that. I'll show you when you get here. Now, go back to bed. You'll need all the energy you can get." Cierra hung up as soon as she finished her sentence. Leo removed the phone from his ear and stared at the disconnected message on it. He put the phone back on the nightstand and laid back into bed. He ran his fingers through his snow white hair as his thoughts roamed.

"I got a bad feeling about this... then again, when don't I when it involves Cierra?" Leo said with a sigh as he fell back into the blissful state of sleep.

In Ponyville, Pinkie's Pinkie sense was going crazy. She was shaking way more than the time Twilight didn't believe in the Pinkie Sense. She quickly made her way past the town square and to Twilight's library. She rapped her shaking hoof on the door and was answered by the librarian of said library.
"Twi-i-i-ligh-igh-t!" Pinkie said in between shakes.

"Hey Pinkie. There must be something big about to happen if you've been shaking like this all week!" Twilight responded as Pinkie stopped shaking.

"Huh. It stopped." Pinkie said with a confused and worried look on her face. Twilight seemed to pick up on her emotions.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Pinkie. You don't have to worry." Twilight said with an encouraging smile.

"If you say so, Twilight." Pinkie said in a cheery tone, remembering the last time she did that. She simply continued her day as if it never happened. Little did she know, they were about to have a new neighbor coming in today.

The next morning, Leo was trying to steal a few more hours of sleep, but the light of the morning wouldn't allow it. The light mercilessly assaulted his eyes. Normally, Leo would just cast a darkness spell for him to sleep longer, but he was too tired. Leo eventually gave in to the light and opened his eyes.
"Ugh, I have to see Cierra today.... This'll be interesting." Leo said with a half-scowl, half-smirk. Leo went down the stairs to be greeted with the fragrance of bacon and the sight of his sister at the stove.

"Good morning, Leo!" His sister, Ayane, greeted with her black bangs hanging just above her left brow. Every time he looked at his sister, he would always feel the pangs of guilt rise in his chest. He would never forgive himself for just telling her to run away when he was mortally wounded many years ago. He didn't know if she would be okay. Whenever he looked back on the day they were separated, he thought it was the only choice at the time. Oh, how stupid he was. She may have forgiven him, but he hasn't.

"Hey sis. Are Runa and Emily awake yet?" Leo asked as he walked down the stairs.

"No. Are you planning on waking them up?" Ayane asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah..." Leo said as a devious smile crept onto his face.

He crept up the stairs to Runa's room and opened the door to see a blonde girl with cat ears that twitched, but showed no signs of her waking up anytime soon. Leo found it convenient that she was facing the window. Another smile formed on his face as he pulled back the curtains. Runa's eyes shot open as she sat up.

"OH THE LIGHT!!!! IT BURNS!!!" Runa yelled as she fell to the floor with a solid thud.

"Well good morning, sleeping beauty." Leo said, trying to stifle a laugh, failing miserably. Runa sat up and stared Leo down.

"Leo!? That wasn't very nice!" Runa said in her naturally cute voice while faking a pout. She crossed her arms and looked away from Leo, as if to say she was very mad at him. This was the opposite. She could never stay mad at him.

"Hehe, I know. I just couldn't resist! Anyway, breakfast is ready if you want it." Leo left the room to try and wake up Emily.

Leo entered the room across from Runa's to see Emily with some of her pink hair in her mouth as she hugged her pillow. She was also wearing the nightgown she always seemed to have with her wherever she went. Leo woke her up gently by blowing into her ear, eliciting a small yelp from the equally small girl.

"Leo! What was that for?" Emily squeaked and Leo gave a quiet chuckle.

"I didn't want to wake you, since you look so adorable when you're asleep." Leo answered, a smile forming on his lips.

"Leo, stop talking about me like that!" Emily half-heartedly demanded with a blush forming on her face, earning her another chuckle from Leo.

"Alright, alright Emy. Just go downstairs and eat your breakfast. I have to leave soon."

Leo ran down the stairs and ate his breakfast in 2 spoonfuls, then ran up to his room to get ready for the day ahead. He put on a clean shirt, pants, his prized black trench coat and a necklace his mother gave him. It had the shape of a golden four winged angel holding a crystal in its lower wings. He slung onto his back a claymore made of a silvery metal that was given to him by his late father, Shugo. He then brought his affectionately named handcannon, Ragnarok, and put in on his lower back. The gun was massive. For a handcannon, at least. The gun had a length of 16 inches and weighed at least 18 kilograms. The barrel had a huge bore to accommodate the massive S&W .500 Magnum rounds it used. But this wasn't the only thing about this gun. It could change forms. It could be a rifle, a shotgun and a set of dual pistols. This was attributed to its Metalmorph core, courtesy of Cierra. I won't bore you with the details, so I'll just say that this gun is amazing and no human can handle its power.

He strode out the door, but stopped at the doorframe, feeling a familiar twinge that often told him that he had forgotten something. He looked over his shoulder and felt a sad smile creep onto his face. On his desk sat a black cape with a hood and a simple soulstone necklace with a dark halo around it. He walked over to the items and ran his hand on the cape. His memories of a certain late friend flashed before his eyes. He quickly shut these out and stared at the items.
"Don't worry. You'll never be forgotten..." He said sadly as he took the items off his desk. He raised them into the air and engulfed them with black fire, sending them into his pocket dimension. Feeling as though his friend was right beside him, he left the room with more vigor than when he entered.

He walked down the stairs to see a blonde woman his age in an ice blue cape and a white vest and skirt in the process of putting on a pair of dark brown light gauntlets.
"Oh, good morning Leo." Greeted the woman with a smile.

"Mornin' Irune." Leo said as he approached his fellow angel. He looked at her back and then to her face.

"How are your wings coming along?" He asked with a sad tone to his voice as he looked to the floor. He felt that it was his fault that her wings were broken in the Battle of Angel Division. She gave him a worried look and walked up to him.

"They're fine. Look, it wasn't your fault that they got broken. Hell, if not for you, I'd be dead by now." She said as she lifted his chin to stare into her eyes. Leo's face seemed to brighten up when she said this.

"I know. I just wish I was fast enough to save you the time to let your wings heal." He said as he ran his hand through her hair.

"So, you ready to go?" asked Irune with a smile on her face. Leo smiled and he responded.

"Yeah. Cierra wants my help with some insane experiment." Leo said and the two girls sitting at the table bolted to their position.

"Can we come?" Asked Runa and Emily in unison with the same pleading eyes that they always used when they wanted something badly.

"Eh, sure, why not? Maybe she won't make me do anything stupid when you're with me." Leo said with a shrug and they went outside to ride Leo's bike.

The ride to the lab was fairly uneventful, even more so navigating the lab. They eventually reached Cierra's lab to find it was a total mess. Various stacks of books and papers were scattered everywhere and there were many different stains on the floor. Leo could make out a couple of study desks and a bed somewhere, but he couldn't really be sure. He also saw a fairly well-kept place that housed three different game consoles. Of course she was organized with video games.

"Wow, what a mess. Cierra's a total slo-" Leo was cut off by a stack of books falling on him.

"I prefer to call it organized chaos." Cierra said with a smug grin on her face. Cierra was always a little bit messy with her looks and her workspace. She was wearing her signature red dress and lab coat. Her hair was unkempt from staying up all night, apparently playing video games.

"Morning, Aunt Cierra!" Runa said as she and Emily hugged Cierra. She sighed. She felt a little old when they called her aunt. But she was 20, so she had nothing to worry about.

"Morning, girls! Did Leo bring you here?" She asked and they gave hasty nods.

"Oww...Cierra, the hell was that for?" Leo asked from his position on the ground while rubbing his head. Leo got up as the girls greeted Cierra.

"Nothing. Now, follow me." Cierra said and Leo groaned. He was always dealing with this, so why did he never get used to this? They followed Cierra to a room with a small white cube in the center and Cierra left the room to go to the observation deck.

"Cierra, are you sure this is safe?" Leo asked, not so much worried about his safety, but more for the safety of the three girls in the room with him.

"Well, it is now." Cierra answered with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Where the hell did she plan on sending me? Leo thought.

"So where are you sending us? Do we have to bring our weapons?" Asked Irune. Cierra brushed away a stray strand of her brown hair.

"1: you'll find out 2: yes, but leave them with Leo." Cierra answered.

"Alright. We're ready." Leo said as he put all the weapons in his pocket dimension.

"Alright! See you in a couple of years!" Cierra shouted cheerfully as she pulled down a lever and the cube starts to glow.

"Yea- Wait, What!?" Leo shouted as he realized what Cierra said. Couple of years? He had to stop this before he and the girls were sent to God-knows-where.

"Commencing experiment #7830!" Cierra shouted as the group disappeared in a flash of light.

"Portal to Equestria..." Cierra added.

Ch.1: "What the hell happened?"

Twilight was in her mini observatory in her tree home when she saw what looked like a shooting star streaking across the night sky with a glorious white tail.

"Wow... wait, why is it getting bigger?" Twilight asked to nopony in particular as the shooting star passed above her house and crashed near Fluttershy's house with a deafening boom.

"Spike! Wake up!" Twilight yelled from the balcony of her tree home.

"W-what? what happened, Twilight?" The baby dragon asked, still sleepy.

"Something crashed near the Everfree forest! We need to see if somepony got hurt!" Answered a frantic Twilight as she moved for the door.

"We need to see if Fluttershy is alright!" Twilight grabbed Spike and galloped to Fluttershy's cottage. As they got out of Ponyville and dirt roads began to show, they saw Fluttershy leaving her cottage to see what had crashed near it.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright!?" Twilight shouted, panic clear in her voice.

"I'm fine Twilight. I came out to see if any of my animals got hurt." Fluttershy responded. They looked over to Fluttershy's garden; the chicken coop being completely destroyed and a twenty foot ditch dug behind it. They first checked on the animals to make sure they were alright, and sure enough, they were.

They ran to the end of the ditch that was dug by the shooting star and were surprised by what they saw. Four ponies, one mare, one stallion and two fillies, all unconscious and injured by the crash.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to them?" Fluttershy asked as they approached the unconscious ponies.

"They must have been hit by whatever crashed here. We have to get them to the hospital." Twilight said and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. She teleported them all to the hospital.

The next evening, Leo's head was throbbing.

"Ugh, my head. I'm gonna kill Cierra when I see her again." He then noticed he was in a hospital bed in a room with waxed tile floors and roof and a single window.

"Huh? Why am I-" Leo cut himself off and froze when he looked at what was once a hand.
It was a hoof.
Leo was panicking even more when he saw the rest of his body. He was still wearing his trench coat and his necklace over a gray coat and black wings with a white mane and tail.
Well, at least that didn't change. Leo thought to himself.

He was about to contemplate what Cierra did to him, when the door opened to reveal another pony, this time with a horn on his head, who appeared to be a doctor.

"Good, you're awake. My name is Caramel." The doctor named Caramel said. Leo couldn't help but grit his teeth. He had a lot of bed experiences with doctors, but not of the medical kind.

"Leo. Where am I?" Asked a confused Leo.

"You are in Ponyville Hospital." Leo fought down the urge to laugh at the completely unoriginal name as he asked his next question.

"Were there any others with me?" Leo asked, fearing for the safety of the girls.

"Yes, actually. They're in the other room." Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He had to hand it to them. They were resilient. Then he remembered whose fault it was for them to be here in the first place.

"Hey, can I go for a walk on my own?" Leo asked and Caramel put hoof to his chin in thought.

"Sure. We were planning on discharging you, your wife and your children in the morning anyway." Leo was confused by the doctor's words.

"Wife and kids? They're not my wife and kids. Well, at least not yet." Leo said the last part proudly, with little seriousness in his voice and Caramel chuckled.

"Do you plan on proposing to her?" He asked.

"I dunno. I might have to think it through, but she seems like a really good choice." Leo said. Then he realized what he had just said. He shook his head several times to rid himself of the thought.
Keep it together, man. You can't think about that now. the voice in his head said to him as he turned to the doctor.

"So, can I go for a walk?" Leo asked as he got out of bed and the doctor got out of his way to allow him to go through the door.

Leo walked out and signed the release forms (How he did this is beyond me) so everypony could leave in the morning. Leo walked out behind the hospital where he was well out of earshot. He sat on the grass and let loose a mighty cry of rage that would have made the Dragonborn quiver in fear and probably knock over the hospital if he aimed it.
"CIERRA!!!!" The last thing he expected was a reply.

"Yes~?" came the curious and irritatingly singsong voice of Cierra from seemingly nowhere.

"You can hear me!?" Leo shouted and Cierra giggled on the other end.

"Yes. And before you rage on me, I have to give you a few tips." Leo was seething, but he needed to listen because she definitely knew more about this place than he did.

"Fine. I'll listen." Leo said with a sigh. This was getting old real fast. Sometimes he wished that Cierra would call for something normal, like a 24-hour gaming session or something.

"Alright, first: know your vocabulary.
Someone = somepony
Anyone = anypony
Everyone = everypony
Hell = hay
Fuck = buck
God = Celestia
Woman= mare
Man= stallion
Girl= filly
Boy= colt." Cierra said and Leo gave a questioning look.

"Wait, wait, wait. This is fucking retarded." Leo said in protest.

"Well you'll have to deal with it." Cierra said.

"Fuck you." Leo spat, the venom dripping off of his words.

"Ooohhh, when?" Cierra taunted.

"When I get out of here, that's when!" Leo shouted.

"Okay, I'll be waiting." Cierra said seductively.

What the fuck did I just say? Leo thought to himself.

"Anyway, just mind your manners. Don't swear." Cierra reminded him.

"Dammit." Leo whispered, but Cierra managed to hear it anyway.

"What did I just say?" Cierra was really pushing it.

"Fine. Is that all, or do I have to sit here for another hour, listening to you blabber on about how much you want me to fuck you?" Leo said and Cierra flinched on the other end. She began to blush at the thought of being in bed with Leo. She had to admit, he was pretty cute, and his.....yeah. He was perfect, in her opinion. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and returned to the conversation.

"Yes, that's all. Oh, wait! There's a bag in the hospital room. You should go get it." Cierra advised. Leo went back to his room to get the bag. Inside the bag were the necessities. Money. Food. Water. All their clothes. Everything was here. Even the cape and necklace.

"Huh? I thought I put that in the other dimension..." Leo thought as he left the bag in the room to check on the girls.He opened the door slowly, so as to avoid waking them. They were sleeping like angels (It was true for the oldest girl). Leo pulled up a chair and decided to wait for them to wake up. Leo fell asleep almost immediately.

The following morning almost made up for last night. The light allowed him to get a better look at the girls. In one of the beds was a bright orange filly with a messy blonde mane and wings who was sleeping soundly.

That must be Runa. Guess she's a pegasus then? Leo thought. In the next bed was a white filly with a long pink mane and a horn.

That is definitely Emily. And she's a unicorn. Cool. Leo thought more. In the last bed was an ice blue mare with a blonde mane and black wings like Leo, but slightly shorter.

That's definitely Irune. She's like me! Even better. Leo thought as Irune started to wake up.

"*yawn* Aaahh!! I'm a pony! You're a po-" Irune screamed, but Leo covered her mouth with his recently acquired hoof.

"I know. We're all ponies." said Leo. The screaming woke up the other girls.

"This has to be some kind of joke!" Runa shouted.

"Waahhh! Why am I a pony?" Emily said.

"Calm down, everyone. I can explain." Leo said as he gathered the girls around him and they prepared for his well thought explanation.

(One explanation later)

"So Cierra turned us into ponies?" Irune asked.

"Yep. Guess we have to deal with it." Leo said.

"And we have to talk like that?" She asked again, with a much calmer voice.

"Yep." Leo said, still angry at Cierra for not telling him. The conversation was interrupted by a visit from a lavender unicorn and a yellow pegasus.

"Thank goodness, you're all okay." The yellow pony sighed in relief.

"You all looked like you weren't going to make it. How did you all recover so quickly?" The lavender pony asked.

"That's confidential." Said Leo.

"Can we at least know your names?" The lavender pony asked.

"Leo, Irune, Runa, and Emily. Yours?" Leo said as he pointed to all of them one by one.

"Twilight Sparkle" The lavender unicorn said.

"fluttershy..." Fluttershy said in a barely audible tone.

"Excuse me? I didn't quite catch that." Leo said, putting his hoof behind his ear.

"Fluttershy..." Fluttershy said in a slightly louder tone.

"Ah, Fluttershy. A very nice name you have there." Leo said. Fluttershy tried to hide a blush behind her mane, but Leo caught that.
Do I really have that effect on people AND ponies? Leo thought to himself, despairing inwardly.

"Those are some pretty strange names. Are any of you from here?" Twilight asked.

"No. And thus, we have nowhere to stay. Do you know anywhere we could stay?" Leo asked.

"I can't say I know of any houses that are for sale here, but... If you're up for the work, I could introduce you to my friend Applejack." Twilight said and Leo piped up.

"Work? What kind of work?" Leo's eyes lit up at the mention of work. He couldn't wait to get at least a little of his old monster/demon slaying life back.

"Applebucking, mainly." Twilight said and Leo couldn't help but have a small frown appear on his face.
I'm gonna be kicking trees? Eh, better than nothing, I guess. Leo was a little disappointed, but it was better than nothing.

"Alright, lets go." Leo said and they left for Sweet Apple Acres.

The walk to Sweet Apple Acres wasn't a quiet one.
"Hey, what do your cutie marks mean?" Asked Twilight from the front.

"Huh?" Leo said as he looked back on the others flanks. Runa had a picture of a black scarf wrapped around a blade. Emily had a picture of a metallic panther skull. Irune had a picture of a blue mask with a crest of three ice crystals and bright blue wings. The picture had the shaft of her scythe sticking diagonally out the side of the mask as the blade curved under the mask.

