Scootaloo went over the parchment provided by Archivist Neighsay, her brow furrowed as her eyes read between the lines. Glancing at Neighsay on occasion, the Archivist nodded solemnly almost every time. Once she was finished, displaying more of her professionalism, set the letter down, which was promptly picked up for perusal by Night Quill.

Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack and Rarity, the farm girl merely shrugging as she and the rest of them stood or sat in silence at whatever Scootaloo and her companions were addressing. When Night Quill had finished his turn with the letter, he hunched over the table by his arms, pursing his lips at whatever ill news was inscribed on the parchment.

“She can’t be serious, can she?” the silver-haired “Knight Poet” asked, looking up at Neighsay who could only nod in rueful contemplation.

“What’s going on?” Sunset inquired.

“The aforementioned “High Priestess” Cinch intends to enact another one of her purges,” said Neighsay, complete with air quotations. “She’s performed them on a regular basis since her takeover of Moonlink to weed out anyone she deems as a threat to her newfound authority.”

“She started out covertly exiling members of the public she had suspicions about sowing discontent among the people,” Scootaloo elaborated further, motioning at Night Quill, “like people who held great sway with the commoners.”

“Eventually she moved onto members of the Moon Temple’s clergy and authority figures, myself among them. If it wasn’t for Lady Scootaloo and her Umbra Hunters, I shudder to think what might have happened,” said Neighsay, giving a respectfully deep nod to Scootaloo.

“And without the Knight-Centurions to maintain order, with their members spread thin scouring the land for more shards, there is no true martial order anywhere anymore,” said Scootaloo, looking over the copiously marked map.

“So, let see if I’m understandin’ this right,” said Applejack, rubbing her fingers over her temples. “After all of this with the Divines being gone; your whole land just fell to lawlessness?”

Neighsay grimaced ever so slightly, “Throughout our history the Knight-Centurions answered to Celestia and Luna either directly or through their appointed generals, following the standard chain of command. When the sisters fell, command fell to the Scions, whom each at the time were doing their all to maintain order in their appointed holdings. In the predicament of the Scions being unable to hold to their duties, command would’ve fallen to General Shining Armor.”

“But since Archmage Twilight Sparkle’s fall to the darkness in Anor Equis, Shining Armor hasn’t been seen since,” Scootaloo added. “Since then the Knight-Centurions have either deserted, fallen, or are still out there trying to find all the fragments of the Divines. Commander Firebrand’s regiment was the last we knew of until they too abandoned Quarter.”

“And then someone exploits the instability of the predicament for personal gain,” sighed Twilight. The situation must have stung in particular over who said someone was.

“Well it is Cinch we’re talking about,” replied Spike bluntly. Strangely, while this caught the attention of the Hunters, eliciting some modicum of surprise, but it seemed very restrained.

“Hm, so Lady Twilight having a talking dog were factually based,” remarked Night Quill, seemingly the most impacted by the revelation of the talking canine.

Spike seemed quite surprised that even his life-changing alteration from an average dog persisted.

Rainbow Dash, often the air of confidence and assuredness, was beginning to feel the complexity and the dire straits of their predicament thus far. She felt such newfound sadness for the older Scootaloo before her, amazed that the huntress had been able to keep even this small group of vigilantes fighting against such overwhelming odds. So not only had she the monsters to contend with, but essentially the entire land was now what she could best describe as an almost all against everyone else kind of conflict, when even authority figures would use this most apocalyptic of circumstances as just a petty means of seizing authority over others. Like this one whom she assumed would be the spitting image of a certain someone whose face she’d have wanted to punch so much.

“What do we do to put an end to it?” asked Rainbow Dash, her eyes furrowed determinedly.

“Rainbow, what are you-?” was all she let Sunset manage.

Rainbow Dash approached Scootaloo, placing a firm hand on the huntress’ shoulder, looking her directly in the eyes.

“Scoots; I can’t begin to even pretend I know exactly what is going on right now, and how this must be affecting you and your crew.” She motioned at Neighsay, Night Quill and Maud, “But I want to ask you this: If your Rainbow Dash was here, in this room, right now; what would she do?”

Her stream of conscience seemed to have elicited something within her sister-equivalent’s mind, as she could see a glint of something in the huntress’ purple eyes.

“She…” Scootaloo pursed her lips, closing her eyes in thought before looking back at Rainbow with exactly what that glint was, “She would stop at nothing to put an end to it, and ensure everyone was safe.”

It was a glint of hope.

Scootaloo stood up, placing her own hand atop the one grasping her shoulder, looking back at Rainbow Dash with a reignited determination.

“Rainbow Dash would go out of her way to loyally defend the people of Equis from anyone and anything seeking to harm it,” the huntress spoke the utmost truth she knew.

“You bet we would,” Rainbow confirmed with a confident smile. “Let’s go show this fraud of a High Priestess what for!” She slammed a fist against her palm, her smile getting toothy on impact.

Scootaloo reciprocated her idol’s counterpart’s smile as she held up a fist towards Rainbow Dash, which the rainbow-haired athlete promptly tapped with her own.

“Alright, first and foremost, we need to come up with a plan on infiltration.” Scootaloo turned to Neighsay, “We’ll need every piece of intelligence we have on Moonlink so far!”

“Ma’am!” the archivist acknowledged with a curt bow.

“Night Quill; tell the men to make ready the boats!” she snapped towards the silver-haired knight poet.

“At once!” Night Quill thumped his chest before exiting the office.

“Now,” Scootaloo began, leaning over her table as Neighsay set down a journal filled with an array of various papers, “we have a battle to wage…”

Rainbow stood beside the huntress, rubbing something off the corner of her eye.

“Somethin’ wrong there, Dash?” asked Applejack, approaching her.

“No,” said Rainbow levelly. “Just proud.”

-

Rarity peered over at the shoreline, the rhythmic sloshing of water being the only sound to break the unnatural silence of the world shrouded in perpetual night. From the back of the rowboat she watched Applejack seated at the prow end, rowing with long, sure strokes of the oars, while at the center of the boat was Maud, her back loaded down with something that by any stretch of logic would have the woman collapsing into a heap.

“Uh, Maud, if you do not mind me asking,” said Rarity, scratching her arm under the worn, dark grey cloak that the hunters had provided her.

