"Althos adenadem althriass. Bound by the Night, we who Keep her word," - Predictions and Prophecies

Many ponies probably never thought about it, but it was incredibly hard to remain sexy and alluring when one was half-dead and so starved for magic they could practically taste it with every frantic inhalation.

Oh sure, Soul talked a big game in the palace halls after playing the big hero, and saving all the ponies, hooray, but he and Doctor Quintex were not fifty feet from the castle exit before he started to stumble over his own hooves, and not a hundred feet before she started to notice.

"You... sure you're alright, Soul?" She asked, her honeyed voice so full of concern, her amber eyes shining like orange stars in the bitter winds of the nighttime streets.

"Fine!" He chattered in an attempt at cheerfulness, bumping into her flank with his playfully. Unfortunately she was smarter than that.

Her eyebrow immediately raised, and she halted in the street, pulling out some doctor's implement or another from one of her sterilized saddle bags, "Soul, look at me," she spoke sternly, with matronly concern.

Damn. Did she have to do this here? Soul glanced around at the frosted over windows and the glinting white hints of icicles beginning to dot the window frames of the noble Trottingham houses that surrounded them on the high street. There wasn't even a moon out tonight, only the dim glow of torch or candlelit windows offered any guidance on their path towards the doctor's house. All the rooms at the castle were full up with patients, at least that had been her excuse. It was Soul's quiet hope that she wished to take their relationship further, if only subconsciously.

"Quin?" He said in a clipped tone, pulling her along with a surprising amount of strength, "No matter what my condition may be, I assure you, it can only be worsened by standing here in the freezing cold while my body naturally attempts to suck out my magic reserves to ensure I stay warm. The faster we get where we're going, the faster I'll allow you to examine me."

She sputtered as she was unceremoniously dragged along, "Allowed to- I am a royal physician!"

"And I have the strength of ten earth ponies, which accolade do you think will prevail in this situation?" He retorted. Actually it was more than that, but who was counting?

She huffed and grumbled about how he was only making it worse for himself, but she came along eventually, trotting quickly beside his brisk, albeit slightly wobbly, pace.

"Soul-"

"I told you, you can examine me-"

"Soul! We're here."

Soul looked around, bemused. They were hardly a mile from the castle, still in what was considered the noble district. Before him stood a very pretty two story abode, rather thin, but the length more than made up for it. Ancient stone bricks and crenelations made up the facade out front, and a stacked stone wall ran around the small yard of the property. The roof was made of a tall steeple that actual resembled a clocktower, even having a large circular window near the top. Soft yellow light shone from the two front bay windows, and an arched wooden door with an iron lion's head knocker hung heavy in its frame.

"You live here? It's... so..."

Halifax narrowed her eyes, "So what?"

He looked at her, concerned, "Expensive."

She blinked, and looked sheepishly away, "Well... I told you my family was well-to-do," she awkwardly rubbed her shin with her front hoof, "A-anyway, let's get you inside. I'll make you some coffee. Or tea, if you'd prefer."

Soul was ushered into quite a cozy little foyer, dark hardwood floorings paired with modern plaster walls, colored like creme. A large chandelier hung from the high ceiling above, and an old staircase ran upwards in the rather small space to the second floor.

They both wiped their hooves on a cute little Welcome Home mat decorated like a map, and Soul took a minute to look around the home.

With his Sight, he could detect a faint wave of drifting and hazy gold bands wafting from a particular area upstairs, which must have been where she kept her valuables, the blue shades of water flowed from several ares, indicating three bathrooms and one smaller one which must have been a kitchen due to the red of flame and heat being present. It seemed... simple. Cozy, noble, in a spartan sort of way but... nice and simple.

"Can I get you anything special?" she said from behind him, and Soul's breath caught as he turned to look at her.

In the soft, warm glow from the candle chandelier, her chocolate coat and hair practically shimmered, and her orange eyes danced like flames, playful and intelligent. He felt a surge sweep through his heart, and his stomach growled with predatory hunger.

Halifax laughed, "Maybe something to eat?"

"Oh, um... sure!" He didn't want to be rude, and as a doctor she probably wouldn't believe him if he told her he didn't eat. Although she had gone along with the magic gathering through sex idea pretty quick...

She was also incredibly horny at the time, an early heat is no joke.

Hm. That might be a problem this time. He definitely would have to take things slower, and could not, under any circumstances, risk pulling any kinky maneuvers like he had last time. At least, not until he was absolutely certain she was within his grasp. Hopefully nothing... too problematic would occur.

He moved through the small hallway after her, and frowned very slightly as he saw her keep her tail firmly in place. This might be a tougher nut to crack than he'd originally thought.

She led him into a little lounge area that seemed to connect to the rest of the bottom floor of the house. Painted archways led off from the four walls into the kitchen, dining area, and office space, but the room still felt self contained, and not too open. Cloth chairs and sofas, colored to match the dark floors, were spread throughout the room in seemingly no particular manner, but it still felt as if the room came together nicely, despite the appearance of chaos. Full bookshelves lined two of the far walls, and Soul was interested in taking a peek at the doctor's selection before she recalled his attention.

"Is a cucumber sandwich fine?" She asked sweetly from the kitchen.

"Oh, um, yes please. Thank you!" He answered a little awkwardly.

What was that? he thought angrily to himself, You're trying to woo this mare and you the first thing out of your mouth in her home is a please and thank you?

Soul shivered, and rubbed his foreleg with a hoof. It may have just been the absolutely arctic temperatures outside, but he felt... chilled. The pain of the cold brought him focus, however, and soon he set about to enhance the mood.

The den was warmly lit, for certain, but it lacked romance. Not surprising that most of her furnishings were clinical, she was a doctor after all, but it left room for improvement.

There was a small snap, and logs filled the small fireplace that sat on the far side of the room, and a crackle later they were ablaze, popping and sizzling contentedly. He chose to sit on a long couch that was comfortably close to the flames, and then frowned as he noticed a lack of candles.

Guess I'll just have to create my own aroma. Honestly, so much work...

His horn rippled, as a very heavy, slightly sweet scent filled the air. It held a wisp of alpine forests, and blended wonderfully with the snapping of the fire.

"What would you like to drink?" A call came from behind him.

"Hot chocolate, if you have any," he answered slyly.

"You know, I just might have that myself," he heard her mutter to herself.

Perfection.

A few minutes later, Quin came out carrying a small tray that Soul immediately lifted in his magic from its precarious position in her mouth.

"Oh! Thanks for that, it's a little small for two," she chuckled, then Soul noticed as her nose twitched, and she looked around with a bemused expression. Looking back at him, her eyes widened, "Oh, you got a fire going!"

He nodded, "It seemed appropriate, for all the chill wind outside."

Halifax shivered as a sudden draft flushed across the back of her neck, and she cursed the old house under her breath as she hurried towards the fire. She hesitated before she sat.

Soul raised an eyebrow, "Is something wrong?"

The amber eyes glanced at him, then back to the couch, "No, not at all."

Almost gingerly, she sat at the other end of the couch and he handed her a steaming cup of hot chocolate. She eagerly gulped it down, shuddering as warmth flooded her system, "Ahhhh, that's better."

Soul tried not to look too distastefully at his cucumber sandwich, and devoured the thing whole in one, distinctly unpleasant, bite. It was, ultimately, of no consequence. Soon he would have a more filling meal to savor.

The fire continued its gentle noises, and time dragged on as neither of them spoke. Soul did his part dutifully, and stared, tired, into the fire, seemingly miles away. Every now and again he could see Halifax glance at him between bites and sips, but he pretended not to notice.

"Quin?" He asked, as though suddenly roused.

"Mhmm?" She asked, mouth full of cucumber.

"You wouldn't happen to have any spare blankets around, would you?"

Her eyebrows narrowed and she frowned, "You're not that cold are you?" she seemed worried.

Soul shook his head, "No, it's just that, as I said before, I'm very very low on magic, and it would help tremendously if I could dispel any enchantments I have on me."

She raised an eyebrow, "You're enchanted?"

He looked at her, and then down to his legs. She squinted, "I... what?"

He huffed, "Quin, you saw how big I was, where do you think that goes? Because I'll tell you one thing, a sheathe the size of a regular cock doesn't really hide much."

Her cheeks blazed red as she suddenly realized what he meant, "Oh! Oh of course, sorry Soul I really didn't- ah, damn, yes let me get you something to cover up with."

She dashed off quickly, and he could hear her hoofbeats on the stairs.

Her room isn't down here then, he quietly sipped his coco, and gagged at the ashen flavor, putting it down on a nearby end table.

Soon he heard her return with a tan colored woolen blanket that he gratefully accepted, and draped over himself with magic.

He almost smirked as she couldn't help but look when his horn flashed, and a noticeably sized bulge appeared underneath the blanket, running from between his back legs to halfway under his covered stomach.

He watched her drag her eyes away, clearing her throat as she sat down again.

A few seconds passed as they both looked into the crackling fire, before Soul asked, "So, doctor, did you still wish to examine me?"

She looked at him, startled out of her own thoughts, before she nodded, "Yes, I'm just going to do a basic check, make sure you don't have anything immediately wrong with you."

"Other than exhaustion from two days of constant magic expenditure, you mean?" he said sarcastically.

She laughed, "Yes, other than that."

And so out came the stethoscope, and the little light thing that got shone in his eyes, ears, and nose. Not the most romantic fireside chats he'd ever had, but oh well.

"I'm going to listen to your heartbeat- oh!" While talking to him, she'd mistaken a certain lump under the covers for part of his chest, and jumped when it twitched, and Soul grunted.

"Is that where you usually listen to the heart, doc?" He asked with a grin.

Blushing furiously, she repositioned her hoof onto his side. After a few moments, she scowled, "Nevermind."

Soul looked concerned, "What? Why? What's up?"

She sighed, and rubbed her face, eyes closed, "I... the blanket is in the way. I'd need you to remove it to get an accurate read, but it's fine, you're healthy in all other areas-"

"Look, Quin, I'm fine with removing the blanket. I only asked for it to make you more comfortable, It's nothing you haven't seen before," he said lightly, this seemed only to annoy her more.

She stalked away, grumbling, and Soul sat up, looking worried, "Quin? What's wrong?"

But of course, he knew exactly what was wrong. He could see straight down to her core as the Lust built and built inside of her. But this time, she didn't have the early heat to explain it away, she couldn't blame it on anything other than herself. Poor Doctor Quintex, she hated not being in control of her emotions, and the torment showed on her face.

She turned to face him, a pained look in her eyes that made his heart twinge, and a genuine frown cross his face, "I... dammit, Soul, I should be better than this."

"Better than what?" he prompted.

She threw up her hooves, "Than this! You! You're sick, you have a genetic disease, you need permanent treatment, not temporary fixes! And I want to help you find a way that you can live your life normally, but... Celestia damn it, Soul, whenever you lay like that, and look at me like that, with the fire, and the smell, it... it makes me want to be your quick fix, your easy solution that you have to come back to. And I hate that! I hate that I'm taking advantage of you like that!"