"I don't really know." Leo said with an apologetic smile and Twilight gave a questioning look. Before she could ask what they meant, they had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and were greeted by an orange pony with a Stetson on her head and three apples as her cutie mark.

"Howdy, Twilight, Fluttershy! Who're yer friends?" The orange pony asked with a Southern accent and Leo chuckled inwardly.
This is the most stereotypical southerner I have ever seen! Leo thought about the mare.

"Hi, Applejack! This is Leo, Irune, Runa and Emily. They're looking for work and a place to stay." Twilight said as she pointed to each of the other ponies.

"Hmm, y'all look like yer strong enough. Why don'tcha buck that tree?" Applejack said as she looked to Leo and gestured to the tree.

"Me? Alright." Leo said as he removed his trench coat to reveal his glistening black wings. Fluttershy, Applejack and Twilight's eyes went wide in awe at the size and color of the wings as they stretched. They were jet black and their feathers glistened in the sunlight.

"Forgot how much my wings ache when they get cooped up for too long. Anyway, here I go." Leo said as he gave the tree a good, swift kick with one of his legs. All the apples fell and landed in the bucket as the ponies applauded by stomping their hooves into the dirt.

"I gotta hand it to ya, ya did a mighty fine job. Only other pony Ah know that can buck a tree with one hoof is mah big brother, Big Macintosh." Applejack praised Leo for his skills. She expected him to be strong, but not that strong.

"That's all Ah needed ta see. Yer hired!" Applejack said and Leo chuckled.

And so it begins...

Ch.2: The First Day

Leo was happy he could get a place to stay, at least for a while. Leo let Runa, Irune and Emily sleep in the guest rooms while he slept in the barn. Despite having to sleep on hay, he really didn't complain. He's slept on worse. The next morning, Leo was awakened by Applejack shouting into his ear.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" Applejack screamed only a couple of inches from Leo's ear.

"MY EARS!!!" Leo screamed as he sat up and covered his ears with his hooves and some hay. He looked to his new landlady and groaned, the pain in his ears still not going away.

"Applejack, what was that for? The sun's not even up yet!" Leo groaned as he got to his hooves.

"Ah know. We gotta get up early to finish applebuckin' fer this season. And with yer help, we could be finished by next week!" Applejack cheered. Leo sighed. It's been a while since he's met someone with a work ethic like this. It was refreshing, but it was annoying if it was too enthusiastic.

"Alright, but what will Runa, Emily and Irune be doing?" Leo asked.

"Irune'll be running the stall. Runa and Emily'll be keepin' the Crusaders outta trouble." Applejack responded.

"Crusaders?" Leo asked.

"They're known fer their crazy schemes that almost always get them into trouble. Yer bound ta see 'em runnin' around tryin' ta get their cutie marks." Applejack said and Leo chuckled. He could remember a couple of kids back in Angel Division that were trying to find ways on how to get their wings.

"I suppose I should get to work?" Leo said and Applejack nodded. He walked out of the barn to get to work. It hadn't even been an hour and he had already cleared about fifty trees, thanks to the help of his wings. By noon, they cleared half the entire orchard.

"Ah think ya earned yerself a break. Why don'tcha head into town and get yerself a bite ta eat?" Applejack offered the sweaty stallion.

"Oh, thanks." Leo said as he made his way to town.

Leo headed into town and received a few awkward stares.
I should be used to this by now... Leo thought. He wasn't seen as the most popular person back home, seeing as he was an angel and all. Though, the others never knew. It wasn't long until he reached a building that looked like a gingerbread house.

What the hell is with this place? Leo entered the strange building to be greeted with a pink pony letting out a loud gasp as she dashed out the back door, much like when lightning struck. Except this one was pink.

"Did I do something wrong? Do I smell?" Leo asked to nopony in particular as he sniffed his armpits.

"Oh no, dearie. That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." Came the voice of a mare that seemed to be the owner of the store.

"My name is Mrs.Cake. And yours?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"Leo. Can I get a muffin?" Leo said. He had always liked muffins. They were often the first things he would eat when he was in a hurry in the morning. This afternoon just demanded a light snack like this.

"Of course, that'll be two bits." Leo handed over the bits and took a bite into the muffin. Leo walked out of the store to see a rainbow-maned pegasus heading straight for him.

"Get outta the way!" The pegasus shouted. Leo flared his wings and took flight towards the pegasus. He caught her and wrapped both of them in his wings to soften the crash.

"Oww... Thanks for that?" The pegasus said, asking for his name with her tone.

"Yeah. And it's Leo, by the way." Leo said as he and the mare got up.

"Leo? Oh! You must be one of the new ponies in town that Applejack was talking about! Name's Rainbow Dash. A.K.A The Best Flier in Equestria!" Rainbow boasted and Leo grinned.

"Oh yeah? Care to defend that title?" Leo wanted a challenge, not a monotone life. It kind of reminded him of a team mate in Angel Division. Really boastful and probably gets real mad when they lose. It was nice to see someone like this here. Gives him hope in how much fun he can have here in Equestria.

"You're on! But how are you-" Dash cut herself off when she took a look at Leo's wings. They were a glistening black and had feathers that looked like they were as long as griffin feathers. They were also huge. They looked like they were almost the size of Princess Celestia's.

"Nice wings!" Dash complimented and she quickly tried to hide her blush when she remembered an old saying.
You know what they say about big wings... Dash promptly shoved these thoughts out of her head. She just met the guy. How could she think like that?

"Thanks. I preen them when I have time. I still don't understand how you pegasi are able to fly with such puny wings, though." Leo said and Dash answered with both her hooves in front of her face.

"Magic. Let's have that race some other time. I gotta fly." Dash said and Leo nodded.

"Yeah." Leo said as Dash bolted away in a rainbow streak.

Leo decided to call it day, but not before visiting Irune at the stands.
"Hey, Irune. How was the day?" Leo asked as he approached the cart.

"Hey Leo, I got a few stares and some pink pony gasping and running off, but other than that it was good." She said with a somewhat tired sigh. He knew that sigh. It was that sigh that meant 'I have no idea. This is getting annoying.'

"I know that sigh, Irune." Leo said with a knowing tone.

"It's that sigh that meant you're annoyed. Are you alright?" Leo asked as he leaned on the cart.

"Leo, I'm fine." Irune said as she looked away to hide her expression. Although, it was done in vain. Leo had the uncanny ability to sense another person's emotions. He could tell that she was frustrated and she just wanted to end the day. He understood her plight. He wanted to know more, but he knew he shouldn't pry. She would tell him when she was ready.

"How are your wings?" Leo asked and Irune stared at him.

"Leo, we talked about this." She said in a reprimanding tone. Leo flinched. She would tell him that when she was ready as well.

"I know and I'm sorry. Let me help you pack up the cart and let's head back." Leo said and they began packing up the stall. Leo and Irune walked back to the farm together. Leo opened the barn door to be greeted by a blinding light and and somepony shouting."SURPRISE!"

"AAAAHHHH!!!" Leo flew upwards and hit his head on the top of the barn. He crashed and rubbed the site of his injury.

"Oww...What the- what is this!?" Leo was answered by a pink pony in his face.

"So were ya surprised!? Huh, huh, huh!?" The pink pony practically screamed in his face.

"GAAAHHHH!!!" Leo fell backwards in shock.

What kind of drugs has this pony been taking? Leo asked himself as he got to his hooves.

"Yes I was surprised! But not surprised that my head is throbbing." Leo said rubbing his head to try to relieve the pain.

"Pinkie, I think he got the message." Said Twilight as she trotted up next to Pinkie.

"Ugh, what's this all about?" Leo asked.

"It's sort of a tradition for Pinkie to greet every new pony in town with a surprise party." Twilight said and Leo sighed. He met this type before. The overly energetic type. He really didn't mind them, but this was taking it to the limit. He would have to remember to avoid this Pinkie.

"Now that everypony's here, lets get this party started!" Pinkie shouted.

Ch.3: The Power of the Angels

Leo woke up with a massive headache and Rainbow Dash lying on top of him.
The hell happened last night? This was a question he asked himself many times in the past, for a variety of situations. He looked himself over and found that he had a lot of Dash's dried bodily fluids on him.

Did I just sleep with Rainbow Dash? He asked himself. Leo slowly slid Dash off of him and quietly walked out of the barn. How many did that make? Nine? Ten? He lost track. He really had to lay off the alcohol. He wasn't even sure there was alcohol at the party. He just sighed and silently closed the barn door. Leo walked over to town, seeing as he couldn't find Applejack in the house. Leo walked into town and saw Applejack at the stand.

"Hi AJ." Leo said as he approached the mare.

"Howdy, Leo. That was some party, huh?" Applejack said with a knowing smile. Leo rubbed the back of his head and looked away to hide his rather embarrassed expression.

"Eheh..... You saw that?" Leo asked and Applejack nodded slowly.

"Didja think Ah wouldn't?" She said with a wink and Leo let out an embarrassed sigh. She must have been the one who was completely sober throughout the entire party. He knew that type. The type that made all their friends who decided to get drunk for the night feel like idiots the next day. He really didn't mind those types. After all, he was one of them. But now that he got a taste of his own medicine, it didn't really feel so good.

"No..." He said and Applejack stopped him.

"Ya don't have to worry 'bout it. Y'all were drunk as a skunk." She said and Leo sighed. At least someone had the sensibility to know that he was drunk.

"AJ, do you know where Irune is?" He asked.

"Ah reckon she went off tryin' to keep the Crusaders outta trouble." She said and Leo gave a questioning look.

"Crusaders?" He asked and Applejack was quick to answer.

"The Crusaders are a bunch a' fillies who have a knack fer gettin' into trouble. Yer bound ta see 'em runnin' around tryin' ta get their cutie marks." She said and Leo laughed. He remembered a trio of angels in Angel Division that were trying to get their wings. Their little adventures often involved him or one of his teammates getting seriously injured.

"Ah think she went off into the forest." She said and Leo was brought back to reality.

"Thanks, AJ." Leo waved Applejack off and headed for the forest. As he approached the forest, he heard a roar and saw the Crusaders, Runa, Emily and Irune running.

"Woah, slow down. Where's the fire?" Leo asked as they passed him by.

"Can't talk. Running from Hydra." Answered Irune. Leo was confused at first, but then he saw what Irune was talking about. A giant four-headed lizard charging straight for town. At first Leo was surprised, but that feeling grew into excitement. He had been waiting for a moment like this.

Back in the town, Irune warned the Mane 6 about the Hydra.
"What!?" Twilight shouted.

"The Crusaders were trying to get their Parkouring cutie marks (I couldn't think of anything, so don't ask.) when the stupid Hydra attacked. Nopony was hurt, but that thing is heading for town!" Irune said.

"We have to stop it! Come on, girls!" The Mane 6 ran to the outskirts of Ponyville to see Leo standing up to the Hydra.

"Leo, what the hay are ya doin'!? Get away from that thing!" Applejack shouted. Leo didn't hear her. Instead, Leo brandished a silvery blade and lifted it against the Hydra, it's blade sparking with eldritch lightning and pale blue runes.

Leo stood up against the Hydra, his chest brimming with confidence and his mouth curled into a smile.
"Hey! Asshole! Down here!" Shouted Leo. Any regular pony shouting that to a Hydra would have had some sort of death wish. Fortunately, Leo wasn't a regular pony. Leo summoned his sword and flew up to the Hydra. The Hydra reacted quickly and thrust one of its heads at Leo. But he was too fast for him. Leo cast a simple hex barrier that knocked the head away.

"Access Denied, bitch." Leo moved quickly and sliced one of the heads, the lightning imbued into the blade cauterizing the wound, making it unable to regenerate. One of the Hydra heads moved quickly and swallowed Leo whole, causing the sword in his hoof to drop to the ground.
Everypony's hearts sank when they saw Leo get swallowed whole.

"N-no... He couldn't have... LEO, YOU IDIOT!!" Irune shouted with tears in her eyes.

Around halfway down the throat of the Hydra, Leo was pissed.
"Now you just made me mad." The blade flew into the neck of the Hydra and Leo's hoof burst out of it in a shower of blood. Leo pulled the sword up to cut a way out of the Hydra's neck. Leo flew out and removed the injured head with a swing of his blade. Leo landed on the back of the beast and dug his sword at the base of its neck and flew upwards, cleaving the skull in half. The monster wailed in agony as Leo threw his blade down onto the monster's back to pin it down. Leo summoned his handcannon, Ragnarok with a twirl as it materialized in his hoof.

"Say goodnight, asshole." Leo said before he fired a single massive bullet at the monster. The bullet ripped through its head like a hot knife through butter. No sooner than the head exploded, another one went through and another, and another. The barrage of holy and unholy gunfire ripped through the beast like it was made of paper. The recoil of the gun was massive. Leo could feel his joint begin to pop out of place with each blast. He bit through the pain and continued firing. No one would ever get away with hurting his loved ones. No one. Not even the Seraph could get away. Leo eventually stopped firing as his gun clicked empty. He smirked. The gun had a mechanism wherein it would automatically stop firing if it was close to overheating. He looked at the corpse of the beast only to find a crater where the Hydra was. Leo flew down and retrieved his blade from the crater. He looked over to the side and saw the Mane 6 and Irune watching him, everypony except Irune had their mouths agape. Irune had her face contorted in an expression of rage.

"Hey girls." Leo said in a casual tone, trying to lighten up the mood. That earned him a punch to the jaw from Irune.

"You idiot! You could've gotten yourself killed!" Irune shouted. Leo planted a kiss on Irune's lips to silence her.

"I love you too." Leo said with a chuckle.

Later that night, Leo was rewarded by Pinkie with a huge thanks-for-saving-us-from-that-mean-hydra party. He was also rewarded with a bed and Irune gladly slept with him.
"Hey, you still awake?" Irune asked as she poked Leo's head.

"Yeah, what is it?" Leo asked as he turned to Irune, who was behind him.

"Back there after you killed the Hydra, did you mean it?" Leo thought back to what he said. He desperately wanted to just propose to her right then and there, but that would've been even more retarded than his earlier move. If he had to compare the earlier experience to something, it would be trying to steal Naga eggs in the middle of a fleet of Naga. Incredibly risky, but totally worth it if it succeeded.

"Yeah, I did." Leo said as he kissed Irune on the forehead.

"I'm glad." Irune giggled as she fell back asleep. Leo started getting used to this life, even if it's only been a few days.

The next morning, Leo awakened to a face full of ice blue flank.
The hell happened last night? Leo asked for the second time in the week. If Leo gets past four times in a week, it would be a new record. Leo slowly slid from underneath Irune. He was getting really good at sliding away from someone in a bed. It wasn't his fault he was good at this. It was Kaito's fault for making the alcohol way too strong every time. Leo walked out the door and into town. He received even more awkward stares than the other day.

I thought that everypony got to know me a few days ago? Leo thought as he knocked on Twilight's door. When Twilight answered the door, her expression changed from 'Hi, good to see you!' to 'What the buck happened to you?' in less than a heartbeat.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Leo asked as he felt around his face for any offending substances.

"Y-you're an A-alicorn!" Twilight exclaimed.

"What?" Leo said as his hoof found its way to his forehead.
He had a horn.
Great, more weirdness to deal with... Leo thought.

"So what if I am? Is it that weird?" Leo asked and Twilight nodded rapidly.

"Yes it is! Only the princesses are alicorns!" Leo had no trouble taking this all in. He was used to being called weird and powerful.

"I have to send a letter to the princess immediately!" Twilight said as she ran up to her room. Twilight quickly wrote a letter and gave it to Spike. Spike blew green flames at the letter and it was turned into a green gas that went to the castle on the mountains.

Celestia was in her throne room when she received the letter.
"Oh, a letter from Twilight! It's been a while since I last received a friendship report." Celestia said as she opened and read the letter
Dear Princess Celestia,

It seems that we have found another alicorn! To be honest, I'm a little
excited and a little scared. This particular alicorn killed a Hydra single-hoofedly!
He seemed to be able to pull off some sort of summoning magic.
Please allow a visit today.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia was shocked. There haven't been any alicorns other than her and her sister for thousands of years! So naturally, the Princess was excited as well. The Princess immediately called for a chariot. The flight to Ponyville was nerve-wracking. The princess was eager to meet another alicorn after so many years.

A knock came from the front door of the library.
"Princess! I'm so glad to see you!" Twilight said as she answered the door. At the doorway was a tall white alicorn with a multi colored mane.

"Hello Twilight. I got your letter. I'm eager to meet this other alicorn." the white alicorn said.

"I think that would be me." Said Leo from the other side of the room.

Celestia was staring in awe. As said before, she had never seen another alicorn other than her sister.
"Like what you see?" Leo jokingly asked. Celestia cleared her throat as she began to speak.

"Please, forgive me. It's just that I have never seen another alicorn other than my sister." Celestia said and Leo chuckled.

"It's me who should be sorry. Anyway, you said you wanted to meet me?" Leo said.

"Yes. Twilight said you could use some form of summoning magic?" Celestia asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't put it like that. I actually reach into a pocket dimension I made and pull out any weapon I need." Leo said with a wave of his hoof.

"Would you mind giving a demonstration?" Celestia asked.

"Sure." Leo stood on his hind legs and reached into the space to his right and pulled out the same sword he used to kill the Hydra.

"Impressive." Celestia praised Leo.

"Thank you, Princess?" Leo said, asking for Celestia's name.
"Oh, how rude of me! My name is Celestia. As you might have already guessed, I am the princess of this land. And yours?" Celestia asked.

"Leonhardt Kizuna. But please, call me Leo."

Ch.4: A Friend In Need...

Celestia soon asked Leo and company to come to the castle.
"Leo, you have to understand. You are the first non-royal alicorn I have ever seen! Somepony becoming an alicorn can only happen in two ways. 1: Either me or Luna make them one or 2: They were turned by the Elements of Harmony."

"Maybe that's because we're from a different world." Leo said, gaining the attention of everypony in the chariot.