The thing hadn’t been washed in what was undoubtedly years and it itched against her skin. Her friends had been provided with similar, varying pieces of garb, thinking it best they try and hide their identities and not risk rousing the suspicion of six prolific dead people suddenly walking the streets. Applejack was provided with an old leather longcoat topped with a greyed hood to cover her head, albeit she still insisted on wearing her Stetson over said hood.

“What is it?” asked Maud, her face unmoving, as was expected.

“How is it that you can carry that and we aren’t sinking to the bottom of the lake?” Rarity finished, remaining concerned over how close the rims of the boat were to the surface of the water once Maud had boarded. The weight having resulted in some difficulty to shove off, until Applejack relieved the two men from that task.

Maud held out her left hand, presenting a ring she wore. Ever the enthusiast when it came to jewelry, Rarity held onto Maud’s hand as she inspected it. It was quite large, the bronze hoop covering almost the entire base segment of Maud’s finger. In its socket was a base composed of small, iridescent stone balls that glistened in the moon’s glow, topped with one much larger ball at the center that was tethered to the base with a brass hoop. It wasn’t exactly what Rarity would call the most aesthetically resplendent.

“I call it the Ring of Boulder,” said Maud, her eyes fixated on the ring. “It lets me bear the heaviest of loads. I named it after Boulder and it was a gift from Pinkie Pie. She had Archmage Twilight make it for me when I became Chief Geologist of the realm.”

Rarity looked up at Maud, being able to at least imagine the nostalgia in the eldest Pie sibling somewhere in her deadpan expression. It felt somewhat bad that they didn’t let Pinkie take a boat with Maud, but at the insistence of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, she was placed in the front, just in case they were to need her Pinkie Sense, seeing how it saved their skins with Twiggy twice now.

Rarity then gazed to her left, to the open waters of Moonshine Lake. The name had elicited a few immature notions of laughter, much to the confusion of some of their newfound companions, particularly from Rainbow Dash. Before shoving off, the Umbra Hunters had been highly insistent that they keep as close to the shore as possible, warning that something had inhabited the lake since the fall of the Divines. So long as they remained on the shallows, it should not be bothered. That notion, combined with their boat being weighed down by Maud’s impossible load, made Rarity shiver under the cloak, seeing how they had to drift just slightly further from the shoreline to prevent being caught in the sand underneath.

“What exactly is it that lives in there?” Rarity asked, not hiding her uneasiness looking out over the wide-open expanse of water, made much more foreboding by the dark of the night.

“I don’t know,” said Maud, her unique demeanor making it seem like she was not scared in the least. “I mostly stay in the mines. Someone said they saw a boat getting dragged under by something about as close as thirty feet from the shore. Since then the Hunters have used the shoreline for transport. They doubt our enemies would think them insane enough to cross by water.”

Rarity couldn’t be quite certain, but she soon felt like the sloshing of the oars on water had slowed down. Looking over at Applejack, she saw the farmer glancing worryingly towards the open water, every stroke from then on being deliberately long drawn.

-

Rainbow Dash took a cursory glance towards the shoreline, ensuring they would not get dragged onto the sand, while also not being too far from it, as the Hunters had gravely insisted. Down from her at the prow of their boat sat Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, albeit the latter had stood up, one foot on the bench and held her hands over one eye like holding a spyglass. And this being Pinkie, for all they knew she might actually see things magnified through them. At the back sat Scootaloo, warily eyeing the open waters, her blackwood longbow already nocked with an arrow. Their prow had also been affixed with a lantern, lit using the very method Andre had demonstrated back in Quarter, as a beacon in case of the three boats behind theirs lost their way.

At the request of the Hunters to remain incognito, Rainbow Dash had been supplied with a brown gambeson coat, and a very mismatched silvery helmet. Scootaloo seemed strangely insistent that she take it for whatever reason. It was certainly something too fine to go with something like her dirty, worn gambeson; it was beautifully crafted, reminiscent of Antique era warrior helmets she’d seen in historical books… Or was it movies? Either way. Complete with a red arcing plume that ran from the top to the back, while the front had been molded and engraved into the likeness of an equine’s head.

Through her rowing she could hear that Scootaloo and Fluttershy were deep in conversation, their shy friend having donned a green, hooded robe to hide her lush head of hair. Whereas Pinkie Pie had donned a red bandana and somehow, this being Pinkie Pie, had brought her hair down around her jaw and chin to simulate a beard, which might explain her sudden choice of behavior, the only thing missing being an eyepatch.

“So, in your world you spend your days learning instead of working to further your own goals in life?” asked Scootaloo, taking a moment to look away from the ominous dark lake.

“Well, yes, and no. People spend the start of their lives learning as a means of not only being ready for life on their own, but also to find what they are best at and have the means and knowledge to accomplish their desired goals,” said Fluttershy. “To us, learning is work. All of us even work while out of school for additional experience and to make some extra income. I work at an animal shelter myself, because taking care of animals is what I know I wish to do.” She looked behind her, towards Rainbow Dash, “And our Rainbow Dash here; she’s the best athlete at our school, so no doubt she’ll make a great career as a sportsman.” She tittered, “As long as she remembers to keep up her grade point average.”

“Oh, thanks a lot, Flutters…” Rainbow groaned, not exactly thrilled to espouse her comparatively boring life to dimensional counterparts whose lives entailed much more harsh endeavors as opposed to the mundanity of life as a high schooler.

Surprisingly, Scootaloo seemed intrigued by Fluttershy’s explanation, “So in your world you have no need of warriors to safeguard your lands?” She glanced at the side, “I couldn’t imagine a world where people like me were not needed.”

Rainbow chuckled awkwardly, “Uh, it’s not that simple, exactly. It’s more that being a “warrior” is more of an option, rather than an obligation like I assume it is here.” She contemplated for a moment, “If you don’t mind me asking, Scoots; what was the Rainbow Dash from here like?”

Scootaloo looked away, expressing a hint of sadness, peering back at the dark waters of Moonshine Lake. Rainbow felt like mentally kicking herself, maybe get Applejack to do so literally once they made port. Half expecting Fluttershy giving her the stare, to her joy, Scootaloo looked back from the lake, seeming much less forlorn.

“Rainbow Dash… She was the greatest Knight-Centurion of Equis ever to have lived. She was brave, compassionate, but most of all, she was loyal. To Equis, to her comrades, and her friends. Remember when Night Quill said she conquered the Wastelands from the wyverns?”