Interesting, but not unexpected, he mused.

"Quin," he said seriously, "You are in no way taking advantage of me. Everything you've done, I have asked for. You haven't forced anything on me, you haven't hurt me, or made me be who I'm not. And don't worry, I'm looking for a permanent solution too,"

He slid off of the couch, and walked softly over to her, she kept her eyes rigidly fixed on his. That may have been even worse than if she'd stared directly between his legs, at least there he couldn't have told her he thought she was beautiful, and smart, and sexy, and that he wanted to be with her here and now. But the eyes said all of that, and more, and he saw her resilience crack, just a little, as he took her hoof in his.

"I want to fix myself, to find a way to live my life that means I'm not a parasite, or a burden. But right here.... right now..." he put a hoof on her face, drawing in close, "Right now, there is only one solution. One way, one path... and it's a path I can only walk down with you."

He leaned in, and his lips pressed close to hers.

So soft... was all he thought, all there was. She was hesitant at first, he felt her mouth quiver, and could feel her eyes darting. He pressed harder, and her defenses crumbled away. It was always so easy after they'd had their first taste. They could never resist him long after that, not with all the propriety in the world

Slowly, carefully, she sank back into the couch seat as he pressed the assault, the kiss deepening, only breaking sparingly for a gasped breath before they returned.

He wrapped his hooves around her barrel as she sprawled backwards on the couch, beautiful mane splayed about her like a dark halo, her whines and grunts growing louder as his position of supremacy above her was secured.

A smack followed the breaking of the kiss, and her eyes, lidded with desire, locked onto him, "Soul!" was all she could say, before a long kiss to her neck caused her to sharply inhale.

The fire's warmth seeped into the pair as Soul worked his magic. Trailing hooves brushed, tweaked, rubbed, and pinched every sensitive area, nowhere was safe. Coos and gasps, along with little laughs floated through the room as he diligently stroked, nibbled, and softly kissed every inch of her body he could reach.

"Celestia, Soul, but you spoil me," she giggled as his lips caressed her ears and cheeks, "I don't think I've -ah!- ever had stallion -ooh- work me over like you!"

His motions stopped, and he leaned of her face, eyes locked and full of passion, "And you never, ever, will."

He dove back in, lips melting together, and tongues playfully dancing as she lazily kicked in the air from the wild stimulation.

Hungrily, he watched as she drank in what little magic he could afford to spread into her system, and delighted in watching it blossom like a black lotus amidst the inferno of Lust, Desire, and Greed that began to consume her. It was not so very much yet, and he had so little to give... but that would soon change.

She squeaked as something hoof-sized gently brushed against her lower folds, sending a burning tingle up through her stomach. She glanced away from the stallion atop her to ogle him below as the swinging dick began to sluggishly emerge, twitching wildly as blood pumped through it hot and fast.

"Mmm..." she sighed, licking her lips. She hadn't actually gotten to taste it last time, the heat had overwhelmed her mind with the desire to breed, but this time she could afford to take it slower, be more... thorough.

Reluctantly, she put a hoof to his chest and stopped him, panting with effort, and flushed beyond belief, "Soul... Soul!"

"Mm?" he murmured, engrossed in setting about sensations in her body that she hardly knew existed. How did he even know to press there? Or stroke in just the right spots? It didn't matter for now, she had much larger things that had jumped to the top of her priority list.

"Soul, I need you to sit down for a second, alright? Jus- Just step off me and -ah!- hey! Oooh, cut it out! I'm trying to be ladylike!"

Soul looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she would have blushed further, if it was possible, "If... that's what you want."

She nodded, and gave him a coy smile.

Soul settled back into the soft cloth couch, getting a wonderful wave of heat from the crackling flames of the fireplace as his lover stepped in front of him.

He grunted as the first sensation of her nose brushing against the top of his hanging balls. Immediately he saw her cute little eyes cross as she inhaled her first whiff of their incredibly, and intentionally, powerful musk.

"Celestia almighty..." she whispered, her cool breath causing the base of his shaft to jump, and a few more inches of solid black rod squeezed itself out from the sheathe with an almost audible pressurized hiss.

Deeply, the small mare inhaled again, and again, eyes fluttering, cunt moistening with each second. What was this smell? It was thick, so heavy... but she couldn't pin it down exactly. All she knew was that she wanted so much more.

Quietly, she began to pant and lap, her adorable features contorting as she circled the shaft with her little pink tongue, dragging it up and down, slurping, savoring the salty, heady taste. It was so large that by the time she'd slick up one area, the others she'd just done would be almost dry, causing her to go back and forth, back and forth around his dick, smacking and groaning.

His a small splurt, a tiny drop of pure white precum forced its way out of the tip, and began to roll tantalizingly down the skin of his flare, causing Soul to grunt and twitch again.

Seeing this, Quin immediately dove for it, her silken lips locking together under the hood of his flare to catch the dollop, sending shocks through Soul's body as he sighed in contentment.

Quin's eyes snapped open as her mouth met the most delicious substance she had ever experienced. It was like... like cinnamon, and chocolate, and fresh milk. But it was more than that too, it was a feeling. A feeling of absolute fulfillment, of pure contented peace that rolled over her like a tidal wave.

"Celestia damn you, Soul! How can... mmf..." she slurped up and down on his shaft, tongue lolling as she suckled on the tip like a foal on a teat, eyes closed in ecstasy, moaning as the taste crashed through her again. She tried to speak through the dick in her mouth, but kept getting distracted, "How can you... mmm, Celestia, so good... how can something, buck me to Tartarus, taste this... this... mmmmmf sluuurp."

Between grunts and spasms as pleasure finally began to crackle between the nerves in his dick and the reward centers of his brain, Soul smiled at her pitiful attempts to speak, finding it one of the highest compliments he could be payed.

Her mane was wild around her now, frazzled and sticky with spit, sweat, and flecks of pre. Her beautiful brown fur was soaking down her chest from the amount of liquid spilling on to her. And all the while the blackness of Soul's magic swelled and expanded inside of her, waiting to be used.

"Quin, honey?" Soul grunted, petting her head and stroking her enraptured face with a hoof.

"Mmmlaaalmmm, sluuuurp," she responded, mouth popping as she released the head of his cock from her feather soft grasp, the tip immediately burbling over with a fresh wave of precum that Quintex stared at sorrowfully as it dripped down, unswallowed.

"Do you want more?" He asked teasingly, waving his massive shaft back and forth in front of her face with a hoof. Her head followed it, her nostrils flaring, and mouth hanging wide open with drool as desperate, wordless lust filled her eyes.

"You get more if you swallow the whole thing," he smirked.

Her face lit dully, she had understood the order, but not its consequences. Any other mare off the street would have immediately thrown herself at the head of his dick, trying to fit it down their throat as fast as they could, but once again Quin's training and mental resilience showed itself.

She looked at the shaft, vaguely quizzical, "But... too big..."

For a second, she looked annoyed at the drollness of her response, and appeared to be alarmed that her mental capacities were reduced. To comfort her, Soul popped the tip of his dick back in her mouth, and with a heavy moan she started to gulp down the drips of heaven she found there, once again assuming a serene expression of complete contentment.

"Just trust me, Quin," Soul soothed as he stroked her main, using a hoof to move her almost limp head around and around his flare, "You can do that, can't you Quin? Trust me. That's all you have to do. I want you to say it for me, Quin, trust me."

He gently pulled her away with a pop as her glossy lips lost suction. With eyes dazed, precum leaking from the sides of her mouth, and a wide, complacent smile plastered on her face, she dreamily repeated, "Trust... Soul..."

"That's a good girl, Quin," he smiled, leaning to kiss her forehead, "And good girls, Quin, good girls get rewards."

She went on her own this time, diving back into the world of smells and tastes that radiated from his ever-expanding cock. The flare was almost the size of her face, without a minor miracle she would never even have a hope of a chance of fitting it in her mouth.

With a quick twist, Soul grabbed her mane gently in his hooves, and began to press down on her head between his legs. She grunted, and looked confused, her jaw stretching as wide as it could go.

They stayed in that position for a few seconds, Soul grunting with effort as he pushed, and Quintex being vaguely aware that her jaw now ached.

sssssssSSSSSPOP

A chunk of the magic vanished from inside Quin's body. Well, it didn't vanish, it was... relocated. To her mouth and throat, specifically.

With a thunk, Soul's flare pierced that heavenly veil, and instantly he jerked and cried out as his head was engulfed by warm, soft, and wet...

He panted heavily, back legs scooting forward beside his kneeling receptacle to gain better purchase.

It was just so hot, it felt like the tip of his dick was melting! He strained to hold it together, relishing the feeling of the tight, wet cavern he was in.

Quin grunted, and felt confused as her entire face went numb for a few seconds, before an absolutely wonderful feeling began to gush down her throat, and she forgot about everything as she gratefully chugged, burbled, and swallowed. The look on her face was ecstatic and she cooed as much as she could manage in between scandalously large gulps of the white, wonderful liquid.

Alright... a little further? Soul thought, and he pressed again, choking the poor mare a little as his dick squeezed into her much too small mouth, filling it entirely with a salty-sweet combination of steaming, pumping, twitching meat.

Another hiss and pop, and Soul grunted again as his dick went... nowhere?

He could access the back easier, and a little wiggle told him he could move back and forward without much of an issue, but a deep frown formed on his face as something... dark, and cold stirred within him. That was not what he wanted. What he wanted... was... this!

Suddenly standing on his back hooves, Soul's dick resembled a mighty spear plunging into the throat of the curvy brown maiden beneath him. Grabbing two hoof fulls of mane, Soul rammed his massive dick downwards, and a whine echoed through the air as the bubbling, multiplying magic struggled to keep pace with its master's demands.

Quin went wide eyes as enormous pressure built in the back of her mouth, and she was forced to gaze upwards at the black expanse of the dick impaling her, right into Soul's blood red eyes. Wait... weren't they pink?

There was a heavy thunk, and Quin's brain blipped out of existence for a moment as she felt something large and heavy drop all the way down to her stomach. She choked and gagged once, twice, spittle running down her chin onto her chest fur, her eyes half-closed, fluttering out of order with each other. Then... ecstasy.

Soul gasped as his entire shaft, what must have been nearing eighteen inches long before the medial ring showed itself, plunged, smooth and uncontested, into Quin's convulsing throat.

Her eyes watered, and her mouth looked squeezed tight against the wall of flesh being forced upon it, her throat bulged with it, and Soul felt his shaft thicken and pulse as an overwhelming amount of sensation coursed along his every inch.

"Celestia... that's great Quin!" He grunted, eyes closing and teeth gritting. He struggled to remain on his hooves as a final flick of her tongue sent him over the edge.