"What?" Celestia said, clearly confused.

"That's right. We're all from a different world. Me and Irune are angels-" Leo was cut off by Twilight.

"What are angels?" Twilight asked.

"We're what humans would call 'holy beings'. Except me and Irune are different. We're angels of death." Leo answered with pride.

"How can there be a holy being for something as horrible as death?" Rarity asked.

"We're more like the Special Forces of the angels. Believe me, there are things just as bad. Like angels of war, pestilence and famine. The Heavenly Host is more of the main force and face of Heaven." The Mane 6 were completely in the dark about what Leo was saying. Celestia had a basic idea, though.

They had reached the castle after their conversation. They all walked to the throne room in relative silence. When they reached the throne room and the doors were closed, Leo and the others were bombarded with questions.
"Girls, please. One at a time." Leo said as Celestia gave a small chuckle.

"So, Twilight, you're up first." Leo said. Bad move.

"What's your society like? What do humans eat? Can humans do magic? What kind of magic can you do?" Twilight fired question after question and Leo could feel the veins in his head begin to pulse. God, he hated the incredibly curious type. Sure, he was okay with a question or two, but this was pushing it.

"Okay, okay. One at a time." Leo said again.

"Okay, what kind of magic can you do?" Twilight asked, now calm.

"It ranges from healing to combat. But I'm most proficient with combat." Leo answered.

"Can we see a demonstration?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah but-" Leo was cut off by a roar from outside. A very familiar roar. One that sent chills down Leo's spine. Not because he couldn't take it, but because he was afraid for the safety of those around him.

"What was that!?" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"No, it can't be..." Leo said as he ran outside. The others followed suit.

Leo was shocked and angry at Cierra for sending a Teostra to fight him.
"Cierra, I'm going to kill you!" Leo shouted as he dodged a swipe of the Teostra's claw.

"Hey, they said they wanted a demonstration." Cierra shrugged from nowhere.

"Cierra, Fuck you!" Leo cursed as the Teostra swiped and he dodged.

"Hey, don't make promises you can't keep." Cierra taunted. Leo just decided to stop talking and focus on the task at hand. Killing the Teostra.

(I used this song as inspiration)

Leo found a gap in the Teostra's attacking to summon his blade, Demon Slayer, and enchanted the blade with a lightning spell. Leo flew up with an arc of lightning following which, the Teostra dodged. The Teostra appeared behind him and Leo blocked it and charged at it. The Teostra and Leo locked claw and blade. The Teostra flew up and breathed a rain of fire. Leo reacted quickly, cast a barrier and flew up to deliver an upward slash. The Teostra flinched, but kept up it's onslaught of fire. Leo dodged and sent out a fist of darkness from his black left hoof. This knocked down the Teostra, but it got right back up, let out a loud roar and continued its attack. Leo got caught by the claws and was knocked back. Leo got up and noticed that the monster was flapping its wings slowly.
"Oh shit!" Leo cursed as Twilight approached.

"Leo! Get back!" shouted Twilight as she came closer to assist Leo.

"No! Stay away!" It was too late. The Teostra bit down on air and a series of explosions sounded around Twilight and Leo. He flared his wings and dashed for Twilight, but he didn't make it. The explosions hit them both and they were sent flying into a wall. As he hit the wall, he could swear that he heard the sickening crack of bones.

"Shit! I think Twilight's hurt" He thought as he got to his hooves, his world still a swirling mass of colors from the impact. He quickly shook his head to rid the stars from his eyes and he turned his gaze to his right. It confirmed his fears. There, writhing on the ground, was Twilight. Blood was pooling underneath her, matting her fur with splotches of red and brown and he could see one of her ribs had punched a hole in her skin. He could only guess how many more were broken. His rage built up inside him until it could no longer be held back.

"No... God Damn you!" Leo shouted as the Teostra flew up and rained fire on Leo. He cut through the fire and into the body of the beast. The monster wailed in agony as it crashed to the ground.

He was about to finish it, but a tornado of fire erupted from the ground as the Teostra got up with fire in its claws.
"You're dead! You hear me!?" Leo shouted as the beast charged at him with its flaming claws. Leo parried the attacks with lightning imbued strikes of his blade. He jumped back and dragged the tip of his Demon Slayer on the ground in the direction of the Teostra.

"Vanish!" He fired lightning waves from his blade that cut through the flames the beast was breathing. He couldn't cut through the beast's shield of fire, but then he had an idea. He backed off and summoned a new weapon. A glistening black claymore with runes that started to glow. Leo placed the blade on his wings and the blade split in half. The two halves placed themselves on his wings to form armor.

"You're in for it now." Leo snarled as he stood on his hind legs and pulled two glowing red swords from nowhere. He threw the swords at the beast, quickly replacing them with another pair. The beast roared as the swords dug into its armor-like hide and Leo dodged as it charged in anger. This cycle repeated a few times and Leo moved to finish it. He stood still for a moment and let the beast come close. As it got within a few feet of him, he clapped his hooves and each sword that was embedded in its hide exploded and the beast was torn apart from the inside out by the explosions.

BATTLE END

Leo rushed over to the injured and unconscious Twilight. It seemed as though she was in worse shape than when he last checked. Apart from four of her ribs being broken and one of them puncturing her skin, she also seemed to have several burns on her body.
"Shit. Everyone stay back!" Leo said as he moved closer to Twilight. He checked for vitals and he relaxed a bit when he saw that her breathing and heart rate were stable.

"Agh... Leo...?" Twilight tried to get up, but she immediately fell back down.

"Stay down, Twilight. It's me, Leo." Leo said as his horn started to glow with a warm light. Twilight's ribs knitted themselves together and her burns began to heal.

"Woah. What did you do?" Twilight asked as she tried to stand again, only to have the same result.

"Twilight, stay down. You took a beating. Just lay down and rest." Leo said, gently pushing Twilight's head down.

"Okay..." Twilight said quietly as she lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

Twilight woke up in the middle of the night with a letter by her side.
"Who's this from?" Twilight said as she turned on a light and read the letter.
"It's from Leo!"

Dear Twilight,

Sorry for not protecting you well enough. I have to leave for a while to have a few words with
my stupid associate. Hope you get better. I'll be back.

,Leo

Leo was back at the farm shouting at the top of his lungs.
"A fucking TEOSTRA!?" Leo shouted into the sky and was responded by Cierra with a slightly shaky voice.

"I thought it would help..." Cierra said meekly. It was one of those moments when Cierra really crossed the line.

"Help? HELP!? How the fuck did you come up with the notion that sending an Elder Dragon to Equestria would help!?" Leo shouted and Cierra flinched on her end.

"Look, I'm sorry. I thought it would help and I wasn't thinking clearly. Would you forgive me?" Cierra asked and Leo looked to the ground as he shook his head.

"How could I when you just endangered some of the most peaceful living creatures I have ever met? I will this time, but if you screw up again, I won't be as forgiving." Leo said as he walked off into town to catch the train for Canterlot, leaving Cierra to think about what she had done.

"I'm sorry..." Cierra said to no one as she got up from her desk and grabbed a mug of steaming hot chocolate. She'd have to make it up to him somehow.

Author's note: Hai, everypony! I just wanted to say that most of the chapters following will be Leo's life in Equestria. Sorry to say that I might not update this for a while. This story is seriously ideas out of the ass.

Ch.5: ...Is A Friend Indeed

Twilight woke up the next morning feeling much better. That battle with the strange dragon-like creature really took its toll on her. She stretched her legs and looked around. She was in her room in Canterlot.

"That was a weird dream. I swore I saw Leo-" Twilight cut herself off when she saw a Leo sitting in the chair adjacent to the bed in a deep slumber. She slowly prodded the stallion awake.

"Huh?" Leo said groggily. He looked in the direction of the prodding and found Twilight with a slightly confused look on her face. "Twilight!" Leo exclaimed as he pulled Twilight into a hug, causing her to blush at the sudden display of affection. "I thought I lost you back there." Leo said as he let go of the mare.

"How long was I unconscious?" Twilight asked and Leo sighed.

"About a day. That Teostra really gave you a beating." Twilight flinched at this statement.

"Teostra? You mean that dragon thing?" She said as she rubbed her forehead with her hoof.

"Yeah. You're lucky to have survived. It broke four of your ribs and one of them punctured your skin. I came by and did what I could for you, but I don't think you will be running around for a while." He said and Twilight grimaced. She then took a look at Leo's forehead. He didn't have a horn anymore.

"Leo, where's your horn?" She asked in disbelief. A pony's horn doesn't just disappear.

"Hm? Oh, I absorbed it. It was making me feel weird." He said as he rubbed his forehead. Twilight dropped the topic. She didn't know how he did it, but she didn't exactly want to know either.

"Where are the others?" She asked, taking in all the information presented to her.

"They're in the throne room. Actually, I think they're expecting you. Would you like to head out?" Leo asked and Twilight nodded. She hopped out of bed and followed Leo as he slung a bag over his shoulder and strode into the hall. As they walked down the hall, they passed a set of windows and stopped to look outside. They saw the aftermath of Leo's battle with the Teostra. Several pillars in the courtyard had toppled and the ground was full of scratch marks and burns, presumably because of the Teostra's claws and fire breath. "I did all that?" He asked with little surprise in his voice. He was very well known for having massive collateral damage in any area he would fight in. It was one of the reasons that the snobby, high-class people never hired him.

"I think so," Answered Twilight. "But don't worry. I think the Princess has it in her to forgive you." She said as she elbowed Leo's shoulder. With those words in mind, Leo continued down the hall, Twilight following close. They soon reached the throne room and were greeted by relieved faces and a couple of hugs.

"You had us worried there for a second, Twi'" Rainbow said as she fluttered to the ground. Before Twilight could say anything, she was pulled into a bone-crushing hug from Pinkie.

"I was sooo worried, Twilight! I thought you were dead!" Pinkie said in an all too happy voice. Twilight could only wheeze in pain as she felt a couple of her ribs break again.

"Pinkie.... I can't.... Breathe.... My ribs..." Twilight choked out as Pinkie let go with a gasp. Leo sighed and trotted up to Twilight and put his hoof on her crushed ribs. His hoof glowed and Twilight's ribs began fixing themselves. Everyone in the room looked at Pinkie and she smiled apologetically. Celestia trotted up to the group and spoke up.

"Leo, thank you for taking care of my student. For that, you have my eternal gratitude." She said as Leo looked on.

"It was nothing, Princess. I simply did what was right." He said with little tremble in his voice. He was already used to receiving thanks from the extremely low amount of nobles he knew that had a decent attitude. Before anymore words of thanks could reach his ears, Leo was tackled by a familiar pegasus filly.

"Leo, that was so cool how you beat that Teostra! I was like 'GO Leo!'" Runa said with glee as she buried her face in his chest. Leo noticed that she was fully dressed in re-sized and ponified versions of her clothes. He shrugged it off. "It doesn't really make much difference. He thought to himself. Celestia cleared her throat to get the attention of everyone in the room.

"Now, Leo. I think it's time you give us an explanation as to what kind of beast you fought yesterday." She said and the stallion in question nodded.

"Alright. That creature was a monster from my world known as a Teostra. It is extremely territorial and does not like being cast into a situation it is not familiar with. Which is probably why it was so violent." Leo explained.

"I see. But what was it doing here?" Celestia asked.

"I believe that my friend can explain. Cierra? Would you mind introducing yourself?" Leo said out loud, causing the ponies to stare at him awkwardly. A few seconds later, a shy voice came from nowhere.

"H-Hello...." She said meekly. The ponies jumped at the voice.

"Who's there?" Celestia said, her horn lighting up.

"Princess, calm down. She's not really here." Leo said as he glared at the roof, seemingly where the voice was coming from.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked.

"She's just projecting her voice from our world." Leo said and he glared at the ceiling. "Now, care to explain?" He said, the slightest amount of venom coating his words. Cierra gulped and prepared her explanation.

"Um.... You guys asked for a demonstration, so..... I brought a Teostra through the portal...." She managed to say from her end, somehow feeling their glares. She quickly said her next sentence. "I wasn't thinking clearly, okay!?" She shouted, catching the ponies off guard. Leo however, was unfazed by the outburst.

"Alright, what were you doing?" Leo said and she fell silent. She stood back from the mic in front of her and a blush spread on her face. "What am I going to do? How am I supposed to tell him that I was watching porn??" She thought.
"I, uh... Was playing a video game! Yeah!" She said as she hid behind her nervous laugh. Leo was unconvinced. Now, unlike most people who would love to squeeze the truth out of a person without saying it, Leo just got straight to the point. He knew that Cierra took pride in her work and she would never play a video game in the middle of an experiment, so there was only one other answer.

"......You were watching porn, weren't you?" He said with a flat tone and a straight face, which only made Cierra blush more. Her long silence was all the answer he needed. "I'll take that as a yes." He said, his tone exactly the same and his face as stiff as a rock. The ponies were locked in this extremely awkward silence and only Leo could break it. For some reason, the ponies thought that preserving the silence would be best. Rainbow and Pinkie were covering their mouths, trying their hardest to suppress their laughter. Rarity and Fluttershy were blushing furiously. Applejack and Twilight gave awkward stares. And Celestia chuckled quietly. Although she wanted to hear more of their arguments, Celestia decided it was time to get more answers.

"So, Leo. Your skills in fighting that monster were exceptionally good." Celestia began, but Leo cut her off.

"Your Highness, if you are going to ask me to join your personal guard, forget it. I'm not joining. I have my own problems to worry about." He said and the white alicorn chuckled.

"I was simply going to ask you how you got that kind of power. I must admit, even I would have had trouble dealing with that thing. How did you do it?" She asked with a giggle.

"Oh, it was nothing really. Just some swordplay and a little bit of Dark Magic." He said. The last part of his sentence caught her attention.

"Dark Magic?" She asked.

"You don't know what Dark Magic is? Well then, I'll have to educate you." He said as Celestia and Twilight leaned in close to listen to the lesson. "Dark Magic is different from the magic you use everyday. It's different in the fact that it cannot be learned through study alone." Twilight cringed slightly, but kept on listening.

"With spells like Levitation and Teleportation, you can learn that through study and practice. But with any sort of Dark spell, you need not only natural talent, but sheer determination to keep yourself from killing yourself." He said and Twilight raised her hoof.

"Yes, you with the purple hair." He said.

"What do you mean by sheer determination?" She asked.

"That's a good question. I meant that you need the determination to continue living past all the pain and suffering that comes with learning Dark Magic. That's right. You become capable of Dark Magic depending on your natural talent and how much you've suffered." These words set Twilight's brain into overdrive. Her neurons fired off and they set paths that connected all the clues. Leo must have suffered the equivalent of Tartarus to be so good at Dark Magic.

"Wait... So that means...." Twilight said and Leo smirked.

"You finally caught on, huh? Yep. I'm so good because I suffered some of the worst experiences in the world." Leo said, his mouth forming a frown as he recalled all that made him one of the most powerful Dark Mages in existence. A really rough childhood. His parents' sacrifice for him. His brother's death at his own hands. His repeated failures at protecting his loved ones. Being imprisoned and tortured by the very organization he worked for. All of this added to the fact that he was once the vessel of the Governor of Darkness himself. All in all, a suffering buffet for a man who never deserved it in the first place. The ponies all fell silent, giving Leo a few concerned glances. Leo caught this and responded.

"No, no. It's fine. You don't have to worry. I'm over it already." He said, lying through his smile. None of the ponies bought this, of course, but they decided that it was a delicate topic and to drop it. "Now, is that all or do you have more questions?" The ponies collectively shook their heads and Leo understood. He turned his back to them and walked towards a random door. Moments later, he emerged with a confused expression on his face.

"Umm.... Where's the bathroom?" He asked with a grin on his face. The ponies all broke out into laughter, despite the rather dark mood that was set by Leo a little while ago.

With his business all taken care of, he met the ponies in the dining hall. He walked through the large double doors and beheld the grand dining room. The windows were crystal clear glass that let the light of the late morning sun pass through, causing the ceramic tiles on the floor to shine like metal. The dining table itself was a long table that was more akin to a meeting table than a dining table. The Mane Six were seated at the sides of the table and at the head sat Celestia, patiently waiting for Leo.
"Ah, Leo. Are you done with your business?" She asked as a unicorn stallion came through the door behind her, carrying eight plates that were covered by silver cloches. The stallion set each of the plates down in front of the ponies and removed the cloches, revealing a rather simple serving of salad. The stallion was about to set the last plate down in front of Leo, but he held his hoof up, signaling him to retract the offer.

"Yes, Princess. I'm done." He said as he sat down at the table, watching the others eat their food. He noticed that Irune, Runa and Emily weren't at the table. "Hey, where are the girls?" He asked.

"If you're looking for your friends, they went out because they wanted to go for a walk or something." Twilight said. Leo nodded as he heard the rapid clopping of hooves coming from the double doors. He craned his neck to the sound and his eyes widened at what he saw.

Luna awoke from her midday nap rather early. She sat up on her bed, stretching and yawning the drowsiness away. As soon as she finished, she hopped out of bed and wore her regalia, which sat on a nightstand beside her bed. With her crown and chestplate on, she strode out the hall. As she walked towards the dining hall, guards saluted her and servants bowed. She only offered a wave and a smile as a response. Being trapped on the moon for 1000 years and then quickly returning to the lifestyle of a princess was a real shock to her, so she wasn't exactly ready to socialize just yet.

She soon reached the windows that looked over the courtyard and felt her jaw drop. The entire courtyard was destroyed. Many of the pillars that supported the balcony above had collapsed along with the balcony itself. The ground was filled with burn and slash marks, which the staff were trying to remove. She quickly snapped out of her stupor and dashed down the hall to the throne room. She bucked the double doors open and called out her sister's name with the Canterlot Royal Voice, causing the reinforced windows to crack slightly under the pressure. As soon as she heard the silence, she ran towards the only other place that she knew her sister would be: the dining hall.