Fluttershy did not seem very fond of the notion, “Um, please don’t be mad, but conquering someone else’s home does not feel very virtuous…”

Scootaloo waved a hand dismissively, “Bah; these were wyverns we’re talking about! The Wastelands? That wasn’t always its name. Ages ago, sometime after the second generation of Scions, those were once the Dragon Lands. And trust me, there were dragons… At least that’s what even the Divines would have us believe. Now wyverns? To the uninformed; you might just say two-legged dragon. The Celestials may have once chased the Umbra away to the depths of the land, but not all of its monsters stayed well enough away.”

“Oh yea,” said Rainbow Dash in realization, “Andre told us that.”

Fluttershy looked down uneasily. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel that this world was exactly the worst kind of realm for the animal caretaker to end up in, given her propensity for pacifism and not wishing to harm anything. Most of the time at least.

“Wyverns; now those were creatures back from when Umbra had covered the land. They were the reason all the dragons went extinct, well, as much as we know, seeing as no-one has ever dared venture beyond the Dragon Lands. Maybe some are still far out there, somewhere,” Scootaloo trailed a hand across the sky. “Regardless; the wyverns were dangerous, and once the broodmother awoke from its centuries-long slumber; then came the war.”

“Oh… my,” muttered Fluttershy. “How big were wyverns exactly?”

Scootaloo held out a flat hand towards the moon, extending the thumb perpendicular to her upward fingers, humming under her breath in thought, “Hmm, I’d say the average size of a fledgling would be… about eight feet. But the adults? Oh, I’d say twenty feet on average. Granted, adult wyverns were not as numerous, but when we had flocks of fledglings swooping down on us; let’s just say not everyone made it unscathed ducking, if not at all. Worst was when the adults came and destroyed everything their cold flames touched…”

Cold flames? Yes; Rainbow Dash could picture and simulate mentally how it felt to be burned by the cold of the Umbra.

“Celestia and Luna dispatched the most elite of the Knight-Centurions to take the fight to the beasts’ domain in the Wastelands, under the command of Commander Wind Rider. Suffice to say, casualties were high and soon enough they had to send in not only the reserves, but even just the initiates. Which is where Rainbow Dash came in. She was but an initiate at the time, among the first to be enlisted for the war,” Scootaloo continued, her face fond with the waves of nostalgia she emitted pertaining to her hero.

“And she ended the conflict!” Rainbow interjected, grinning eagerly at Night Quill’s mention of her counterpart’s heroics.

Scootaloo chuckled, rolling her eyes, “Well if you’d let me finish, you’d know how she did it instead of just assuming she ended the conflict by expelling magical rays of awe,” she laughed. “Despite what Night Quill may have said about “single-handedly”, Rainbow knew she would never had made it to the broodmother’s roost without the help of her platoon. Her commanding officer, Knight Spitfire, had been tasked with manning the westmost flank of Wind Rider’s keel to push directly towards the roost. Except Wind Rider hadn’t taken precautions to ensure the defense of the east. This resulted in them being pincered by the fledgling attackers. When Wind Rider’s strategy failed, and with Spitfire being injured, it was Rainbow Dash who ushered everyone in her platoon to the underground waterways to safety. From then on, the Knight Centurions could only hold the line against the wyverns at the Wastelands’ border, while Rainbow and her platoon were stuck behind enemy lines.”

“Goodness!” gasped Fluttershy. “How did they get out?”

Scootaloo leaned forward, resting her elbows to her legs, one hand never letting go of her bow as she smiled with barely restrained eagerness; “Turns out the underground river became their salvation, as that’s how they got to the heart of the Wastelands, quite close to the roost where the wyvern broodmother was. Throughout the trek, Rainbow Dash ensured everyone stayed together, and even against her superior’s wishes, never left Spitfire behind, despite her injuries. And as luck would have it, with the wyverns being preoccupied with the forces at the border, with only a few adult wyverns.”

“And that’s how they got to the broodmother and offed her?” asked Rainbow, when a sudden thump made everyone on the boat jump. This was followed by angered, muffled cursing from Night Quill, who’d donned his dinged helmet once again, when his boat bumped on the back of theirs, having forgotten to row due to being so enamored with Scootaloo’s recount of her counterpart’s heroics.

Fluttershy tapped her fingers together in embarrassment, “Maybe we should finish this another time?”

“That would probably be for the best, yes,” Scootaloo concurred, flashing Night Quill an awkward grin, shrugging sheepishly.

-

At the endearing, but highly unnecessary “land ho” from Pinkie at the front of the line of boats, their party approached the now abandoned fishery at the north by north-west edge of Lake Moonshine: A series of buildings constructed on and off the shore; most of it suspended over the water with sturdy timber frames, underneath being a dock where they would leave their boats. Off in the distance under the soft light of the moon the walls of Moonlink showed against the landscape, with a tall spire piercing at the starlit sky from deep within amidst the taller roofs that rose over the stone barrier.

Docking their four boats in a line along it, everyone began to clamber off. Sunset was placed in the second boat down the line, along with Night Quill, Twilight and Spike. As Spike easily hopped onto the docks, Sunset took the Knight Poet’s hand as he helped her, then Twilight up. So far, everything had gone swimmingly, all five of their boats having made it with no trouble, barring the collision between her boat with Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Scootaloo’s. That and Applejack, Rarity and Maud’s appearing dangerously close to taking the plunge due to Maud’s impossible load strapped to her back.

With everyone disembarked, and the boats secured, Scootaloo told Night Quill and Maddie to check up the steps leading up into the fishery proper. Along with them in addition was Neighsay and two of the Umbra Hunters, who, much to Sunset and her friends’ initial shock, turned out being Lyra Heartstrings and Bon-Bon.

Indeed, with them stood the dimensional counterparts of two of their acquaintances from Canterlot High, the “best friends forever” as they referred to one another in a way that was clearly just platonic. Admittedly, seeing their friends dressed for battle felt strange:

Lyra donned a suit of chainmail that covered very much every inch of her body, her head being covered in its entirety by a masked helmet where the only features seeable were her brilliant gold eyes through the eyeholes, while over the mail she wore a somewhat tattered dark green tabard with what seemed some form of coat of arms painted on it in white. Sunset believed she’d seen something similar in the human dimension: A waxing, full and waning moon side-by-side, only in this one the full moon in the center was replaced with a sun. To her back was strapped a simple, but effective looking bearded axe. The entire ensemble was fastened tightly with a thick belt.