An electrifying feeling raced through him as his cock poured veritable gallons of cum into the mare's body. Clearly she was not able to handle all of it, and Soul shivered, his eyes shuddering, as the warm flow of his own jizz backed up the pipe and began to dribble down the almost prone mare's chin. It wasn't there for long though, as the thick, gooey white substance faded away perplexingly fast, absorbed into the skin.

As for the mare herself. Soul could see nothing behind her eyes, they were like two dark brown glass orbs, as if she were asleep with them open, her mind emptied. He twitched and pumped again at that look, it was one he relished. She was so full of him that she was barely herself anymore. The dark magic inside her exploded, quickly outnumbering anything she could hope to mount in resistance to it, if she even wanted to resist. It was quite a bountiful harvest, but even then it whispered for him to continue, to pound her without relent and increase it even further. He had her now, he could ruin her and she would beg for it tonight.

But what of tomorrow? an errant thought interrupted his euphoric reverie, She can't stay like this. She has duties, a life. Less important than my meals, but- wait... WHAT?!

There was a roaring sensation in Soul's ears, and his vision went dar-

NO!

Soul struggled, he didn't notice as his dick shrunk almost immediately back to its original size and popped from the mouth of his mare, who fell over with a groan.

I will not black out! Must... stay... FOCUSED! There was an immense pull, like something was ripping out his ribcage from the inside, and something inside of him tore as he gritted his teeth and firmly held against the darkness.

And then... it was gone.

A wave of heat washed over Soul, and his eyes fluttered open as he collapsed, sweating, against Halifax's couch.

Oh... oh Celestia... oh Celestia! Quin! He bolted upright, his vision swimming with colors, and saw the ruined shape of his mare sprawled on the carpet. She was completely unconscious, thank the stars, but the state she was in...

Sweat dripped from every pore, the carpet and wood flooring around her were soaked with that and... other fluids. Her breath was ragged, and far too quick. Her fur was glossy, and Soul could See the heat radiating off her. She had a fever, her body was burning up, being consumed! What could-

The magic! Quickly, Soul crawled over to her, cupping her head in his hooves. Without his direct control the dark magic was wreaking havoc on her body, changing her inside and out, he had to stop it before she was destroyed and became something... something else.

"Sorry about this, Quin," He said in a mournful tone, before willing his fangs to appear, and piercing her neck.

He hated how delicious he found her. How nothing in the world could compare to this taste. And so much, such a willing receiver...

Stop that! He screamed at himself, nearly weeping as he tore himself away from her neck, scrambling away so he didn't take anything more than what he'd put in. As he reached a safe distance he turned... and breathed a sigh of relief. She was fine, her temperature was going down, and no trace of the blackness remained in her spirit.

"... well. Thank Celestia for that," he panted, breathing hard and wiping his damp lips with a hoof, resisting the impulse to lick the residue off afterwards.

That was too much. Too far. Gods of old, she... she didn't even look pony anymore. That horrible, bulging throat. Those eyes... like she was already dead, Soul stumbled into the kitchen and opened the freezing cold tap water, splashing himself over the face with it, shocking him. He stopped almost immediately. It sent a chill down his spine, reminding him far too much of what happened when he turned into that... that monster.

Eventually he was able to catch his bearings, breathing steadily, eyes closed, leaning against a wall. Distantly, he heard a bell toll, and he counted off the hours.

Celestia above, it's already ten, he thought tiredly. Though his body now roared with energy renewed, with such a feeling of elation that he could dance, and sing, and run fifty miles, his mind, and his soul, were weary things. Disgusted by the excess of the body they shared, and tired from their fight against it.

I need to get back to the barracks, I'm already past curfew. It's not really that bad, I cant teleport there now. I could teleport there and back two hundred times. If Larus tries to chew me out in a surprise inspection, I'll just get everyone to say I was there the whole time, they like me enough. Well, except maybe Deavy, but he'll just glare.

Soul looked around he small living room, and felt a little piece of despair. Ashes had billowed out of the fireplace, the couch and rug were a mess, and there was an unconscious mare sprawled out and soaked like she'd just had a few shots too many during a house party. Such a mess, so little time. So... Soul set to work.

He cleaned of Halifax first, obviously, his now abundant magic clearing, cleaning, brushing, shining, and waxing every inch of her mane and coat. She was more spotless and shiny now than any other time he'd seen her, and she kept herself immaculate, so that was saying something.

He then carried her gently upstairs in the starfield halo of his telekinetic grip, opening and closing a few wrong doors before he found what must have been the master bedroom. It was... cute, he decided. A little fairy tale for somepony so scientifically minded. Most of the walls, and the bedspread had a floral design, rose and lily petals decorating everything, with the main colors being white, light pink, and hints of light grey trim. This was where he'd seen the glint of gold coming from, in a box on top of a birch wood chest of drawers, next to a large mirror.

He didn't really mean to snoop, and felt embarassed already about what he'd done, so he gently placed her under the covers, and kissed her forehead goodnight, before hurrying from the room.

The next part was easy, it was a simple spell to erase all the dust and moisture from the house. While he was at it, he repaired some of the outer stonework that he could see was leaking heat with a quick flick of the horn.

And that... really was all he could do. Still, he felt immensely guilty, like there had to be something more.

He decided to make her some breakfast for in the morning, and prepared a delicious (at least, he hoped so) oiled spring salad from ingredients she had on hand, as well as a piping hot cup of tea. He didn't really know how she liked it, so he just left a few creams and sugars next to the cup. He placed an enchantment on them that would keep them fresh until well into the next day, so the salad wouldn't go limp, and the tea wouldn't go cold.

He also noticed she was low on several things, and he had used her groceries to make that meal... so, he went ahead and fabricated a few basic things, nothing too draining, and it wasn't like he didn't have the magic to spare. Lettuce, mostly, a few heads of broccoli, maybe some carrots... potatoes, fresh apricots, some celery, and an avocado or two, just in case.

After almost completely refilling her pantry, Soul decided that he felt much, much better about the whole situation. Perhaps still a tad guilty, but far less so. He wrote a small note explaining what he'd done after she'd conked out, and explained that he'd check in on her the in the following days to see if she needed anything.

And that was really all he could do at present. He cursed as he heard the eleven o' clock bells ring out, he really had to get back. And so, with a final glance around to make sure everything was in order, he popped sharply back into the precise location of his bunk, in a relaxed and almost lazy pose.

It took several seconds before the quiet murmur of conversation finally calmed Soul, and it seemed the tension that had been building in his neck and shoulders the whole time he'd frantically cleaned and made up Halifax's house seemed to fade away. Maybe he'd actually-

"There you are Soul!" He jumped as a brown hoof clapped him on the back, and Lay stood there with a large smile, "And where might you have been the whole night?"

"At your mom's house, she has a lovely carpet," Soul retorted, standing and brushing the dirt from his friend's hoof off.

"Aw, you can't fool me," Lay grinned, glancing around and then leaning in close, "I saw you walk out of there with that sexy doctor mare on your leg, and don't try to tell me otherwise!"

Soul looked at him like he was an idiot, "Lay, she's a doctor. I was suffering from exhaustion from being on my hooves healing sick guardsponies for two days. I was only half-conscious at best when she had to drag my carcass out of there. All she did was stick me in a bed to rest."

Lay looked very disappointed to hear this information, but perked up almost immediately, "Oh, speaking of which, Larus really isn't happy about you skipping out on duties for two days "playing doctors and nurses" as he put it."

"Oh yeah?" Soul said, "Well buck him."

Lay snickered, "That's basically what the Princesses told him when he tried to get you discharged for it."

Soul gawked, "He did what?"

Lay nodded, chuckling, "Yeah! You should have seen the look on Celestia's face! I thank my lucky stars I had court duty that day so I could watch her tell him she's considering giving you another medal."

Lay laughed out loud, and Soul quickly joined him, wiping tears from their eyes.

"Anyway, he didn't get you fired, buuuut you probably are going to get some sledge duty tomorrow when you hand in your sheet, he can do that much."

Soul laughed, "As long as it's not two weeks straight, I can handle it."

Ley shook his head, patting Soul on the shoulder and turning away, "I still don't know how you managed to live through that, it must have been absolute Tartarus."

Soul shrugged and waved him goodbye, gratefully collapsing into his bed. He would have to be up early tomorrow.

It's a good thing I absorbed so much magic, he thought, yawning and snuggling up to a pillow, I don't know if I'll be able to... sleep... at... zzzzz...

Soul's eyes were open, yet he could see nothing. Nothing but himself, floating in and endless void in all directions. But he wasn't floating, he was standing on something.

"I had not expected your sleeping mind to be this barren, Keeper. Truly, you must be weary to sleep so deeply."

As soon as he heard the voice, he spun at once and knelt, "Althos adenadem althriass, my princess."

Princess Luna stepped forward, as illuminated as she was in the day, yet shining as she did at night. Her billowing mane of stars twinkled and flashed brightly here, in her domain. Her silver garments gleamed and shone with a polish unattainable in mortal lands. Her coat was as dark as the void of space itself, and her eyes burned like distant supernovas. Here, in the realm of the mind, was where the Princess of the Night became all-powerful, and, it was rumored, all-knowing.

"Rise, Keeper," her voice reverberated this plane, its entirety shook with her magnificence. The darkness around them trembled, and began to lighten. Stars filled the once empty void, and gas clouds, nebulae, galaxies, all began to dot the incomprehensible vastness that expanded around them. Soul Keeper was in utter awe.

"My Princess," he said quickly, "You do me far too much honor, expending your precious magic to see me here. I would have happily come to see you, no matter the hour, than have you humble yourself so much as to face a simple servant such as I."

The Night smiled, and her countenance seemed as bright and warm as ten of Celestia's suns, "The honor is mine, Soul Keeper. I have long desired to personally thank you for your service and bravery to the empire, on two counts now. And in such a short time! My sister has spoken of granting you another medal."

Soul smiled involuntarily, "Pardon me Your Grace, but... I believe it was only said to tease my superior."

And then the Goddess of the Stars did something Soul did not expect. With all her radiant glory, resplendent with the jewels of an entire universe adorning her, she giggled.

"Oh, I know! And it was simply amazing watching him sputter! But then he protested so profusely! I think she might actually be considering going through with it just to put him in his place. My dearest sister does have a wicked streak at times, that much is certain."

Soul laughed, and then shuffled a little awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say to the deity, "Is... is that all you wished to speak to me about, or is there more I am able to do for you?"

A tinkling laugh echoed through the expanse, but Soul noted that the Princesses blazing teal eyes held not mirth, but calculation, "You phrase your words well, young Keeper, truly your line has retained its ancestor's tongues. There are, in fact, other things I would speak of to you this night. And tasks I would bid only you to accomplish."