She again bucked the doors open, catching everypony in the rooms' attention. Leo's eyes widened. There was no time to think. All he could do was act on instinct.
"LUNA!!!" He cried as he leaped from the chair, hooves outstretched towards the alicorn standing in the doorway. Luna reacted on instinct as well. She lit up her horn and she teleported behind the stallion as he flew past. Leo's expression quickly changed to shocked in less than a heartbeat. But before his facial muscles could make the expression complete, he slammed head-first into the door, imbedding his horn in the wood. It took him a full three seconds to register what had just happened. "Agh! Get me out of here!" He shouted as he began to try to free his horn, to no avail. Rainbow and Pinkie broke out in laughter as he tried to free himself, only to have his horn get stuck more. Twilight teleported him out just before he pulled again, causing him to slam into the table. Rainbow and Pinkie laughed again and Twilight gave an apologetic smile to the stallion who was currently lying on the floor, possibly racked with pain. He rose with a groan, trying to make his eyes stop looking in two directions at once.

"Ugh.... What the- Luna!? What was that for!?" He said as he rubbed the base of his horn. The mare in question grit her teeth as she fired up her horn.

"How do you know me!?" She demanded as her horn grew bright. Leo gave a confused look and realized her situation.

"Luna.... Don't you remember me?" He asked as he got to his hooves, his face changing from annoyed to concerned immediately. Luna's face, however, remained the same. Although, her horn's light seemed to fade.

"What are you talking about? I've never met you before in my life!" She said and Leo cringed.
"It seems that the rumors are true... She's really forgotten about me..." He thought to himself. If she had forgotten him, then there was only one way to make her remember.

"I see..... Well then, Your Highness. Would you mind doing me a favor?" He said, his tone somber. If this didn't work, she might never remember him. Luna's face changed from aggressive to suspicious.

"And what would this favor be?" She asked. Leo opened his bag and pulled out the soulstone necklace. Luna saw the item and felt a twinge in her temples.
"What is this sensation? I feel like I've seen this necklace before..." She thought to herself as she studied it.

"I would like you to wear this necklace." Leo said as he hoofed the necklace to her. Surprisingly, she took it without hesitation. Normally, she would have to reject it, but she felt like this particular item was important to her. Like it held the most important things in the world to her.

"Very well." She said as she levitated the necklace until it was securely around her neck. The moment she let go of it, her head began to throb. She lost her balance and she slumped into a sitting position on the ground.

"Luna! What did you do to her!?" Celestia demanded, but Leo stopped her.

"I assure you, Princess. All will be clear in a few seconds." He said and Luna began to convulse. A dark purple rune glowed underneath her as she was levitated in the air, the wind lashing out around her. Her eyes glowed white as her wings grew to the length of her body. Her fur started to turn black as the rune glowed with more intensity, the wind quickly building up into a miniature tornado. The rune shot magical ribbons into the air, wrapping around Luna and forming a ball of condensed energy. The ball quickly grew in brightness from dim to blinding as it released a shockwave that dispersed the winds around it. The ball opened like a blossoming flower to reveal Nightmare Moon, her eyes closed as she hovered to the ground and landed with a graceful step. This Nightmare Moon was different, however. Instead of her mane and tail being a sea of stars, they were masses of dark blue fire. As she landed, the rune below her shattered and she opened her cat-like eyes. She looked around the room, not saying a word as she observed the extremely shocked expressions of the ponies.

She then looked at the necklace that rested on her chestplate. Her gaze wandered down to her hooves. She closed her eyes and willed the darkness that covered her to recede. Her fur returned to its original blue and her wings returned to normal. Her mane and tail's flames died and they returned to their original sea of stars. The darkness converged to the soulstone that now inhabited her chestplate and entered it, turning it a dark blue. She touched the stone with her hoof and spoke.

"I....I remember...I remember everything!" She exclaimed as she threw her hooves into the air. She quickly looked at Leo, who had a warm smile on his face. "Leo! Thank you so much!" She said as she gave him a hug that seemed to last forever. Leo returned it.

"But that's not all, Luna!" He said as she let go. He reached into the bag and pulled out the black cape. Luna quickly grabbed the garment and smiled.

"My cape! Thanks!" She said. Before the two friends could get any more acquainted, Twilight cut in.

"Wh-What...? WHAT THE BUCK JUST HAPPENED!?" She shouted. Now, she wasn't very known to swear, but this situation definitely called for it. Her outburst was followed by more from the other ponies in the room, including Celestia. Leo gave a look to Luna.

"Luna, I think it's time you tell them what you were really doing for almost a thousand years..." He said and Luna nodded. She cleared her throat and prepared her Canterlot Royal Voice.

"SILENCE!" She roared. And silence there was. "Everypony, I have something I want to share with you. Something I should have told you long ago, but was unable to remember." She began as the ponies listened intently.
"The first thing I want to say is that the seal that kept me on the moon was disabled after a hundred years. I was going to go back to Equestria, but I was approached and given a new duty." She said, capturing the ponies' attention with little effort.

"I'm going to skip all that and jump right to the second part. The second is that I am no longer just an alicorn. I.... I'm an Angel of Death." She said and all the ponies' jaws hit the floor simultaneously, creating several dents in the already damaged floor. Leo snickered.
"Hehe.... No surprise there." He thought with a smile. He just loved seeing a person's shocked expressions.

Author's Note

You guys wanted a new chapter, I give you a new chapter! Sorry for being inactive these past few months. School sucks right now, by the way. I am currently writing this story, New Life and The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

Ch.6: A Sparring Session

Leo could barely hold his laughter as the room was filled with silence and shocked stares. Luna had an apologetic smile on her face as the ponies stared for a full minute. Celestia was the first to break the silence.
"Luna?..... How?" Was her simple and amazed question. Her eyes were wide and Luna stared into them with her own eyes of regret.

"I'm sorry, sis.... But as I said, I couldn't remember, so I couldn't tell you." She said, but Celestia still had questions.

"But how do you forget nearly a thousand years of memories!?" She said, unintentionally raising her voice. The ponies backed down a bit, but Luna was unfazed. Leo stepped in at this moment.

"Princess, I believe I can answer this." He said, catching her attention and the rest of the ponies' as well. "You see, there is a rumor that whenever and Angel of Death dies, he or she is sent back to their original worlds without their memories of being an angel." He said and they gave confused stares. He sighed as he spoke again. "Alright, to make it simpler, I'll tell you a story. Most of the angels think that the rumor started back when an angel, who we will call Jeff, died on a mission. Now, Jeff wasn't one of the strongest angels, and neither was he the smartest. So, naturally, he got himself killed." He said and the ponies held a solemn silence in honor of the idiotic angel.

"Now, the rumor started when his commander, who we will call Jack, was on a mission to eradicate a couple of demons who were causing trouble on Heranite IV, Jeff's homeworld. Now, when he killed the demons, he swore he could see Jeff just standing in the middle of the crowd. Of course, he was curious and he took a look. He was right. It really was Jeff. And that's how the rumor started." He said. Twilight was the first to totally understand.

"Wait.... So, Princess Luna died?" Twilight said in disbelief. Luna gave an embarrassed nod. She opened her mouth to speak, but Leo covered it with his hoof.

"Hey, can I tell this story? Please?" He said, giving her the puppy eyes. Luna never understood it, but he always managed to pull it off, despite being as ferocious as an Ursa Major on steroids. She sighed.

"......Proceed...." She said and Leo grinned. He faced the ponies and prepared the story.

"Alright! Here's how it went..." He began.

Luna was not having a good day. Earlier in the morning, her dorm mates decided to take a picture of her sleeping and post it all over the division. The picture was rather embarrassing, since she was drooling and half of her body was on the floor. And later, the commanders were challenging her and telling her that she couldn't even beat a Ravager-class demon. And a little bit after that, Leo amazed everyone with a Black Swarm, a level seven Dark spell. This was the highest recorded spell any angel was able to pull off without the aid of an Amp Suit. She was jealous, she had to admit, but she was thinking this about a friend! She couldn't think like that! But, the thought still echoed inside her, begging her to surpass all those around her. As some of the newer recruits barely managed to clear morning exercises, she breezed right through them.

She cleared the flight exercises with ease. She smashed right through each enemy simulation. She put her sparring partner's face in the ground in no less than four seconds. She obliterated the test building with a single Dark Flare, a level four Dark spell. She was doing all of this with a determined scowl on her face. She'd show them. She'd show them all! But during her quest to prove her subordinates wrong about her, she unknowingly used up too much magic.

She came up to her instructor, General Nar'Vessur, and readied her blade, which was a dark blue claymore gifted to her by Leo.
"Good morning, Commander." He began, his voice deep and clear. Vessur was a strange man. He was from a species known as the Karvinons. They were a saurian race that had large mouths that had several appendages with spikes on them. Those spikes aided them in eating. They also had retractable spikes in their arms. These spikes produced a poison that acted as a sedative, paralyzing the prey so they could eat it later. They were known for their military outlook on life. Each son had to serve in the military for at least 10 years, beginning at the age of 20.

"Skip the pleasantries. Let's just do this." Luna said through gritted teeth. Vessur found this strange. Luna usually had a cheerful smile on her face before they trained. But today, she had a scowl.

"Child, is something bothering you?" The old man asked. Luna continued holding the rather unwelcome scowl on her face.

"It's none of your business, Vessur! Just fight me!" She growled as she rose her blade and dashed forward. Vessur simply blocked the oncoming attack with his own blade: a standard issue Holy Cleaver.

"Luna," He began, using her name. "I can sense something is wrong. Please, tell me." He said, but Luna didn't listen.

"Shut up! Just fight!" she roared as she brought the blade down again, only for Vessur to have his blade get caught under it."Very well." He said as he quickly lifted the blade with all his strength and swung it as it was freed. Luna grunted as she blocked the powerful strike. "But I want to have a wager." He said as he blocked another strike. Luna stayed silent and he took that as a sign to continue.

"If I win this match, you will tell me what has been bothering you. If you win, I will drop the topic. Does that sound fair?" He asked and Luna simply nodded. Vessur needed no words. He simply acted. He carried his blade on his shoulder and dashed towards Luna with blinding speed. Luna managed to raise her blade in defense before her wings got clipped by Vessur's signature combo. But the block barely held. She got pushed back a couple of meters and she regained her orientation. She brought her blade up and initiated a flurry of stabs aimed at her instructor. He dodged each one with a mere movement of his head. A few moments of this and he brought his arm up. He swatted the blade away as it passed by him and kicked Luna in the chest. Now usually, a kick wouldn't hurt like you got hit by a car, but Vessur seemed as though he really wanted to win. Luna was thrown back several meters and she eventually stabilized herself by stabbing her blade into the ground, slowing her flight. She cringed slightly when she stopped completely; it was a warning that she was using more magic than she had at the moment and she knew it.

Angered by today's events, her low amount of magic and the kick, Luna grit her teeth and her eye twitched. She summoned a second blade in her let hoof in a flash of dark blue flames and charged. She swung both blades in an X formation, Vessur simply blocking the assault. She followed up with a spinning strike with both blades, knocking Vessur back. She quickly threw the recently summoned blade at Vessur. A confused expression flashed on his face for a second, but he realized what she was doing. A chain appeared and connected the flying blade and Luna's own blade. She swung the chained weapon as it got charged by darkness into Vessur.

Knowing full well that he couldn't block an attack like that, he jumped backwards, avoiding the attack. Luna summoned more blades and threw them at Vessur, who dodged the blades. He stopped dodging and looked around him. The blades were in a circle around him. His reptilian eyes widened as Luna charged the blades by slamming her hooves into the ground. He quickly summoned a barrier to protect him from the oncoming attack. She let out a cry of rage as the black lightning that emanated from the swords struck the shield. She poured more power into the attack, but still that shield held.

A moment later, the shield began to break. Luna smiled in satisfaction as she saw the shield dissipate and the lightning strike its target. As the lightning stopped, she looked to see her victory. But she saw the opposite. Vessur had sprouted veined wings and energy blades on his arms. She took this as a sign to step up her game. A dark blue rune appeared under her and she underwent a transformation as well. Her fur turned black and her wings grew larger. Her mane and tail turned into dark blue flames. Her pupils turned into slits as she charged once more.

She attacked her mentor with a blade of darkness that seemed to come out of nowhere. He parried the blow with one of his energy blades. He followed up with a swipe of his blade, which caught Luna by the tip of her horn. Her horn emit a burst of energy in response to the attack, knocking Vessur back. She used this moment to ready her next attack. She spread her wings and charged at Vessur, her horn forming a spear of energy. Vessur grinned, which was a strange grin, considering the structure of his mouth. He waited for the right moment to unleash his attack.
Closer....
Closer....
Closer...
....And hit.
She got within striking distance and Vessur swung his hand downward, trapping Luna in a rune that restricted all movement. Luna was stunned. She gave a shocked stare, to which Vessur replied with two actions. First: He shed his wings and dismissed his energy blades. Second: He delivered a powerful palm strike to Luna's chest, breaking the seal, breaking her out of her transformation and sending her flying. She crashed into one of the walls of the training grounds and broke right through it, taking some debris with her on her descent. She crashed into the ground and she was silent. Not because she was dead, but because the day was not going too well and she had yet again failed to defeat her master. Tears leaked from her eyes as she let out a few sniffling noises, wetting the ground with her tears. She slowly and painfully rose to her hooves, but she held her head down. She didn't want anyone to see her right now. But, as if the universe felt like messing with her a bit more, Leo came by to check on the loud crash.

"Luna? What happened? Are you okay?" Leo asked as he rushed over to his friend. She didn't bother looking up. She couldn't bear to look into Leo's concerned eyes. She gathered all the magic at her disposal (Which wasn't very much) and prepared a teleportation spell to take her back to her room.

"Luna!" Leo shouted just before Luna disappeared. She looked up for a moment and both of their eyes met for a fraction of a second, but Leo could still make out her expression. She was in a lot of pain, physically and emotionally. Her tears slid down her face, dropping into the sandy ground beneath her. Her face was covered in dirt from her landing. Leo held his concerned look and spread his wings as he took off to Vessur to clear things up.

Leo had just finished the first part of the story and he let the ponies catch their breath. Twilight and Celestia were the first to react. They gave each other concerned glances and Celestia spoke up.
"Luna.... I had no idea..." She said, her voice sounding sorrowful. Luna however, was a bit less sorrowful, but more ashamed.

"N-No. It's fine..." She said as she continued to hold her head down low. Twilight spoke next.

"Still, Princess. That really happened?" She said, still in disbelief. Luna gave a quick nod and Twilight understood. Pinkie was in tears now. She leaped from her sitting position and grabbed Luna with her bear hug of a grip.

"Your Highness, I had no idea you went through all that!" She said as she somehow managed to lift Luna with her bear hug. Luna gasped and wheezed as Pinkie let go of her, giving her an apologetic smile when she noticed that she was in pain. Leo gave a chuckle as Luna rose to her hooves. He stood on his hind legs and straightened his body.

"Commander! Permission to continue!" He shouted as he saluted a former Company Commander of Angel of Death 2nd Division "Black Wings". Luna groaned in annoyance as she waved her hoof dismissively, signaling the stallion to continue. Leo did as he was told. "Sir, yes sir!" He said with a childish grin on his face, earning him another groan from the Princess of the Night.

"Vessur! What the hell happened!?" Leo roared as he came up to the old man, who was sitting on the ground in a cross-legged position with his back turned to him.

"Leonhardt.... I did not mean to hurt Luna. She must have been weak from the day's events." Vessur said without turning. Leo paused and thought about this.

"Wait, what? Today's events?" He asked and Vessur nodded.

"Yes. That is what I think. The reason I was fighting so hard is that I wanted to help her resolve her issues." Vessur said, turning to face Leo. Leo thought for a moment and spoke up again.

"What happened today? What made her so angry that she would fight so hard?" He asked and Vessur replied with a shake of his head.

"That is exactly what I was trying to find out. She seemed so angry. As if the very fires of Hell burned inside her." He described and Leo crossed his arms. He swore that he would do all in his power to prevent anyone from suffering any more than he did unless they deserved it.

"Vessur, where do you think Luna went?" He asked and Vessur shrugged.

"I am sorry, Leonhardt. I do not know. Although, she might have gone to her room. You could go check there." He said.

"Thanks, Vessur." He said just before spreading his wings and taking off. He flapped his wings for a few seconds and he dashed for Luna's room. He soared through the skies of Caelestis, the city he and Luna were stationed in, and thought to himself. "Luna... Wait for me. I'm coming to help you." He thought as he spotted Luna's window among the others in the tower that she stayed in. He perched himself on the windowsill and knocked on the glass. No answer. He opened the window, letting in the still, early evening air. He looked around the room and found it to be very messy. The covers on her bed were on the floor and there were several empty vials on the floor. He picked one up and sniffed it to find out what used to be inside. "Magic boosters..." He said as he noticed a small note on Luna's bed. "To Leo..." He read as he opened the letter.

"Leo, I know that you will come looking for me. I want to be alone right now.
I'm going out to prove myself to everyone. I'm going to kill an Overlord-class demon. Don't follow me.
This is a personal thing.

Luna."
He dictated as he pocketed the note. He already knew where Luna would go. He leaped out the window and flew towards the only place you could get cleared to leave the city: Caelestis Angelic Host Branch.

He ground his feet into the ground as he landed at the steps of the Host Branch. He quickly climbed them and he reached the door. He was met with an angel who was apparently given guard duty.
"A-Azrael, sir! What brings you out here?" The angel asked. Leo, during his extremely short two years of service, managed to earn the title Azrael, the Harbinger of Death. He was then recorded as the youngest angel to ever earn the title of Azrael, being only 21. All the Azraels in the past were at least a few thousand years old.