Bon-Bon in turn wore an ensemble made mostly of brown leather, only with metal spaulders, the left one being more domed, kneepads and a domed helmet with a sizable gap for the face, some of her blue and pink curls protruding from underneath the back. In one hand she held a simplistic, but very long, almost double her own length, wing-lugged spear, while in the other she perched against the floor a rather large, layer-segmented shield.

Maddie soon peeked down from up top, beckoning everyone to ascend into the fishery. Entering the abandoned establishment from the fresh, if cold, night air, felt like being struck by the contrasting air inside.

Spike literally had to walk back, gagging, “Ho-holy geez! That stench just burns!”

Indeed, the air inside smelled outright wretched from no doubt years of gutting and cleaning fish, as well as from some fish carcasses, and most likely from the contents in the barrels left to rot once the place had been abandoned. Fluttershy in particular did not take well to the stench, being a strict vegetarian; her face turning green in the glow of their shards, while Spike had to plug his much more sensitive nose with a clothes pin he’d somehow obtained.

“Night Quill’s off inspecting the rest of the place,” informed Maddie, snorting at the foul air. “The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

“No kiddin’, this place reeks worse than the pigsty in July,” said Applejack in agreement to the swordswoman, squeezing her nose shut.

This particular room was no doubt where much of the gutting took place, a large table set in the center with cutting boards and various cutlery left to rust, along with many specks and stains and other foul-smelling contents best left undescribed. The distinct buzz of flies emanated from among the barrels scattered around.

Neighsay looked over for a spot on the table with the least amount of stains, and rolled out a map of Moonlink. Rainbow Dash held up the shard-lit lantern from one side, while across from her Scootaloo observed the parchment.

“Alright, so far so good…” said Scootaloo as she leaned over. “Now the next trick is getting into Moonlink without being spotted and getting to our designated safehouse.”

Sunset stood beside Rainbow, lowering the scarf from over her mouth, provided, along with the grey hood she’d donned, by the Hunters. Moonlink seemed large enough already seeing it from the distance, but the map revealed just how expansive the city was in its entirety, assuming she was reading the ratios correctly in the slight dimness. The edge of Lake Moonshine was included on the map, setting them just south-east. The city itself was encircled entirely by the wall, being somewhat of a circle, if not for the inward dent on the south-east quarter. At the center, surrounded by a moat was the Temple of the Moon; their destination. The city itself had been divided into four districts, going clockwise from the north; artisan, market, followed by the smaller military and magi districts, with a fifth encircling around the moat being branded as the nobles’ district. Around the city were numerous pockets of habitation, most likely farmers. Though interestingly, all of the outer settlements had been marked with crosses, so either they were abandoned… or decimated.

The city itself, given its archaic layout, looked like a maze with its winding streets amidst the squares and rectangles representing buildings. Fortunately, several buildings within the market and artisan districts had been marked. A few in the military and even one in the nobles’, but the quill marking in the military district nearing the south-west end of the nobles’ district had been crossed off, as was the lightning bolt on the northern area of the nobles’ district.

Scootaloo put a finger by a building in the artisan district along the dent in the wall, marked with what looked like a spade of some kind. Or was it a trowel?

“Here,” said Scootaloo, “it’s a warehouse our mole is hiding out in.”

“How do we get inside the wall?” asked Rainbow Dash, something Sunset Shimmer was curious about too, given the sporadic nature of this mission.

“That’s the easy part… probably. All we need to do is-”

“Trampoline over it?” called Pinkie, sounding slightly nasal due to the gumdrops shoved up her nostrils.

Scootaloo looked over at Pinkie, whose head was leaning in over her left shoulder, raising a questioning brow, “Uh, what?”

Pinkie bounced in place, “Pogo sticks?”

Scootaloo turned to Rainbow and Sunset, “What is she on about?”

“Oh! Use my party cannon to launch us over it one at a time?!”

“Um, Pinkie,” came Fluttershy, her own nose clamped shut with one hand, “you didn’t bring your party cannon.”

“Oh,” Pinkie frowned, shoulders slightly slumped. “Right… How did I manage that of all things?”

Neighsay cleared his throat. “As I’m certain what Lady Scootaloo meant to say;” he trailed a finger along the shore of Lake Moonshine, “there is the main sewer drain leading into the lake straight from the city: It will be a simple trek just north along the tunnel, then just a few turns east and the warehouse will be the first building we come across. As it so happens; there will be a ladder leading up inside, so we will not be spotted by the patrols.”

“A sewer?!” gasped Rarity, her face cringed in immediate disgust, furthered from the rancid stench of the fishery. “I can’t go wading in sewage, in these shoes!” she shouted, indicating her high heels that exposed some of her feet.

Sunset could see Applejack rolling her eyes outside Rarity’s view. Granted, the thought of wading through sewer water did not sound appealing to her either, but given the circumstances, she had to agree more with Applejack that it was not the appropriate time to worry about the state of one’s garments. Then again, having one’s bare feet in said sewer water elicited just as much sympathy.

“We could always swap footwear,” chortled Lyra from underneath her helmet. She promptly apologized at the unamused expressions shared all around their party.

“There’s a perfectly fine walkway going through the sewers, Rarity,” said Scootaloo, trading looks of bemusement with Rainbow Dash.

“And besides, Rare,” said Applejack, resting her hand over her battleaxe on her belt, “if it gets too hairy, I’ll just carry ya on over,” she said with a smile, which gained her a scowl, which soon softened away into a touched smile.

Just then Night Quill came barging into the room, both of his swords drawn, “We’ve got to get out of here! We’ve got-”

Before anyone could register the Knight Poet’s muffled shouts, without warning the wall of the fishery on the lake’s side let out a booming crack, with something shooting out through the freshly made hole, darting across the room in a blink and almost striking Night Quill, who barely managed to roll out of the way, a loud snap emanating as it latched to the wall. It was a kelp-green tendril, glistening in the light of their shards and lantern with slime and mucus, its tip stretching out into frayed, elastic filaments as it stuck to the wall.

With another ear-splitting crack, a second tendril breached the wall, swaying around blindly as it knocked the table over, everyone backing away as the table became adhered to it and was forcibly pulled away, slamming against the wall, splitting it in half.