Soul resisted the almost overwhelming urge to swell with pride at her words as the Princess began to pace slowly in a circle around him, "Many moons ago, my sister saw fit to give me reign again over the... less than tasteful affairs of the empire. Things which I was much accustomed to doing before I attempted to..." she hesitated, pausing in her stride, before continuing, "Anyway, this requires almost no effort on my part, as rarely anything actually happens here anymore. However, very recently I have received reports from a few of my paid ears that there have been... disappearances."

Soul remained silent, attempting to pick up whatever context he could from her carefully chosen words. He saw her smirk at his attentiveness, though he knew not what she meant by it.

"I understand that you have incurred the wrath of your superior due to my Sister's actions," She said, looking at him sidelong, "and I apologize for your duty in the Sledge Pits tomorrow."

Instantly several things clicked for Soul. There was no need for her to mention Larus' anger, as it was common knowledge to both of them, so the importance was the pits. She mentioned disappearances, but didn't seem overly troubled. And she had come to him... while he was flattered, and knew he was powerful, he was hardly going to be her sharpest knife in the dark after only a few months with the least training heavy unit of the guard. This meant he had some other connection she was hoping to utilize. Or a weakness to exploit. Or perhaps... curiosity.

"The prisoners in the pit are disappearing, " he said softly, looking not at her, but straight ahead, "They have been for some time, probably just after I saved that pegassus from her fall. If it was guards we'd be in a state of emergency, but you're keeping things discreet for now to see what it is. So far your agents haven't turned up anything," then it finally clicked, and he smiled, "but Princess Celestia has told you of my ability to See that which should be unseen. You wish me to investigate during my shift tomorrow. I would even wager that Corporal Larus was inflamed deliberately so that I would be put on that assignment."

He looked back over at the Princess, "Am I correct?"

The Princess did nothing for several seconds, looking right at him, before smiling broadly and slowly clapping, "Well done, Keeper, very well done. You only missed one connection out of the web I wove for you, I'm very impressed."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Really Princess? What was it?"

She paced back the other way and came to a more conversational distance, speaking plainly, "You have a reputation amongst the prisoners from your time there earlier. They call you "The Mule" I believe. My, the stories they make up about you. They're almost as impressive as the real thing," she smiled sidelong at him, "they say you must be the son of someone very rich and powerful who was caught committing high treason. That's the only justification they can think of for why you were sentenced to such a grueling time in the pits, and they revere you for your strength and grit even in the hellish conditions."

Soul nodded, absorbing the information, and then bowed low, "I am sorry I have failed you Princess, the next time I will be more attentive so I may comprehend and serve you to the fullest extent of my abilities."

Soul felt something unimaginably soft on his chin, and almost had a heart attack as he saw a stark black hoof touching his face, beautiful and graceful foreleg sweeping back to the Princess' body. She was frowning, and said sadly, "Do not speak so, Keeper, you have not failed me in the slightest, and I would not expect anypony to know half the information you did. I was testing you, yes, but you passed with flying colors. Please..." she seemed to have a catch in her throat, and she turned away from him, leaving a cold feeling were her hoof had touched him, "Please do not treat me in such a manner. As a god. Beyond reproach, and demanding of every iota. It is not who I am. Not anymore."

Soul stood, jaw slack and breathless, before bowing again, "As you command, my Princess. I would sooner die than cause you strife."

Her face pulled into a sad smile, "Keeper, I do believe that was a joke at my expense."

Still bowing, Soul grinned, "My Lady, I would never."

She clicked her tongue and began walking away, "Sleep well Keeper. Nalthrilass adomon althesi."

Soul bowed again as the stars around him began to wink out. Black holes formed, galaxies crumbled inwards on themselves, and fires the size of the universe raged... until all that was left was darkness.

It did not take long for Soul to remember that, despite such an exciting and clandestine way of receiving orders to go to Sledge Duty, it was still Sledge Duty, possibly the exact antithesis of the words "exciting" and "clandestine".

He had, indeed, been informed that he was taking up the old sack of rocks that very morning by a slightly more than furious Sterling Larus, Who had informed him that no such actions like the ones he performed earlier would ever be tolerated again. Going off on his own, disturbing the Princesses, interfering with medical staff business, and leading valuable assets like the Battlemages ostensibly to their doom in the Everfree forest.

"It was luck! Bare, simple, and stupid luck that got you out of that Celestia-forsaken place with more of your organs inside of you than inside of a hungry cragodile!"

And that was before he'd even gotten started on the charges of neglected duty while the Guard was already short staffed.

And of course, he was right. Soul couldn't argue with him about any of it. One, because it wouldn't have helped the situation anyway, and two because there was no defense he could use, all of those things were true. The only thing that had saved Soul's entire ass from being kicked to the curb was the fact that the Princesses approved of his actions. And so, the worst Larus could do was two days of Sledge Duty, one a double, the next just afternoon. A pittance compared to the two weeks he'd first received, especially running hot with magic as he was.

I really need to check up on Quin, he thought with a sudden frown as he hopped like a mountain goat up the side of the massive pit's face carrying his (still maintained) record of six bags packed full of rocks.

It had been a good feeling that morning when the Sargent on duty had embraced him the second he got into the pit.

"A lot of good friends of mine were sick that day, we don't know if they'd have made it without you," he'd said, getting a little choked up, "While it was a damn fool thing to do, and a breach of at least four different protocols, the whole guard thanks you for what you did Private. Now get over to that pile of rocks and start haulin', you crazy bastard."

Soul was slightly worried as he began to haul his first load up the mountainside. Not about the act of hauling itself, no, all the old hoof paths were there just as he left them, and he could probably scale the face with his eyes closed if he needed to. He worried about his assignment. How would he find out what was going on? Did he need to talk to the prisoners? Establish a culprit with a discernible motive, a pattern to the disappearances perhaps? It all just seemed so... detective. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to complete the task to the Princess' no doubt exacting standards.

His worries almost immediately evaporated as soon as he crested the lip of the hill to the dumping grounds.

Perhaps if I could sneak some time to- Whoa! That is... that is not normal!

At the top of the cliff, right at the exit of the path he took, was a huge pool of pure Darkness. It had smothered almost every other element there, suffusing it, corrupting it, twisting it with its cold disposition. How had no one noticed this?

Unbeknownst to him, without the Sight he possessed, the changes were nearly invisible to the naked eye. Some might experience a feeling of a cloud or passing shadow over the sun, or a brief chill or spine tingle, nothing nearly so dramatic as what he was able to observe.

Well, that's definitely one step in the right direction. Now I know I won't be getting any answers during the day, if the problem is a creature of the Dark taking ponies and consuming them.

Feeling somewhat reassured about his ability to handle the situation, Soul felt a spring in his step as he returned to the bottom of the mountain, that continued as he worked until he had a light sweat about eight hours later when his first shift ended, and he got off for lunch. During this time he wasn't able to learn anything new. He caught the occasional mutter from the prisoners from what he could make out over the sounds of heavy mining and rocks tumbling. None of it was very interesting, though they did seem nervous, and he saw quite a few of them glancing about before being quickly shoved and muttered at by their peers.

Soul's eyes narrowed as he noticed this distinctive pattern, I wonder what that's all about? It seemed to become less and less frequent as the sun rose to its zenith. He had a feeling these ponies also knew that whatever stalked them was less common during the day. And wasn't the solstice soon? The day the ponies celebrated as Hearth's Warming?

A solstice. The darkest and longest night of the year. If he was going to catch the beast that was doing this, it would be then. But the question remained: what was it? Why had it been attracted here? What had caused the pool of darkness above?

Sure, stopping it was one thing, but what good would it do if whatever was behind this came back? He needed not only to stop it here, but to stop it for good.

So as his break rolled around, Soul had a little thought to himself. His original plan was to go over to the community watering hole and pretend to pass out, eavesdropping on random conversations and hoping he picked up something interesting.

Ooooor... he thought to himself with a smile, I could pretend to be a new prisoner, and dig straight for the information I need. Hmm, but how not to get caught? And then how to change back before the break is over? I suppose I'll improvise.

Stepping out of view for a brief moment behind an unused port-a-potty, there was no flash from his horn, or any sound that would indicate a spell was cast, as Soul took on the illusion of a balding sky blue earth pony with fairly menacing features, complete with the bright orange, tight fitting jumpsuit of the rest of the prisoners.

Just before he left the safety of his truly awfully smelling changing room, he quickly materialized and strapped on some manacles so that he wouldn't be tackled upon stepping out.

Bursting forth into the hot, dusty day, with a scorching wind stinging his stubbled cheeks, despite it being so late in the year, Soul strolled over to the water fountain as the guards kept a close eye on all the meandering prisoners. It was simple enough to mix in with the lot of them, and he moved up to get a drink as he listened around for who he could corner. It didn't take very long, most of them were abuzz with rumor and gossip, afraid for their lives as they were.

"I'm telling you, man, I saw something!"

"Shut up, don't freak me out! It's nowhere near sunset yet, that thing ain't gonna get us."

"Man, buck this! I'm only here for petty theft because I stole some rich prick's artichoke! I don't deserve a death sentence! You think we could get the guards to cancel work until whatever this thing is goes away."

"Not likely, you seen how much stone they been using lately? And... wait, what were you doing stealing artichokes?"

"You know how much an organic artichoke goes for on the black market?!"

"Hey, you two," Soul grumbled gruffly, walking over to the pair that had been talking. One was a wiry little green pegassus, the artichoke thief, and the other was an eggplant colored earth pony with really nerdy looking square glasses, and a receding brown mane. The green one looked like he was about to get angry until the saw Soul's size, and he blanched.

"U-uh, yeah, what is it?" The green one asked with a slight nasal whine, the eggplant one looked away, and started trying to edge out of the conversation.

"Nah ah ah!" Soul said, roughly, and easily, pulling him back over, "You're staying right here."

The eggplant one began to sweat, and gulped, "U-uh, yeah, s-sure thing mister... mister, uh..."

Soul internally panicked as he hadn't come up with a fake name to give, but his face hardened into a brutal frown, the creases in his cheeks, brow, and forehead casting menacing shadows in the noonday sun, "You tellin' me, you ain't ever heard my name before?"

Eggplant guy really paled, "No, no! It's just, eh, I- I don;t really recognize ponies on sight, I'm terrible with faces, really!"

Soul let him go, "Well you'd best remember by the time we've finished this conversation. Now, I just got down into this Celestia forsaken pit for the first time in a few weeks, and I hear you two mooks talkin' about something killing ponies at dawn or somethin'? What's that all about?"

The green guy, trying to take some of the heat off of his friend, scooted over, "Hey, uh, it's just something that's been happening recently. At night, though! Not during the day. When the guards take a break, and just leave a skeleton crew down here, it... it comes."

The eggplant one nodded, "It attacks ponies that aren't being watched. Happened to Earl the other day, you hear about him?"

"Shit, it got Earl?" the green one cursed, "Bucking damn it, I liked Earl!"