"I need to speak to Ezekiel." He said and he was ushered inside the building. Inside was a center of activity, even at night. Angels flew in and out of ports, going to and from missions. At the center of the room, Ezekiel sat in a booth, waving his hands over multiple holographic screens, approving and denying requests with speed and grace.

"Zeke." Leo said as he approached the man. Ezekiel was a very reclusive person, even for a Custodian. He almost always sat in the center of this very room, controlling the flow of missions and requests. He spared a glance away from the holographic monitors with his deep crimson eyes that held a certain viciousness in them.

"Leon. What is it you require?" The man asked with a voice that could spell death if it said the right words as he returned his gaze to the monitors. Leo was quick to answer.

"Zeke, have you seen Luna?" He said as Ezekiel pulled up her file and mission log.

"Hmm.....Company Commander Luna of the Angels of Death 2nd Division. Yes. I believe she accepted a mission to kill an Overlord-class demon." He said as he dismissed the file and continued with his work. Leo slammed his palms into the booth to get his attention.

"Where did she go?" He said and Ezekiel narrowed his eyes.

"You did not have to hit my pod. She went to the Dredger Graveyard." He said as he turned to face Leo, but he was already gone. He scoffed. "He's lucky he's my friend. Otherwise..." He said as he chuckled to himself about how many ways he could kill him.

Leo took a running start from the stairs and leaped into the air while spreading his wings. He flew towards the site of Luna's mission and he was reminded of why it was called Dredger Graveyard. It was a place where all the scrap of the Angels ended up and it was also home to Dredgers, a race of gigantic insects with bioluminescent skin. They seemed to be a cross between a centipede and a praying mantis. Leo flew over the massive junkyard and he found what he was looking for, but soon he felt as though he just swallowed a lead weight and it sank down into his stomach.

Luna jumped backwards as the Overlord swung its blade down on her, but she failed to notice the fist that sent her flying into one of the scrap piles. Luna tried to stand, but her body screamed at her to stop and get some rest. She gritted her teeth as she forced herself onto her hooves. She would not give up now. Not when she could finally prove herself to everyone. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was red. She wiped the substance away from her eyes and stared at it. It was blood. Her blood. She ground her teeth in anger. She only had enough magic for one spell that could kill this enemy before she was completely drained of magic. She closed her eyes as her horn took on a black glow and she breathed deeply. She spread her wings as black clouds swarmed around her. Lightning shot from the clouds and into her wings, turning them into wings of pure darkness. The lightning then struck her horn, morphing it into a dark blade that was 5 meters in length. She narrowed her eyes as she spoke.

"If I'm going down... I'm taking you down with me!" She roared as she charged at the Overlord, whose eyes were wide with fear. She tilted her head upwards, raising the blade. She yelled in anger and frustration, venting out all her emotions as she brought the blade down. Time seemed to be at a standstill as Luna thought about her life as an angel. She knew that this attack would drain her of all her magic and kill her without an Amp Module, but she did it anyway. This was commonly known as "Acceleration" amongst the angels. This comes from the fact that when an angel is completely drained of magic, their age begins to catch up to them at an extremely accelerated rate. In other words, they age themselves to death. Luna chuckled in her mind. She could remember giving a few lectures on this very topic. She then thought about all the friends she had made.
Leo... The headstrong, but reliable Nephilim.
Irune... The understanding Angel-Human hybrid.
Hikari... The Angel who is a natural born leader.
Anzu... The romantic Angel.
Axel... The silent listener kind of Demon.
Ledah... The quiet and bookish Nephilim.
Serene... The hyperactive Demon-Human hybrid.
Ruira... The kind and quiet Nephilim.
Max... The competitive and boastful Angel.
She would never see them again... She would never be able to share any laughs with them... She would never be able to fight by their side... She would never be able to confess her feelings... She thought all of this as the blade sliced through the Overlord's shoulder. The blade sliced into the Overlord's chest, but it malfunctioned. Luna was almost completely out of magic. She had one last bid to kill the Overlord. She detonated the blade.

"Luna, NO!!!" Leo screamed as Luna's blade exploded, killing the Overlord and driving Luna to her knees. He rushed over to her, hoping that she wasn't completely drained. Hoping that there was still time to save her. "Luna, what in God's name were you thinking!?" Leo said as he checked on Luna's magic reserves. Completely dry. Not a single drop of magic left in her.

"I just... Wanted to prove.... Myself..." She said as she lay on her side, Acceleration already beginning to take effect.

"Haven't I already talked to you about this? All that matters is your own opinion! No one else's!" He said as he placed both hands on Luna's side. "Come on. Don't die on me!" He said as he pumped some of his magic into Luna, hoping that he would be able to save her. But this proved to be false hope when nothing happened and Luna spoke.

"Leo... Once an angel is completely drained of magic..... They begin to age themselves to death... You can't stop it. You know that..." She said as she laid her hoof on Leo's hands, signaling him to stop. Leo looked at her sharply, noticing the stars in her mane were beginning to disappear one by one.

"Shut it! Not one more word from you!" He shouted as Luna's fur began to turn gray. He continued pumping magic into her, but knowing deep down that she was not going to make it. Luna mustered up all her strength and sat up, surprising Leo.

"Leo.... I.....I-" She began, but her time was already up. Her body disintegrated right before Leo's eyes. He could only stare in silence. He ran his hand through the ashes at his feet as tears leaked from his eyes, mixing into it. He sifted through the ashes and pulled out Luna's necklace and uniform. He stood without a word and flew off. He needed to be alone right now...

"So... Does that answer all your questions?" Leo asked the ponies, who simply gave weak nods with their jaws hanging loose. Celestia was the first to speak up.

"Luna... I had no idea..." She said, still trying to wrap her head around the idea that her sister had died and come back to life.

"It's alright, sis. No one did. Even I had no idea..." She said and the room fell into silence. After a few moments of awkward silence, Leo broke it.

"So, Luna. I imagine that you're a bit rusty?" He said and Luna put a hoof to her chest in shock.

"Me? Rusty? How dare you say such a thing!" She said with a predatory grin. Leo grinned the same grin.

"I dunno... You've been out of it for quite some time now and what's this? You seem to have gained some weight!" Leo taunted and Luna growled.

"Oh, IT. IS. ON." She growled as they touched foreheads, glaring into each other's eyes. Before they could tear each other's head off, Celestia pushed them apart.

"I know you two have a score to settle, but could you please take it outside? And also, don't hurt each other too bad." She said with a sigh. She only let Luna go out to fight because she knew that Leo broke the Golden Rule: Never insult a mare's weight.

Leo and Luna stood at opposite ends of the courtyard, staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. After a few moments of staring, they charged. They clashed blades, a shower of sparks appearing before their eyes. Leo felt something was off, so he voiced his opinion.
"Luna? That hit was rather weak. Are you sure you're not even the slightest bit heavier?" He said and Luna followed up with a powerful strike that knocked Leo back. "Okay, you're not out of touch after all these years." He said with a grin. Luna returned it.

"Damn right, I'm not!" She said as she performed an overhead slash, which Leo parried. He unleashed a flurry of blows, but Luna parried each of them, sparks flying away from the two. They were both grinning as their blades connected each time. They were beginning to lose themselves in the heat of battle, so they failed to notice the squad guards who were watching.

"Damn. I had no idea the Princess was so bad-flank!" One of the guards said as Luna began her assault on Leo, who simply defended. He spun around, using his blade to lift him into the air, where he brought his blade down with enough force to shatter the rock at Luna's hooves.

"Yeah, but that Leo guy is pretty good too." Another said as the aforementioned stallion locked blades with Luna again.

"Come on, Luna. You can do better than this! You're the Commander of the 201st! People looked up to you! Even though some of them had to look down to look at you!" Leo taunted and Luna frowned. The guards all gave 'ooohhs' to signal Leo's victory in the taunting depatment. But unfortunately, that department wasn't in play at the moment.

"Now that's just plain offensive..." She said as she parried a horizontal strike.

"Sorry 'bout that. I'm too used to toying with my enemies." He said as he performed an overhead slash that seemed to connect. The blade kept going until Luna was cleaved in two. Leo was horrified. Did he just kill his friend? But his worries were washed away when both halves came back as two Lunas. "That's some pretty good Dark Magic." He said as both Lunas drew their blades. The squad all cheered, awaiting the next move.

"We try." They said in unison as they charged at Leo. Leo quickly parried the blow of the one who went behind him. He kicked the other one away and launched the one behind him into the air. He grabbed the airborne clone and threw it into the other, merging them back together. This didn't stop her, though. Leo moved for a horizontal slash, but Luna anticipated this. She conjured a hammer of darkness and swung it into the blade, knocking it out of his hooves and into the nearest window.

Celestia walked through the corridors of the castle, her mind still trying to piece together all the events of the day. Luna had been recruited as an Angel of Death at least a hundred years after her sealing on the moon. She died and she forgot all about her existence as an angel and she returned to the moon, where she became Nightmare Moon. She came back and later, Leo came along. He gave her a necklace that caused her to remember everything. And now, they were having a sparring session in the courtyard. She came up to the windows overlooking the courtyard and paled as she saw a blade flying towards her. She barely had any time to react. She ducked down to avoid getting her face impaled by a 1.5 meter long sword. Leo jumped up to the destroyed window and saw Celestia on the ground.
"Sorry!" He said as he retrieved his blade and jumped back into the fight. They both silently agreed to step up their game. They both moved at inhuman speeds as their blades met again in another shower of sparks. They disappeared and they reappeared again, ten meters away from their original spot. With every clash, they would increase their speed, soon becoming nearly invisible to the naked eye. They did it again. And again. And again. Their lightning-fast movements chipped the stone underneath them as they moved and every time they clashed, a crater was formed. The guards were watching in awe and the captain was the first to speak.

"Shit just got real." He said as he lit a cigar and chewed on it. The others all nodded in agreement. The two angels' speed soon died down and they both settled down a couple of yards away from each other. They were both panting heavily, small cuts visible on their coats.

"So...." Leo began as he rose to his hind legs. Luna did the same. "How about we decide this with one blow? No magic, no techniques. Just one hit." He said and Luna nodded. They readied their blades and the squad was on the edge of their seats.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" One said.

"I think the Princess is gonna win." One said and the rest gave their opinions, which were varied. Some agreed while others thought Leo would win. This little dispute would be settled in the next second. The two combatants charged, blades both primed to stab at the other combatant. Time slowed as they reached the peak of their attacks; both blades ground at each other at the edge. They both managed to move their heads out of the way so that only their cheeks got scraped by the blades. The blades kept going until they hit the tips of their wings, removing a few feathers. They both stopped their blades from going any further and they stared at each other, having a silent conversation.

To summarize their conversation, they both smiled, which meant this:
Luna: That was a good match!
Leo: Yep. You're definitely not rusty.
They both began to snicker, catching the squad off guard. The snickering soon built up into full laughter as they collapsed in a heap, laughing at seemingly nothing.
"Uh, what are they doing? Who won?" The rookie on the squad said, which was replied by a quick slap on the head by the captain.

"Isn't it obvious? It's a draw!" He said as he chewed on the cigar a bit more. This caught the attention of the two former squadmates, who both looked at the squad.

"Hm? When did you guys get here?" Luna asked and the captain answered.

"We were here the whole time, ma'am." He said.

"And you didn't say anything?" She asked and she was given an answer.

"No, ma'am." He said and Luna shrugged as she turned to Leo.

"Well, now that I remember everything, how are the others?" She asked Leo.

"Who, the team? Oh, they're fine. I mean, after the Fall of Haven, Irune needed to heal her wings but other than that, they're fine." He said and Luna became concerned for her friend.

"What? Irune was injured? What happened?" She asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"The damn Seraph broke them when he went rogue." He said with a growl as Luna's ears perked up.

"The Seraph? How? He was such a nice guy!" She said in utter disbelief. Leo couldn't blame her. She had good reason. The Seraph put up a good charade.

"No, he wasn't. That bastard imprisoned and tortured me when he figured that I would be a threat to his 'master plan'." Leo said, mocking the Seraph with every word.

"What kind of master plan is this?" She asked.

"Dunno. I never really cared either. Seeing as he's dead now." He said with a shrug. Luna simply moved on to the next topic.

"So, where are the others now?" She asked.

"Oh, they're all on my home planet, Serrane. I guess they're working right now." He said and Luna nodded, but she was a bit suspicious.

"Wait, the guys are working?" She said in disbelief. She thought that they wouldn't bother with working, since she thought they wanted to stay angels. Before Leo could answer, a small figure jumped up from the edge of the courtyard and landed behind Leo. It had very familiar clothes and a black visor to cover its face. Its clothes were a cream colored vest with sleeves that hung down to the ankles of its forelegs. Its neck was covered by a tattered black scarf. It wore denim shorts with a hole to allow the tail through. On many parts of its body were blades, belts and pouches, including a long blade slung across its back and a silver handgun in a holster on its right hip. The back half of the visor folded backwards, revealing a long, blonde mane. The front half of the visor split down the middle and folded to the sides of the head, revealing the filly's emerald green eyes. This confirmed Leo's suspicions.

"Yep. That's Runa." He thought as Runa took hold of him and pointed him towards the edge she jumped from.

"Leo! Cover me!" She whispered.

"What? What did you do this time?" He asked with an annoyed tone. He had to deal with this situation a lot back home. Runa gave a guilty smile before explaining her situation.

"I may or may not have stolen a crown and a necklace from the museum..." She said as she removed her scarf, revealing said crown and necklace. The crown looked like it could have belonged to Celestia and the necklace looked like it came from the Dark Realm. Leo groaned.

"Ugh... How many times have I told you to stop stealing?" He said and Luna joined the conversation.

"Um, Leo? Who is this?" She asked and Runa answered for her friend and caretaker.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Runa! Master Thief and Queen of Blades! Or Dagger Princess. Whichever one you prefer." She said as the doors to the courtyard were beaten down by at least thirty Royal Guards.

"Stop there, criminal scum! You've committed crimes against Celestia and her ponies! What say you in your defense?" One of the unicorn guards said as he brandished a blade that he held in his magic grasp. Runa could only respond with two words and a scowl as she hid her face by closing the visor.

"Aw crap."

Author's Note

Yay! 6000 words! MIlestone for me! Alright, on to business! The next chapter will be a side chapter explaining how Runa got into her current situation and what happened to the other girls. Oh, and how do you guys like the new FIMFiction?

Side Story Ch. 1: Runa

A few hours earlier...

Runa yawned as they walked through the city, Emily and Irune earning some stares from the ponies they passed. Two of the three ponies who walked through the town did not really care about what others thought about them. Leo had taught them that only their opinion mattered. Irune stared ahead as they walked, ignoring the stallion who just stumbled out of a bar to their right.
"Heeeeyyy, you lookin' fiiiiinnee..." He said with a bottle of what looked like alcohol in his hoof as he took hold of Irune by the shoulder. An expression of annoyance flashed on her face as she channeled magic into her hooves. She quickly grabbed the stallion's foreleg and applied a blow to his left temple, knocking him out. She sighed as he dropped to the ground.

"I wouldn't have knocked you out if you weren't so drunk." She said out loud as she walked away, leaving a shocked crowd staring on as she left. Some of them looked to the unconscious stallion on the ground. He was known to drink a lot and thus, was very annoying. With this knowledge available to them, they ignored him. He got what he deserved.

Runa gave Irune a look as they walked away and she noticed right away.
"Before you say anything: I hate drunk people." She said as she continued to stare ahead. Runa shrugged as she responded.

"I wasn't going to say anything! I was just going to compliment how hard you hit!" She said with an enthusiastic smile. Irune shrugged as they continued walking through the town. As soon as they reached the main market area, Runa piped up. "Hey, can I walk around?" She said as innocently as possible, but Irune saw through it right away.

"You're just going to steal something, aren't you?" She said flatly and Runa flinched.

"How'd you know?" She asked and Irune rubbed her temples.

"Runa, you're a thief. It's your profession. How can I not expect you to steal something here?" She said, sounding like a mother scolding her child.

"Oh, come on! I promise that I won't steal anything! Pinkie Swear!" She said as she held out her hoof, but Irune just stared at the outstretched limb.

"We can't Pinkie Swear if we don't have fingers." She said flatly and Runa quickly withdrew her hoof, internally facehoofing. "How did I not notice that we don't have fingers!?" She berated herself for her ignorance. But as if the universe had just dropped a miracle-in-a-can on her lap, Irune had to go very badly.

"Aww, shit... I gotta go!" She shouted as she dashed for the nearest restroom, leaving the fillies alone. Runa grinned widely as Emily wore a confused expression.

"Hey, Emily? You can take care of yourself for a while, right?" She asked, her grin not faltering. The filly looked at her friend.

"Uh, sure?" She said and Runa bolted off, whooping as she dashed into an alley. Positive that nopony could see her, she took the large bag on her back down.

"This is just what I've been waiting for!" She said with glee as she pulled out an opaque, black visor and a scarf from the bag. She quickly put them on; the visor separated to the sides of her face as she emptied the bag on the ground. Now on the ground were the following items:
Eight 6" throwing knives, which she attached to her hind legs for easy access.
A pair of interchangeable and connectable chain knives, which she attached just above her tail.
Four 8" Adamant auto-blades, which were attached to her hooves for her to be able to run on walls and parry attacks.
Six DART throwing knives, which were attached just above her wings.
Two Bullet-type grappling hooks.
An ammo belt of smoke screen bombs.
An ammo belt of fast-acting sleeping gas canisters.
A belt of EMP grenades
Caltrop bombs.
Hydrogen Cyanide gas bombs along with a note on the pouch that said 'LAST DITCH EFFORT. NO KILLING'.
Pyrite coins with another note. 'use only where you know there are greedy bastards around :)'
Blood bombs with another note. 'Scare tactics are fun!'
A silver handgun with a relatively short, but effective silencer and engravings that was made by Cierra.
And a katana that she slung across her back.