Sunset spotted Applejack prepping her battle axe, and with a mighty heave, the mucus-laden tentacle, albeit distending slightly under the force of her blow, split, the tip remaining stuck to the wall whilst the rest of it thrashed about violently, spewing what looked like a mix of green slime with swirls of black. The squirming appendage retreated, knocking over one of the barrels, spilling its putrid contents over the slimed floorboards, and slinked its way back out of its hole.

Everyone had backed away to the wall on their side of the room, Fluttershy having gone so far as hiding under a small table set against it, visibly shuddering at what had just happened. Sunset held her breath under gritted teeth, slowly urging herself to look at Applejack, who stood to the side, axe held up threateningly at the possibility of something else breaking its way into the fishery.

“Well…” huffed, Lyra, lowering her own axe in relief. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“Oh, come on,” muttered Pinkie. “You never say that.”

Indeed, with another crack, a third tendril burst its way into the room, snapping around one of the ceiling rafters up above, disturbingly close to the party. From the two previous holes snaked in two more, fresh tendrils, which almost like they were genuine serpents, launched themselves forth, one snapping in place around the door where Night Quill had barged in, and another on the wall opposite of that, adhering into place firmly.

“Aw no, you don’t!” yelled Applejack as she began hacking away at the tentacle snared around the door frame, joined by Night Quill and Maddie who jabbed their swords into the appendage, while Lyra and Bon Bon began hacking and stabbing at the other. Scootaloo, in one swift motion, launched three arrows at once on the one tethered to the rafters.

A loud boom shook the building, dust and splinters shaking off the waterside wall as something large slammed against it with great force. Sunset, though feeling very unprepared for whatever was trying to force its away in, drew her newly acquired rapier, while Rainbow Dash twirled her cudgels in her hands, craning her neck side-to-side in preparation. Even Rarity stood close to Applejack, defiantly materializing a diamond over each hand, while Twilight utilized her telekinesis to begin levitating the various knives and other cutlery now sprawled around the floor.

With another slam, the waterside wall bulged forth, spraying the room with splinters as cracking violently on impact. In preparation, Scootaloo trained her bow towards the wall, nocking three arrows at once. Just then two more tentacles burst through the wall, one on Applejack, Maddie and Night Quill’s side, another on Lyra and Bon-Bon’s, the latter striking at Bon-Bon that sent her spinning in place before falling over on the floor with a thump, only for her to almost reflexively jab at the new tentacle that adhered itself to the floor. With one more booming crack, the waterside wall of the room burst, showering everyone with bits and pieces of carpentry as whatever was after them revealed itself.

Sunset for the first time in her life felt like she might flush out her morning coffee when her eyes beheld what it was. And wished they hadn’t. While Twiggy may have been a horrific sight with its cold burning eyes and ruthlessness; by comparison this new creature felt like it was birthed straight out of something from an H.B. Lovetap work:

This creature looked to have taken the shape of a giant skull atop a writhing, slimy gaggle of tentacles. Not just any type of skull, but specifically a browned, human skull; one that must have been twelve feet tall and least seven or so feet wide. A pair of dark, hollow sockets stared at everyone in the room, within them dozens of smaller white, lifeless pairs of glowing dots, and spewing black, smog-like plumes. The most disturbing facet about this aberration were the distinct shapes embossing the entire surface of its skull; the shapes of dozens upon dozens of human faces, all of them twisted into shapes of pure agony; screaming, crying, mania, rage, and with the creature writhing incessantly, one could almost mistake the faces upon its visage to be moving, accented with its ceaselessly clacking teeth. A sound that felt like a twisted combination of hissing and gurgling escaped from its maw, spewing water into a cold, condensed mist into the room.

“Dear sweet Celestia, what is that?!” yelled Neighsay, equally horrified of this new creature as no doubt everyone else.

“I don’t know,” called Applejack. “But right now; all non-combatants take cover!” she said, flipping the table on their end to its side as an impromptu barricade for Neighsay, Fluttershy, Spike and Maud, while everyone with even the slightest means to defend themselves stood defiantly in front of it, trying their best not to let this aberration’s sheer visage send them into fits of panic and hysteria.

Scootaloo immediately released her three arrows directly into the creature’s bizarre compound eyes, the satisfying crackle of lightning bursting from somewhere inside it as it writhed and shook from the impact and bursting lights. In response the creature shot out another tendril at the huntress, ensnaring around her ankle.

“No!” Scootaloo screamed as she found herself clawing at the floor with the creature dragging her towards it, Bon-Bon being first to grab her hand, only for herself to get dragged until Lyra grabbed her tightly around the waist, though it did not stop them from slowly sliding.

“Lay off, freak!” yelled Rainbow Dash, rushing towards the nightmare from the lake with a roar of vigor, tossing the lantern right into one of its eye sockets. The glass shattered inside, eliciting a burst of golden flames as the oil within ignited, sending the creature into throes of what seemed to be pain as it gurgled loudly, all of its tentacles flaying uncontrollably, pulling out some of the floor planks with whatever adhesive substance coated them. It only managed to keep its grip with the one up in the rafters.

Scootaloo clambered back onto her legs. “Quickly, push it back, now!” she barked, snatching her bow back and nocking another triage of arrows and letting them loose; landing another bullseye in one of the creature’s eyes.

Bon-Bon, having the longest reach in the group, charged forth and jabbed her spear into its other eye socket multiple times, eliciting more sparks and crackles where the enchanted weapon made impact.

Sunset looked up at the tentacle snagged onto the rafters, then to her rapier. Up close she wouldn’t stand a chance of inflicting any damage, and only risk being eaten, or whatever this thing did to its victims, but perhaps her smaller weapon could still do something about the slimy appendage.

“AJ, give me a boost!” she looked at the farm girl, pointing at the tendril.

Applejack looked up, then back at her, instantly understanding the plan. Shedding her weapons, she knelt down and held her hands together, Sunset placing her foot down on them, after which she lifted Sunset’s entire weight up. Sunset grabbed hold of the rafter, and with a little added help from Applejack, managed to get one of her legs over it, and pulled herself onto the sturdy wooden beam. Drawing her rapier, she began to savagely jab at the tentacle, the sickening sound of metal piercing flesh reverberating in her ears as clear fluid leaked out of the punctured holes, accented with more swirls of black.

Just when it seemed their advantage had won, the creature opened its maw and let loose a stream of water. While it wasn’t even close to being on par with a jet stream or a water cannon, it was still strong enough to push Bon-Bon back, slamming against the table before Rarity managed to erect a barrier of diamonds. Bon-Bon shivered uncontrollably, curling up on the floor. Lyra huddled over her immediately in worry.