"We all liked Earl," Soul said, trying to push the conversation along, he didn't have much time before he needed to be hauling rocks again, "How'd it get him? Wasn't there anypony around? Was there anything left?"

The eggplant man sighed, "Nopony knows. He went to get a drink, said he was dying of thirst, even though he'd just had a drink a few minutes ago. The few guards that were there weren't watching us at the time, and so he said he'd be right back. He galloped off over in the direction of the fountain and... that was the last I ever saw of him."

Soul snapped over to the green one as he shuffled awkwardly, "You. You know somethin'."

The green pony jumped, "What, me? Naw, I don't know- hckgh!"

Soul's hoof shot out and squeezed the stallion's windpipe like a vise, stopping just before crushing it completely, "I don't appreciate lyin' filth, ya' hear me? You wanna stab me in the back, at least do it where I can see ya'."

The eggplant pony cocked his head, trying to make sense of that phrase, but the green one just nodded frantically, and Soul dropped him, where he gasped for breath.

"Hey!" Soul heard a call from behind him, and he turned with annoyance to see three earth ponies, all of rather large size, though none as big as Soul, standing there looking pissed.

"Are you roughin' up my friend Flake over here?" he pointed to the green pony who grinned wickedly.

Soul decided this wasn't going to go anywhere productive, and so with a quick jab to the chin, he decked the man. The stallion went sprawling, and several teeth flew out, as there was a thunderous crack of force. He toppled head over hooves until he stopped some ten feet away, unmoving. His two body guards took one look at him, one look at each other, and then walked away with a tip of the head towards Soul.

Soul turned back to the green pony, Flake, who stared in horror at his large friend, "Vel? Buddy?"

"Hey, Flake," Soul said, drawing his attention, "What do you know about whatever this thing is?"

Flake gulped, "Look I... I didn't know it took Earl, but... I was at the watering hole last night and... and it seemed for a moment like the moon got dark. Like there was a shadow over everything, even though I could see it clear as day in the sky, no clouds anywhere. Then I saw this... this horrible thing. Like a reflection but... in the shadows. Teeth, big, tombstone teeth, smiling in every shadow I could see, but it was only for a second! And then it was gone. It happened so fast, and... I don't know, I just thought i was freaked out, ya know? The stories about this thing had been going around for a while, and I just got scared is all. That's it. Nothing serious, just my head playing tricks. Princess above, what'd you do to Velum? Velum! Help, help he ain't gettin' back up!"

Flake ran off to crouch next to his big friend, and Soul let him go. He also noticed that the eggplant colored one had slunk off while Soul was listening to Flake's story. Soul could still feel the pony's gaze on him though, and he followed that feeling around until he looked dead into the eyes of the other stallion, who jumped in surprise, as he'd managed to move quite far away across a crowd of ponies. Soul made a move like he intended to follow, and the stallion bolted. Good.

Shuffling through the crowd, Soul disappeared, literally. One second he was there, and the next he was invisible. In the crowd, nopony noticed too much, a few looked over at where he'd been and blinked in confusion before shaking their heads, but that was the extent of the scrutiny he received. He pranced and tiptoed his way through back to the port-a-potty where he was able to change back into his regular old navy furred, white maned, pink eyed self again. Just in time, too, the break had just ended, and Soul breathed a sigh of relief as he got back to hauling in the sweltering conditions, though the temperature dropped rapidly as one climbed the cliff.

So, picking off singular targets, prefers darkness, dehydration, panic, silent, only works under the cover of darkness, strange visions in the shadows. Soul was fairly certain he knew what it was that was abducting ponies. And if he was right, then he wouldn't be recovering any of the missing, and he wouldn't find any remains either. The creature he was thinking of devoured its prey whole. He needed to research it more to see if his findings matched up with what he thought he remembered, couldn't afford to get this wrong, not when he had the time on his hooves to get it right.

Once he'd done that... well, he would have answered one question. But that didn't explain the corona of darkness that had attracted it, or who had put it there. If it was what he was thinking of, then banishing the darkness would dispel it, but if it was something else that might only worsen the problem, and alert whoever had caused it that somepony was onto them. He had to leave it there for now, but that didn't mean he couldn't inform the Princess so that a discreet watch could be assigned to it at all times, and any more instances of this creature that might appear could be contained.

All of this was thought through and internalized in minutes, and Soul sighed as he realized that he had several hours left to go, wired with energy as he was, before he could begin his knowledge hunt into what might be doing this, he just hoped the library was open la- what was that?

Soul's head snapped towards a splotch that had registered in his Sight, full of elements where there had been none on this trail before. By the time he looked, whatever had been there was gone, and all that was left was a lengthening shadow on the side of a boulder.

Soul looked around, and saw that he had started at an off time at the bottom of the cliff, and as such he was the only one scaling the face right now. It had waited until he was alone.

Thank the stars I can See it, he thought with a heavy sigh of relief, that would have been terrifying otherwise.

Soul was jumpy the rest of the day. Constantly looking over his shoulder, doing double-takes on suspicious patches of shadow, even going so far as to erect a barrier between himself and any Darkness as the day slowly crawled into night, and the thin fingers of sunset stretched out over the bleak landscape of the pit. Down below, it had already become dark from the shadow of the mountain, and Soul could See the violet haze of Fear wafting from it like a foul stench.

Soul was on high alert each time he crested the lip of the hill, closely watching the black void of air that hovered menacingly. Normally he wouldn't mind the Dark, in fact he quite liked it, but this one had somehow attracted something dangerous, no doubt its intensity was partly to blame. He didn't think he'd ever seen one that was naturally occurring look like this.

A glint of something caught in the corner of Soul's eye, and immediately his intense gaze shifted to it. He saw the shocked face of Agent Hallow standing a little over 500 feet away, behind some crates of rocks waiting to be shipped out, her blue coat reflecting the setting sun beautifully. From this distance Soul couldn't tell if she was supposed to be disguised or not, but he would assume so, considering something had to have caught his subconscious attention.

With not even a pop, he teleported thirty feet behind her, leaving a flat mirror image of himself behind that squinted in her direction, shook its head, and then looked back at the sunset.

"Phew," he heard her whisper, "For a second it almost seemed like-"

"I saw you," Soul said calmly. He then had to react quickly, his hoof snapping up and catching the blade that had been speeding towards his throat. It was thrown with impressive accuracy, actually, for such a short distance, at an off angle, and as a surprise. She must have had a lot of practice.

Wild yellow eyes flashed, and Hallow quickly drew another blade, before finally coming out of her panic and realizing it was him. She dropped the knife she was holding shakily, and slumped against a box, "Soul Keeper... damn you."

Soul smiled, and flicked the knife she had thrown back over to her. It embedded itself in the box she leaned on, a hair's breadth away from her cheek.

She didn't jump, which did her credit, but her eyes did go wide as she looked from it to him. He heard her whisper, "What are you..." clearly this was not meant for his ears.

Soul also leaned on a crate, folding his front two hooves and frowning, "This was my operation Hallow, why are you here? Have I displeased the Princess in some way, so she sent you to check on me?"

Hallow blinked, "You're on an op?"

Soul looked at her. He Saw surprise, Confusion, Doubt, Worry, Excitement. A flood of emotion. Her face showed nothing. Very good.

He nodded, "And yourself?"

She laughed, "Celestia, Soul, I was just here to make sure you were okay! I heard your CO threw you in the pit again, even after you saved all those ponies in the hospital. Nice going, by the way. It's a shame they can't give you two medals of Kindness, heh."

Actually, they could, and had done so before. It was more than just possible, it was likely that a pony would earn two medals of the same category rather than ones across the board.

He smiled, "I doubt they'd give me one anyway. I broke orders and protocol to get that medicine. Not exactly exemplary behavior."

Hallow stepped up, and clapped a hoof on his shoulder, looking him right in the eyes, "But you did what had to be done. What you knew was right, consequences be damned. And now look at you!" She gestured around to the general area, "Running your own operation already! That's how it started with me, too. A discreet letter here and there, innocuous tasks that led up to the big fish. So whatcha here for? Moving one of these boxes to a specified location? All secret-like?"

Soul shuffled awkwardly, rubbing his neck, "I'm investigating the disappearances of several of the inmates below, and destroying whatever's responsible. I'm only telling you this because I know you can keep a secret, it hasn't been released to the public to avoid a panic. I'm here to make sure things don't get worse."

Hallow outwardly seemed unphased, but on the inside she was a tangled ball of all sorts of emotions. Pride, Betrayal, Fear, Worry, all rolled around in her system like pinballs, "Well that's... neat. And if anypony can handle a job that important, I'm sure it's you Keeper. I guess the whole "Corporal being an unreasonable dick" thing was just a cover story, huh?"

Soul laughed, "No, he actually threw me in here for disobeying standing orders, jumping the chain of command, and skipping roster duty. It just also happened to be convenient to my task. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you?"

Hallow thought for a moment, but shook her head, "No. We've heard about the disturbances, of course, but we were told a specialist was being sent, as whatever was causing this is apparently magical or occult in nature," she chuckled to herself, "I guess you're the specialist!"

He laughed awkwardly, now more aware than ever of how much was riding on him performing well here. If he screwed this up, not only would he disappoint the Princess, but he'd also be known for it throughout whatever intelligence agency Hallow was a part of.

"Who is "we", anyway?" He asked probingly, looking her in the eyes. Such pretty eyes, a dusky yellow, like the edges of a fading sunset.

She smiled at him, looking away, "Someday I might be able to tell you that, Soul. But not today."

He nodded, "I can respect the secrecy, you don't need to say anything more."

She nodded, "Thanks. Some ponies are less... amicable."

The sun had now sunk fully below the horizon, and in the distant east the moon began its climb, surrounded by the winking forms of its companions, the stars. Soul could tell already it would be a beautiful night tonight. It always was, in Equestria.

"I need to get going, Hallow, " He said softly, only to look back down and realized she'd left already. He turned to his right towards the maze of stacked crates full of rocks, where he could See her trying to creep away behind them, "I said I need to go Hallow! I'll catch you around sometime!"

"Dammit! You won't if I can help it, you cheating bastard!" She yelled indignantly, and he just smiled.

He had a few more hours yet to go after sundown before he finished in the pit for the night and hit up the library. These hours, between seven and ten in the evening, were some of the most tense he'd ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

Everypony was on edge. The prisoners, the guards, the regularly paid mining staff, everypony. All of them constantly looked over their shoulders, jumped at noises in the night, hurried from place to place, quickening as they neared their locations, panting as if being chased. The layers of fear in the air were almost palpable, and so thick Soul could almost touch the weaving, writhing purple strands. It was one of the only times he'd ever seen such a mass of it. It was several hundred ponies, all scared out of their minds by a shape in the dark.

Soul regretted not asking if somepony went missing every night, or just some of them. He didn't want to have to come back here more than was necessar-

Something was behind him.

An explosion of light detonated from his horn, and within the blink of an eye he teleported forty feet in the air. He near-instantaneously magically charged his spear, which was quickly being whirled into action, so that it would cut through anything, magic or non-magic it wouldn't matter. Pointing it downwards, he hurled it towards the cliff side with enough force to shatter steel.

There was a BOOM as it hit the ground and the entire spear exploded into a million tiny pieces, along with a significant section of the mountainside. Soul landed deftly, and immediately charged three bolts of searing energy to be cannoned at the nearest living creature. To his dismay, there were none.

He surveyed his surroundings with intense scrutiny, his Sight analyzed every iota of magical data that strained its way through his filters. Nothing. Not a single moving thing. But something had been there. He didn't get jumpy, the hairs on the back of his neck didn't just stand up. This meant only one thing. This creature was faster than he was. Shit.

Well, that's not entirely true, he pondered. There was more than one thing that this could mean. It could have been that the flash of light he emitted actually had pushed it away, and from there it had fled. But it still had to be damned fast to avoid his detection entirely.

I don't like this, he thought with a slight pout. He stood there, above his crater, for a long while. Tense, unmoving, listening, ready. Nothing came. He did not get the sensation again. The night was still. The moon quietly rotated above, marking off as Soul stood still for almost half an hour.

Well... shit. That was clumsy, he berated himself. He should have been more careful, he might have been able to catch this thing if he hadn't panicked like a frightened child. He was no better than-

Hallow did the same, he had the sudden realization. She also, an elite in her field, had reacted with gut instinct, and not stopped to consider what it was confronting her, and how best the situation might be handled.

Soul gasped as what felt like a sudden whip crack of icy cold snapped across the back of his skull.

That is no excuse! What, just because somepony else screws up, it's okay for you to do the same thing? Idiot, do better next time!

He shook off his feelings of disappointment and frustration. With a concentrated effort, he found a piece of his spear and quickly bound the pieces back together before they lost association with each other, ceasing to be a spear, and becoming what amounted to wood chips and random fragmentation. Twirling his reanimated weapon, he holstered it and looked around again. All was silent. All was shadowed. Soul didn't worry, he wouldn't be caught off guard again.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. There were no screams from the bottom of the cliff, no alarms raised, and, as far as Soul knew, no missing ponies. This only increased his anxiety. The pattern had changed, and he was sure it was because of him. He had interrupted the creature's cycle, who knew where it could have fled to by now?

Calm down, he thought to himself, nothing is certain, but if it is indeed a Strangler, then it won't be far from its anchor.

Soul could only hope he was right.

As soon as the hour struck ten, Soul was free. He heard the bells ringing in the distant city, counting them off in his head. He chucked his remaining rock bags to the top of the slope, and wasted no time in getting to the library.

Not bothering to conceal himself this time, it was with a flash and a pop that he appeared outside the Royal Archives in the labyrinthine halls of the castle, though if he had his geography correct it was close to the Hall of the Elements.

The second the familiar white stone block walls surrounded him, he breathed a sigh of relief, the high gothic ceilings and unrelenting dedication to uniformity comforted him after his stint in the wide and frightening world.

He chuckled to himself at his own over-dramatization, and went to knock on the archive door. It was large, much larger than all the samey doors that lined the castle, given special prominence due to it by its position. The large double oak door was covered in iron decoration which concealed runes and wards of all kinds. Shields against magical entry and attack, against physical bombardment, a flame retardant, the works to ensure that within those walls, their contents remained absolutely safe.

Soul knocked loudly, hoping that if anypony was asleep inside he would wake them up.

"Just a minute!" He heard an elderly stallion call. The door creaked and cracked open slowly on its ancient, rusted hinges, to reveal the squinting face of an old purple stallion whose mane looked like it had once been blue, but had long since faded to a greasy grey. He wore a thick set of spectacles, bifocals they looked like, looming large upon his scrunched nose. He wore a nightgown, speckled with cartoonishly drawn stars and constellations.

"Ehhh, yes? What is it, what do you want?" He said, still seeming to be searching for where Soul was standing exactly, tilting his head up further to get a better angle.

Soul bowed, "Excuse me, sir, but is the archive still open at this hour?"

The stallion laughed dryly, "Open? Heh, I couldn't close this place if I tried! Those blasted students at Celestia's Academy won't let me shut these doors until midnight. What're you here for then? Late night study session?"

Soul smiled, "Research, on dangerous creatures."

The old man nodded, "Ah! I see you're a guard. Well, come on in then sir, make yourself at home!" he grumbled quietly, "Everypony else certainly seems to."

Soul walked in, and tried not to be as starstruck as he was sure all the tourists were, but as an enthusiast of learning and knowledge, it was hard not to be.

Rows upon rows of bookshelves, as far as the eye could see, stacked more than eighty feet in the air, with a second floor to boot. Beautifully carved columns supported the balustrades of the floor above, open areas there where the reading sections were on this floor. Speaking of floors, the one under Soul's feet was immaculate. Polished marble, scrubbed to a literal mirror shine that greatly enhanced the feeling of otherwordliness the place had, doubling the amount of ponies, shelves, and walkways above in its reflection.

"Wow," Soul said, looking around and taking the opulence of it all in. He stood in one of the greatest libraries known to ponykind, renowned throughout the world for its vast compendiums of knowledge that knew no equal. For a moment he felt deeply, truly, humbled, that his was a life that allowed him to walk these halls.

"Bathroom's that way," The old stallion pointed to the right where signage indicated a mare door and a stallion door, "That's what most guards use this place for on their way to some patrol or another. But you said you were looking for information about a monster, right?"

Soul nodded, "Something of the sort. How many books do you have on the monsters of the Old World? Before Celestia's first Rising?"

The old stallion's eyes widened, and he looked at Soul more closely, "You're... not from around here are you?"

Soul blinked and felt awkward, "Uhh... no, sir, why?"

The stallion barked a laugh, "Because you don't sound like an idiot. Come on, I think I know what you're looking for."

Soul walked behind the elderly fellow, eyeing those they passed. They mostly seemed like very young unicorns, pouring over old textbooks, writing frantically with horn and hoof, heavy bags under their eyes.

"You should see them the night before exam day," the old stallion leading him said, "There's five times more of them, five times as stressed. They pack this hall so full with chatter it drives me crazy."

Soul frowned at the rows upon rows of students all looking panicked, and so late at night. He worried for them.

"I didn't catch your name, sir, I'm Private Soul Keeper," Soul said, holding his hoof out.

The stallion turned with surprise, shaking it, "Lead Librarian Scribble, mister Keeper, good to meet a stallion with some manners around here for a change. You new?"

Soul nodded, "I've only been here... what, two months?" Had it been longer? He couldn't exactly recall.

Scribble shrugged, "Two months, not bad. Hey, you were the one that won the award of Kindness, right?"

Soul's smile it up, "Yes! I'm surprised to meet someone outside of the guard who knows about that, not many people of import were there that day."

The librarian shrugged again, it seemed to be a favorite gesture of his, "Eh, not much happens around here, we take excitement where we can get it in between reading sessions. Up the stairs here."

He and Soul climbed an immaculate marble stairwell that was so elegant and flawlessly crafted from the stone it almost made Soul want to weep, "Who was the architect of this place, it's absolutely stunning!"

The librarian grunted, "Funnily enough, Princess Luna designed, paid for, and oversaw this library's construction. I don't know if you'd know of her since her recent return, but-" he paused and thought, then continued with a smile, "Ah, but you're a Keeper, aren't you? Of course you know."

Soul was genuinely surprised, "You know of my family?"

Scribble laughed, "I've read all day, every day, for forty years! You pick up a thing or two, you know. Like the names of the seven Traitor Families for instance. Er, no offense, lad."

Soul winced, but he knew the old stallion meant no harm by it. They continued on in awkward silence after that.

Librarian Scribble lead him deep into the rows upon stacks of the second floor, with convenient markers guided them towards section after section, and overhead signage ensuring they couldn't become lost in this maze of knowledge.

"Here we go," the old librarian muttered as they drew closer to some of the more... well, Soul couldn't refer to them as dusty because everything in here was absolutely immaculate, but it just felt old back here. Where the shadows seemed longer, and an air of decaying lethargy hung.

The old stallion rapped three time on the wood of a bookshelf, and distantly a noise like a rushing wave could be heard. Within seconds, an eighty foot tall wooden ladder slammed to a halt in front of them, which the old unicorn slowly began to climb.

"Could you not simply levitate it down?" Soul asked in a worried tone, "I don't want you to hurt yourself!"

The stallion waved him off, "You can't fall off of these ladders. And besides, I don't know exactly where what I'm looking for is, I just know it's in this general area."

Soul nodded, and settled down to wait, mulling over what had happened and what he had learned over the course of the day.

Then something caught his eye.

Soul glanced to his left, and saw exactly what he expected to see, long, long hallways of bookshelves extending over a false horizon, towering high above him and lined with ancient tomes, but... was it just him? Or did it seem... darker than it should? Did the shelves seem more warped, older, more foreboding? Did that darkness loom? Watching from a distance. Wait. Did something move down there-

"Hah! Found it!" The old pony startled Soul out of his trance, and when he looked back the hall was perfectly normal, the light distributed evenly, the bookshelves tall, true, but not bent as though they could pounce.

The stallion dropped back to the floor, brushing off the no doubt ancient text out of force of habit, though it was spotless.

Soul took it carefully and examined it, The Olde: A Guide to the World Before the Light. Flipping through Soul saw that yes, this was exactly what he needed.

"Thank you so much for your help!" He said, shaking the stallion's hoof again.

The old librarian smiled a gap-toothed grin, "Ah, don't mention it. You're a good kid. Go, read. When you're done just release it into the air and say "return" and it'll find its way back here."

Soul thanked him again, and sped off down the stairs to read the section he had found about Stranglers. He was almost certain of it already, but he needed to be certain of the hallmarks, and of the ways to defeat it before he took on a monster this sinuous and vile.

Soul returned downstairs, tracing an enamored hoof over the sleekly polished marble of the banisters , looking every which way at the vast wealth stored here. A shame it didn't get more visitors.

He settled down at one of the reading desks, a simple affair with a little hooded lantern off the the side, and what looked like one of those calligraphy paper holder things. He placed the ancient tome on the wood, and flipped it open, scanning page after page in seconds, not really reading the words so much, but using his Sight to read the emotions, the implications that bled from each and every hoof written word and scratch. That was probably why this library was more beautiful to him than any other pony, it was filled with worlds, even universes of color. Light and dark, thick and thin, red to indigo, it all radiated throughout the halls like a living rainbow, whispering and enticing him to join the flowing rivers of emotions that danced between these millions of pages, billions of words, uncountable meanings.

Soul shook himself out of his emotional moment, and refocused his attention on just the one book in front of him. He passed many pages laced with Darkness, evidently the author had some quite strong feelings about most of these topics, and not many of them positive, but none of the entries seemed to be about Darkness itself, until, at last, he found it.