She grinned like a madmare as the visor quickly shut itself in front of her face and the back of her head, sealing itself with a hiss. The visor came with an IFF, enemy stress detectors, trajectory calculators, miniature adrenaline factories, heat/night/x-ray vision, a hacking module and a skin-tight cloak shield. This was of course, not the complete suit, but she didn't think she would need it, so she didn't bring it with her. The full suit would have made the cloak last almost indefinitely and provided her with extreme shock-absorbing capabilities. This loadout alone would have won her the award for "Most Heavily Armed Minor". She deactivated the cloak, so as to give the authorities a sporting chance. She was always a good sport and she never let anyone have the chance to say that she stole something without letting the authorities at least have a chance at catching her. She climbed the building and surveyed her new little playground known as Canterlot with the zoom function of her visor. She looked around and a single building caught her eye. It was large, and if Runa learned anything from her early days as a thief is that large buildings either had really good stuff or junk. She wasn't concerned that it was junk, since the sign out front clearly said "Museum of Equestrian Mysteries". She grinned beneath her visor as she dashed across the rooftops, trying to get to the roof of the museum without being seen.

Once she reached the roof, she activated the X-ray function of her visor and surveyed the inside of the museum. Ponies walked around, admiring the exhibits of their past. Little did they know, they were about to lose them. She looked through the exhibits and found some items of interest. One was a pair of claw-shaped rocks that were positioned in a way that the tips were facing each other. She looked at the plaque positioned in front of the strange pair of rocks.
"The Rift Stone. A relic of a lost civilization that has an unknown purpose. It is said to be able to open portals to other worlds, but scientists are unable to power it." She whispered as she evaluated its value. "Hmm... I'm not gonna be able to lug that thing around. Neither am I gonna be able to sell it. That's one thing off of the checklist." She said as she continued to survey the inside of the museum.

Her eyes settled on a tablet with several strange runes carved onto it that sat in a display case. She read the plaque underneath it.
"The Continuum Imperium Tabula. A tablet found in the ruins of Alkaeza. Nopony knows what this tablet does, but scientists hypothesize that it could be some sort of control board for a machine that was lost long ago." She said and she evaluated its value again.
"There's no way I'm gonna find that machine or sell the tablet. That is not going in my shopping bag." She said and she continued her search for treasure.

Another item caught her eye. An ornate crown that sat in another display case, this time protected by four guards. It had at least ten kinds of jewels on it, four of which she recognized as diamond, topaz, opal and pearl. The body of the crown was made of solid gold and the casings of the unrecognized jewels were made of white gold. Runa's eyes sparkled as she drooled out of her smiling mouth, wetting the roof as she read its description. "The Crown of the True Goddess. It is said that this crown and necklace belonged to Princess Celestia's mother, Faust and father, Craig. Although the Princess has yet to prove or deny this, the heiroglyphics that were inscribed on the walls of the ruins this crown and necklace were found in hints that these items did in fact belong to the Princess' parents." She read aloud as her thoughts swirled in her head."That crown is awesome! I bet I can make a couple billion off of that thing!" She thought as another thing caught her eye in the display case.

It was the necklace. It had a silver chain and a black and purple flower-shaped gem stone. She smiled as she read its description. "The Shadow Blossom. It is said to have belonged to Celestia's father. Not much is known about her father apart from his name, Craig. But, it is said that this necklace has a portion of his power sealed inside it."Is that a Dark Crystal!? That's gotta be worth a couple million, easy!" She thought as she got ready to do what she did best: Steal.

The visor constructed a 3D model of the museum and its security. She laughed at it. It wasn't a giggle type of laugh. It was 'roll on the floor, gasping for air' type of laughing. Once she recovered, she looked over the security again, which was pathetic. Sixteen swivel cameras set in the entrance, main showroom and the crown showroom. Four in the entrance, eight in the main showroom and four in the crown showroom. The manpower was laughable. Forty guards in total. Three guards in the entrance, six in the main showroom, four in the crown showroom and twenty-seven on standby in other areas of the museum. She was already at the point of crying as she looked at their weaponry. They were armed with swords and mediocre combat magic. Then she took a look at the materials of the walls of the crown showroom and she put on a serious face. Reinforced steel. She couldn't cut through that without her multi-tool, which she didn't have. It took her seconds to come up with a plan of entry along with a mental checklist.
1)Turn on target locator.
2) Break skylight.
3) Throw smokescreen.
4) Turn on heat vision.
5) Throw EMP to disable the cameras in the building.
6) Jump in while guards and civilians are distracted.
7) Throw another smokescreen into the crown showroom.
8) Grab crown and necklace.
9) Put them in All-Purpose Containment Scarf.
10) Run and throw sleeping gas to knock out the guards and civilians.
She activated the Target Locator function in her visor, a green box appearing around the two items, marking them for her to easily grab them in the coming chaos.
1)Turn on target locator. ✔
She quickly raised her hoof and grinned. She brought her hoof down on the glass, shattering it and startling the guests and guards.
2) Break skylight. ✔
She pulled a smoke bomb from the belt and popped the safety pin off as the visor closed a gas mask on her nose and mouth. She threw the smoke bomb into the main hall, a thick black smoke instantly filling the room.
3) Throw smokescreen. ✔
She immediately turned on the Heat Vision function of her visor, turning her world into a deep shade of blue. The guards and civilians were lit up and their body heat glowed through the smoke.
4) Turn on heat vision. ✔
She threw an EMP grenade into the smoke, the devices letting out an electric blast that shorted out the cameras in the building.
5) Throw EMP to disable the cameras in the building. ✔
She jumped into the mess of flailing hooves, screaming and overall panic, landing without a sound. Although, the sound she would have made probably wouldn't have been noticed. She smiled as she turned to her objective.
6) Jump in while guards and civilians are distracted. ✔
She quickly dashed up to the door of the crown showroom, avoiding the panicking guests and guards and she bucked the doors open. Before the guards inside could react, she popped the pin off of a smokescreen and threw it in, blanketing the room in thick smoke.
7) Throw another smokescreen into the crown showroom. ✔
The green boxes shown on her visor blinked, signaling her that she was in close proximity to her goal. She flashed a toothy grin as she broke the glass and took the crown and necklace.
8) Grab crown and necklace. ✔
She quickly put them into the folds of her scarf, causing them to disappear. A marvel of containment technology courtesy of Cierra.
9) Put them in All-Purpose Containment Scarf. ✔
She quickly mapped her exit and dashed through the crowd. Before she reached the door, she popped the pins on two sleeping gas cylinders and threw them. The gas spread quickly, due to the pressurized ports on the canisters. The gas did its work and all the ponies in the lobby and main hall were fast asleep within seconds.
10) Run and throw sleeping gas to knock out the guards and civilians. ✔
Runa smiled. All of this happened only in a minute and a half. A new record for her. But she couldn't celebrate just yet. In the midst of the chaos, somepony managed to activate the alarm. Runa scowled.

"Dammit."

One and half minutes earlier...

Officer Blue Sword was relaxing in the employee lounge in the Museum of Equestrian Mysteries. He deserved it. The week had been pretty rough on him. All the bills and his work had been getting in the way of his relaxation time. He reclined in his chair as he sniffed a steaming mug of coffee. He pulled the cup to his lips with his magic, ready to savor the sweet taste of a good cup 'o Joe. But before the rim of the mug touched his lips, a shattering sound rang through his ears, causing him to drop his coffee and burn his skin.
"AHHH!! HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!" He screamed as he tore off his shirt and dumped cold water on his body, relieving him of his pain. He contorted his face into a horrible scowl. Somepony was gonna pay for ruining his coffee. He bucked the door to the main hall down and black smoke greeted him by filling his nostrils with its awful smell. He recoiled from the smell and he reached for the emergency gas mask on the rack beside the door. He strapped it on and rushed into the black cloud of smoke, wondering what in Equestria did this. Instead of an answer, he felt electricity course through his body, forcing him to his knees. He gasped in pain as the shock subsided. Even though he was one of the toughest in the security business, a huge electric shock still hurt a lot.

He rose to his hooves, still dazed by the shock. He barely noticed something rush by him, knocking off his gas mask. He held his breath as he ran his hoof on the wall, searching for the alarm. He had to look fast, though. Amidst the awful smell of the smoke, he could swear he could smell sleeping gas. He frantically ran his hoof on the wall, searching for the alarm as the gas began to take effect when he released his breath. His eyelids were beginning to get heavy. A moment later, he found and pulled the alarm, and just in time, too. The gas had finally gripped him and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Runa laughed as she ran through the streets and into the alleys, city guards following close. She activated the auto-blades on her hooves and she dashed up a low wall, leaving the unicorn and earth pony guards in the dust, but not the pegasi. They flew over the wall and Runa giggled. She dashed into the open street and into the crowd. Many loud gasps and curses sounded through the crowd as she ran through, but she didn't care. The chase was always one of the things that made stealing so fun for her. The adrenaline pumping through her veins. The wind rushing past her. The terrain making it either a challenge or a breeze. This is what she lived for. As soon as she cleared the crowd and the guards came into view from the alleys and side roads, she deployed her caltrop bombs.
"Eat this, you idiots!" She yelled as the caltrops spread across the road, stopping the earth ponies and unicorns in their tracks. She whooped as she raced through the streets, seeing the pegasi still chasing her. She grinned sadistically under her visor as she threw blood bombs at the pegasi, knocking a few of them down and scaring a few of them into helping their colleagues. She grinned as she saw a manhole in the middle of the road.
"Yes! The sewer!" She thought as she grabbed the one of the grappling hooks and fired it at the building to her left. The bullet-shaped grappling hook embedded itself in the brick, hydraulic gas blasting three hooks into brick to let the hook grip. The cord stretched taut as she zipped up to the roof and jumped towards the next building, twisting her body to face her remaining pursuers. She grinned again as she threw a charged EMP into the middle of the crowd with satisfying results. The shock knocked several of the guards unconscious. Just for good measure, she threw a smokescreen at the foot of the manhole, shrouding her escape with a huge cloud of black smoke. She lifted the cover of the manhole and slipped into the sewers completely undetected.

In the sewers, she skipped down a path she mapped with her visor while humming a merry tune. She certainly was a happy pony. She had just stolen several billion bits worth of artifacts without so much as a sweat drop going down her face. She thought about how much money she would make by selling these things. She'd be able to retire early and maybe buy a mansion with a few billion bits to spare. But that would mean giving up her thief career, so it wasn't an option for her. Then she thought about something she really should have thought of before she stole the crown and necklace. She wasn't back home. She didn't have anywhere to run and she couldn't depend on Leo to bail her out. She stopped skipping and let the truth sink in. Her skin paled several shades and she calculated a new route. She didn't have to, though. She was already at her newly decided destination: Canterlot Castle.

She slowly opened the manhole and looked around. Ponies and guards were outside, the guards probably on the lookout for her. She scowled and tried to map a new route to the castle, but the visor told her that this was the only way to the castle without a multi-tool. Seeing no other way, even with her heightened natural instincts, she opted for the approach that Leo might have gone with: Brute force.

She opened the manhole all the way and dashed for the entrance of the castle, alerting the guards.
"There it is! Catch it!" One of the guards said as he reached for his sword. Runa gritted her teeth as she ducked just under the guard's chin, surprising him. She quickly used the momentum to slam her hoof into his jaw, knocking the sword out of his mouth. She flew forward and she dispersed her built up energy by rolling and continuing her mad dash for the castle. The visor let out a few warning beeps as it highlighted incoming arrows. She activated the adrenaline factories and rolled forward to dodge the arrows. Time seemed to slow as the arrows flew by her, some missing by millimeters and some missing by meters. With her body strengthened by the effects of heightened epinephrine and endorphin production, her running speed was greatly increased. She acquired tunnel vision as she rushed by the guards, now automatically dodging the arrows coming her way. The main gate was now getting closer.
"Almost there!" Her brain told her just before the doors opened to reveal some guards coming at her. Her body acted on instinct this time. She braced her legs and jumped as high as her adrenaline-fueled legs could take her, which was pretty high. She activated the auto-blades and latched onto the wall, simultaneously continuing her run to the inside of the castle. The guards stood there, shocked for a moment, then they went inside the castle to catch the thief and intruder.

Runa was breathless. She had never felt this way before. The feeling was familiar, but it was so extreme. The wind blew past her face, lashing at her body. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, carrying the endorphins that made her feel alive. Her muscles barely felt strained. She felt alive for the first time in a long time. Before she could enjoy it, however, she could see her destination coming in sight. She targeted the ledge that led to the courtyard and braced her legs again for a moment. She released the tension in her legs and she shot skyward, clearing the ledge.
"Oops. I missed." She thought as she landed in the courtyard, between the two alicorns in the center.
"Leo! Cover me!" She said as the visor folded back and she pointed him towards the ledge she just jumped from. The adrenaline was beginning to clear from her system and she was beginning to feel the strain she had put on her body. Her legs felt tired, but she could handle it. She was used to running a lot.

"What? What did you do this time?" Leo asked, his tone one of annoyance. Runa smiled guiltily before explaining.

"I may or may not have stolen a crown and a necklace from the museum..." She said as she removed her scarf, letting the items drop into her hooves. Leo groaned.

"Ugh... How many times have I told you to stop stealing?" He asked. Before she could answer, Luna piped up.

"Um, Leo? Who is this?" She asked. Feeling obliged to answer a question about her, Runa spoke up.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Runa! Master Thief and Queen of Blades! Or Dagger Princess. Whichever one you prefer." She said as she waved her hoof dismissively, telling her about her own nicknames. Before she could explain the reason behind her nicknames, the doors to the courtyard were bucked open, revealing at least thirty guards.

"Stop there, criminal scum! You have committed crimes against Celestia and her ponies! What say you in your defense?" The lead unicorn said as he brandished his blade and Runa shut her visor.

"Aw crap."

Side Story Ch.2: Irune part 1: The Arena

Upon finishing her business, Irune let out a relieved sigh.
"I didn't realize I was holding all that in..." She thought as she exited the bathroom. She then realized what she had just done. She left Runa alone. The sudden realization hit her like a ton of bricks. The color drained from her to match the color of the bathroom wall she was currently leaning on, trying to catch her breath. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and make a plan of action.

"Okay, Irune. You fucked up. Runa is probably running off, trying to steal something. But that's okay. You're going to find her and stop her! But, the question is how? Hmm...." She put a hoof to her chin as she thought and wandered around. Before she knew it, she had wandered into an alley. She was never good at multitasking. Her distant look was broken when she realized where she was. "I wandered into an alley?" She said out loud. She shrugged and she began looking for a way out while trying to think of a way to stop Runa from stealing anything. She walked through the alleys, her mind distant. This state of mind would soon make her regret her decision. Out of nowhere, a hooded stallion pinned her to the wall with his hoof on her neck, a knife held in his mouth. She managed to let out a gasp as her back hit the wall, but nothing else.

"I've been watching you all day. The way you move your flank.... I thought to myself 'Hey, why not make that smoking hot mare mine?'" He said, malice burning in his eyes. Irune simply grinned. Any normal mare would be screaming at this point, but not Irune. She was by no means normal. She began to giggle, sounding much like a little filly who had just been complemented by her crush. "What's so funny?" He asked, clearly confused.

"Oh, it's just that I'm flattered that you think I'm hot. But I'm not hot. In fact, I think that I'm a bit cold." As soon as the word 'cold' left her lips, her smile twisted into a horrifying grin and her eyes glowed a chilling blue. The stallion was confused at first, but soon he realized what she meant. She hit the stallion's foreleg at the joint and it buckled, releasing Irune from his grip. Before the stallion could scream, she grabbed him by the mouth and raised him up while she held her head down. She giggled like a madmare as the stallion kicked and tried to pry her hoof off of his mouth, failing miserably. She lifted her face to reveal that ice blue veins were growing on her face, quickly spreading to her body. She let go of him, causing him to fall to the floor. He quickly scrambled away from her until his back was to the wall. He wore an expression of horror as she slowly stalked towards him with an evil glare holding him in place.

"W-W-What ARE you!?" He blubbered and Irune put a hoof to his mouth to silence him.

"Shhh..... You know, I have a nickname. Would you like to know it?" She whispered, terrifying him even more. "It's Malice, The Icy Reaper. The Frozen Harvester. I wouldn't blame you if you've never heard of me. Not many get to live to tell the tale." She said, her voice smooth and sharp, cutting into his very soul. Before the stallion could fully comprehend what she had just said, she raised her other hoof and quickly jammed it into his chest. The veins quickly disappeared down her hoof and entered the stallion. The veins spread through his body, causing him to cough violently. Irune just smiled a sadistic smile.

"You know, I gotta thank you." She said, her tone one of actual gratitude. The stallion hacked and coughed as he was driven to his knees by the pain burning in his throat, which was quickly spreading to the rest of his body.

"For doing this, I mean. If it weren't for you..." She said, acting as if she was answering the stallion, who was now on the ground, writhing in pain as his hooves began to turn black.

"...I would have never gotten Malice back!" She said with sadistic glee as the stallion's body fell limp and it turned completely black. His eyes were shriveled up and his body went rigid, completely taken over by frostbite.

"Frostbite. A nasty thing. Oh well. It's a shame. I guess no one will ever live to tell the tale of the Icy Reaper..." She said as she stomped on the stallion's frozen skull, shattering it into thousands of shards. She moved on and tried to find a way out of the maze that the alleys formed. Soon, she came upon a steel door. It was pained red and it had a slot near the top, presumably to let those inside to see whoever visited. She pushed open the door and the horrible smell of rust and rotten food filled her nostrils.

"Ugh.... No one knows how to tidy up these days..." She said as she walked through the dark and dirty metallic room. She coughed as dust flew in her face when she tried to move some debris that was in her way. She shooed the dust away from her face as she noticed light seeping in from underneath a door on the other side of the room. Seeing no other exit, she moved towards the door. It was a heavy metal door that only moved by cranking a winch beside it. She cranked said winch and the door lifted with a metallic screech. She was shocked to see what was beyond the door.