“Crud, it’s spewing Umbra through the water!” Lyra called out with a slight muffle through her helmet. “I need a shard!”

As Sunset saw Maddie handing her shard to Lyra to resuscitate her friend, all the while she tried her hardest to get the infernal abomination to let go of the rafter, but no matter how many times she jabbed the finely-honed steel into the appendage, it would not budge. In a burst of frustration, she swung the rapier down edgewise against it, but the blade did not have the heft to cut through it. To add further insult to injury, the creature shot out two tentacles once again, this time latching onto Rarity’s barrier and began to pull itself back up.

Rarity grit her teeth, doing her best to maintain her sizable barrier after the two forceful slams delivered against it. All the while the creature opened its maw and seemed to… vomit something out onto the floor, twice. They looked like two writhing, slimy mounds, which immediately splayed out into gaggles of tentacles, from within emerging a brownish skull-head atop each, like little miniature copies of the monstrosity.

“You’ve got to be kidding…” murmured Sunset as the two spawn began to lurch towards everyone on their flexile limbs, slamming themselves against Rarity’s barrier with reckless abandon.

“I…” Rarity gasped, her brow furrowing from the strain, “I… can’t… keep this… up…!”

“Lower the barrier, Rarity,” came the voice of Maud.

“Are you crazy?!” Rainbow Dash blurted out incredulously. “If that thing sprays us, we’re as good as dead!”

“Trust me…” a muted “clunk” sounded, “I’ve got this,” she said, her voice now muffled.

Rarity grunted, almost collapsing, hadn’t Twilight and Applejack been there to catch her, when the spawns and their parent’s tentacles tore the barrier to bits. Maddie was able to immediately skewer one right through its “head”, the enchanted claymore causing it to convulse and gurgle violently, until it began to break down into blackening gunk, which then seemed to evaporate into the air, like ashes in the wind. At the same time Pinkie Pie, with a more creative twist, blew the gumdrops up her nose at the other spawn, which both detonated, the creature slumping down and slowly liquifying into an unrecognizable paste before it too seemed to disperse.

A set of heavy footsteps stomped against the floor as the impromptu table barrier was turned aside by the very people it was protecting. Only Maud seemed to have vanished, in her place a veritable figure of stone. Indeed, Sunset noticed that the massive package Maud, against almost all the possible laws of physics, had lugged with her thus far was gone, reduced to a roll of burlap and linen.

“What in the hell?!” Applejack blurted, Twilight and Rarity looking up at her with perplexed expressions. “… What?”

What Maud had been carrying along all this time was a suit of armor, carved and chiseled from stone, instead of being forged from metal. The entirety of the armor was lined with geometrically vertical grooves along the surface, giving it a more aesthetic look instead of being just rough-hewn stone. A pair of pointed, angular pauldrons adorned her shoulders, framing between them an almost cylindrical helmet, which had a series of vertical slits carved into it, along with a “plume” running from atop it to the back, also of stone. A pair of faulds, accented with a kilt of leather obscured her thighs, and a hefty carved pair of greaves adorned her feet. A pair of stone gauntlets adorned her hands, which seemed to have chains wrapped around them. Possibly to hold them in place?

To complement the armor, Maud held aloft a monster of a tower shield, almost taller than she was and wide enough to cover her from the front, comprised of segmented layers with similar grooves carved against its stone surface, just like her armor. Hefted against her shoulder was what looked like the tooth of some gargantuan beast. It was as big as a person, obsidian in color, with the supposed sharp end having a dangerously thin looking “grip” while the root end was clearly meant to serve as a massive bludgeon.

The stone figure that was Maud charged past the puddles of evaporating sludge that was the monster’s spawn straight at the nightmarish skull visage. It let out more ominous series of gurgles, looking to rear back before lunging forward, spewing another stream of water from its maw, but the sheer mass of the armor and shield kept Maud from being forced backwards, their sheer girth also being thick enough that the Umbra infused in the water did not affect her. When the aberration ceased its current mode of attack, Maud swung the black tooth mace, with one hand, to everyone’s amazement, and utterly decimated the left half of the creature’s skull face.

“Holy Toledo!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, the only divergent reaction being Bon-Bon casting a confused glance at her for her choice in words.

“Alright, Maud!” screamed Pinkie, disturbingly more cheerful, despite the brutality of what was occurring before her.

As the bone splinters flew, like with Twiggy, the decimated half of the monster’s face spewed with smog-like plumes, but Maud’s armor seemed to protect her just fine, as well as it wafting more upwards, instead of spraying forth. Sunset noticed the creature was only now trying to loosen its hold onto the rafters.

Oh no you don’t! She was not going to let it off so easy. She drove her rapier straight through the appendage, feeling as it sank through the slimy flesh and embedded into the wood, putting all her weight against the sword.

“The beast is cowering!” called Scootaloo, tossing aside her bow and drew her own sword, pointing it with lethal intent towards the aberration. “Hunters, attack!”

On command, all the Umbra Hunters charged at the reeling creature with a unified battle cry. They were on it like a pack of wolves, sinking their lightning-enchanted blades into the lake monster with terrifying ferocity, the sounds of flesh being punctured and hacked filled the rancid air of the fishery. The sight was… haunting to behold, to see their friends, even if they were dimensional counterparts and not the ones they knew, acting so vicious. Still up in the rafters, Sunset Shimmer’s weight on her sword ebbed at the heart-sinking feeling at the sight before her.

It made her shudder at the thought. The thought of what might have been for Equestria, should the Nightmare Moon of her world had never been banished, and later redeemed by Princess Twilight and her friends using the Elements of Harmony. Would Equestria have devolved into this kind of existence of violence and struggle? She was not so naïve as to pretend Equestria never suffered hardships like war. But she felt she understood that, aside from the war with Umbra, Equis sounded like it might have been very similar to Equestria once, too long ago.

As the Hunters hacked away at the aberration, with its strength leaving it, its body, now reduced to mostly its tentacles and smoldering gouts of darkness, its body gradually began to reel itself into the building, its one tentacle still adhered to the rafters. While Lyra, Bon Bon and Maud pulled back, Scootaloo, Maddie and Night Quill produced their shards to shine upon the spewing carcass. As with Twiggy, the light began to dissipate the motes of darkness that sustained the creature and its unnatural form, only this time, something was different. From within the Umbra, another light shone forth.

When the now limp, somewhat shriveled gaggle of appendages stopped spewing motes of darkness, Scootaloo sheathed her sword, and in its place drew a hunting knife, with which she began to dig away at the now deceased aberration’s gummy insides, if it had any left. With a deft flick of a wrist, she extracted another shard of the Celestials from within, and another, another, and once more another, until the glow came all from her open palm instead of the carcass before her.

“That certainly explains why it did not cower in the least,” said the huntress, showing off the grim bounty of their victory for all to see. “Good work Maud; your Armor of Boulder really won us this battle.”

“Thank you,” muffled Maud through her stone helmet, her impossibly large bludgeon resting on her shoulder like it did nothing to weigh her down.

Sunset dropped down among everyone else, the floor drenched in a mixture of water and bits of the creature, as well as its water-like blood, if it even was blood to begin with. Everyone seemed none the worse for wear, aside from a drenched Bon-Bon, whom the light from Maddie’s shard had resuscitated entirely, and the Hunters having specks of moisture smearing their garb.

Her friends seemed alright, Rarity having recovered from the mental strain of using her powers, Rainbow Dash seeming rather pepped at the display of the Umbra Hunters offing another monster. But one of theirs, Fluttershy, seemed to not fare well, as the pink-haired animal caretaker had huddled against the wall once covered by the table, hugging her legs tightly against herself, with only Spike to paw at her in at attempt at comfort. Rarity, as the second most soft-spoken of their clique, stepped forth and knelt beside their terror-stricken friend, placing a comforting hand on her robe-covered shoulder. The fashionista looked troubled.

“Goodness… Fluttershy, sweetie, you’re shivering!”

Fluttershy’s eyes darted towards Rarity, her fingers clenching tightly against her shins as the poor girl trembled before her friends. “I… I-I don’t…” she muttered, looking away from Rarity in a mix of fear and downtrodden shame, “I don’t think I can do this…”

Twilight came around, kneeling opposite of Rarity, trying to catch Fluttershy’s gaze, but the shy girl averted her attempts by keeping her eyes directed towards the floor, “Fluttershy, we know that you’re scared. We’re all scared. There’s nothing to be ashamed of-”

“No, Twilight,” Fluttershy responded in a meek retort. “I can’t handle this!” she said more forcefully, bringing her hands to her head, “This is nothing like all the other times! This is… This is the most scared I’ve ever been in my life! And I can’t even do anything, because all the wildlife here is nothing but monsters, and whatever that… that thing was!”

Sunset watched as her friend fell into hysteria on the floor. As Twilight, Spike and Rarity did their best to comfort her, Sunset could only think of how unfair this was on Fluttershy. While she knew all too well that the animal caretaker was much stronger than what one might assume from a cursory glance, her strength came in the way she treated others. Kindness, compassion, empathy, with an unexpected strength of assertiveness when pushed too far where her inherent benevolence failed. Unlike what their counterparts in Equis were, Fluttershy was the furthest from the standards of a warrior.

In this world, ways of war, like in the history of their home and that of Equestria’s, were a commonplace aspect of life. Even Scootaloo, Maud, Lyra and Bon-Bon, those whom in their world would likely not a soldier make, were accustomed to it. Scootaloo’s hero in this world was a veteran warrior of legendary renown, so it was obvious where she attained her inspiration and drive as a fighter in her own right. And no doubt being forced to live under Nightmare Moon’s eternal night had time to chisel many who previously had no aspirations for combat into hardened survivors like Lyra and Bo-Bon.

It was true; Equis was nothing like what they had encountered in the past. If she could, and not doubting about her friends, Sunset would gladly shoulder Fluttershy’s share of this harrowing burden in her place. But as before, they would need Fluttershy; they were going to need the full strength of their Equestrian powers sooner or later. Without her, they could only rely on their personal geodes. Everyone in their group was equally crucial for them to succeed.

“Oh Fluttershy…” Sunset whispered under her breath, in sadness.

-

Rainbow Dash looked on as everyone of their clique huddled around Fluttershy. She turned to the Umbra Hunters, who were looking in between her and her friends, looks of concern adorning their faces, though with Lyra and Maud it was difficult to tell with their helmets, but Rainbow could imagine. A stark contrast to the warrior zeal they just exhibited just a moment ago when they hacked and mangled the lake terror into the shriveled, gummy carcass half lying on the floor, half suspended from the rafter.

“Listen…” Rainbow spoke, turning their full attention to her, “I ask that you don’t think any lesser about Fluttershy. Alright? She’s not exactly fighter material like you, and maybe me and Applejack on our part.”

Scootaloo looked towards Fluttershy, her expression never flinching, then back to Rainbow, “Scion Fluttershy was just like her.”

Rainbow looked somewhat surprised at the huntress’ remark, “Really?”

Scootaloo nodded, “She was the Scion of Kindness for crying out loud. Though it’s not to say her feats were any lesser than those of our Rainbow Dash or the like.”

Rainbow glanced back at Fluttershy, the sight of her friends huddled onto the floor, no doubt terrified of what had to be the most disturbing thing they had ever seen in their lives.

“If only we had Sif with us,” lamented Scootaloo as she shook her head.

Rainbow turned back to Scootaloo, “Who?”

“Sif, the Great Wolf of Everfree,” muffled Night Quill, who then promptly removed his restrictive helmet, shaking his head as his sweaty hair slid out and loosely settled over his shoulders. “What made Fluttershy the Scion of Kindness was her efforts in bringing peace between the people of Everfree and the dire wolves from the north that encroached upon Equis. She did this by befriending one of the great beasts, whom she named Sif. Since then she became Fluttershy’s most trusted protector and guardian, and the rest of the wolves came to live with the people of Equis as friends, rather than enemies.”

“That’s right;" said Scootaloo with an earnest nod, "she did this with no bloodshed. Or even her infamous stare that allowed her to bring any natural creature to its knees if she so willed it. But never, under any circumstance, would Scion Fluttershy advocate for a violent solution. If it came to that, it was usually Sif who would stand in her place.”

First her dimensional counterpart being a legendary war hero, and now hearing about Fluttershy’s counterpart’s exploits as some mighty beastmaster made her mind swim with so many endearing images. Mostly that of Fluttershy riding on the back of a giant wolf. But she digressed.

“So where is this Sif now?” she asked, wondering if imparting such knowledge might serve to embolden Fluttershy.

Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders, “No-one’s heard of her since Everfree Forest fell to the darkness. I’d hate to make things worse, but it’s likely that Sif fell with the forest herself.”

Rainbow sighed. Still, maybe she could make some use of the knowledge on the Fluttershy of Equis. She turned to approach her friends. Looking over to Applejack and Sunset, the farmer girl looking back at her with pursed lips, while Sunset seemed lost in some personal musing, standing in place, holding onto her own arm, looking forlorn. Down around Fluttershy remained Rarity, Twilight, Spike and Pinkie Pie had scooted in next to Twilight.

Rainbow Dash knelt in front of Fluttershy, trying to look into her shy friend’s averted eyes, “Hey, Flutters,” she spoke as in her mind she considered how best to approach. “You’re not hurt, right?”

Knowing to take her time when it came to Fluttershy, she sat there patiently. After a moment of silence, Fluttershy slowly looked up at Rainbow.

“N-no…” murmured Fluttershy, hugging her arms around her body, her legs still curled up, “… I’m alright.”

Rainbow reached out, placing a hand on Fluttershy’s knee. She smiled, trying to exude the adequate amount of confidence, and empathy, “That’s good.” She smiled confidently, “Because if that thing had harmed a hair on your head, I would have done something much worse than the lantern to the eye,” she said, pulling down on the lid of her eye for emphasis.

“An’ that would’ve been…?” asked Applejack, raising one brow questioningly.

Rainbow waved off the farmer girl’s inquiry, “Eh, I would’ve come up with something. Spur of the moment, you know,” she chuckled. Honestly Applejack’s little jab helped the mood; they’d be at each other daily anyway; just how she preferred. “Though to tell you the truth; I dunno how I managed even that, because I swear, being stuck in this cramped place with that thing had me scared way worse than Twiggy.”

“Assuming the smell hadn’t done us in already…” groaned Spike, as indeed, while the destruction of the waterside wall had dissipated some of the stench lingering in the fishery, it was only now that Rainbow noticed a new addition to the foul potpourri of scents, emanating from the creature’s shriveled carcass. The best she could describe the odor was too foul to even put into words.

Fluttershy, after a moment, slowly raised her head, looking at Rainbow Dash with a look of utter defeat, “I would’ve been better off staying behind in the mines for all the good I can be out here.”

Rainbow shook her head defiantly, “Now you know that is not true, Fluttershy,” she said in earnest. “We’re a team, and in my team; no-one gets left behind.”

Fluttershy looked to her side, looking down at Spike looking up at her, pawing at her side to show encouragement.

“Heh. Just like your counterpart hadn’t in the war,” said Fluttershy, petting the dog lovingly.

“Or our Rainbow Dash in any sporting event,” added Twilight Sparkle, to which Rainbow shot a look of high praise.

Fluttershy sat quietly again as she scratched behind Spike’s ear, the dog hugging her with his front paws. After a while she looked up at everyone, from Applejack to her right to Twilight and Pinkie beside her to her left. “But… I just don’t know what I can do now. All of you were able to do at least something, while I just cowered away because there was nothing I could possibly do against that thing…”

Twilight rolled her eyes in awkwardness, “I doubt me flinging a few rusty knives was going to do all that much, really.”

“To be frank,” remarked Spike, “I’m not that much good either. I mean, I’d charge in to protect each and every one of you, but let’s face it: I’m not exactly a mastiff.” The dog visibly shuddered, “Plus I just don’t wanna touch those things, especially that one…”

Fluttershy smiled, lifting Spike on her lap, “We know you’re brave, Spike. Whereas I’m worried I won’t be brave enough. What if I get so scared and make things hard for everyone?”

“I just spoke with Scoots; there’s nothing wrong about being scared, and there’s no reason for you to feel bad. Turns out the other you from this world; she was just like you: She was not a fighter either,” said Rainbow in reiteration. “So if you two switched places, there wouldn’t have been that much she could have done either. Well, unless she had Sif…” She smiled mysteriously, hoping to entice Fluttershy’s curiosity at what she herself had learned.

Fluttershy blinked looking at Rainbow, the curvature of sadness slightly ebbing away from her features, “Sif?”

Rainbow crossed her arms, “Yea, turns out your counterpart had a giant wolf named Sif to fight her battles for her as thanks for her kindness. Sound familiar? Just ask Scootaloo.”

Fluttershy’s sadness seemed to have evaporated as the mention of the elusive Sif. Even Spike could clearly not help opening his mouth in awe. “… But… But what does that have to do with-?”

“Rainbow has a point,” said Twilight. “You’re not a warrior, we don’t want to make one out of you. We want you to be what makes you the Fluttershy we know. How’s about in return we’ll be your Sif?” She noticed as Spike nodded in support of those words, which she reciprocated.

“We can stay in the sidelines, watch everyone else’s backs, and do what we can when needed, okay?” said Spike, tail wagging with determination.

“Sounds like a fair deal to me,” said Applejack in agreement. “And besides, Ah can’t help but think how we’re goin’ to be needin’ that kindness of yours sooner than later.”

“So what do you say, Flutters?” said Rainbow as she held a hand to Fluttershy. “How’s about we get out of here and we save a city? Together.”

With that, Fluttershy took Rainbow’s hand who helped her back on her feet.

Rainbow turned to Scootaloo and her hunters and Neighsay, who had courteously waited the entire time, “So, where to next?”

“The drain tunnel to the sewers is just down along the shore,” informed Neighsay, formal as ever. “We should get a move on in case someone heard the ruckus. Last thing we need is Cinch’s guards finding us.”

“Got that right…” murmured Twilight under her breath.

“By all means, lead the way,” affirmed Rainbow, picking up her cudgels.

Author's Note

Might have some residual Magic: The Gathering in me, because the lake creature (whom I personally named Turso, after Iku-Turso, son of Äijö from the Kalevala) was basically an enlarged, aquatic version of Slitherhead

Maud's armor and ring are a direct reference to Havel the Rock and his armor and ring from the Dark Souls series.

This took a bit longer than I'd hoped due to some real-life predicaments. I'll try to get chapter 6 done sooner.

As I'm sure everyone whose even taken a glance might notice, but Umbral Souls now has a cover. A special thanks to Tatara94 of DeviantArt for taking the time to make it for me!