The page was laced with some elements of Dark, hardwired in, unavoidable when speaking of a creature as foul as a Strangler, but most of the page was a scholarly interest. This was not a political or opinionated topic that the author was exploring, this was simply a statement of fact, and the letters on the page wafted a mostly sky blue with little jets of bluish-violet denoting particular interest in some of the topics it discussed.

"The Spectral Strangler," it read, "is a peculiar beast. Drawn to dark pools of power, sometimes even to dark ponies, such as the Nightmare Queen herself, these beasts consist almost purely of a ravenous hunger to devour all creatures of the light. To snuff out the joy of life, and replace it with sorrow, to suck out excitement, and put dread in its place. In essence, they are the enemies of life itself, vengeful, and seditious. Spectral Stranglers are described in many legends, and here I have assembled their most common traits, though by their very nature they are murky and not easily defined. Most share these things: They posses three grasping limbs of some kind, two from the sides, and one from the middle. They posses no lower half, instead their various torsos float, wreathing dark mist in the air behind them. They posses no face, though they may take the form of any creature, instead there is only a sickening maw of perfectly white teeth, seemingly too large, as if dominating where eyes and a nose would normally take place. Whatever form they choose, if they even posses the intelligence to choose their own forms, they always come hooded and cloaked, shadowed from any light as much as they are able. Their very presence brings dread, and cold. Their touch robs the living of their will, and so they kill not through aggression, but through true apathy. Their victims are dragged away by the throat, always the throat, and are never seen again. The Spectral Strangler abhors light, and will vanish in its presence back to whatever pool of darkness it was spawned from. If the pool is destroyed, so too can the Strangler be."

Soul put down the book, nodding to himself, It is as I thought. I could go back there. Finish this, tonight. I already know it's following me, even here...

Without moving, still appearing hunched over a book, Soul's eyes slowly drifted to the corners of his vision. Was it his imagination? Or did one of the rafters appear darker then the others Its torch snuffed out, and a shape waiting there, watching?

Soul yawned, leaning back on his chair. No, there was definitely a light out up there. He almost had it cornered, but if he confronted it now, it would retreat to the Darkness at the top of the Pit, and it would take him seconds to get there, where it would have the drop on him. He could teleport there, and then fight it. But there was something he half-remembered. Something not in the book. What was it...

Strength, he recalled suddenly, They grow stronger the darker it is, and it is always darkest before the dawn.

Soul looked to his left, where the entire wall was devoted to arched glass windows that ran floor to ceiling, eighty feet, again a truly beautiful sight. They faced east, and he could no longer see the moon through them, it must have been past midnight already.

I have time, he thought, If I fight it now, it will be strong, and it will see me coming. As long as it's watching me, it's not attacking anypony else.

Soul gently close the book, smoothing out the cover, and held it in the air lightly, "Return."

There was a tug on his hoof, and he released the book as it gently floated away, back up to where Scribble had gotten it for him.

I need to thank him again, Soul thought, and he turned around to look for the old librarian. He couldn't see him anywhere, however, not even behind the little desk to the right of the door that was piled high with discarded books, and a mug of cold coffee sat waiting to be finished.

Where was he last? Soul wondered, Well, I must have left him-

Soul's eyes widened.

Upstairs. Alone. In the dark.

Soul bolted from his chair and sprinted faster than a Wonderbolt could fly past the rows upon rows of bookshelves that seemed to loom on forever, the stories and tales leering from above at his failure.

Please be alright, please be alright... he thought to himself frantically over and over as he threw himself back up the stairs, and into the corridor of books he had traveled down. Above him, he saw the book he had released floating gently back into place, and he followed with his eyes to where its path lead. He arrived at the bookshelf... and the stallion was nowhere to be seen.

Out of the corner of his eye, Soul spotted something, and he turned to look.

There, sitting forlornly on the clinical marble floor, was a single shred of cloth, bearing a cartoonishly drawn golden star.

"Damn it... DAMN IT!" Soul screamed, slamming his hoof into the marble, shattering the perfect glaze into a thousand fractured pieces with a thunderous BANG!

Nopony told him to quiet down, nopony came to tell him off. The librarian, it seemed, was gone.

Soul stood in the darkness again. Good. Let its silence wash away the memory of the stallion he had failed. In his dreams, his feelings betrayed him, he felt them so strongly here. A single tear rolled down his cheek. It was caught by a silver-shod hoof, as the stars and other wonders of the universe slowly began to fade into view.

"What has happened, my dear Keeper? I heard no news of a disappearance today." He heard the voice of Luna. The voice of condemnation. Or, at least, it would be.

"Althos adenadem althriass, my Princess. Then I am afraid... I am afraid I must be the one to bear it," his voice quivered, "The Lead Librarian Scribble, of the Royal Archives... is gone."

There was a silence. A deep and long silence.

"How do you know this?" the voice was cold, judging. Was it the sound of fury being held in check? Or merely disappointment in something she'd once found promising? He didn't know which would hurt more, but he was ready to accept whichever knife she chose to dig in him.

Soul took a breath, and explained, "The creature behind the disappearances is a Strangler," he heard a small gasp, "it attempted to assault me on the mountaintop early in the evening, but I accidentally chased it off instead of killing it. In my... vanity, and arrogance, I believed that I would be its only target after such a slight. I went to the archives to research Stranglers, and while there noted its presence. It was only after I had left the company of Librarian Scribble that it occurred to me that he might be in any danger. So I ran. I may have run back to him harder than I have ever run in my life. I was still too late. The creature had taunted me, leaving a piece of his clothing behind. A trophy, of its murder of an innocent old stallion, who was perfectly content with his life."

He was finally able to look upon the face of his princess after the confession was given, but when he looked, he did not find rage. Only a deep sadness. Not disappointment, but compassion, and sympathy.

"You poor child," she whispered, "I am sorry this has happened, but please, do not blame yourself. There was no way you could have known it would follow you, and target him to spite you. Indeed, I thought the abominations mindless, but it appears they have a knack for cruelty."

Soul's mouth was agape. He had come here expecting condemnation, reprimand, but never forgiveness. He bowed his head, "My Princess... tomorrow, I will slay the creature-"

"Absolutely not!" She said, silencing him, "It is far to dangerous for you to be hunting alone, I will send-"

"Princess, I beg you, hear me out," he interrupted, feeling a sharp sting in his skull, as though a nail was being driven into his brain at the act, "Allow me, ah, allow me to prove myself. I swear to you on my life that I can kill it, and avenge the good librarian's death."

Soul was sweating heavily, and felt a sickening chill in the core of his bones. Something about him was not happy with that performance, but it was done with now, he had spoken.

Luna appeared to be thinking. She stared at him long and hard, her gaze piercing and concerned, like a mother and her child.

"You are... certain that you can defeat this thing, without aid?" She asked slowly.

He bowed almost to the floor, "Princess, all I ask is that you make your moon as bright and full as it could be. With it to guide me, I will surely triumph. I swear to you, on the honor of all my family."

She said nothing for a long time.

"A weighty promise," she said solemnly, "Very well, you will have your chance. But if you should succeed, I do not hope you will think that avenging a friend's death will be your only reward."

With that, the dream began to fade away, almost as if she knew he would immediately protest, and did not wish to hear it.

He tried anyway, but it was hard to talk while unconscious.

Soul blinked awake to the mutterings of the guards around him, all of 5-E shuffling to get ready for another day. Something was different though. Soul blinked slowly in the dim light, before realizing that the light was coming from one place: a tree. It was a simple pine tree, set on a strange looking white rug, decorated with ribbons of gold and red, bells of all colors, and other various paraphernalia.

He tapped Lay on the shoulder as the stallion was walking by, "Hey Ley, what's that in the corner?"

Lay looked over, and turned back with a smile, "You didn't see it yesterday?"

Sou shook his head, "I was out most of the time, and when I got back... well, when I got back I was exhausted."

Lay nodded sympathetically, "Yeah, I feel you. Well, we all pitched in and got us a tree, those of us that wanted one anyway, it wasn't too expensive."

Soul bopped him with a hoof, "I can see that it is a tree, I'm asking what the reason for the tree is."

Lay blinked, "Uhh, Hearth's Warming? Hearth's Warming Eve is today, dude. Are you okay?"

Ah, that must have been one of their holiday traditions. Soul nodded, "I'm fine, my family didn't celebrate Hearth's Warming so-"

"Didn't celebrate Hearth's Warming?!" Lay brayed like a mule, "What do you mean you didn't- how could you not have- what did you do?"

Soul raised an eyebrow, and decided to keep the truth mostly to himself. He shrugged, "Well, on the solstice we would all gather together, staff, servants, guards, and the family, and we would have a big feast, and that would be the end of it. Why, what do you do on Hearth's Warming?"

Lay looked aghast, "Well... well you... you just do the Hearth's Warming things, I don't know how to explain it! You get gifts for friends and loved ones, you go out drinking and singing, there's lots of snow, and candy, and you stay up super late having a big party! At least, that's what I do."

Soul frowned, "Huh. Sounds nice."

Lay nodded quickly, "It's great, I'll take you out with my other friends tonight and we can-"

Soul held up a hoof, "Thanks Lay," he said with a smile, "But I have other plans for the start of the night. Plus my shift in the pit doesn't end until ten."

Lay shook his head, "That doesn't matter, I'm usually up until at least four in the morning."

Soul looked thoughtful, "Alright then, let me know where you'll be and I'll get there when I can."

Lay grinned from ear to ear, "You're going to have a blast, Soul. I got you a present for you to open tomorrow, too! Since you didn't know about that, I'll give you a pass on getting me one this yea, but it'll be a hard sell telling Marshmallow you didn't know what Hearth's Warming was, she loved the holiday even more than I do!"

Soul nodded along, not really paying to much attention. He had that morning off, but that night he had pit duty, and his date with darkness incarnate.

Soul pulled out the gift-wrapped box again from its hiding place as he reached the top of the hill again, just to make sure it was safe.

The wrapping was nothing special, just green and white stripes with a glittery green bow at the top. It was immaculately done, Soul had discovered a new talent for precision box-wrapping should his job as a guard fall through. He tucked the medium size box back into its crevice in the rock, and surveyed the area around him.

The sun was just beginning to set again, he could see it setting down below the horizon from his vantage point above the clifftop. To his right was the pool of darkness, to his left the sheer drop to the bottom. There weren't many guardsponies around today, nor prisoners, it was a pretty light workday, and Soul hadn't tried nearly as hard. Granted, he had been focused on other things.

He'd seen it multiple times today. Wide, tombstone teeth shining white from the cleft of shadow created by two rocks, the feeling of constant eyes staring at his back, vague outlines of a shifting form at the edges of his vision. These events never failed to quicken his pulse, but he was not afraid. The creature had made the mistake of letting him know it was coming, and of making him angry.

Slowly, dusk began to fall, and a twilight descended over the world. This was the time between waking and sleeping, when neither the sun nor the moon showed in the sky, and all held their breath as darkness fell, and the heavenly bodies rotated.

It will strike in the darkness, from behind, if it can, Soul thought, striding immediately to the black pool, and beginning his work.

Dispelling this magic was not as simple as flashing some Light about, this Darkness had seeped into the dirt, stone, and air of this quarry, binding itself inexorably to this location. Each building block would need to be separated at the base level, and released as their component elements, warded so that they did not stick back together into this dark amalgam again.

Honestly, he thought, the ponies of Canterlot are lucky they have somepony around who is capable of doing this, because it's very difficult, and those Nox up at the Battlemage Tower didn't even know how to make a proper spell circle.

He'd been slowly chipping away at it throughout the day, standing still and working on it for as long as he could without getting in trouble. But now, there was nopony here, and he could finally free this dimensional anchor from its moorings.

It also left him completely exposed to attack, and he knew this, but it was now or never. He had to finish deconstructing this Darkness into its baser elements of Air and Decay before he could destroy the creature forever. His only regret was that he hadn't found the source of whatever had caused this, but the Strangler was far too dangerous a foe to let live any longer.

Soul began to sweat after two minutes had passed, and the landscape around him grew darker, and darker.

Come on, he thought impatiently, Where are you, you damned creature?

Distantly, he heard a faint cackle, the kind that sent shivers down your spine, piercing, cold, and disturbed. Soul immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, it's playing with me before it kills me, or tries to, anyway. This should buy me some extra time.

The chilling laughter grew closer, and closer, and Soul's vision began to darken, shapes dancing in the corners of his eyes, just out of sight.

"Come on," he whispered, horn aglow as he worked to shatter the last of the creature's well of power, "Almost... there..."

Soul gasped as a searingly ice cold pain raked along his back, like jagged, frozen knives cutting and tearing along his spine, the frozen feeling shocking his system to its core. He actually felt his heart seize for a moment, before it continued on strong.

"OW! DAMMIT!" He yelled, as the mad, cackling howls behind him were accompanied by more unbelievably painful raking sensations, like long forks digging out the tendons in his back, chewing through the muscles, until finally, blessedly, the last chord tethering the Darkness to this plane snapped... and the whole thing faded gently away.

A blast of light exploded out from Soul, and he heard a vile shriek of pain as the Strangler was forced away from him by its radiance. As quickly as he could, he burned through a good portion of his magic to reconstruct the torn muscle and blood in his body, resetting some of the bones that had been chipped and cut, and growing new skin. The coat, he wasn't too concerned about, he could get that later. Although, now most of his back was absolutely soaked with blood, it was a good thing he got more inside of himself quickly, or he might have passed out from blood loss.

Whipping around, Soul finally came face to face with the prey he'd been hunting, and which had been hunting him.

As the book had described, it had no lower body, its floating torso merely drifted out of a thick black and grey mist that hung around where its pelvis would be. The chest itself was... large. Very large, almost minotaur-like in size but it was incredibly disturbing. Its skin was black, but also shone with a sick purple-ish green coloration, almost like a swirling bubble of tar made manifest. It almost seemed to... breathe, its chest, actually it seemed just to be its stomach, distended to minotaur girth, and then shrunk down to the size of a withered twig, leaving almost a visible ribcage underneath shrink-wrapped skin, before rapidly and horrifically expanding again. It had three long, thin arms. Two stretched out from the frequently distorted shoulderblades, snatching and grasping feebly at the air around it, and a third that stretched over its swelling and anorexic stomach to snap in his direction like the head of an angry dog. And its face... Celestia, its face. A hood obscured most of the features along the sides, it appeared to be made of some finely spun woolen material, but where eyes, nose, and mouth should be, was simply a maw of incredibly large, brilliantly white teeth sunken into the skin of its face. It was a truly galling sight, and Soul knew this thing would be haunting his nightmares for many years to come.

As he stared this ungodly abomination down, he could See the aura of pure Fear that radiated from it, reaching far wider than just Soul. He would have guessed that anypony within a half mile of this thing felt uneasy now, paranoid, glancing over their shoulder. Luckily, they stood quite a ways away from town.

Soul spun his spear into place beside him, eyes locked on the shifting, skin-tight shape of the creature's emaciated arms. It floated, absolutely still save for the expansion and compression of its balloon stomach. Soul didn't have any clue what it was thinking or doing. Maybe it was working out how it could be killed now, maybe it was waiting for him to make a move, or maybe it was just trying to unnerve him.

Well he'd had enough.

"So," he said, dancing a little to the left, "are we gonna do this or wha-"

With a shriek that pierced Soul's ears like shards of glass, the creature... didn't charge exactly. Charge was too graceful a word. It flung itself forward, almost tumbling over itself in the air in its haste to devour Soul whole. Its movements were jerky, phasing in and out of existence every now and then, propelling itself seemingly by clawing its way rapidly through the air, its arms rotating and bending like propellers on the sides of its body.

Equally as fast, Soul erected a barrier against Darkness around the creature, trapping it, but not for long. Almost immediately the monster's wild flailing broke through the shield layers through sheer force, and it pulled itself towards Soul with startling speed.

Another flash of light sent the creature shrieking, and hurled it backwards like a black-tailed comet nearly a hundred yards before it slammed into the side of a large boulder. Standing, though, it appeared undamaged, not even more perturbed than it had been.

Soul's eyes quickly glanced to the east, where the palest sliver of the moon's edge was beginning to creep over the horizon, and it was a big one tonight. The creature hadn't yet seemed to notice, as it was fixated on Soul. And in the time it took him to glance left, and then back to his right again, the ungodly creature had managed to pull itself halfway between them again, and Soul grew tired to the back-and-forth tactics he was being forced to employ.

"Fine, you want a fight?" he bellowed, emitting a much lower level of light that made the Strangler distort slightly, and slow significantly, but did not deter it entirely.

This time, Soul led with his best hoof forward, stepping in and slamming the creature across its fat face with his spear like a club, letting out a flash of light from its tip just as the object physically sank into its incorporeal form.

The thing let out a howl of agony as part of its face was seared clean off, and Soul grinned in satisfaction, at least before he became occupied.

Soul desperately twirled and blocked the three rapidly spinning arms of the Strangler as they clawed at him, but defending against three weapons at once while also trying to get in a solid counter attack wasn't really a walk in the park.

He danced away, trying to put some distance between him and the thing he could use his to get his spear in, but it was just too quick, following with rapid and unnatural movements, white maw gnashing as it scrapped and scratched at the wood of his deflecting spear, which had splintered in half almost every time a blow landed, and needed to be reconstructed every few seconds.

They really don't make 'em like they used to, Soul grimaced, again glancing to the side, seeing a good portion of the moon beginning to crest the horizon, and its radiant blue light beginning to fill the area around him.

He knew that looking away from his opponent would cost him, he just hadn't anticipated how much. One of the rapidly flailing claws shot out and dug straight through his cheek, tearing off an entire chunk of his face with a searingly cold slash.

Soul roared in agony as immediate cold dimmed the pain in the area, but it was still present and throbbing at the back of his mind, and he could feel the heat of his blood running down his jaw and neck.

Not thinking about it, he desperately fought against the creature. It was ferocious, for certain, but it was wild, undisciplined. Eventually, even with all its speed, the unholy creature would make a mistake, he just needed patience.

Suddenly, Soul sidestepped, and revealed the brightness of the moon to the dark form of the Strangler. Blessed blue light burned and hissed at the creature's flesh, and its arms ceased their attacks to cover itself from the burning light.

Bless you, my Princess, Soul grinned, wincing as the left side of his face faintly burned with incredible pain that was being suppressed.

Soul struck, his spear impaling straight down the forearm coming out of the creature's chest. With an explosion of light it was gone, and before the creature could even scream Soul was in motion again, his spear stabbing its left arm at the shoulder joint, and blasting it to pieces.

"This is for my face, you son of a bitch," he spat, slurring as... well, as the air went out of his missing face. His third strike pierced directly through the beast's chest, where the heart cavity would be, and a detonation of light made it howl in agony as much of its mass was put to the violet torch.

Another spun, another blow, and another, and another, a frenzy of them, Soul quickly losing himself in the heat of the moment. A strike to the ribs, to the pelvis, to the neck, side, top of the head, blow after blow landed with unerring precision as the creature keened one long howl of madness. Becoming truly desperate, it struck around itself, and caught his hind leg, Soul felt another quickly dimmed flash of pain before he hit the dirt, still fully conscious thankfully. But the pain shocked him out of his battle fever.

Before him was a gossamer thin husk of the terrifying monster that he'd been fighting. It flickered in and out of existence, holes, large and small, gouged out of every piece of its body. Thin whispy trails of black, like blood, floated from the emaciated husk. Though it was levitating, it seemed almost to stumble in the air, until Soul realized it was using its head as a weapon, the jaws swinging like a pearly guillotine towards his throat.

With a snap, he punched it in the face so hard he actually dislocated his shoulder, and with one last blindingly white flash, reduced it to ash. Frantically, he searched around, muscles taut and poised for the next attack. His breath was coming fast, he was lying on his back, spear cracked in half behind him, hooves defensively raised. It took several minutes of loud and prolonged silence, for his heart to finally slow, his breathing to decrease, but not quite steady, and begin thinking with his rational mind again.

His hooves dropped to his sides. He felt... absolutely exhausted. And hungry.

Ohhhh... he groaned internally, you just ate! Like, not even a full seventy-two hours ago!

With a wheeze, and many grunts, Soul popped his shoulder back into place, not a lot of fun, then slowly shifted his spear from behind his back and repaired it, making his stomach rumble.

Slowly, he rolled over onto his stomach, displeased that his front and back were dirty now. He got his right front hoof under him, and wobblingly lifted himself up, using his spear as a crutch, which creaked and bent precariously under his weight. His back left leg, the one the creature had gotten lucky with, was completely dead, he didn't even want to look at it to see what the damage was, but he was pretty sure some bone was showing. For some reason, he felt a sick sort of satisfaction with that.

He stood there for a moment, cold breath steaming in the air, the bright blue light of the full moon shining down upon him, he looked to the stars and closed his eyes.

"May you rest in peace, Scribble," he said aloud into the emptiness of the void, broken face twinging with pain "You have been avenged."

Opening his eyes, he gazed over the lit up city of Canterlot twinkling in the distance like a shining star on the dark landscape. Safe from the Darkness which had haunted it... for the moment.

Whelp... he thought, shivering, unsteady, half-dead, and breath steaming in the cold midnight air, Happy bucking Hearth's Warming everypony.

Author's Note

Soul Keeper has completed his latest task, this one fresh from one of the diarchs themselves! But what caused the sinister manifestation in the first place? Who stands to gain from nothing but wanton chaos? And what was in the box Soul was keeping?

Find out, next time!