A huge arena was now before her, several blood stains, fresh and old, adorned the floors and walls. Stone pillars were all over the area. Some of them were in good condition and others were not. In the walls of the massive arena were four heavy metal doors, including the one Irune just stepped through. A metal dome was above the arena, presumably to keep the audience safe during a fight. She walked slowly to the center of the arena, unsure of how safe this area was. It was eerily silent as she walked and the only sound she could hear were her own footsteps. When she reached the center, a huge voice boomed from somewhere in the arena.
"So, you've come." The voice said, unmistakably male. Irune jumped at the sound and the voice laughed. "No need to be afraid, Reaper." The voice said and Irune's eyes widened.

"You... You know me?" She asked, disbelief clear in her voice. The voice laughed again.

"How could I not when you just killed one of my employees?" He said and Irune grinned slightly.

"Who? The pervert? I don't care about him." She said plainly and the voice chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose he was a pervert. He would always skip work to spy on mares." He said and Irune chuckled. She knew of an angel who did the same to her while she was in the bath. Let's just say that he didn't walk out of that room with an intact set of balls.

"So... Would you happen to know a way out of here? I need to get back to my friends." She said and the voice replied with honesty.

"Yes, I do know a way out. But, to get out, you have to do something for me first." He said and Irune was intrigued.

"And what might that be?" She said and several doors in the audience area opened and hundreds of ponies filed in, cheering and screaming.
(I thought that this song would be appropriate for most of the following scenes)

"I want you to entertain my guests." The voice said as the ponies all settled down and the voice spoke with an even louder tone.
"Now, fillies and gentlecolts, it seems we have a new challenger! She may not look like much, but I promise you! She's got a nasty surprise for anypony who would want to hurt her. In this corner we have, The Icy Reaper!" His voice roared out and the crowd went wild. Irune let a smile creep onto her face. It's been a long time since she got to release the darker side of her.
"And in this corner we have an old favorite! He is nine feet tall and he doesn't like new competitors! He's got a hammer big enough to knock an Ursa Major out cold with one swing! He is Steel Horn!" The voice said and one of the massive doors lifted to reveal a hulking behemoth of a minotaur standing at the doorway, saliva dripping from its mouth as it grunted at Irune. Its eyes glowed with hatred as it hefted the massive hammer that was previously mentioned. It let out a bloodcurdling howl as it rested the hammer on its shoulder. Irune grinned as she approached the beast.

"Now THIS is my kind of entertainment!" She shouted as the behemoth charged, hammer raised and ready to smash Irune into the ground. She flapped her wings and they took her out of harm's way, the hammer harmlessly crushing the ground where she originally was. She jumped on the hammer and ran along its length, to its wielder. She charged her hoof with magic and slammed it into the minotaur's hand, causing it to let go with a roar. She used this chance to prepare her next attack. She clasped her hooves together and separated them, a spear of ice forming between them. She quickly grabbed it and threw it at the minotaur, who was still trying to get rid of the pain in its hand. The javelin pierced its hand and nailed it to the wall, causing it to howl again in pain. Irune gave it no time to try to pull out the spear. She conjured up another spear and threw it at the other hand, nailing it to the wall and causing it to cry out once more. She moved to the massive hammer and hefted it onto her shoulder.
"Looks like you're about to get a taste of your own medicine." She said as magic coursed through her entire body, readying her for the strike. She roared in bloodlust as she swung the hammer horizontally, the head slamming directly into the side of the beast. The force of the strike tore the beast off of the wall, leaving the severed arms nailed to the wall. It was about to roar in fury and pain, when Irune followed up with her attack. She used the momentum of the strike to fly into the air, carrying the hammer with her. Her eyes glinted a chilling blue as she swung the hammer down on the minotaur's head. The hammer impacted with the beast's skull. Now, minotaur skulls were pretty hard. They could usually take the blunt force of a pegasus going 140 mph without so much as jerking backwards. But it is very doubtful that a minotaur could take the force of a three-ton hammer descending upon their head at 60 miles per hour. The hammer crushed the skull, sending small chunks of bone and brain matter flying everywhere.

She panted quietly, her body coated with brain matter and viscera as the arena was filled with silence. The ponies exchanged shocked glances and soon, one of them shouted out.

"GO, REAPER!!" A stallion shouted from the crowd, breaking the silence. The crowd stayed silent for a minute, but then they followed with a chant.
"REAPER, REAPER, REAPER, REAPER!!" They chanted and Irune smiled her malicious smile.

"They seem to love me!" She said and the voice answered, although it was hard to hear through the cheering of the crowd.

"Of course they do! You just killed a minotaur that was more than three times as big as you!" He said as he lit up a string of red lights at the top of the arena, signaling the audience to be silent.

"Alright! Our little lady seems to be able to hold her own! How about we put her up against something a bit more challenging?" He said and the crowd cheered on. He then gave the crowd what they wanted. A challenge for Irune.
"Originally an orphan, he fought to where he is now. Wielding two wristblades and and a whole plethora of weapons, he cuts down any who dare to challenge him! Meet Hunter Magnum!" He said and another door lifted to reveal an armored pony. It wore chain mail armor over most of its body and metallic leg and waist armor. It wore gauntlets on its forelegs and a heavy mask, which garbled its speech slightly.

"I... Am.... The night!" He said, his voice coming through what sounded like voice filters in the mask. Irune cracked her neck and beat her hooves together.

"Yeah, sure you are." She said with a sarcastic tone as she charged at her enemy. But before she could plant her hoof in his face, he suddenly disappeared. A shocked expression flashed on her face for a minute, until the momentum of her strike caused her to stumble and fall. She rolled and she lay on her back, trying to make sense of what happened. It only took her seconds to rule out all other possibilities and come up with a straight answer.
"That bastard's got a cloaking module!" She thought as said bastard appeared above her with both wristblades drawn and ready to kill. Irune had to react fast. Adrenaline rushed through her body, slowing the world around her to a standstill. She calculated all her options. She could roll to the side and begin attacking him from there, but there was a possibility that he already knew of her plan. There was currently nothing around her, so she couldn't throw anything at him. Now she was only left with one option: kick him out of the air. She only had one shot at this. If she missed even by an inch, it could cost her a limb.

"Here goes nothing!" She thought as she supported her body on her forelegs and she aimed her hind legs at the enemy. She quickly pushed herself off of the ground, propelling herself towards her enemy. Her hind legs connected with the stallion's midsection and a sickening crack echoed through the arena. The stallion roared out in pain as he was thrown back, the crowd making an 'ooooohhh' sound in reaction to the loud crack.

"That looked and sounded like it hurt!" The announcer said with gusto as the crowd began to cheer again. Irune landed with the grace of a ballerina as she surveyed the arena for any sign of her opponent. She conjured a spear of ice as she heard a loud roar echo through the arena. She heard a sound coming from her right, causing her to quickly throw her ice spear at it. It was nothing though. A simple sound decoy by Magnum.
"This fucker's toying with me!" She thought angrily as she prepared a taunt to get her opponent to come out.

"Come on out, you little shit! Come and fight me like a ma- er, stallion!" She taunted as she heard a faint whirring noise coming from behind her. She let her instincts take over and she rolled to the side, barely managing to dodge the spear that was thrown at her. She grunted as she looked over the arena once more, this time with an ability that all angels had. Magic sonar. This ability came from the fact that during the War for Creation, it was a very big issue when angels started going missing in the field. So, they developed a low-level spell that could be used to easily locate sources of magic. This method involved Irune sending out a weak magic pulse that bounced off of magic sources. The spell could be fine-tuned to be able to find a specific person or object. And since ponies are an inherently magical race, it would be easy to get a lock on her enemy.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply as she sent out a weak pulse of energy, quickly getting a response. A single magic source got her attention in the arena. Magnum was hiding behind a pillar, mending his bones with some sort of syringe filled with a blue liquid. She grinned as she gathered energy in her hooves.
"Time to make this place my battlefield!" She said as she thrust her hooves into the ground, releasing the energy into the ground. The energy caused gigantic spikes of ice to shoot out of the floor, effectively turning the arena into a miniature tundra. Magnum grunted as he barely managed to dodge a spike that appeared underneath him.

"What sort of magic is this!?" He thought as he recovered from the shock and he saw what Irune was doing. She calmly walked to an ice pillar and faced him.

"I've been playing by your rules for a while, but now the tables have turned. Now, you play by my rules." She said as she thrust her hoof into the ice pillar, shattering it into thousands upon thousands of ice needles. Before they all fell to the floor, she levitated them up and pointed them all at Magnum, whose eyes were wide with fear. Although, nopony could see his face, seeing as he was wearing a mask. Irune could only utter a single word that conveyed her sadistic glee.
"Run." She said as she fired the needles in rapid succession at Magnum. He didn't hesitate to do what he was told. He quickly ran, but the ice caused him to slip and fall. Luckily, he slid towards an ice pillar, which shielded him from the onslaught of icy death.

"This battle is not turning out in my favor!" Magnum thought as he took shelter behind an ice pillar.

"No, it isn't." Irune suddenly said, catching him off guard. She didn't actually know that Magnum thought that the battle wasn't going very well, but she guessed. This sudden claim scared Magnum a little. He prepared to cloak and jump out of her line of fire, but something he never expected happened. The needles stopped flying towards him and Irune was standing normally. Magnum did not lower his guard, which was a good idea. Irune suddenly stood on her hind legs and held her forelegs out, then the arena began to shake. She suddenly threw her hooves forward, the ice in front of her shaking violently. The ice suddenly shattered and the shards levitated around her in a hurricane of ice. She did the same with the rest of the ice around her, the hurricane growing in size each time. Magnum was careful to stay cloaked and out of reach of the hurricane. Suddenly, when it was at its largest, the hurricane stopped moving for a minute. Irune soon spoke.
"Magnum, do you have a wife?" She asked, catching the stallion off guard. He was a bit slow to respond, but he did.

"Why should I...... Tell you.... Anything?" He said, his voice still garbled by the mask. Irune rolled her eyes, the giant, frozen hurricane of ice still floating around her.

"Oh, come on. It was just a question. No need to be rude." She said and Magnum conceded.

".....Yes.... I have..... A wife..." He said and Irune smiled as she asked her next question.

"Do you enjoy the warm moments you share with her?" She asked and Magnum nodded slowly, disturbed by this entire situation. This did not make sense. One moment, she was trying to kill him with a barrage of icy needles, and the next she is asking him about his wife? Something was definitely wrong. Irune grinned as she spoke.

"Good. That's very good..." She said as the shards converged on her right hoof, forming a ball of chilling energy. She quickly dashed at her confused opponent and grabbed him by the neck.

".....haah......agh.." Magnum coughed as he tried to pry the mare's hoof off, to no avail. She was much stronger than she looked. She slammed him into the ground, causing him to gasp in shock and pain. She sat on his chest and tore the mask off, revealing his face. He was a beige stallion with a short, brown mane and dark eyes, which were filled with fear and pain. She stared into his eyes with her own eyes that glowed a frigid blue. They held no mercy, no remorse. They dug into his soul like knives, telling him that there was no hope left for him. That he was going to die here, with all the regrets he had been saving up. He wanted to live, but Irune didn't want him to. He wanted to beg, to plead for a second chance. A chance to get rid of all his regrets. But, it was not to be. He would never see his wife and child again. He would never be able to take his son out fishing. He would never be able to hunt down and kill a Manticore, his lifelong dream. All of his dreams and aspirations, gone in one moment. For the first time in his life, he was drowning in despair. He was going to die and he couldn't do anything about it.

"...Because those warm memories are about to get very cold." She said as she pried his mouth open and shoved the ball of energy down his throat. The Absolute Zero spell took immediate effect. The cold quickly spread, freezing the stallion's body. She tore open his chest cavity, the ribs making a sick cracking noise, which drove some of the members of the audience to make various retching noises. She reached into the dead stallion's chest and pulled out a glowing ball of faint blue energy.
"Your soul..... Very pure, considering what you've been doing. Leo will want to have this." She said as she swallowed the soul whole, causing the audience to show their disgust by looking away and saying things like, 'nononononono!', 'What did that mare just do!?', 'What the buck!?' and among others. She stood and the announcer moved onto his comments.

"Well..... That was.... Disturbing.... Anywho! It seems that our newbie can certainly pull her own weight! Am I right!?" The announcer said and the audience responded with gusto, eager to forget the most recent event. Just at that moment, the lights in the arena dimmed a little as the announcer introduced Irune's next opponent.
"The dark is her ally in this fight! With a scythe in her hooves, she stalks the shadows, waiting for her prey to make a mistake. Introducing our new competitor, Shaku!" He said as a shadowy haze enveloped the arena. It thinned slightly and at the center stood a mare with dark eyes and a face mask. Her fur was a bluish-gray and her mane and tail was black. Most of her body was encompassed by copper armor, which allowed her to move very quickly. On her back was a single scythe with a wickedly curved blade.

"I've heard of you, Reaper." She said, venom coating her words. Irune didn't even look in her direction.

"And? Many have heard, not many get to say anything about it." Irune said as she nonchalantly polished her hooves against her chest. Shaku gritted her teeth.

"Yeah? Well, I'll be one of the few, then. There's only room for one reaper, and that's me!" She said as she disappeared and Irune finally took actual notice.

"Another cloaker? Fine." She said as she activated her magic pulse. She got a lot of responses. In fact, the entire arena was lit up with responses.
"Strange.... The fog must be sending me false responses.... Clever girl..." She thought as she resorted to the thing that got her through thick and thin during the Battle of Haven: Her senses. She focused her magic into her ears and closed her eyes. With her ears' hearing strength enhanced by magic, she could hear an ant fart all the way over in Griffonia, which she did. Along with a whole lot of other sounds. Nearly driven to her knees by the audio assault, she tuned her ears into being able to hear only until the edges of the arena. She listened quietly for a few seconds, staying still so she wouldn't hear her own movements. For a few moments, everything was completely quiet. If she didn't know that she was currently in a fight, she would have just sat there and taken a nap. But then she heard something. The sound of sand shifting from the edge of the arena. She quickly conjured an ice spear and threw it at the sound, only hearing the spear get embedded in the rock wall. She soon heard rapid footsteps coming from her left. She jumped out of the way, the blade of the incoming scythe only managing to cut the edge of her uniform. She heard the sound of retreating footsteps next.
"No good..... She's moving too fast.... Time for another approach." She thought as she spread her wings to their full length, which was at least 5 1/2 feet. She quickly flew into the air above the fog and she deactivated her hyper-hearing. She closed the arena with clear ice to allow the audience to be able to see the incoming carnage. She landed on the ground at the center of the arena and encased herself in a dome of ice. She needed to concentrate for this spell. She sat at the center of the small igloo and closed her eyes. She then began drawing runes on the floor of the arena with ice.

"Fenrir.... I am Sariel..... Heed my call..... In exchange for your power, I offer you..... The blood of my enemies....." She said, her tone echoing throughout the dome. All Sariels had a very deep connection with Fenrir. This is due to the fact that Fenrir's son, Hati, a Managarm, is something called a Moon Hound. Managarms are at their strongest under the light of the full moon or when they are in the vicinity of a Sariel. The runes underneath her began to glow an icy blue and Irune got her response.

"Sariel, your offer has been accepted. Your enemies will fall like dominoes." A deep voice said and the runes grew ever brighter. Irune smiled. If Fenrir was planning on coming here himself, she couldn't guarantee the safety of everyone in the arena, but that didn't matter to her. All that mattered was the fight. And she was going to win.

Shaku snickered as she disappeared from the battlefield. She was going to win this fight. The dark was her ally, and with the arena completely enveloped in dark fog, how was she to lose? She quickly ran up to Irune while drawing her scythe, who was standing still, likely because she was listening for Shaku.
"She thinks she's so good..... Well, I'll prove her wrong." She thought as she swung her scythe at the peak of her approach. But Irune jumped out of the way, only getting her cape caught by the blade.
"Okay, maybe she is good. But I'm better!" She thought as she retreated to observe Irune. If she was as ready as she had just been, she couldn't just hit her and hope for the best. She needed a plan. But before she could formulate one, Irune suddenly spread her wings and flew up to the roof of the arena. Shaku saw that she was covering the roof in clear ice and her face contorted into a curious stare.
"What is that mare doing?" She thought as said mare flew back to the ground and covered herself with a dome of ice. Shaku was growing very suspicious, but suspicion quickly changed into shock when light seeped out from the dome and ground began to shake.
"What in Equestria is that mare doing!?" She asked herself, this time with more horror than curiosity. She got her answer in only a few seconds. The dome shattered into thousands of shards and in its place stood two figures. One equine and one lupine. She stared on with caution as the figures became clearer. Irune was standing beside a strange wolf. It had grayish-blue fur and ice spikes protruding from various points on its body, most notably its back and tail. Its fangs and claws were like daggers and its eyes were as white as the full moon, but its most defining feature was the horn atop its head. It was shaped like a Spartan blade and it chilled the air around it.

"A Managarm? Well, I suppose it is more fitting." Irune said as she ran her hoof through its cold fur. It responded by nuzzling her. She returned the affection before getting serious.
"Yosamu, find my enemy." She said and the wolf jerked away from her. It sniffed the air before howling loudly, the sheer volume of the howl cracking the ice above them. The volume also caused the audience and Shaku to clutch their heads in pain.

"Argh.... What is that creature?" She said as the howl began to subside and in its place came a very sadistic laughter.

"Shaku? You're there, aren't you? Really, I must thank you." Irune said as her laughter died down and a cold wind blew over the arena, blowing the fog away. This was a rather strange phenomenon, considering that there was no way wind could enter the arena. Shaku growled as she drew her scythe. With her one advantage gone, she would have to fight.

"Why's that?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Simply because you reminded me to do my Sariel Ritual!" Irune said as she stroked the Managarm's back. Shaku was confused and she wanted to ask a question. Now, most people wouldn't ask questions during a fight, but since Irune wasn't exactly a normal fighter, Shaku decided to risk it.

"Sariel Ritual?" She said, still trying to get the ringing out of her head.

"I won't bother explaining what a Sariel Ritual is to you, since you'll be long dead before I can even finish." Irune said and she turned to Yosamu.

"Let me handle this." She said and the ice wolf phased through the ground, away from the battle. Irune then turned to Shaku with sadistic glee in her eyes.
"Let's play, Shaku." She said as daggers of ice appeared in her hooves.
If you would like to see the closest thing to Irune's expression, look at this.

Before Shaku could raise her scythe to defend herself, Irune landed her hind leg on Shaku's shoulder with a heavy blow, causing the mare to slam into the ground. The force of the strike caused her to bounce up and backwards, away from Irune. As Shaku crashed to the ground, Irune juggled her daggers.
"You had enough yet?" Irune said, not taking her eyes away from her juggling. Shaku slowly rose, but she could feel the damage of the strike. Several of the bones in her upper body had been broken and her right foreleg had been dislocated. She coughed blood as she took a blue syringe from her belt.

"Hardly." She spat as she bit the cover of the syringe off and plunged it into her side, causing her to scream in pain. Although it was painful, the liquid in the syringe was doing its job. It released millions of nanomachines that spread throughout her body, healing the damage that had been done. Bones rejoined and the foreleg reconnected, stronger than ever. Irune took her eyes away from her juggling and noticed Shaku recovering.

"Let me guess. Nanomachines, right?" She chuckled as she spawned more ice daggers, which joined their predecessors. Shaku grinned as she picked up her scythe and pointed it at Irune, who was still juggling and spawning daggers.

"Correct." Shaku said as she charged at Irune, who also grinned. She threw the growing number of daggers in all directions, setting up her plan of attack. Just as the daggers set themselves in place, Shaku swung her scythe at Irune, who flipped out of the way. Before she hit the ground, she spotted two daggers falling near her. She grabbed them and she landed her hind legs on the dirt but instead of stabilizing herself, she used the force to rebound onto the wall behind her. She locked her eyes onto Shaku, who was about to close the distance between them. She braced her legs and readied her wings for a moment and she released. She flew towards Shaku at lightning speeds, the mare in question managing to raise the blade of her scythe to defend against Irune. The two met in a shower of ice shards for a moment, but that moment quickly passed as Irune flew past Shaku. Shaku recoiled from the force of the attack, causing her to spin around. This allowed her to see Irune launch herself into the wall and up to the ceiling of the arena. She also noticed that after Irune reached the ceiling, she managed to grab two ice swords and begin her deadly descent on Shaku.

Irune fell down to Shaku at high speed, blades primed to strike. She swung both of the blades in an X formation, two arcs of ice left in their wake. Shaku managed to dodge the attack, but her scythe was knocked out of her hooves. Irune stood on her hind legs as the ice blades fell to the ground, embedding themselves and creating the appearance of a field of swords. Irune turned her back to Shaku as she reached for the ice blade.

"Shaku, you're a good girl, so I'll- Ack!" She said, but she stopped when she felt a sharp pain in her side. She looked down to see a dagger's hilt sticking out of her side. Shaku had rushed up and stabbed her while she was talking. She fell down to her knees and Shaku laughed.

"Who's the reaper now?" Shaku taunted as she reached for her scythe. The announcer then spoke up.

"It looks like The Icy Reaper is finally down for the count! I guess she just got too cocky! Shaku will advance to the next round!" The announcer said and Irune fell over, her world suddenly darkening. She saw blood pooling around her. Her blood. She tried to keep her eyes open, but eventually she ran out of strength. Her eyes finally shut. She was dead. Yosamu simply observed the battle through the ground. He hadn't known his master long, but he knew her enough to know that she wouldn't die so easily. She would definitely come back, he thought to himself.

One year ago....

"Anzu, are you sure this is safe?" Irune asked as the two angels entered the Soul Weapon Forge. The inside was massive. The walls and floor were made of some sort of metal and glass tanks lined the walls. At the back of the building, a forge sat with a man tending to it.

"Listen, hundreds have done it before you, so it's fine. Hephaestus! Over here!" Anzu said as she waved the man over. The man turned around and jumped from the forge and in front of the two, startling Irune. He was a relatively thin man for someone who worked a forge, but his equipment spoke for him. He kept his dark hair swept back with a do-rag and he wore a jacket around his waist. He wore a light shirt and large, heat resistant gloves.

"Anzu! It's been so long! How have you been doing?" He said in a gruff voice as he hugged Anzu.

"I'm doing great, Hephaestus. Say, do you remember the time I fought off that Basilisk?" Anzu asked and Hephaestus rubbed the back of his neck with a smile on his face.

"Yeah. I reckon I'd be dead if it weren't for you. Alright, I know that you wouldn't bring that up if you had no reason. What do you need?" He said as he guided the pair of angels to his forge.

"Oh, nothing for me. But, you can do something for her." Anzu said with a smile as she jerked her thumb over to Irune who snapped to attention after staring at the machinery.

"So, what can Hephaestus do for you, little lady?" He said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Um.... Anzu said you could help keep me alive and get me a new weapon." She said and Hephaestus laughed.

"Is that all? Well, I guess we should get started then!" He said as he flipped a switch on the forge. Suddenly, the walls opened to reveal multiple metal arms that were fitted with plasma saws, stabilizers and plasma torches just to mention a few. Various parts of the forge lifted to reveal several ports that held different types of metal. The center of the forge drained and six ports opened up at the sides of the forge. A control board rose up and Hephaestus leaned on it.
"My first question: Heavy, medium or light?" He asked and Irune rubbed her chin.

"Heavy, I guess." She said and the ports on the outer edge of the forge closed and reopened quickly, this time with different metals.

"Next, very heavy or heavy?" Irune was quick to come up with an answer.

"Very heavy." She said and and a stabilizer arm brought up a shaft from one of the ports.

"Blunt or sharp?" Irune answered quickly.

"Sharp." She said and an axe head was attached to the shaft via a plasma torch. The head had a beard and the top curved upward, making it look much like an executioner's axe. A pressurized spray coated the whole axe in a substance, that when hardened, would make the weapon extremely durable. The axe lowered and it was deposited through a vent. The axe slid out onto a tray and Irune picked it up. It had a nice feel. The shaft was rough, so she could easily keep her grip when she was decapitating her foes.

"You wanna test that out?" Hephaestus said and Irune nodded excitedly. Hephaestus laughed as he brought up a massive piece of Thorn Dragon hide.
"Go on. Hit it!" He said and Irune complied. She swung the axe into the hide and it was cut into two instantly. She whistled lowly as she looked at her new axe.

"You did good, Hephaestus!" She said and said forgemaster bowed.

"Yeah, but my job ain't done yet. Next, we'll have to bind that thing to you." He said and Irune gave a confused look.

"Bind?" She asked.

"You don't know what Weapon Binding is? Well, I guess I can't blame you. Not many can get their weapons bound to them." He said and Irune voiced her question.

"What's Weapon Binding?" She asked.

"Well, you know how the Seraph can just summon a blade from out of nowhere? Yeah, he had a sword bound to him. Weapon Binding binds the weapon to your soul so you can have it anytime. But usually, you have to be pretty powerful to be able to bind a weapon to your soul. Since it adds something to your soul, you have to be able to carry the extra weight on your soul. Usually, those with the more powerful souls can bind a sword or a war axe to themselves. But, only the really powerful ones can bind more powerful and heavier weapons." He explained and Irune nodded.

"Do you think you're strong enough?" He asked and Irune nodded. She wouldn't have become an Angel of Death if she thought otherwise.

"Alright then. Beginning Soul Bind procedure." He said as he ran his fingers across the control board, several cords of light latching onto the axe. The cords quickly wrapped around the axe and they shot towards Irune, knocking her back. The cords lifted her up and she gasped. Or at least, she tried to gasp. The cords had already wrapped around her neck.
I'm not suffocating? She thought to herself as the axe moved closer to her body. Soon, the axe phased through her and it merged with her. The cords disappeared and she fell to her knees. Anzu rushed to her friend's side.

"Irune! Are you alright?" She asked as she took her by the shoulders. Irune shook her head and looked at Anzu.

"I'm fine." She said as she stood. She then felt the weight of the axe on her soul. The axe weighed her down and she felt her body grow thrice as heavy. Soon, the weight became too much to bear and her legs buckled again. Hephaestus held her arm to keep her from falling.

"Take it easy now. It takes a while for you to get used to extra weight on your soul." He said as he pulled up a chair for her to sit on. She fell onto the chair with an unceremonious 'thump' and she massaged her temples as she sighed.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy to take the weight, but I didn't think it would be this hard!" She said through gritted teeth as the jackhammer-like headache began to settle down into a more manageable throbbing headache.

"Yeah. I get a lot of complaints like that. Now, while your headache is settling down, I think I should tell you about the way to keep you alive." he said, although Irune was simply in too much pain to listen.

"Uh huh. Yeah, sure." She said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Hephaestus stared at the suffering angel quizzically before shrugging and moving on to explain.

"Alright then. The way I can get you to survive is for you to eat souls." He said as he pulled a pair of light gauntlets from the wall. "I've been working on these for a while now. They allow you to eat souls and use them to either keep you alive or bring you back from the dead. If you're skilled enough, you can use them to power some really strong attacks." He said and Irune groaned in response. Hephaestus was unfazed and he continued explaining. "It's got a fail-safe feature, where if you somehow grab your own soul, it won't be consumed." He said as he attached the gauntlets to Irune's arms. He then looked at Irune's face. She was fast asleep. He sighed as Anzu picked the sleeping angel up and headed for the door.

"I'll take her to her room. Thanks, Hephaestus." She said as she flew off. The forgemaster smiled as he watched her fly off.

"Anytime, Anzu." He said as he returned to his work. The forge wouldn't run itself.

Irune's eyes shot open and she tuned her ears to listen for her enemy. Hephaestus' equipment really worked. She would have to thank him properly the next time she saw him. She could hear Shaku's hoofsteps at the edge of the arena. She smiled. She still had time to lop her head off. She rose to her knees as she gripped the knife at her side, prompting the crowd to gasp. She smiled again as she quickly removed the knife and she held her right hoof out as she rose to her hind legs. A massive battleaxe materialized in her hoof as she tossed the knife behind her. Her psychotic smile stretched across her face as her blood ran through her coat.
"Ready or not, Shaku. Here I come!" She thought as she charged at her enemy with cold hatred and pleasure in her eyes.

Shaku, on the other hand, was busy soaking in her praise. She waved her hoof at the crowd, which was now staring in awe at what was behind her. She put on a confused look as she turned around, but she soon came to regret that. Irune swung the axe upwards, chopping Shaku's left foreleg off. Before Shaku could scream in agony and surprise, Irune shifted her grip on the axe in a way that she was holding it like a javelin. She threw the axe in a spear-like fashion, Shaku being hit and sent flying into the wall. Shaku was stuck to the wall, the axe holding her in place. Shaku coughed blood as she tried to remove the axe with her hoof, only for it to be snapped off by Irune's crushing grip. She tried to scream, but the blood had risen in her throat and she was unable to speak.

"What's wrong, Shaku? Cat got your tongue? Oh, wait...." She said as she jammed her hoof in Shaku's bloody mouth, breaking her teeth. She grabbed her tongue and forcefully yanked it out. The tongue trailed blood as it fell to the ground and Shaku hacked and coughed.
"I got your tongue!" She said as she removed the axe and Shaku fell to the floor, barely alive. Her breath was almost nonexistent and her blood pressure was dropping like a stone in water. Her brain came to the conclusion that she was going to die.

'Well, I had a good run, at least." She thought as she forced her eyes upwards to see Irune raising the axe above her head with a dark expression on her face. "I die with no regrets.... Just like I always wanted..." She thought with a mental smile.
Irune grinned. "No one fucks with the Reaper." She said as she brought the axe down on Shaku with the force of train. The axe ran right through Shaku and into the ground, embedding it in the surface. Shaku's body was split in half as Irune turned to face the shocked crowd, her manic grin ever present. The crowd stayed silent for a moment, shocked by the recent turn of events. Irune rose an eyebrow and she raised her voice.

"What's wrong? Are you not entertained?" She shouted out to the audience and they all looked at each other, unsure of how to respond. Soon, they broke the silence and a thundering applause filled the arena. This is when the announcer spoke up.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, the Icy Reaper is back!" He shouted out as the audience cheered. Irune smiled. She had not disappointed her screaming fans. Soon, the announcer silenced the crowd with the next challenger.
"He comes from the depths of Ithavoss Sanctuary. He's got enough energy in that brain of his to give even the Princess a bad time! He is Archon Plegoras!" He said as a swirling mass of energy enveloped a part of the arena. Soon the energy dissipated and a pony wearing gold armor and white eyes floated up, electricity arcing from his hooves to the ground.

"I will vanquish all who stand in my way!" Plegoras said, his voice like the boom of thunder. Irune readied her ice blades as she cautiously approached her new opponent. Her last one nearly killed her, so she needed to be careful with this one.

"Come on. Show me what ya got!" She said as she zigzagged towards her enemy with ice blades in her hooves. As she reached him, she raised her blades and swung them into him. But her eyes widened when she saw that the blades shattered as they made contact with a shield of energy. She then noticed him charging energy into his hoof. He let loose a blast of kinetic energy that sent Irune flying.

"You cannot defeat me through force alone." He said as Irune landed with a solid thud. She quickly rose and wiped a small collection of blood away from her mouth.

"That's kinda obvious, dickwad!" She cursed as she moved for her axe. She hefted the massive weapon onto her shoulders and stared at Plegoras.
"But with this, I don't think that's true anymore." She said as she ran forward, Plegoras meeting her attack with maelstroms of magic. The magical currents lashed at Irune as she approached him, but she didn't relent. She was intent on killing him. She erected a barrier to protect herself from the whirling vortex of magic as she charged forward, the axe being dragged along on the ground. As she neared the archon, she overcharged the barrier, causing it to explode and stop all magical activity in the area. She used this brief break to launch herself into the air, positioning herself for an overhead strike. She then swung the weapon into the archon. Plegoras barely had time to react. He raised a barrier to block the strike, but it was too powerful. The massive force, accompanied with the reinforced edge of the axe, shattered the shield instantly. He managed to move back just in time to escape the bloodthirsty edge of the battleaxe. Irune left the battleaxe to be embedded in the ground as she moved to continue her assault.

She charged her hoof with kinetic energy as she attacked Plegoras. She unleashed a barrage of savage strikes at Plegoras, who managed to block each strike with a barrier.
"You are strong." He said as he grit his teeth. The strikes were whittling down his magic reserves. He would have to end the fight quickly.

"ENOUGH!!!" He roared as he let out a massive burst of kinetic energy that knocked Irune to the other side of the arena. She tried to grab her axe as she flew past to stop herself, but the axe came loose and flew with her.
"I didn't want to have to resort to this so soon, but you are powerful. More powerful than I ever expected." He said as his eyes glowed white and the lightning surrounding him became more intense. Irune got up and raised her axe to be ready for the incoming attack. And it was going to be a big one.

"As an Archon of Light, I have access to the summoning of creatures from other worlds." He said as a green jewel appeared in front of him and he closed his eyes as he channeled energy into the jewel.
"Under the guidance of my master, Aralan, I call upon the guardian of the wind, Anemos!" He said and a monster came from the jewel. Its body was made of what seemed like dark, blade-like metal shards that had yellow markings on them. It had a flowing mane and tail. Its head didn't have teeth, but the jaw itself seemed to form the teeth.

This sudden summoning shocked Irune.
"Anemos.... The guardian of the wind.... I hear you.... crying?" She said as the beast roared. This answer didn't surprise her.
"I see.... As you wish, noble guardian." She said as she summoned Yosamu with a wave of her hoof. The wolf climbed out of the floor with ice trailing him. She knelt by him and whispered into his ear.

"I need you to stall Anemos while I kill Plegoras. Don't kill Anemos. We all need him alive." She whispered and Yosamu gave his telepathic response.

"It shall be as you say, Master." He said as he charged at Anemos, teeth and claws bared to strike. Anemos blew a heavy wind at him, knocking him away.

Irune turned to Plegoras, who still had another trick up his sleeve.
"I still have to strength to kill you, Reaper." He said and Irune laughed.

"You forget yourself, archon. I'M the one who will kill you." She said as she lifted her axe, ready to fight. Plegoras erected a barrier as he chanted ancient and forbidden words. To everyone in the audience, it sounded like gibberish. Just random mutterings of an insane pony. But to angels, they were the words to some of the most powerful spells out there. Irune's eyes widened as Plegoras grew feathered wings. When the wings grew to their full length of 2 meters, he spoke, but not with the voice he used earlier.

"Irune, is that you? You've changed! Hahaha!" He said, his voice now slow, deep and deliberate. Irune nearly dropped her axe in shock, but then she gripped it in absolute anger.

"I'd recognize that voice anywhere." She thought with hatred in her eyes.

"Tell me, where is that Leonhardt boy? I'd like to meet him again!" He said as a sword of light appeared in his hoof. There was no mistaking his voice. His speech pattern was correct as well. And his hatred for Leo confirmed it for Irune.

"Father..."

Author's Note

Hey guys! Cliffhanger! Sorry 'bout that! Anyway, now that I think about it, Irune does seem very similar to Chaos from Sora no Otoshimono in terms of appearance... Well, in human form at least. Oh, and I have another milestone! 9000 words! Yay! Well, see you in the next chapter!

Oh, almost forgot about copyright issues!
Anemos belongs to Atlus' Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner.