A Wizard's War

Chapters

Capper
A New Accomplice
The Crown of King Ventaius
Unfortunate Delays
Bergemann's Plan
The Resistance Begins
Hanging Tree
The Battle of Canterlot, Part 1
The Battle of Canterlot, Part 2
Joey's Sacrifice
The Final Duel
Epilogue
The War Begins
We're Getting Nowhere, and We're Getting There Fast

Capper

KLUDGETOWN

Kludgetown. Home of thieves, scammers, and other crafty criminal types. The buildings and dwellings, all crudely built, stacked upon one another, reaching high into the sky in crooked towers. Rickety, unstable bridges composed of spare construction material connected the dwellings to one another spontaneously, much like a spider web. It was a city so disorganized that you could walk ten yards beyond its border, turn around, and completely lose your way.

Unless if you were a resident, or long time visitor.

The dirt roads below were bustling with activity at day, and unsafe to the highest degree at night. Shabby wooden vending stands lined the streets around the clock. They worked from dawn to dusk, run by big burly lizard-like monsters that were more than capable of tearing thieves limb from limb.

Despite the condition of the city, the goods provided by the vendors were of decently high quality. The produce they sold was edible if not fresh, and had many healthy properties. It was these vendors that received the most attention, and therefore was the most crowded place in the city during midday. As the sky grew dark, as it does everyday, the amount of market-goers slowly dissipated until there were only one or two to be seen around.

This was the time of day that brought out those who did not want to be found.

There were two particular stands that stood next to each other. The one on the left had a crude sign that read Equestrian Tangerines - 7 bits per pound. The other had a similar sign that read Dragon Lettuce - 10 bits per pound as well as wanted signs. The vendor from each stand had gotten into an argument over the pricing of their products.

"Ten stinkin' bits!" sneered the vendor of the tangerines, a portly, green-skinned monster with a heavy underbite. "You could buy an anti-reaper pendant with one of yer stupid prices!"

"Them pendants don't even work," snarled the other vendor, a skinny, pale blue monster with large eyes. "And I probably went through more work gettin' this dragon lettuce than you have yer whole stupid life!!"

The other vendor started to swell up with anger, and the two began shouting. While the din raged on, a small cloaked figure approached the stand. He was a fair three feet shorter than the both of them; but his features were hidden by the hood that was pulled up over his head.

The figure placed fourteen golden coins on the tangerine stand and said, "I'd like two pounds of them."

The two monsters abruptly stopped fighting upon hearing him, and turned to stare at him. The tangerine vendor squinted at the small creature for a moment until taking a step back, eyes widening in recognition.

Sensing danger, the small figure pulled out a small wooden stick. Keeping it concealed from view, he pointed it at the tangerine vendor and muttered, "Confundus."

The eyes of the tangerine vendor glazed over for a short moment, then smiled vacantly and scooped the bits off the counter. He carefully measured out two pounds of the small oranges, tossed them in a burlap sack, then handed them across the stand to the small figure, who took them quickly.

During the whole transaction, the dragon lettuce vendor studied the small figure as well. As the figure turned away, the portly monster yelped and jumped back.

"Wait! Isn't that the thing on the wanted -"

The small figure whirled around and flicked his stick in the direction of the green monster. Just like his companion, his eyes slid in and out of focus. After a moment, he shook his head to clear it and groaned. When the other monster stared at him questioningly, the dragon lettuce vendor simply muttered, "I - I thought it was someone else."

Meanwhile, the smaller figure had slunk away down a back alley. He waved his stick over himself a couple of times, then disappeared from view, camouflaged perfectly with his surroundings. To all intents and purposes, he was invisible.

He wove his way through the dark, complex maze of alleyways, occasionally freezing on the spot to let a creature pass. It was clear he did not want to be discovered.

He then made his way into an abandoned building, well out of the way from any public marketplaces. The appearance of anyone in this particular section was scarce; there was hardly a reason to come this way, since it was so far removed from everything else. The small figure looked around briefly before slinking into an old, two-roomed, abandoned hutch.

The inside had the look of neglect all over - dust covered a rug that lay in front of the door. A long, rickety table made of half-rotting wood sat in between two moth-eaten sofas. A small door in the back of the room led off to different room.

Whoever had once lived here was definitely high class - they clearly had defied the average standard of living in Kludgetown. The hutch was fairly large as well as stable; it was composed of adobe, and had stone pillars out front that might of once been polished. It lay half hidden in the shadows, making it very easy to pass over with the normal eye.

Once inside, the figure pulled down his hood to reveal a human with brown, untidy hair, hazel eyes, and a slightly pointed face.

Joey Steffen.

He threw his cloak into a corner of the room and called out, "I'm back! I've got tangerines!" The sound of footsteps answered his call as a human girl appeared from another room - Joey's girlfriend, Jo-Ann.

She had golden hair that fell to her shoulders, a round face, and kind eyes that also released a bold-feeling vibe. She let out a small sigh of relief the moment she saw him.

Another figure that was seated in a corner rose to his feet. He had short, black hair, dark green eyes, and a head that was round on top and ever so slightly pointed at the chin. He was Joey's best friend of fourteen years, Naiose. He too looked relieved upon seeing Joey, but the relieved emotions in the room were short lived.

"I was almost discovered," Joey said, placing the sack of tangerines on a rickety table. "They didn't even see my face, either... it's probably time to move on to shopping elsewhere."

Jo-Ann groaned, her expression falling. "That's the third time in this past week," she said anxiously. "We can't keep this up forever - we need to move on."

"I've been trying!!" Joey cried, throwing up his hands in the air exasperatedly. "All my dad told me about the Horcruxes is that they would be powerful artifacts - he didn't say what they were."

"We know, Joey," Naiose groaned. "You've told us this, like, countless times, and we've gotten nowhere."

"I'm doing my best! I just don't know where to start!" Joey retorted angrily.

"Which is has been clear to me for the past two weeks," Naiose shot back.

Joey was about to make another comeback, but Jo-Ann put a reassuring hand on his shoulder with a look that said, drop it. Joey sighed and opened the sack. He reached in, pulled out a tangerine, and began to peel it. He walked to the back of the hutch and sat with his back against the wall. Jo-Ann joined him shortly after, clutching his right arm with both hands.

The past two weeks had been, to put it nicely, difficult. Upon leaving Equestria, Lord Valkaris had swooped in and taken control in the matter of days. Naiose, Joey, and Jo-Ann all digested this information in a bittersweet way - they felt victorious at their narrow escape, but also felt extremely bad and scared for those they had left behind.

They had spent roughly a week in the wilderness. Wandering the woods, Joey suggested that they kept moving in the same direction: south. They used the sun to assist them with direction, and slowly progressed. On the fifth day they had come across a desert, which was too vast to travel around. With little options left, they had crossed it. In doing this, Naiose's attitude had become increasingly sour, but he did fairly well in retaining it.

The trip across the desert had been short, but it had left the three friends miserable as they arrived at Kludgetown. At this time, the wanted posters had gone up all over the world, with the largest bounties resting on the heads of the three. Fortunately, being magicians, they had the ability to conceal themselves from the wary public.

Using their cloaks and Disillusionment Charms, they either purchased goods from unwary vendors or stole from ones that were always on the lookout. They also occasionally hung around corners, invisible from the Charms they cast, listening for any information on the outside world.

Joey was the most successful on these little eavesdropping excursions, for he heard things the other two didn't. He remembered catching wind of some big news amongst the everyday jabbering: the princesses of Equestria had submitted in an unusually quiet way to the new regime as well as most of the other sovereigns in the world. This pleased him immensely; it meant the princesses had followed his father's urgent advice.

Not all the information was pleasant, however. They had also gathered that Sombra had become the tyrant of the Crystal Empire (Joey was especially angry with this), Tirek was granted one half of all Equestrian magic, and Chrysalis was granted the other half as victims. All the sovereigns were apparently being held in Canterlot, which Joey had to admit was a smart move on Valkaris's part.

His chest gave a painful throb, but Joey ignored it. The pains were very common nowadays, for Lord Valkaris had many concerns on his mind. Earlier, when the pains had started, Joey would submit to one of his usual visions. Soon, though, he had learned that it was the same thing every time: every time he closed his eyes during these pains, he saw a vision of himself swim into view. It meant that he was constantly on Valkaris's mind, that he was the biggest problem on Valkaris's mind. Where most magicians would probably take the fact that they were a threat to an unimaginably powerful wizard with pride, Joey found it extremely unsettling.

The horror of the prospect of being the most wanted being in the world haunted the back of Joey's mind every day, hour upon hour. He hid it well, but not well enough to keep it from his two friends. Jo-Ann always knew exactly what he felt at the moment, it seemed, but always seemed to know the right thing to do as well.

"Joey?" asked Jo-Ann, looking at him uncertainly.

Speak of the devil.

Joey then realized that his face had a nervous expression that he wiped off quickly. He forced himself to think of Horcruxes, and where to start.

"I'm fine," he said automatically. "Just... thinking."

Jo-Ann searched his expression for a moment, keeping a concentrated upon Joey. She then said in a soft voice, "You know... the faster we can destroy the Horcruxes, the faster we can end this."

Joey grunted. "The thing is, my dad failed to mention how to destroy a Horcrux," he replied morosely. "He just kind of... I dunno, tossed me into this whole thing and apparently expected me to figure things out myself."

"I don't think that's true," Jo-Ann replied in a calm, consoling tone. "I think you're dad was killed before he had the chance to tell you."

Joey considered this for a moment, then nodded slowly. This, upon further speculation, was probably true. His dad definitely had a plan - and before he died, he was focused entirely upon stopping Valkaris from completing his army. Well, not only had that failed for the most part, his father had died in the process.

Fuck you, life.

And now he had to find out what the Horcruxes actually were, and then figure out how to destroy them. But how on earth was he going to find out the locations of the Horcruxes, even if he knew what they were? True, that information could come with the identity of the Horcrux, but that still left a huge question that was asked too often: how to destroy them.

Joey racked his brains for something that could help them - street-goers would not know what a Horcrux is or why it's important, so eavesdropping was virtually useless - but maybe there was some sort of place he could look, like a library. The thing was, even if they were to find a library in this clusterfuck of a city, how would they be able to search it without being detected?

He furrowed his brows as he stared at a particularly large dust bunny that was hiding under the table. Listening to the sound of Naiose noisily slurping down on a tangerine, he reflected on how lucky he was to have friends with him. If he hadn't brought them, he would of probably been caught already.

Two more days went by with the same boring routine that they had been practicing for the last couple weeks - wake up, eavesdrop, lunch with the rations they brought, more eavesdropping/shopping for food, dinner, sleep. It was starting to get very annoying for Naiose, who absolutely could not take it anymore. He made it known the moment Joey returned on the second day.

"Dude, I'm serious, if we don't get a move on soon I'm going to blow," he said grumpily.

"Do you have any other better ideas than staying here?" Jo-Ann asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Anywhere but here," Joey replied, catching them both by surprise. He set a bag of what looked like radishes down on the table.

"You're - you're not serious?" Jo-Ann said anxiously, looking at her boyfriend with a dumbfounded expression. "It was just this morning when you said that this was the safest place to be!"

"Well, it may not be safe anymore," Joey said hurriedly. "Listen to me - I think I was followed."

Naiose sat up rigidly. "What!?"

"But no one has been successful!" Jo-Ann protested, looking terrified. "Anyone who's tried gets lost in the back alleyways!"

"Did you see them?" Naiose asked, getting to his feet laboriously. "You know, the one who followed you?"

"No," Joey replied, casting an anxious look at the window that was set into the front door. "But I could hear something... I know it wasn't me because whenever I stopped to listen, something made a sound for a split second after I stopped."

Jo-Ann looked extremely nervous. "Do you think they saw you come inside?"

"I might of lost them a little ways back," Joey said uncertainly. "That, or they became aware that I suspected them..."

Jo-Ann half-ran to the window and looked out at the street beyond. After a couple moments, she turned to look back at Joey and Naiose.

"Nothing," she said quietly. "But I can't see much, the window doesn't let me see the rest of the street. He could be out there for all we know."

"I think it's unsafe to leave for the time being," Joey said firmly, walking to the door and pulling Jo-Ann away. "We have to make seem as if no one is here - and when we have a chance, we slip out undetected."

"They'll find us, though!" Jo-Ann said, looking very alarmed at the new plan.

"If we play our cards right, and they really are out there, they'll think we're still here," Joey replied in a calming tone. "That's also assuming they know that we're here - and even though the chance of that is moderate, we have a plan for that."

"And what if they come in guns-a-blazing?" Naiose asked stubbornly.

"We get the fuck outta here," Joey replied with a grin.

Naiose laughed, looking a little less nervous. "I like that plan. What would we do afterward, though? Find another hiding place?"

Joey didn't reply, but looked at his girlfriend dead in the eye while racking his brains for an adequate answer. After a moment, he said slowly, "We need to become more proactive in finding Horcruxes... if we sit on our butts and do nothing, the chance of getting captured before we can finish the job get higher. Heck, they're getting larger by the day."

Jo-Ann sighed, defeated, then nodded slowly. "I guess I'm just not used to this whole thing... you know, stealth really isn't my thing, and I should've known that we'd have to take risks somewhere down the road in order to accomplish our mission."

"Join the club," Joey replied, giving her a slight, sad smile. She grasped his hand tightly before turning to Naiose.

"Are you good with the plan?" she asked.

"Well, it's not like it was going to be easy anyway," Naiose said, shrugging. "Plus, I've got no choice, even if I wanted to abandon you guys. So yeah, I'm in."

"We'll just ignore the grumpy part of your daily mood, then," Joey snarked. Naiose raised an eyebrow.

"You know, your shoulder looks like it's begging me to slug it," he said, slightly raising his fist.

"That is unnecessary," Joey said hastily. "I think my squeals of pain would alert the enemy to our position."

The other two laughed, instantly diffusing some of the tension in the room.

"So just lay low for now, then?" Naiose asked.

"Yeah... not much else we can do," Joey replied. "I'm not taking any chances - the less likely we are in danger of being captured, the better."

Jo-Ann nodded and started busying herself with the radishes, trying to find a way to cook them somehow. This was difficult, since they didn't bring any pots or pans, but she settled with a Microwaving Charm, holding her wand a good three feet away so as to not burn them.

Joey paced to the window and looked out. Nothing was in the alleyway beyond except an old wanted poster of Glynn Knight, one of the members of the Order, that fluttered across the ground and out of sight. Joey sighed and turned back around to the smell of slightly burnt radishes.

Naiose stepped up to the table. "What did you do over here? It smells like one of those awful sugar beet factories back in Colorado."

Joey couldn't agree more; however, he gave Jo-Ann what he hoped was a grateful smile and said, "Thanks, Jo."

"I did my best," Jo-Ann grumbled, eyeing Naiose.

"You know Naiose almost as well as I do," Joey replied consolingly. "Don't take it personally."

Joey picked up a radish and felt it burn his fingers. Ignoring the heat, he took a cautious bite. He nearly spit it all out as it singed his tongue.

"Hot!" he panted, and pulled out his wand. He summoned a cup from midair and placed it on the table. He then directed the tip of his wand towards the opening and said in a thick voice, "Aquis!"

A small stream of water poured from the tip of his wand into the cup. When it had reached the top, he stowed his wand away in his pocket and drank the water feverishly.

"Drama queen," Naiose snickered. He was answered by having a half finished, piping hot radish strike him in the side of the head.

"Guys, chill out," Jo-Ann said, picking up her own radish and blowing on it. "They are quite hot."

Joey nodded slightly and followed her lead by blowing on a different radish that he had picked up. As he lifted it to his lips, a strong smell met them. After taking a bite of the mushy radish, he held it away from him.

"Jo, not to be rude, but this radish reeks," he said, grimacing. "How did I not notice the smell before?"

"I dunno," Jo-Ann said, looking uncertainly down at her own radish. "I didn't really think about that."

"Yeah," Naiose chuckled. "You could probably smell these darn things all the way Canterlot. It's already infected the room!"

"It has?" Joey asked, feeling an uncomfortable lurch in his stomach. He got up and walked briskly about the room, smelling the air intently. What Naiose said was true; the room had begun to stink rather horribly. He returned to his place at the table, feeling uneasy.

"You done?" Naiose said, looking slightly amused.

"Yeah..." Joey replied absentmindedly, running his fingers through his hair. If the smell got outside, and they really were being watched...

Joey saw a flicker of movement through the window on the front door, and instinctively dove across the table, knocking Jo-Ann to the floor. A large blast from the outside blew the front door off its hinges, and the door frame as well as fragments of the wall around it crumbled down upon the threshold, which became shrouded with unsettled dust.

Coughing up dirt, Joey rose to his feet just in time to see a tendril of smoke zoom past the shroud of dust. He recognized it as one of Valkaris's Maulers instantly; the pitch black color of the smoke was unmistakable.

"Stupefy!" Joey shouted, quickly drawing his wand at the Mauler. His aim was true; the spell collided with the front end of the tendril of smoke and sent a man sprawling across the floor.

"Get your stuff! We're leaving!" Joey shouted as more footsteps and shouts were heard from the outside.

"THEY"RE HERE! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

Joey grabbed his rucksack and ran to Naiose, grabbing his arm. "Jo-Ann, come here!" he yelled as a second Mauler appeared through the doorway. Jo-Ann blasted him off his feet as she ran to Joey, sending the Mauler backward across the threshold. Joey felt something grab the hem of his robes, but he ignored it - he turned on the spot, and thinking of the very first place to pop into his mind, apparated into a familiar, suffocating darkness. It squeezed the air from his lungs, constricting him from every side -

Then fresh air filled his lungs again as they appeared in a crowded marketplace. Market-goers gave shouts of surprise at the sudden appearance. Before they could start to put two and two together, Joey tried to take a running step away, but felt something catch the hem of his robes.

He fell sprawling face first to the ground, biting his tongue hard in the process. He rolled over to see a Mauler clutching the edge of his robes, raising his wand towards Joey.

"STUPEF-!!" the Mauler began, but was blasted backwards before he could finish the incantation. A pair of hands roughly dragged Joey to his feet.

"Let's go! Hurry!" said Naiose's voice behind him, and he turned to follow his friend.

As they turned to leave, the market-goers seemed to be piecing everything together. Behind him, Joey could hear the Mauler shriek, "GET THAT BOY!"

Adrenaline kicked in as Joey dodged a large red fist that came from nowhere. Looking around wildly, he saw Naiose and Jo-Ann shortly ahead of him. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, slowly catching up to his two friends.

Before he could reach them, however, he collided with a large, wide figure. "You ain't goin' nowhere," said a smug, gruff voice from above.

Not even stopping to get a good look at the monster, Joey blasted him out of the way with his wand. The monster's friends roared in outrage, swinging wildly with fists. Joey dodged one, letting the momentum of the fist collide with the owner's friend. Ducking under a pair of large, brutish, outstretched arms, Joey took a hard left into an alleyway.

The fact that he had been separated from Jo-Ann and Naiose stirred up more fear in him, causing him to run even faster. He saw a wooden ramp to his left that led up to the upper canopies of the city and immediately took it. His feet pounded on the wood, echoing in the darkness below. Not far behind him he could hear heavy footsteps and ragged, enraged breathing.

His calves were on fire, but he ignored them. If he could get high enough, maybe he could find his two friends...

He took a hard right onto a rickety rope bridge, trying to ignore the sketchy swaying and creaking of the supports. Before he had reached the other side, the bridge shook tremulously, as if something big had stepped onto it. Leaping over the last couple feet, Joey reached the other side. He pointed his wand at the nearest supports, and as the first monsters reached the halfway point, cried "Incisura!"

The bridge snapped, sending a small group of monsters plummeting into the streets below. Joey allowed their distracting screams to buy himself time as he stepped onto another upward-leading ramp.

Before long, he had reached was was clearly the top level of the city's canopy of bridges and walkways. Few buildings around rose higher than his position. He decided to take the catwalk to his left, and bolted away.

He did not get far before a tendril of smoke landed in front of him, materializing into a Mauler. The Mauler shot a spell at Joey so quickly that Joey had just barely deflected it.

The Mauler attacked again and shot a red beam of light at Joey, but this time he was ready. He caught the beam of light with his own wand and willed it to turn into a magical rope. It followed his instructions and wrapped around the Mauler faster than he could retaliate. The Mauler stumbled for a moment, then took off in a column of black smoke, throwing off the magical ropes binding him.

Joey took careful aim, then fired a Stunning Spell at the Mauler as he turned back around to attack again. The spell collided with the tip of the tendril, and there was a wail as the smoke materialized back into the form of the Mauler. Joey had to duck as his foe soared, flailing about limply, over his head and fell back down into the city's lower levels.

Joey watched him for a moment, but then heard the heavy footsteps of more monsters competing for his bounty slowly gaining on him. He continued to run, constantly changing direction and doubling back so as to throw off his pursuers, who were getting increasingly frustrated with their target's elusiveness. After a while, some of them ran out of energy and were not able to continue the chase. Others, meanwhile, seemed to have the capability to chase Joey until the end of time.

Joey was faster than his pursuers, however, and slowly began to pull away from them. Occasionally, a Mauler would zoom past him in their smoky form and fire a spell at him. Joe dealt with this by dodging their attack and continuing his increasingly confusing route.

After a while, the monsters that were chasing him had disappeared completely. The Maulers had stopped attacking; apparently they had lost him too. Joey headed for a ramp leading downward and slowly descended back into the city. He did so cautiously, occasionally ducking behind a crate as someone passed by. There were several horrifying moments where he happened to come very close to a watchful Mauler, who were fortunately unaware of his presence. They would patrol for a couple minutes, then move on.

Finally, Joey descended back down to the dirt-covered streets. What was he thinking, going up there like that? He was much easier to spot up there than he was down here...

He found himself walking past a small stone wall. Beyond it lay the most normal-looking house he had ever seen: two or three stories with a slanted, red-shingled roof. Though admittedly it did not have the look of a properly manicured home, it was still fairly normal-looking compared to all the other structures surrounding it.

He walked by a small gateway in the wall when it happened.

A furry hand grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him backward. Before he let out a terrified yelp that would of gave his position away to those looking for him, another furry hand covered his mouth.

"Shh," hissed a smooth, somewhat deep voice urgently. "I'm here to help. Don't be so stupid as to give yourself away."

Joey felt a combination of horror and confusion cloud his thoughts. Who was this? He had been caught, but whoever had seemed to want to keep him quiet. He said that he wanted to help; could he trust this stranger?

Seeing as he had completely and hopelessly lost Jo-Ann and Naiose, he didn't have much of a choice.

He took a deep breath and pulled the furry hand off of his mouth, but couldn't turn to see his captor. Whoever it was dragged him backward, towards the normal-looking house.

He felt the stranger's steely grip heave him up the front steps to the house before it released him. He stumbled forward in surprise at being released so quickly, nearly falling back down the steps because of it. The urgent, hushed voice of the stranger then spoke again.

"Go - get inside. Quickly, please!"

Joey felt himself being shunted through an open door. As this happened, he saw a flash of orange and red before colliding with the wooden floor of the inside.

There was a sound of a door closing behind him, and a furry hand pulled him to his feet; this time, they were gentle. Joey quickly turned around and looked at the stranger for the first time.

His first thought was, furry!

The stranger who had captured him was a humanoid cat with orange fur. An elegant mat of black hair sat on top of its head, in between his two large ears. Its eyes were a vivid, piercing green, just like those of a normal cat. It had a small purple cloth wrapped around a small middle section of its tail, and it wore a beautiful black cape with blue lining. It stood roughly one and a half heads taller than Joey and had an anxious expression that coincided with a look of relief.

"My apologies," the cat said in a smooth voice. "I hope I didn't frighten you."

"Who are you?" Joey asked automatically.

The cat smiled, placing a hand on his chest. "The name's Capper," he said, bowing slightly. "Equestrian Diplomat to Kludgetown... and there's no need to tell me who you are," he added with a slight chuckle. He offered a hand to Joey, who reluctantly took it and was pulled to his feet.

"Equestrian diplomat - are you friendly with the ponies?" Joey asked cautiously. So this 'Capper' knew who he was too.

Capper's smile faltered slightly. "Yes... in a sense."

Joey gazed at Capper suspiciously. "In a sense? Care to elaborate for me?"

"Well, the princesses have always been welcoming," Capper said, staring at the floor while rubbing his upper arm. "Especially Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight. Princess Luna has been kind, but also kind of distant - and I've only talked to Princess Cadance in passing."

"How is that supposed to answer my -" Joey began, but Capper raised his hand to cut across his retort.

"Please, hear me out," he said calmly. Joey crossed his arms in a resigned silence.

"While the princesses may have seen me as an ally and friend... well, let's say for now that their subjects don't see eye to eye with them," Capper replied, now looking uncomfortable.

Joey still did not trust this character. True, he had saved Joey in a sense, but was someone else lurking in the house, ready to pounce on him and take him to Valkaris?

"I don't know what you mean," Joey said shortly, narrowing his eyes.

Capper looked at Joey pleadingly. "I don't like talking about it. Are you quite sure you don't understand me?"

Joey and Capper made eye contact; Joey gave Capper such a piercing gaze that it seemed to see right into the latter's mind. After a couple moments, Joey blinked. "I think I understand now," he said quietly.

"What did you do?" asked Capper with an anxious edge in his voice. "What did you just do??"

Joey ignored him. "You're an outcast when it comes to any society, not just ponies... you're lonely... your heart is in the right place, though it seems to be struggling in these dark times against going back to your old life as a con-artist."

Capper's jaw hung loosely in its place as he gaped at the teenage boy in front of him. "How... did you - did you read my thoughts?"

Joey smiled sheepishly. "Er - I prefer the term 'Legilimency', but to all intents and purposes its basically the same." As Capper opened his mouth to compose an angry retort, Joey quickly added, "Look, I'm sorry. I had no idea if I could trust you. I won't do it again; using it in the first place is a privacy violation."

Capper seemed to relax slightly. "And... and you do now?"

Joey hesitated, then nodded. "Your story checks out - you're a genuine supporter of Twilight's friends and those they love. Your change of heart against that Storm King dude was brilliant - you just plucked up the courage to travel to Canterlot with a bunch of ponies you barely knew and marched right in to stop the King's operation. That takes a true change of heart."

"So - so you trust me?" Capper said, giving Joey a strange look.

"Well - as much as I shouldn't, I will give it a go," Joey replied. "Since I've been separated from my friends, I've got no one."

"You don't happen to be speaking of the gentleman Naiose Wilson and the fair lady Jo-Ann Roth?" Capper asked slyly.

"I would," Joey replied grimly. "I take it you know them from those rotten posters that have gone up everywhere?"

Capper nodded.

"I figured so," Joey continued. "On a different note, do you happen to know anything about their whereabouts? The way you said that made it seem like you knew something I didn't."

To his surprise, Capper smiled and bowed. "Allow me to show you to my foyer; it takes up most of the abode, being the biggest of two rooms here, but what can I say? They've taught me a lot of useful things on how to get by in a place such as this."

Hesitating slightly, Joey followed Capper through a side doorway and then felt his jaw drop. It was indeed a big room; the ceiling rose two stories above them. He got a glimpse of a red, moth-eaten sofa before a blonde-haired figure nearly knocked him off his feet with a squeal. He felt his chest swell in delight as soon as he recognized the figure as Jo-Ann.

"Naiose said that they had caught you, but I didn't want to believe it, oh my goodness - Naiose, come here -"

There was a loud thud, followed a yelp from Naiose, "Ouch!"

"Capper brought us in," Jo-Ann explained breathlessly. "Once he did, we told him about the situation, and he immediately went out to look for you." She threw Capper an appraising look.

"Yeah, saved our lives, he did," Naiose added, rubbing his jaw on the spot where Jo-Ann had hit him. Capper looked reasonably pleased with himself at these words. He stepped forward and clapped his hands together.

"Now that we have our big, happy family together again," Capper said silkily, "Would it be alright for me to ask what brought you all to this humble city?"

Naiose and Jo-Ann automatically looked at Joey for an answer. Thrown off slightly by this, Joey formulated his response.

"Well - it was out of the way," Joey said, chancing a glance at Jo-Ann. "I figured that Lord -" His words were cut off as Naiose placed a hand over his mouth. He sputtered and tore it off, glaring at his friend. "Do you mind?" he asked angrily.

"It doesn't feel right saying the name," Naiose said, looking uncertain. "Just a gut feeling."

Joey sighed and massaged his temples. "Alright then, fine. The Dark Lord. Happy?"

Naiose looked affronted. "Look, I didn't mean to -"

"It doesn't matter," Joey said dismissively, cutting in front of his friend. "It's fine. Anyway, Capper, what I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted was that my friends and I came here because it seemed less likely that the Dark Lord would find us here."

"But his minions have your location down," Capper pointed out. "Joey, if the Dark Lord himself shows up -"

"I was getting to that," Joey replied. "We will leave Kludgetown soon, since it's unwise to stay here for much longer. However, I need help."

"Are you asking me for help?" Capper asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know if I can assist you, but I can do my best."

Joey nodded slowly. Looking at an old bookshelf in a corner of the tall room, he asked, "What are the biggest artifacts in the world?"

Capper frowned. "Excuse me?"

"The most magically powerful artifacts in the world. What are they?"

Capper placed a hand to his chin. "Well, the Elements of Harmony used to be the most powerful, until they were destroyed -"

"Wait, WHAT!?" Joey yelped. "I thought Twilight and her friends used them to destroy Lord Val - ugh, fine, Naiose - the Dark Lord's gateway to bring reapers into this world!"

"They use replicas," Capper said, looking from Joey to Naiose. "They can still use the Element's magic even though the actual Tree of Harmony was destroyed. Something about the power of friendship. Anyway, you asked about the most magically powerful artifacts. I can't recall them off the top of my head, but rest assured that I have a book that may help you."

He strode over to his small collection of books and peered among the titles for a moment. Smiling, he slipped a thin volume off of the shelf and returned to the group huddled by the door. Noticing this, he chuckled.

"I'm not stopping you from using the sofas, you know," he said jokingly. "Just because I have canines doesn't mean I bite."

The three friends took up his offer gladly as they took their seats on the moth-eaten sofas. Capper handed Joey the thin book he had gathered, then settled himself in an old chintz armchair.

"Nice chair," Joey said before he could stop himself. Everyone laughed, including Capper.

"I'm not complaining - it's comfy," Capper replied.

Joey looked down at the book, which was entitled The History of the World's Greatest Artifacts. He flipped it open and began to scan over the pages. Jo-Ann watched, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"It seems that there is a really powerful one for each race," Joey said after a long moment. "Griffons, Hippogriffs, Dragons, Minotaurs, and Ponies."

"Minotaurs? What about the Changelings?" Naiose asked, sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Ah - there is something I happen to know about," Capper said with a swagger. "The Changelings were under the rule of Queen Chrysalis for so long that they were never able to make trade with other nations. However, every notable artifact that has ever been created has been credited to the race that made it. Since Chrysalis prohibited individualism among her hive during her reign, the Changelings were never able to make anything."

"That makes sense," said Jo-Ann.

Joey continued to look through the book. "Oh! It has a chapter dedicated to those powerful artifacts I talked about!"

"Read it!" Naiose said eagerly, rapt with attention.

Joey cleared his throat.

"There are many known artifacts in the world that come from any of the Five Great Races - Ponies, Hippogriffs, Griffons, Dragons, and Minotaurs. While many are well-known, each race has a very powerful artifact - one that not only holds a special magical power, but one that bears historical significance as well.

These artifacts are known by very few creatures, for these artifacts have served up greed amongst the power-hungry. They were locked away, for each race had their own troubles to deal with on top of maintaining peace among those said creatures. Rumors were intentionally spread that these artifacts did not exist, that they were merely a fairy tale. It was not long before the artifacts were passed out of almost all knowledge.

They do, however, exist - the details of each can be found on the following pages. Here is a list of the artifacts from each of the Five Great Races:

Griffons - King Ventaius's Crown
Minotaurs - Argegrabus's Scepter
Hippogriffs - Queen Marinia's Breastplate
Dragons - Dragon Lord's Staff
Ponies - Starswirl's Journal

More information will follow on the following pages."

Joey excitedly flipped through the following pages. "This whole thing is a treasure trove!!" he said excitedly, turning the book so they could all see. "If what the book said is really true, and these are actually one of a kind artifacts, they would be perfect objects for a Horcrux to latch on to!!"

Capper nearly fell out of his seat. When Joey saw his face, it was terrified and pale.

"So that's why your looking for artifacts?" he said in a horrified whisper. "You think they're Horcruxes?"

"Yes," Joey replied, feeling shocked. "How would you know about Horcruxes?"

"It was something I learned as a kitten," he said, looking at Joey as if he were seeing him for the first time. "But - but that doesn't matter. If these objects are Horcruxes - which I doubt - are you actually trying to do what I think you're doing?"

Joey instantly understood what Capper meant. Looking the anthropomorphic feline dead in the eyes, he replied, "Yes, I am. It's got to be me, and no one else. You've heard the prophecy; everyone has."

Capper gave Joey a look that was a mixture of respect and are you INSANE!? It was a long moment before he took a deep breath. "I cannot help you, then... I'm sorry."

"I never asked for it," Joey replied coldly.

Capper's eyes flew open as the impact of those words hit him. He winced as if he were hit over the head with blunt force. He looked at Joey with a slightly hurt expression.

"Please understand that I don't deny assisting you out of rudeness," Capper said quickly, evidently trying to clear things up.

"I'm aware," Joey deadpanned. "You're just trying to save your own skin. We never tried to drag you into this, so stop talking like we have."

Capper closed his eyes and nodded slowly. Opening them again, he looked Joey directly in the eye. "I would like to make it clear that any friend of Rarity is a friend of mine."

Joey looked back at Capper with intensity, then managed a smile. "Capper... thanks."

Capper smiled weakly back, then looked at his two friends. "Do you two realize what you're getting in to?"

"Yes," Jo-Ann said firmly.

"We knew something like this would happen eventually," Naiose added, getting up and walking over to Joey. He stood next to his friend like a sentinel.

"I knew you guys would stick with me, even if I didn't want you to," Joey said with a grin. He looked back at Capper. "You can try and stop me, but my dad gave me a mission. I will finish it, and when I do, and if I can, I will kill Lord -"

"Joey, NO!" Naiose yelped.

"- Valkaris," Joey finished. He then looked up at Naiose. "What is your problem?"

"Don't say the name!" Naiose said, wringing his hands.

"You're just like Harry Potter's friend, Ron Weasely," Joey deadpanned. "Stop being such a baby."

"I'm not being -" Naiose started, but his words were drowned out from Jo-Ann's scream.

"Wha -?" Joey said, jumping to his feet. There was the sound of fast moving air from the outside. Before he could say another word, the walls imploded, sending splintered wood as well as fragments of brick and glass everywhere.

Maulers were punching through the walls of Capper's home in their tendrils of smoke, trying to trap those who were inside under rubble.

"Naiose! Jo-Ann!" Joey sputtered, spitting dirt out of his mouth. "Where are -?"

He felt a small hand grab his shoulder tightly and tugged slightly; a moment later he was pulled into suffocating darkness.

Author's Note

This past weekend, on April 14, 2019, an acquaintance of mine passed away at an After-Prom party. He was only sixteen years old. I don't know the details, but it's sitting extremely heavy right now.

I just ask that you all make wise, healthy decisions from here on out - I don't like the thought of any situation like this. You all have supported my stories thus far, and I deeply appreciate that. If any of you need a chat, I'd be more than happy to help.

With that being said, I apologize for any future delays in the making of chapters. I will do my best to keep going forward from here.

A New Accomplice

Joey drew a series of deep, hoarse breaths as soon as the darkness lifted. He felt himself collapse onto a patch of grass, hacking up debris from Capper's house. He rolled over onto his back to see Jo-Ann, Naiose and Capper panting heavily. A heavy sense of relief stole over him - even as he lay his eyes on Capper, who had hurried over to a bush and threw up into it.

Joey sat up and looked around at his surroundings. They were in a small clearing in the middle of a forest - though it wasn't the Everfree. The trees looked friendlier than those of the Everfree; they were smaller, thinner, and stood farther apart, allowing light to penetrate through the canopy. There were many large bushes in the area, and the ground was blanketed in wild grasses. They sky was still gloomy and gray with clouds - most likely due to reapers.

"Where are we?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"A forest Fluttershy showed me in a photo book once," Jo-Ann replied, groaning as she straightened up. "It's well away from Equestria; it was the first place I thought of."

"Good thing you acted," Naiose said seriously. "If we had stayed in that place much longer..." He drew a finger across his neck.

"How did they find us, though?" Jo-Ann said nervously, looking around at her boyfriend. "I know for a fact that Naiose and I went in unseen."

"It's a taboo," Naiose muttered.

"What was that?" Joey asked, standing up.

"I said, it's a taboo! Saying the Dark Lord's name!" Naiose snapped, looking thoroughly irritable.

"I thought that was just a Harry Potter thing," Joey replied, looking at his friend blankly. "You know - whenever someone would say Lord Voldemort's name, his followers were able to find them instantly."

"Well, it's real life, too," Naiose said gruffly, hugging his knees to his chest.

"How can you prove that?" Joey said incredulously.

"Because it's a good theory," Capper intervened, looking green. "Not feeling to great from - whatever that was," he added upon seeing Joey's inquiring look. "Anyway, even before you guys showed up, there were rumors around Kludgetown of something like a taboo on the Dark Lord's name. I didn't know whether I could believe them or not, so I just avoided using the name."

Joey furrowed his brows. "Well... as much as I hate to say it - maybe we should refrain from using his name. I mean, given the current circumstances, we have no room to take chances."

Naiose looked satisfied at this proposal. Capper nodded, then looked around at the forest scenery. Jo-Ann walked to Joey and buried him in a hug. Once she had released him, she took a step back.

"Where do we go from here?" she said, her brown eyes focused intently upon Joey.

Joey took another look around. Just over the treetops there was an odd formation of mountains - how had he noticed it before? When he looked more closely, he realized that vegetation was growing in the center, It made him think of a bowl of salad, for the rock formations rose up in jagged peaks surrounding the vegetation.

Naiose followed his gaze and stared. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the strange set of mountains.

"Ah - the Peaks of Peril!" Capper said, looking up.

"The what?" Joey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The Peaks of Peril," Capper repeated, pointing at the strange gathering of mountains. "A good hiding place for those who wish to stay hidden."

"But we have a mission to accomplish," Joey pointed out. "We can't finish it while hiding." Naiose and Jo-Ann grunted in approval.

"Yes, of course - your mission," Capper said quietly. He looked around helplessly. "Very well. D'you think you could at least drop me off at my home back in Kludgetown? I'd be very very grateful if -"

"What are you, blind?" Joey scoffed. "Your house was destroyed by Maulers!"

Capper groaned and dragged a hand down his face. "How could I forget? Not only that, where will I go now?"

"Well, if we can pull off saving the world, I'm sure my mother would be more than happy to find you a place to stay," Joey offered.

"Your mother?" Capper asked, confused. "How could your mother help me? I was under the impression that members of your little magical human group had little authority."

"We kinda used to," Joey said rubbing the back of his neck. "It was really weird, though. Also, I was talking about my adoptive mother, not my biological mother."

Capper raised an eyebrow. "Your surrogate mother wouldn't happen to be a pony, would it? One that I know of?"

"Was that a guess?" Joey asked, looking slightly amused.

"Well - no - the chances of that are few and far between," Capper replied, chuckling weakly.

"Is that so?" Joey pressed. Naiose bit his lip incredibly hard, no doubt trying to prevent himself from laughing.

"Positive," Capper said firmly.

"Okay. My mother is Cadance. Princess Cadance."

Capper's jaw fell open loosely as he gaped at Joey. When he recovered from the initial shock, he asked, "Are you pulling my leg?"

"He isn't," Jo-Ann confirmed, laughing slightly at the sight of Capper's dumbfounded expression. "She officially became his mom right before we left Equestria."

Capper looked from Jo-Ann to Joey, blinking hard as if he were still trying to wrap his mind around the news. Finally, he said weakly, "Can you really find me a place?"

"Well, why not?" Joey replied. "Well... on one condition."

Capper froze. "And what would that be?"

"I get to keep the book," Joey replied, pulling out the copy of The History of the World's Greatest Artifacts.

"How on earth did you manage to save that?" Capper asked, looking at the book with a surprised expression.

"Stuffed it into my rucksack as your house was being bombarded," Joey replied simply.

"Impressive," Capper chuckled. "Very impressive. I can let you have the book anyway - I dare say I had to many as it was."

"Dude, you should have seen Twilight's house," Joey laughed, walking over to Jo-Ann. He offered a hand to her, and she held onto it wholeheartedly. He then turned to the other two. "Well, since we still have to make a plan to as what we're gonna do next, we might as well go to the Peaks."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they began to march towards the jagged peaks.

The moon rose high in the sky later that night in a crescent shape. Despite the shape, it washed the forest that lay in the Peaks of Peril with a pearly light.

Below the forest's canopy, it was mostly inky blackness. The ground was blanketed by shrubs and strange wildflowers, with the occasional grassy patch. The difference between this forest and the Everfree was that the Everfree held some sort of new horror with every step, whereas this forest had a heavy feeling of tranquility abut it.

There was a flickering red light that penetrated the darkness. This light came from the campfire that Naiose had lit not very long prior to the current moment. It burped out the occasional spark, which fluttered higher and higher into the air until it eventually fizzled out.

Joey, Naiose, Jo-Ann, and Capper all sat huddled around the fire, pulling their cloaks nearer to them to escape the chilly wind that had blown down from the peak's many summits. The fire, however, was healthy as ever, and continued to provide enough warmth so that they could remain relatively warm. This was alright with Joey, since the nights he and his friends had spent in the desert were much colder than this.

The trip up to the Peaks of Peril had gone suspiciously smoothly. Capper, as their guide, showed through a cavern that led them to the forest on the mountain. When Joey asked him how he knew about the cave, Capper merely said with a shrug, "I've been here before."

Joey, however, knew he could trust the anthropomorphic feline. He had seen into Capper's mind, and Legilimency doesn't lie. For the first time in his life, Joey felt a little less guilty about using Legilimency. It was for a good purpose, right?

Well, so far so good. They could trust Capper. Perhaps Jo-Ann and Naiose were a little quick to believe him, but now it didn't matter. Now that he thought more about it, Joey realized how lucky they were to run into Capper. Had it been someone else who had caught his friends as well as himself...

Joey shook his head. What mattered now was that they got here safely. Survival was the main priority; Horcruxes were second.

"Capper, what are you going to do now that you have no home?" Jo-Ann asked, looking at the feline with a concerned expression.

Capper sighed, looking through his legs at a stone on the ground. He was sitting in a relaxed position, with his elbows resting on his knees. He was slightly leaning backward, anchored by his elbow's grip on his knees.

"I don't know," he answered in an honest, quiet tone. "I mean, I've got little chance of finding a new one unless your mission succeeds... but the odds against that are monumental." He groaned slightly as he shifted into an upward sitting position, crossing his legs. "Besides, I don't know much about Horcruxes, so I can't be of much help to you anyway. Not only that, I've denied your offer of accompanying you."

Joey stared at Capper, who wore a miserable, lost expression.

"You know," he said, breaking the tension slightly. "The offer is still open. You know as many things about Horcruxes as we do. However, you do have skills that could be really useful."

Capper perked up ever so slightly and looked up at Joey. "I do?"

"Well, I sure didn't know that you were in that alleyway," Joey explained. "You know. The one you pulled me out of."

"It was mere luck, Joey," Capper said dejectedly. "I had no idea you were there before I walked out my front door. When I did - presto! You were there."

"You misunderstand me," Joey said calmly. "When you did see me, I still had no idea you were around - and yet, there you were as I walked by. You didn't even give me a chance to see you. You performed all those without making a single sound."

Capper looked back at the stone on the ground and began to draw a circle in the dirt around it absentmindedly. He seemed to be thinking things over, and it was a long moment before he replied quietly.

"The offer to join you is still open, you said?"

"Yes," said Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann simultaneously. Then Jo-Ann added, "Keep in mind that it will be dangerous and probably life threatening."

Capper smiled. "Alright. Consider me a part of this company, then."

Joey leaned over and gave him an awkward high five. Returning to his original position, he looked around at his three friends.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, where do we go from here?" Joey asked professionally. "I mean, now that we're near positive on what the Horcruxes are, now we actually have to get them. We'll worry about destroying them afterward."

"Well... travelling to the capital of each country and looking there would be a good start," Naiose suggested. "I feel like there should be something in those cities that tells us where to find the artifact that corresponds to the nation."

"Mind speaking English for me?" Joey asked with a grin.

"Sure. Even better, I'll speak retard for you," Naiose retorted.

Joey let out a low pitched whistle. "Roasted." Jo-Ann and Capper burst out laughing as Joey and Naiose shook hands.

Capper threw an inquiring look at Jo-Ann, who just shrugged and said, "They've always been like this. For real. Since they were, like, five."

"Okay, but seriously," Naiose continued. "Let me use an example. Say we go to the Griffon's capital -"

"Griffonstone," Capper interrupted. "The capital of Griffon country is Griffonstone."

"Okay, then, say we go to Griffonstone," Naiose continued, nodding his head at Capper. "If we were to go there, there should be someplace to find out the artifact - or in this case, Horcrux - that relates to the Griffons. Once we find out what it is, we go from there."

"Makes sense," Joey said brightly, looking around at Jo-Ann and Capper. "What do you guys think?"

"I like it," Jo-Ann replied, scooting closer to Joey. "Capper?"

"You guys are the boss," Capper said, raising his hands. "I'll just go where you go and help whenever I can."

Joey smiled appreciatively at him and felt Jo-Ann's hand slide into his. He gave it a squeeze and smiled at her. "So, then," he said, breaking the silence and looking back around those huddled around the fire, "Where shall we go next?"

"What about Griffonstone?" Naiose asked. "I mean, might as well do it since we've already talked about it."

"As an example, but yeah," Joey corrected. "Why not? Let's go to Griffonstone."

"Whatever you say, cutie," Jo-Ann chirped, pecking him on the cheek. Joey looked at her with an indignant smile.

"Was that really necessary, Jo?"

"You know it."

Joey sighed as he looked back into the crackling fire. "If we're going to sneak into a place that's most definitely under the Dark Lord's watch, we need a plan. So, first things first - how are we getting in?"

"I say we use the same thing we used to get into Kludgetown," Jo-Ann replied. "Disillusionment Charms should do the trick again."

"That's what I was thinking," Naiose agreed with a nod. "Joey, what about you?"

"Well... we've never been to Griffonstone before," Joey said, frowning slightly. "We have no idea if they are looking out for something of the sort."

"I've been to Griffonstone once, and they seemed to care less about what came into their city and what went out, as long as it didn't concern them," Capper interjected thoughtfully. "Still, Joey's right. I have no clue if the Maulers have changed the way admissions go down there."

"Well, do you have a better idea?" Naiose said irritably.

"Well - maybe," Joey replied. "We can't travel by sky - even though our cloaks would conceal us - because there will probably be reapers there."

Capper blanched as he clutched his chest. Joey noticed this and said, "Not a fan of them, huh?"

Capper slowly shook his head.

"We don't blame you," Jo-Ann said consolingly. "Those reapers are awful."

"I think we should do what Naiose suggested," Joey said, bringing the conversation back to a tactical discussion. "I feel like it would work the best. To be safe, let's do it by nightfall."

"So tell us, Capper," Naiose inquired. "What was Griffonstone like?"

"Nothing incredibly special," Capper replied, racking his brains. "There was a lot of arguing, grumpy snorting, squabbles over pineapples and pens -"

"No, not like that," Jo-Ann interrupted. "I see what Naiose is trying to ask. What were the physical features?"

"Yeah, they have a good point," Joey said, looking at Capper. "If we have a good understanding of the physical aspect of Griffonstone, we have something better to go off of."

Capper nodded. "I couldn't agree more," he said smoothly. "Now, let's see... Griffonstone is built around a very large tree."

"A large tree?" Naiose said incredulously.

"Naiose! Let him finish," Jo-Ann said scornfully.

Capper ignored them and continued with his description. "Yes, a large tree. It's about the size of a large hill - I'm talking about a very large hill here. There are no leaves that grow on this tree - I think it may be dead. Most of the dwellings are built along its thick branches, but a fair amount are built around the base of it. From what I can remember, there is a large white tower that sits on one of the higher branches. That's where King Gaius lives - or, at least, where he used to live."

"What are the dwellings like?" Joey asked.

"They are very similar to the structures in Ponyville, but more crudely built," Capper replied.

"And they build these houses on a tree branch?" Naiose laughed, looking beyond incredulous. "This is a whole new level of dumb."

"The tree's branches are about as thick as one of the towers in Canterlot," Capper replied coolly. "That's one of the smaller branches, too."

This effectively shut Naiose up. "Are you pulling my leg?" he asked.

"Nope," Capper replied.

"How in the world can a tree grow that big?" Joey asked.

"That, I don't know," Capper said, stroking his furry chin. "All I know that it's part of their culture."

"Hmm," Joey hummed, stroking Jo-Ann's hair.

There was a long silence that followed where everyone stared at the fire. Finally, Jo-Ann broke it.

"We'll all think better with a rested mind," she suggested. "Why don't we get some sleep?"

"I think that's a great idea," Joey said, smiling at her. He then looked uncertainly at Capper. "You're sure no one will find us up here?"

"More than positive," Capper replied.

"Whatever you say," Joey said, laying down on his back. "I've never been here before, so I'll have to take your word for it."

"Glad to hear it."

Seeing as there was not much to say after this, Joey rolled over on his side. He felt Jo-Ann lay next to him, and she put an arm over the side facing up as she snuggled up to him. He smiled, trying not to let his thoughts wander back to the two close calls they had that day with the Maulers. As he closed his eyes, he heard a distant screaming. It came from his head, as all these kinds of sounds did whenever he was going into a vision.

"Excruciate!"cried a cold, high pitched voice. "Do you need more convincing, Claudier, or shall I just end it now? How can you let three teenagers escape you? TWICE??"

"M-my lord, luck was on their side - no!!"

"Excruciate!!"

The man on the floor screamed and writhed as a surge of rage coursed through Joey "Blame it on luck, do you? You know that I will not tolerate such childish excuses - Now, will you care to explain to me why you let the boy out of your sight?"

"My Lord - I cannot answer -"

Claudier shrieked in pain once more as there was another flash of light. Joey felt a pang of cruel pleasure with each curse he sent at the miserable form of a man that lay before him.

"My lord - please!" Claudier cried desperately. "Let me try again! I will not fail you again! Please!"

Joey clutched his wand tighter, which was still trained on the man. He looked hard at the man and instantly knew that he was telling the truth.

"Your determination is genuine, Claudier," Joey said in a soft, dangerous voice. "However, how do I know that you will not fail me again?"

"Please, my lord - I assure you I will not!"

"Very well. Do not disappoint me, or else..." Joey hit Claudier with another curse, sending him into another shrieking fit. "... You know what will happen." He smiled cruelly. "Now, go."

"Joey!"

He awoke abruptly as Jo-Ann shook him violently. She was looking at him with a terrified expression. Looming over the both of them was Capper, who looked as if he was going to throw up again.

"What in Celestia's name was that??" he said faintly.

"What are you talking about?" Joey grunted, pushing himself up so that he was sitting in an upright position. "I'm fine."

"You - you were murmuring and thrashing about," Capper scoffed. "You are anything but fine."

"Was it another vision?" Jo-Ann asked quietly.

Joey nodded. "He was torturing a Mauler named Claudier for something," he said, trying to remember. Claudier's face swam into view, and then it hit him. "Oh - he was the one I lost back in Kludgetown!"

Naiose looked at him for a long moment, then rolled over, grunted, and fell back asleep. Everyone else stared at him for a couple seconds, then returned to their conversation.

"Wait, wait, wait," Capper said as he turned back to the group. "Jo-Ann. You asked him if he had another vision? A vision of what?"

Joey and his girlfriend exchanged a look. Finally, Joey sighed and launched into an explanation of what had happened two months prior at the Castle of the Two Sisters with Lord Valkaris. When he had finished, Capper looked at him strangely.

"So you're saying that you're connected to the Dark Lord?" he asked, looking both horrified and intrigued at the same time.

"Er - yeah, basically," Joey replied. "Somewhere down the road, we'll have to break the soul connection. It's why I'm having these visions, see. My dad told me once that there was a spell to do it... but we can just add that to the list of things he hasn't told me..."

Noticing his bitter tone, Jo-Ann sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I think you're being kind of unfair to your father," she said in a reasonable voice. "He died before he could tell you any of this."

Joey did not reply, but turned away from the campfire, which had been reduced to glowing embers. He stared off into the dark woods behind him, trying to keep himself from getting angry at his father. As much as he hated to admit it, Jo-Ann was right. Maybe his dad was planning to tell him all of this, but died before he had the chance.

A flicker of movement in the darkness beyond brought Joey to his senses. Was it his eyes playing a trick on him? They were still adjusting to the darkness, after all.

No - there it was again. Joey felt his blood freeze at the spot where he could of sworn he saw something dash behind a tree.

"Guys," he said in a deadly quiet tone. "Something's there."

"Where?" Jo-Ann asked harshly, whipping around.

Joey stood up and drew his wand. Slowly, he walked toward the place where the figure in the woods vanished. He felt his grip shift slightly as his eyes searched the darkness.

A faint rustle of leaves sounded above him, and he reacted immediately. He pointed his wand straight up towards the underside of the tree's canopy and bellowed, "Revulso!!"

There was a loud yelp, and a figure fell out of the trees and hit the ground with a thud. Joey trained his wand on the figure and felt himself give a shout of surprise.

There was a creature that looked like a combination of a lion and a pony. It was female, judging by the eyelashes - females in this world always had longer eyelashes. Her auburn tail was long and shaggy, as well as her mane, which was also an auburn color. She had a set of scales running down the bridge of her nose, as well as along her back. She had a long, red horn that looked almost like a small sapling - a sapling that had one very short branch. She was the same size as a normal pony back in Equestria.

She curled up into a fetal position, hid her face with her hooves, and cried, "No! Stop! I don't mean any harm!"

"How are we supposed to know?" Joey said suspiciously.

"Because we all knew you'd show up some day," the lion-pony replied, peeking at Joey from behind her hooves in a frightened manner.

"What do you mean?" Joey asked, feeling his stomach fall into the depths of Tartarus.

"The kirin," the lion-mare replied. "We knew you'd come."

"Is that what you are? Kirin?" Joey asked.

The lion-mare nodded. Capper let out a gasp.

"Joey, stop!!" he cried, throwing himself in front of the lion-mare. "They're friends of Fluttershy and Applejack!!"

Joey hesitated. "Are you positive?"

"Yes, yes I am!" the mare squeaked desperately. "Applejack is an apple farmer and Fluttershy is a caretaker of animals!"

Capper looked at Joey significantly. "See what I mean? Those are things only a friend can say."

"But anyone who goes to Ponyville can tell us that," Joey retorted, keeping his wand pointed at the mare.

"Ponyville? What's that?" asked the mare. Just one look was all it took to know that her lack of knowledge about Ponyville was genuine.

"Okay, my apologies," Joey said kindly, shoving Capper out of the way and offering a hand to the mare. "You can't be too careful."

"Er - that's okay!" she chirped, smiling at him. Taken aback by Joey's sudden change in attitude, she she slowly took his hand. He pulled her to her hooves and smiled. She looked very confused - either from falling out of the tree or the sudden friendliness of Joey.

"Joey Steffen, most wanted creature on the planet," Joey said brightly, shaking her hoof. "The other creatures of my species behind me are my best friends. Together, we make up the biggest bounty the world has ever seen."

The lion-pony giggled. "I'm Autumn - Autumn Blaze. Do you mind me asking what you are? I've never seen anything like you - well, I've seen monkeys around before, but they're so rare, and it's very hard to find one -"

Joey covered her mouth with a hand to silence her. "To answer your question and ignore the tangent, my friends and I are called humans. I'm sure you've heard of the news considering the rest of the world?"

Her smile faltered slightly. "Yes," Autumn replied. "Is it true he's more powerful than all four of the Equestrian Princesses combined?"

"Yeah, I saw him floor all four of them at the same time," Joey replied darkly. "Quick subject change, but what are you? Some kind of species of pony?"

"Nope. Kirin," Autumn replied, puffing out her chest. "Barely anyone in this world knows about us."

"Are you for real?" Joey asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm for real," Autumn said smugly. "We Kirin have been unaffected by everything that's happening - well, maybe except the storm clouds."

"Autumn," Capper asked, kneeling down to her level. "Why are you out here at this time of night?"

"Rain Shine sent me to check out the light your fire was making," the kirin replied. I was just scouting out the place - but forget that, I haven't seen you in forever!!" She launched herself into Capper's arms. Joey raised an eyebrow at the two.

"She gets a little overjoyed when it comes to friends," Capper said, catching Joey's gaze.

"Ah. I see," Joey replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Autumn chirped. "C'mon, let me show you to my village."

"Your village?" Naiose asked, looking very uneasy.

"Don't worry, it's just kirin that live there," Autumn said matter-of-factly. "Come on!!"

Joey looked around at Naiose and Jo-Ann. "Look, take her word for it. It all adds up. She's a friend of two of the Elements. She's a friend of Capper. As a matter of fact, Capper seems to know all of the kirin, listening to the way he talks about them."

Capper shrugged. "Guilty as charged."

"Why didn't you tell us about them, then??" Naiose said angrily.

"Well, I figured that we'd only be in the peaks for a single night, so I saw no reason to," Capper replied calmly.

"Fair enough," Joey said, giving Naiose a quelling look. "Autumn, lead the way."

They wound their way through the thick forest, following the sound of Autumn's footsteps. They had not even gone a hundred yards when they found themselves in a large clearing.

"Guys, it's okay! It's Capper - he's brought a few friends!" Autumn shouted into the darkness. Joey visibly cringed, half expecting a Mauler to come lunging out of the darkness.

No such thing came. Instead, torches flickered to life all around them, revealing a small village that resided mostly in the trees. A large fountain sat in the center of the clearing; out of it flowed water that was a brilliant blue hue. Most of the small huts sat in the trees. Their walls were made out of wood, and the ceilings were made out of great big fern leaves.

A small herd of kirin approached the group. Their leader was immediately distinguishable. She was the tallest kirin - probably no taller than Princess Celestia herself. Her mane and tail were a peaceful cyan color, and her fur was grey. She grinned widely upon seeing Capper.

"Dear Capper!" she said in a very high pitched voice. "It has felt like a lifetime!"

"I've only been here twice, Rain Shine," Capper deadpanned. "The first time was on Equestrian business."

"That doesn't mean we aren't friends, no?" Rain Shine chirped, pulling him into a hug. She then looked over at Joey and his friends. "Who are these young ones? I don't - oh."

Her eyes went wide upon seeing Joey. The kirin population behind her started to stare at Joey as well, and began to whisper to one another excitedly.

"Joey Steffen... and his two friends," Rain Shine said quietly, looking from Joey to Naiose, then to Jo-Ann.

"Erm... hi," Joey said awkwardly.

"You've seen Twilight's letter, you know who they are," Capper said wearily.

"Indeed," Rain Shine said, now serious. "Are the rumors true, then?"

"Uh - rumors?" Joey asked, casting a nervous glance back at Jo-Ann.

"Yes... those who stand against the Dark Lord are calling you three 'The Last Hope'," Rain Shine explained. "Are you really our last hope?"

"Well - er - I guess so," Joey stammered, feeling his face burn from all the stares he was receiving. "My father gave me a job to do, and I'm going to do the best I can to finish it."

"Does it involve the Dark Lord?" Rain Shine asked excitedly.

"Yes," Joey replied. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone, though, so I can't answer any more of your 'Last Hope' questions. To be completely honest with you, I have no idea what all the little things that are going on in the world are, since my friends and I have been in hiding."

"As I understand it, they're looking for you," Rain Shine said casually, but something in her tone told Joey that she knew more on this subject than she was letting on.

"You've seen the wanted posters, haven't you?" Joey asked with a grin.

"Er - yeah," Rain Shine said sheepishly. She then looked at Autumn. "Why did you bring them here, Autumn Blaze?"

"Well, I couldn't of just left them out there in the dark," Autumn replied. "Would it be alright if they stayed here? We have a couple of empty huts they could use."

"Er - we can't stay here long," Naiose piped up. "We have things we need to do."

"Naiose is right," Joey agreed, looking Rain Shine dead in the eye. "We can't stay for very long - we have something we need in Griffonstone."

"You can stay in the meantime, then," Rain Shine said, smiling at Autumn. "And please do return whenever you see fit; we kirin are well hidden and are willing to assist you in any way we can."

"Can we start with bedding arrangements?" Capper asked irritably. "I'd like some sleep, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Rain Shine said, beaming at the feline. Blushing slightly, she added, "I and I hope that we may please you during your stay. Autumn, why don't you show our guests to the spare homes we have?"

As Autumn led them away, Joey sidled up to Capper and murmured, "Someone's clearly got the hots for ya, chief."

"Shut up," Capper growled, blushing furiously.

Joey lay in a simple bed made of thatch, staring at the ceiling. He, Naiose, and Capper were sharing a hut together. Jo-Ann was staying in the hut closest to Autumn's abode, in case there was an emergency of some sort.

The bed was much more comfortable than the scraps of salvaged animal hide they used for bedding back in Kludgetown. As he pulled up a heavy blanket woven from what felt like smooth grass, he let his thoughts drift. His chest gave a painful throb, but he ignored it.

Once again in his life, everything seemed to happen incredibly fast. Why, it had only been that afternoon when he had met Capper, and now they were all the way on the other side of Equestria. Good thing, too; Lord Valkaris still had no idea where he was right now.

Closing his eyes, Joey wondered how long this streak of good fortune would last.

The Crown of King Ventaius

Author's Note

This chapter gets a little spooky. Those of you who hate spooky, be warned.

The Crown of King Ventaius

Morning came agonizingly quick for Joey.

He had been having a strange dream before he awoke. It was a classic save-the-damsel-in-distress situation, except the gender roles were reversed - Joey was being saved from a tower by his knight in shining armor, Jo-Ann, right after she had slain a dragon that had Lord Valkaris's face.

Then his eyeball got sniped by a sunbeam.

He grimaced and flopped over in bed, mashing his face into the thatch bedding. "What the hell, Celestia..."

"What?" said a voice that came from his left. He looked up to see Naiose looking straight up at him from the floor with an inquiring expression.

"I said, 'Celestia, what the hell," Joey grunted, sitting up straight.

Naiose chuckled, obviously a little loopy from tiredness. "Oh, yeah. 'Cause she raises the sun and shit. Do you know what time we went to bed last night?"

"Late, that's all I know," Joey replied, rubbing his eyes furiously to rid them of their tired itchiness. He scowled at the window next to his bed, which had no curtains to block the morning sunlight. "Why do these stupid kirin have to neglect curtains? They're essential to getting the perfect amount of sleep."

"It's because we kirin wake up with the sun!" said a cheery voice just outside the front door, making Joey and Naiose jump.

The door flew open with a BANG as Autumn Blaze bounded into the room, landing right on top of a sleeping Capper's stomach. He yowled in shock as he woke up, sending Autumn to the floor with an amusing thud. Capper groaned and slowly sat up.

"Do you bloody kirin have to do that every time I'm here?" he said groggily, managing to glare at Autumn through his unfocused eyes.

"It's not my fault you sleep close to the door," Autumn retorted with an exasperated huff.

"I do it to get away from those miserable beams of sunlight," Capper said morosely, pointing a thumb at the evil window that had woken Joey up.

"Now I see why you called dibs on that bed," Joey said grumpily. "No fair."

Autumn made a tutting noise and got to her hooves. "Well, hurry up you guys - breakfast is about to start. Capper, Rain Shine has saved a seat for you - just giving you a heads up."

Capper groaned and dragged a hand down his face in an irritated manner. "What? I don't even get a say in this?" Autumn didn't hear him, though; she was already out the door. Muttering profusely and savagely, Capper got to his feet and threw his black cloak over his shoulders. Trudging out the doors, Joey could of sworn he heard the words 'Shine' and 'psychopath'.

He and Naiose only took a minute longer than Capper, but only because Naiose had somehow lost a sock (Joey could remember saying, "Seriously, Naiose, you were literally wearing that frickin' sock when you went to bed!")

When they had finally left the house, two kirin immediately flanked them and escorted them to a long wooden table that sat right next to the fountain with brilliant blue water. Jo-Ann waved at the two of them from one end of the table, gesturing to the two open seats to her left. At her right, seating at the head of the table, was Rain Shine.

Joey took his seat directly next to Jo-Ann; Naiose sat to his left in the last open seat. Joey looked over at Capper, who looked extremely grumpy as Rain Shine kept trying to grab his attention. Their eyes met, and Capper scowled even deeper.

"Not. A. Word," he growled, baring his teeth. Joey just laughed and shrugged while feeling Jo-Ann's hand slip into his under the table.

They were immediately served with some sort of vegetable omelette, which turned out to be amazing. Rain Shine gave Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann a simple interrogation. They told her all they could without revealing her plan. When Capper had butted in and told Rain Shine that Jo-Ann had saved his life, she beamed at her.

After witnessing this, Joey felt a slight hollow feeling in his stomach that he couldn't explain. Naiose seemed to notice this and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"You alright?" he asked in a low voice.

"Wha -? Oh, yeah," Joey replied hurriedly, quickly taking an enormous bite of omelette so as to avoid further conversation. Jo-Ann noticed none of this; she was laughing at a joke that Rain Shine had just told her.

Naiose gave his friend a disbelieving look, but did not push the topic. Instead, he turned his attention back to his own omelette. "So when are we going to Griffonstone?"

"Tonight," Joey answered automatically. "Better to do it under the cover of darkness."

"Figured you say that," Naiose replied thickly through a mouthful of omelette. He swallowed, then asked, "So do you know the whole plan?"

"No, I figured that we'd just polish it before we go," Joey replied, poking the remnants of his omelette with a wooden fork. "You know - have it fresh in our minds."

"Yeah - good idea," Naiose said brightly, eating the last bite of his omelette.

Once he had finished his last bite, he looked over at Joey. "Why aren't you eating, Joey?"

Joey shrugged. "I dont feel very hungry - probably from all of the excitement." Half of this was true; we wasn't that hungry. As to why, he didn't actually know. He just seemed to get this strange, hollow feeling whenever he looked at Jo-Ann and thought about everything she had done so far. She had saved his rear twice, and on top of that she had managed to apparate to somewhere she had only seen in a picture.

Was it jealousy that was haunting his thoughts? Hopefully not... and if that was what these feelings were, he'd have to suck it up and move on - or at least try to.

Although as Jo-Ann turned in her seat to beam at him, it made the gnawing feeling inside of him swell into a down spiral. But he would fight this; if the world depended upon him, he had to.

CANTERLOT

Cadance had been pacing the hallway just outside of the royal kitchens at Canterlot Castle, for they had the best views of the city below. It was mid morning, the time of day when she would simply pace back and forth through the hallway. With each step came a new thought or worry, though one in particular dominated her mind - Joey.

Was he okay? Where was he now? Was his mission going well? Would - would she ever see him again?

She shook her head to rid herself of that nasty thought. No, that was ridiculous - Joey was strong. He looked like he knew what he was doing; if not, he was smart enough to figure it out.

Along with these worries came another - they were about her Flurry Heart. Fortunately, the fact that she existed was not entirely known among the Maulers, although she wasn't sure whether the Dark Lord was aware of her daughter, either. If he was, he was keeping unusually quiet.

She paused to stare out a window, looking at the sky as she continued to drown in her own thoughts. The Dark Lord had indeed kept unusually quiet. Now that Cadance thought about it, the last time she had seen the dark wizard was when he had triumphantly marched into Canterlot and seized control. Luckily for them, there had been no bloodshed, due mostly to the fact that Princess Celestia had ordered all guards to step aside and let the Dark Lord take control. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday; you could have heard a pin drop during his march into the city as all of the citizens watched in a terrified silence.

Cadance looked at the ground and fought back tears. She hoped dearly, with every cell in her body, that things would get better. That everyone could get out of this terrible situation safely...

That she would get to spend her days with her surrogate son in peace.

The door at the end of the corridor flew open, making Cadance flinch. She turned to see Tempest standing there in the doorway, looking very regretful.

"Scallius wants you in the throne room," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

Cadance felt her heart shatter as she watched Tempest. Though the Captain hid it well, Cadance could tell that she was forced into following the orders from Scallius. She approached Tempest and brought her into a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry," Cadance whispered, then let the Captain go. Tempest took a deep breath and stiffened her already stony expression, determined not to show weakness. She turned and walked out the door, and Cadance instantly knew that she was meant to follow her.

As the pair walked down the corridor beyond, Cadance asked, "What does Scallius want this time?"

Tempest shrugged as they turned a corner.

Cadance curled her tongue in disgust as she continued to follow Tempest. Saying Scallius's name always put a sour, unpleasant taste into her mouth - it would of for anyone.

Gavin Scallius was a big, brutish Mauler built like a troll. While he looked like he had the intelligence of your average boulder, he was actually very cunning and intelligent. He verbally tortured the sovereigns that had been relocated to Canterlot and got loads of pleasure out of it. He would order them to do things that they otherwise wouldn't, and if they refused he would simply call for his master, who assured them all that he would sort things out himself if worst came to worst. That effectively dampened the rebellious spirits of every single creature in the castle - besides Scallius, obviously.

As they approached the throne room doors, Cadance felt her heart slow down. Just beyond those doors was Scallius - no doubt to force her into doing something horrible again.

Tempest shakily pushed open the throne room doors, then made a slight bow to Cadance as she walked past. Once Cadance was inside, the doors closed with a low, ominous boom.

"Ah! Princess Cadance," said a sly, low pitched voice. "I was beginning to get concerned."

She looked up to see the brawny figure of Scallius striding down the steps that led up to thrones of Celestia and Luna. He wore a mean smirk upon his face, and was clearly in a great mood. Also in the room were all the sovereigns - including Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.

Scallius leered at Cadance before saying, "So... the Dark Lord has made a comment to me about the cooperation of the Canterlot community. What do you think he said?"

"I... I cannot tell you that," Cadance said with an edge to her voice. "I do not talk to the Dark Lord."

Scallius cackled. "Don't get wise with me, princess. "You know very well what I mean."

"There is nothing wrong with the community's attitude!" Luna snapped, stomping a hoof. She glared at Scallius with so much ferocity that it made Cadance half-surprised that he wasn't a pile of ashes. Then again, she knew that her aunt was aware that Scallius had enough skill to duel her one-on-one. The only reason everyone didn't attack him at once was because they knew that at that point Lord Valkaris would deal with them himself. Just the thought of that sent a shiver down Cadance's spine.

Scallius made a soft tutting noise as he smirked at Luna in a gloating fashion. "Manners, Lulu," he said as his eyes glinted maliciously. "You could be heading up a certain creek without a paddle."

Luna paled slightly, but continued to glare murderously at Scallius as he cackled. He walked up to Princess Celestia, who had been muttering to Luna, and flicked his wand at her. There was a sharp crack, and Celestia jumped away from Luna with a yelp of pain. There was a mutinous outbreak of shouting as everyone began to verbally abuse Scallius. Fortunately for them, all their voices mixed together into a din that the brutish Mauler could not understand.

"SILENCE!" he shrieked, bringing his wand down. The whole room went deathly quiet as Scallius put a silencing spell on everyone in the room. He was no longer smiling; he scowled at everyone in the room. "It appears that you all are not quite tame with the fact that you are no longer in power," he said in a low, dangerous tone. "Perhaps we need more convincing...?" He raised a finger to an odd mark on his neck.

"NO!" King Gaius cried, stumbling over his own feet.

Scallius laughed softly and slowly lowered his hand. "Wise choice, Gaius. Anyone else?" He looked around at their nervous looks, and smirked. "Good."

He walked back up to the platform upon which the thrones sat, and sat down criss-crossed on Celestia's seat. Luna shook with rage, but Celestia put a hoof on her withers to calm her.

"As I was saying earlier - the cooperation of the local community does not meet the Dark Lord's standards," Scallius said lazily, flicking away a speck that sat on an armrest. "Therefore, action shall be taken so that his standards are met. Suggestions?"

"We will speak to the ponies, if that is what you desire" Celestia said calmly, frowning at Scallius.

Scallius cackled. "Bo-ring. Is that all you have?"

"Yes. Yes it is," Celestia said sharply.

"Hmm," Scallius hummed while feigning a thinking expression. "I don't like that. I feel as if we'll need more convincing."

"Don't you dare," Cadance, Luna, and Twilight growled as one. Celestia looked as if she was going to be sick.

"Do not torture my subjects," Celestia said weakly.

"I was under the impression that it was me giving the orders nowadays," Scallius said nastily. "So you will shut up, or face the consequences."

Luna, enraged, opened her mouth to speak, but Celestia gave her sister a warning look. Luna shut her mouth and continued to glare.

Scallius eyed the exchange with an amused expression, and looked slightly disappointed when Celestia calmed her sister down. Looking over everyone in the room, he leered. "I feel that you should be the ones to give the order to have your subjects tortured into cooperation. Even better - your subjects should hear you give it. Oh, that would be hilarious!" He cackled.

The sovereigns in the room gazed at one another, horrified. They knew they had no choice, and if they refused, their subjects would be killed. The injustice of it made Cadance want to scream - she felt a burning sensation behind her eyes as she fought back tears. The other princesses seemed to be feeling the same way.

As the guards ushered them out of the throne room, Twilight let out a horrified sob. Cadance brought her sister in law into a tight hug, then looked at the ceiling.

Joey, she thought miserably. Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing, please hurry.

Griffonstone had been exactly like Capper had explained it; the whole city (more like a town - it was fairly small) was dominated by a large tree that looked as if it were dead. Joey couldn't tell if it was or not, though, because it supported a variety of homes as well as a large, white tower.

The homes were fairly shabby, although they were much better than many of the structures he had come across in Kludgetown. Their roofs were made of a crude style of thatch, and they had pale stucco walls that were supported by wood at the edges.

The streets were simple dirt roads, winding through the city in a spontaneous fashion. There was no pattern in how the streets were organized, but it was still less confusing than Kludgetown had been.

Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann had traveled here from their new secret refuge in the kirin village. After promising that they would return, they had made to leave. Capper attempted to come, too, but Rain Shine would not let him out of her clutches. Not wanting to be delayed, the three friends had disapparated using Jo-Ann's ability to do so with places she's only pictured.

After running over the plan a couple more times, the three of them gazed over the town warily. from behind a large rock.

Next to a forest.

At the bottom of the hill. You can't be too careful.

Joey inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. This was it... if they were lucky, there would be something in that town that could tell them where the Horcrux was. If they were really lucky, the Horcrux would be here...

Joey shook his head. The chances of that had to be nil. There was no way that an ancient artifact like that would be here, of all places. Right?

"You good?" asked Naiose, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Joey grunted, taking another deep breath. "Just nervous."

"Me, too," Jo-Ann said breathlessly. Casting another anxious glance at the city, she asked, "Do you really think we'll pass as Maulers? Griffons aren't stupid."

"Well, for me to walk out in the open like that is the last thing they'd expect," Joey replied. "Besides, from what I've heard, everyone's terrified of the Maulers these days. They'd scamper before they had a good look."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jo-Ann replied, looking slightly more sure of herself. "D'you think we should split up?"

"Definitely," Naiose said quickly, looking her straight in the eye, then did the same with Joey. "Maulers usually don't hang around in groups larger than two for long, remember? We realized that in Kludgetown."

"Yeah, he's right," Joey agreed. "We should apparate into different parts of the city."

"You think we can do it from here?" Naiose asked nervously. "Well - I mean, we know that Jo-Ann can do it, it's just a question of us. Will we be able to do it?"

"Remember the theory for apparition that my dad taught us," Joey reminded him. "Your desire and determination to get there has to be strong enough. So long as you do that, you can't get lost in the travelling void."

"That last part did not help," Naiose said, looking pale.

Joey shrugged. "If you're not comfortable, just come with me. We'd have to go our separate ways soon."

"Yeah, that sounds loads better," Naiose said, looking and sounding relieved.

"Well, hurry," Jo-Ann said. "We need to hurry. "We're meeting up at the base of the tree, right?"

"Correct," Joey and Naiose said at the same time.

Naiose turned away and walked away from the rock they were taking temporary refuge behind. Joey made to leave with him, but Jo-Ann pulled him aside.

"Are you doing alright?" she asked, looking concerned.

Joey returned fire with a hard expression. "Look, don't worry about it. Now's not the time."

Jo-Ann hesitated, then pulled him into a kiss. When she released him, she said, "Please be careful. Okay?"

Joey nodded. Then an extremely important afterthought hit him. Looking at Jo-Ann, he said, "And don't forget - this is a capital city, so there will be reapers."

She nodded at him with a sad smile, then turned on the spot and vanished. Joey then turned and hurried after Naiose. Once he caught up with him, he held out his arm. "Ready?"

Naiose looked at his arm for a moment, then clutched to it tightly. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready."

Joey took a deep breath and looked at the end of one of the tree's branches. He pictured what it would look like up there, what it would feel like. He filled himself with determination to get there and worked up a desire - then turned on the spot and forced his way into a familiar suffocating darkness. As always, it pressed in on him from all sides, squeezing the air out of his lungs...

Then fresh air again.

Taking a deep breath, Joey looked around and felt an immense wave of relief wash over him as he found himself standing on the very branch he had pictured. He'd have to thank Jo-Ann later - although he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it again.

He felt a sudden warmth in his arm as Naiose relieved his grip upon it, allowing blood to flow back into it. Joey rolled his shoulders, then sighed determinedly.

"Here goes nothing," he murmured to Naiose, who nodded nervously back.

The moonlit streets (or would it be branches?) of the upper levels of Griffonstone were silent, though Joey could feel a cold, awful feeling seep into his lungs.

"Naiose," he said in a deadly urgent voice, "We need to move."

Naiose gave his friend an inquiring look. "What? Why?" He then shuddered, and his expression quickly turned into an alarmed one.

"Reapers," Joey whispered. "They'll sense our emotions - they can't see, but they'll know we aren't Maulers. We need to leave now."

The two set off at a brisk pace, although careful not to go too fast as to not attract attention of any kind. As quick as they could without being detected, they carefully descended down the different city levels that the tree provided. Once or twice they encountered a griffon walking on one side of the street in the darkness. Once it noticed the two friends, it shot them a terrified glance and hurried out of sight. It turned out that he was right; the griffons simply thought they were Maulers and didn't even bother to come any closer.

Once at the bottom of the tree, Joey noticed a large problem - the base of the tree was so wide that it would probably take at least five minutes to walk around.

"Should we stay put?" Naiose asked at a whisper, looking around. "I feel like if we went looking for Jo, we'd be harder to find."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "Let's at least hide in the shadows; these Mauler ruses we're using can only help us so much. If she doesn't show up after fifteen minutes, we go looking for her."

Naiose nodded in reply, and the two made for a dark, overshadowed corner right next to the massive tree. There, they made themselves as flat as they could against the trunk, so as to not stick out. There they waited.

The minutes passed like hours, and Joey started to become worried. Had something gone wrong? Was Jo okay? Maybe it was a bad idea to split up...

The approaching sound of crunching gravel gave the two friends a start. They were definitely made by a human - the cadence of the footsteps was that of a human's. Naiose and Joey watched with bated breath as the footsteps rounded a nearby corner.

A hooded figure stepped out into the moonlight, and looked around. Joey felt his stomach clench tightly until he saw a flash of a golden blonde from under the hood.

"Psst!" Joey hissed, and the figure jumped. Joey stepped forward and motioned for the figure to approach him. She agreed, although very hesitantly.

"Jo-Ann? Is that you?" Joey asked.

"Joey?" said Jo-Ann, instantly relaxing. "Oh, thank God." She gave Joey a brief hug, then did the same to Naiose. She glanced over her shoulder to check if anyone was there, then leaned in and whispered, "Did you find anything?"

"No," Joey replied. "We had to move before any reapers could find us."

Jo-Ann nodded. "Okay, just checking," she said, a hint of excitement in her voice. "I ask because I already found a library."

Joey took a step back, feeling thrown off. "Really!?"

"Yep!" Jo-Ann whispered triumphantly. "It's not far from here, either - just on the other side of this tree."

Joey and Naiose exchanged excited looks. It seemed that their streak of good fortune would continue; now they would have to see if it would continue through the entire operation.

"Well c'mon - no use in waiting while we still have the cover of darkness," Joey said in a hushed tone. "Let's see if there's a book that can tell us where the Crown of King Ventaius is."

The three friends slowly made their way to the opposite side of the tree, staying concealed in the shadows as much as possible. When they had reached the other side of the tree, the library was instantly noticeable - it was a tall, wide building, and it was built exactly like a chalet you'd find in Switzerland back on Earth. A large wooden sign hung over the door that was inscribed with poor spelling:

Inturnashunal Griffon Libraree

"I have no idea if it's reliable," Jo-Ann said, grinning slightly. "It's better than nothing, though."

"Yeah," Joey replied, fighting back a laugh that was itching to get out. "I guess it is... that name, though."

"What about it?" Naiose whispered, feigning dumbness in his voice.

"Naiose, shut the fuck up."

They hurried across the street to the library and peeked in through a window. The tall shelves inside stood close to one another, and the librarian's desk was, surprisingly, made from polished wood. Torches on wall mounts stuck out at an angle at equal intervals around the place. The entire place was dark, and not a single creature was in sight.

"Awesome," Joey whispered, turning to his friends. "No one's there."

Joey walked up to the door and jiggled the handle slightly. "Locked," he muttered, pulling out his wand. He tapped the doorknob with it and said, "Alohomora." There was a soft click, and the door swung open without a noise. Motioning for the other two to follow, he stepped inside, holding the door open to let his friends in. Checking the empty street beyond one last time, he closed the door as quietly as possible. He then re-locked the door with another tap on the doorknob.

While he did this, Naiose and Jo-Ann went to work, perusing the shelves. Joey joined them, and they all looked silently for any kind of book that would tell them about the crown. Occasionally one of them would see a book and grab it excitedly, but then returned it soberly as soon as they found nothing of importance.

The sky outside gradually became brighter, and Joey felt himself grow very sleepy as he checked shelf after shelf, but each one was to no avail. The fruitless search was soon broken by the soft sound of trudging feet outside.

"Early risers," Jo-Ann said anxiously. "We need to go - it's only a matter of time before one of them comes to the library."

Joey sighed, and leaned back on the wall farthest from the door. "You're right - nothing here was worth the effort, anyway."

"You're telling me," Naiose said grumpily, rubbing his eyes furiously to rid himself of tiredness. "We spent the entire night slinking around this library for nothing."

"We know, Naiose," Jo-Ann said bracingly. "We'll leave and go back to the kirin village - we can get some sleep there."

"Sounds like a plan," Joey yawned. He grabbed a torch to his left to push himself off of the wall, but something wasn't right. The torch gave - but not in a broken way; it slowly moved parallel to the wall as the sounds of mechanical noises resounded from behind it, coming from the wall itself. Naiose and Jo-Ann froze, staring at the torch Joey had just pressed up against the wall.

"Was... that a lever?" Jo-Ann asked, confused. The floor then barely jerked, but it was hardly noticeable. At that moment, it all dawned on Joey. He looked up at his two friends with an alarmed expression.

"Oh fuck," he said weakly. Then the floor opened up.

They fell into darkness with shouts of surprise. Joey pointed his wand directly down and yelled, "Molliare!!"

His fall then seemed to become weightless. While they continued to fall, it seemed like a lifetime - with a horrified pang, Joey realized that the pit could be bottomless for all he knew. He then felt a hard surface meet his face - no doubt the bottom of the pit they had fallen into - but felt no pain, and realized with relief that his Cushioning Charm had indeed worked. Looking up, he could see no light - the library floor had trapped them.

"Lux," Joey muttered, raising his wand. The light cast from it glinted off the rock walls around them. How far underground had they fallen? How would they get back up?

Joey had never felt so stupid and foolish in his entire life. He had thrown his friends into a trap unwittingly - he should of watched where he placed his hand. Now they were all going to get caught, and it was all his fault...

Unless...

He turned around and gaped as a large opening led farther into a cave. He took a tentative step forward, trying to shine as much light as he could into the cave. Jo-Ann and Naiose seemed to follow his gaze, and also found themselves transfixed with what they saw.

"What d'you think?" Naiose asked at a whisper. "Should we go in?"

"We don't have anywhere else to go," Joey replied, "So might as well. Coming, Jo?"

Jo-Ann shook her head. "Y-yeah. Let's just get this over with."

Joey looked at her incredulously. "You good?"

"Not a fan of caves," Jo-Ann replied bluntly. "Or anything underground, for that matter."

"Are you okay with this?" Joey asked, grabbing her shoulders gently.

"I'll manage," she said weakly.

Joey looked at her hesitantly for a moment, then turned to Naiose. "Can you be the caboose as we go in?"

Naiose blinked. "The caboose?"

"Just watch our backs," Joey explained. He turned to his girlfriend. "Can you watch the sides? I'm not going to trust anything that promises safety in there." Jo-Ann nodded weakly. "Alright, then... here we go - don't forget to light up your wands."

He walked forward, holding his wand high above his head so as to cast light over more surfaces in their surroundings. He heard his friends mutter "Lux" behind him, and the cave became considerably brighter.

They had not even walked ten paces into the cave when he heard a scuttling noise. Naiose and Jo-Ann had heard it too, for they all froze at the exact same time. Joey pointed his wand in the direction from which the noise came, and the light fell on a large stalagmite.

"Oh, I hate this," Naiose moaned. "I hate this, hate this, hate this..."

"Shh!" Joey hissed, then turned around and walked forward slowly and carefully. His eyes scanned any surface that emerged from the darkness, jumping slightly whenever there were more scuttling noises. Joey had the dreadful feeling of being watched; with the mysterious noises resounding with every five feet of ground covered, he was sure of it.

The eeriness of the cave pressed in on them from all sides, suffocating all thoughts and redirecting them to the horrifying darkness. Still, they pressed on. Soon the cave took a sharp turn to the right, and Joey edged around the corner. He nearly lost his lunch at what glinted in the light.

A large spider web spanned the entire cavern, which was about fifteen feet wall to wall, and probably ten feet floor to ceiling. There was an array of bones scattered intermittently across it; most of them had fallen to the floor.

Jo-Ann made a retching noise somewhere behind him, and the sound of sick spattering over stone followed. The smell of it reached his nostrils, making his eyes water in disgust.

"Relashio!" he sputtered, slicing the web apart with an invisible force from his wand. He then pushed forward, dragging his two friends along. He pulled Jo-Ann into a one arm hug, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Just don't think about it," she muttered over and over again, "Just don't think about it..."

"Joey!" Naiose yelped pointing his wand at a large stone. "Something moved! Just over there!"

Joey squinted at the rock, but it remained still. He pointed his wand at it and said shakily, "Reducto."

The rock blasted apart, and there was a flash of movement as an eight legged creature scuttled up the walls and disappeared through a crevice.

"Oh d-dear God," Joey stuttered weakly, looking at the place where the creature disappeared. "Th-That was the biggest spider I've seen in m-my entire life."

"Well, they seem to hate the light," Naiose said at a brave attempt at sounding unafraid. "We should be fine as long as we stay in the light."

Jo-Ann grabbed Joey's hand and squeezed it extremely tightly. It provided slight comfort to Joey, however, and he returned with another squeeze. He started forward again, this time at a faster pace. The tunnel seemed to curve upward, giving Joey a small glimmer of hope. Was this the way out?

Soon, they came to a large chamber that split into two passages on the other side. The roof of the chamber rose into the darkness; for all they knew, there could be hundreds of those gigantic spiders up there, just waiting to claim new flesh.

The three friends approached the passages and scrutinized them. The one on the left continued to rise, but the one on the right sank slightly.

"We need to go left," Naiose said immediately, and took a step forward.

Joey nodded and turned left. As he did, a glint of gold caught his eye down the right passageway.

"Wait - hold on..." he murmured, stopping and holding his wand a little higher. Was it a trick of his eyes, or did he really see -?

Another glint of gold.

"Guys! come back!" Joey called, and he heard Naiose groan in frustration as the two returned to him.

"What is it??" Naiose snapped. "I hate this place - and so does Jo. Let get out of here, for fuck's sake!"

"No - there's something here," Joey said calmly, approaching the right passageway. He held up his wand a little higher, and saw the light wash over something wooden - something old, with fading paint -

"It's a door!" Joey said in surprise. "There aren't any webs down this way, either!"

"A door?" Jo-Ann replied hesitantly. "Are you sure?"

"Dead sure," Joey replied, walking down the passage to the the door. There was something inscribed on the door, but it was covered in grime and dust. He pointed his wand at it and said, "Tergeo."

Most of the grime and dust was wiped off, and now he could make out most of the image that had been painted there.

A large, black griffon dominated the picture, surrounded by many joyous looking griffons. The black griffon wore a tall, magnificent crown that was adorned with almost every kind of jewel imaginable.

"Is that -? No," Naiose said from somewhere behind Joey.

"King Ventaius - I swear it is," Joey said quietly. He stepped even closer to the door and stretched out a hand. When he did, the skittering and clicking noises returned, though this time were much louder and closer.

"Jo - get behind me!" Joey said, whipping around. "See if you can open the door! Naiose, with me!"

The two friends raised their wands, scattering light into the dark chamber that they had just passed through. What they saw sent a bucket of icy fear cascading into Joey's stomach, drowning out his other emotions.

The chamber's walls were alive with huge, milky pale spiders, all skittering down the wall in massive droves. Joey's feet froze to the ground in fear; he couldn't move, he was stuck, it was all over -

A spider landed in front of Joey, snapping him out of his terrified trance. It came up to his hip and was the size of a large dog. It reared up on its hind legs and squealed at Joey, revealing its disgusting, wrinkly underside. Its mandibles - which had to be at least six inches long - clicked together hungrily as it fell forward again and charged. Joey yelped and blasted it out of the way, leaving it twitching upon the ground.

"Jo-Ann!" he roared over his shoulder, sending another Stunning Spell into the crowd. "Can you hurry it up?"

"It - won't - BUDGE!!" Jo-Ann grunted back.

"Naiose, help her!" Joey shouted. "I'll buy you time!"

"No way! Are you MAD???" his friend shrieked. "They'll tear you apart!"

"Not if you can get that door open!!" Joey shouted back. He kicked out at another spider, and his foot connected with its face. As the spider toppled backward, his foot erupted in excruciating pain. He growled, furious, and thrust his wand back at the oncoming horde of spiders.

"Mordo!!"

An evil sensation ran down every single nerve in his wand arm, coursing all the way to his fingers, then into his wand. A powerful, indestructible beam of pale green light flashed through the chamber and blasted a hole in the floor, sending many of the putrid arachnids, most of which were now dead, flying through the air.

Behind him, there was a loud groan of hinges.

"Joey! Come on!" screamed Jo-Ann's voice, and he felt himself get pulled backward.

His foot screamed in protest as he hobbled through the large door, which was now ajar. Jo-Ann helped him through the last couple of feet to get safely on the other side, then began frantic attempts to push the door closed.

"Naiose!" she shrieked desperately However, she didn't need to, for he was already at her side. Slowly but surely, the door inched forward.

"Faster!" Naiose bellowed, but the fist spider began to squeeze its way through the door. Joey limped towards the door, ignoring the roaring protests of his foot, and joined his friends in their struggle. With the combined force of the three of them, the door swung completely closed with a grotesque crunch.

"Crunch?" Naiose asked, looking over at the door at its closing point. He then quickly turned away, looking very sick. He hunched over a rock and murmured queasily, "That spider is dead for sure."

Joey hardly heard him. The pain in his leg was so great that he crumpled to the floor.

"Joey!" cried Jo-Ann's voice, and he felt himself lifted to his feet. She supported him over to a large rock and sat him down. She removed his shoes, which had a tear in it that oozed some sort of black secretion. As she peeled away his sock, she gasped.

"Oh my God," she said weakly. Joey looked down, and when he did, he thought he would pass out. His foot was a very dark purple and swollen. The dark purple color was slowly creeping up his leg - wherever the color was, there was pain.

He forced himself to look away, trying to ignore the impulse to throw up. His heart beat furiously against his ribcage, roaring in dread. His foot throbbed horribly, as if trying to convince him into looking down at it again. Then, for the second time that day, a glint of gold caught his eye.

Then he saw it again, on the other side of the chamber they had entered - a long, golden something.

"What are you looking at?" Naiose asked, approaching Joey and Jo-Ann. He followed Joey's gaze, then froze. "No. Fricken. Way."

It was separated from them by a large chasm, bridged by a flimsy looking ancient rope bridge. No cobwebs were anywhere to be seen. The cavern reeked of age; the smell of countless years seemed to seep into every nook and cranny of the cave. Yet, there it sat, untainted, glowing in the darkness, seemingly untouched by age.

The Crown of King Ventaius.

Unfortunate Delays

Joey tried to get to his feet, but Jo-Ann pushed him back down gently.

"No," she said firmly, grasping his hand tightly in both of her own. "You are in no shape to go anywhere."

"It's right there, though!!" Joey cried in outrage. "Don't tell me that we're just going to -"

"Are you really going to prioritize a Horcrux over your own life?" she asked indignantly.

Joey did not reply, but looked determinedly at Naiose who was trying very hard to look neutral. After a long moment, however, he sighed in a defeated way.

"She's right, mate," he said quietly. "Your leg - it's - it looks awful."

Joey looked back at Jo-Ann, feeling mutinous. "How are you supposed to know if it's a matter of life or death?"

"Oh, I don't know," Jo-Ann replied coldly. "Maybe the fact that you've gone completely pale in the last two minutes is acting as a dead giveaway."

Now that he thought about it, he was feeling lightheaded. His girlfriend was definitely overreacting, though - he didn't feel like he was going to die. What was important now is that he get the Crown; there would be time to recover from the spider venom later. Well, Joey was pretty sure the black stuff was venom.

"I don't care," he said in a quiet, dangerous voice. "We're this close. We are NOT stopping now." He stood up forcefully and tried with all his might to ignore the fiery pain that was gradually snaking up his leg. He drew his wand when Jo-Ann made to sit him back down.

"Don't," Joey growled. "Let's get the crown, then leave."

"But, your leg -"

"No, Jo-Ann." Joey snapped, glaring angrily at her. Were they ever going to understand? The world was in danger, and they were concerned about his leg. He limped towards the drawbridge, grunting slightly with every step on his bad leg. Before he made it to the bridge, however, he felt Jo-Ann throw his arm over her shoulder for support. He sighed, feeling slightly guilty for lashing out, but the need was great at the time. They just needed to understand.

The first couple steps on the bridge were the most terrifying. It swayed slightly to the left, sending Joey's stomach into a horrendous lurch. He steadied himself with the help of Jo-Ann and took another shaky step forward.

And another.

... And another.

Time seemed to slow down immensely as Joey hobbled his way towards the crown. It was just sitting there, unguarded - were the spiders guarding it, or did they steal it and hide it down here, or - was it a trap? Probably.

As they reached the other side, Joey shuddered as his leg gave a painful throb. Jo-Ann squeezed his shoulders, but it did not help him - instead, he felt his energy slowly fading away.

This did not go unnoticed by Jo-Ann, who looked very scared as she watched her boyfriend. "We need to get you help," she said urgently.

"The... the crown..." Joey said weakly. It felt like someone had placed dead weights on the end of each of his limbs, making them feel rubbery and useless. He forced himself forward, however, and did not stop until his hand was inches from the crown's golden surface. He felt himself hesitate, and looked at his girlfriend, then back at Naiose, who had followed them across the bridge. They both gave him a reassuring nod, and Joey felt himself look back around at the crown with a new sense of confidence. So what if it was a trap? They needed it, and they couldn't stop now - they had come this far, after all.

He seized the crown with his free hand and brought it to his chest. At first, everything was quiet. Then there was more skittering.

"Oh, god..." Naiose moaned.

Up from the chasm, all around them, came the spiders. Joey felt Jo-Ann clutch his hand tightly. He then felt her make a move towards Naiose, but there was a horrible scream. Fear stabbed every inch of Joey's skin as he looked over to see his friend.

A spider had pounced towards his head, but he had courageously held the spider out of biting range, wrestling it off by the mandibles. The spider stopped for a split second, then began to spit venom into his friend's face. Naiose's screams clamored off the chamber walls, adding to the noisy din.

"NO! Revulso!" Joey cried, pointing his wand at Naiose's attacker. The spider screeched horribly as it plummeted backward back into the chasm. As Jo-Ann turned her attention to another approaching spider, Naiose doubled over, grimacing, and clutched his left eye. Joey then made the most courageous decision he had ever made in his entire life.

He staggered towards Naiose with his remaining energy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Jo-Ann seemed to see what was about to happen, for she clutched his arm in a painful grip and screeched, "JOEY!! DON'T YOU DARE -!!"

It was too late, though; Joey had already thrust his wand into the air. Just before entering the void between apparition and disapparition, he passed out completely, and felt nothing but extreme pain in his leg. It slowly creeped up his thigh, soon reaching his crotch.

He remembered nothing more.

Zecora walked down a narrow hallway lit with torches on all sides in the upper levels of Canterlot Castle. Coming to an intersection of hallways, she peeked around the corners to check for Scallius. Not seeing any sign of him, she continued down the hallway.

She had been kept in the upper levels of the castle ever since Lord Valkaris had taken over, and she was already done with it. While the castle boasted living in luxury, she preferred her tranquil, dark, isolated home back in the Everfree. She was never one to socialize, but had no problem with that - here, it was different. In those moments when she was forced to socialize with something, it was never a good thing half of the time.

The good side of her social life here in Canterlot were those quiet moments when one of the princesses or Elements came to offer some support. It was usually one of the Elements; they knew her best.

Although she did not admit it, she needed help - emotional help. Ever since she prophesied about the Dark Lord and the young human child, Joey (her heart always felt a sorrowful stab whenever she thought of him), she felt like a bomb that could go off at any time, destroying them all. Or, even worse, getting them all in trouble.

The bad side of her social life then were the times she was summoned by Scallius, who was nothing but a bully who used the Dark Lord's threats as leverage to become a downright monster. He was especially mean to her, saying terrible things to her face without the slightest hesitation. She could still hear his drawling voice sometimes, drilling its way into her thoughts.

"You are the reason my master is on this wild goose chase for the boy - that useless, stupid boy - but that is literally the only thing you've done, being a nuisance, and you don't have any other special capabilities - just that one, stinking prophecy. How insignificant you are - I mean, look at you, you have no powers - no important skills - unless you can brew yourself a nice herbal beverage that can save the world. What? You can't? Figures..."

As much as these words often haunted her daily thoughts, she pressed on. She refused to let her self esteem fall victim to the verbal abuse she often received at the hands of Scallius.

Then there were those who tried to assist her whenever they could; most of the time it was Fluttershy, Pinkie, or Twilight, but Celestia herself popped in on her occasionally. They always listened if she had something she needed to say, and made sure to do anything they could to keep her going. Scallius was a complete jerk to them as well, but to her he was downright horrible. Everyone else knew this, and because of that they did their best.

Especially Fluttershy. Thank Celestia for Fluttershy.

The butter colored pegasus checked on her every other day, for Scallius put restrictions on said visits out of cruelty. Whenever she did visit, however, it was merely just to be a comforting presence. Sometimes they talked, though not very often. Zecora had long lost the desire to speak ever since she prophesied about Joey.

There went that pang of sadness again.

Whenever Zecora did talk to Fluttershy, it was usually one of three things - consolation for her troubles concerning Scallius, wondering if this nightmare would ever end, and speculations as to where Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann could be.

Zecora strode across another hallway and came to a stop in front of a door. Sighing quietly, she pushed open the door, revealing a closed in spiral staircase that led upwards at a steep angle. She closed the door quietly behind her and began to climb the seemingly endless staircase. However, she was so lost in her thoughts that it had felt like it had been only a minute until she reached the top of the stairs. A large wooden door with a brass ring handle loomed in front of her.

The topmost room in the entire castle - her designated chambers.

Indeed, it was lonely - the Dark Lord made it that way on purpose. He apparently thought that if she was kept isolated, she would be less likely to spill important information to someone that wasn't part of his inner circle. Not only that, but this was the closest place in the castle to the reapers, who resided in the sky. The horrifying creatures sometimes floated past her balcony, filling her with the worst feelings she had ever experienced in her life. Still, all of this confused her - if she was to be isolated, why were ponies allowed to visit?

She pushed open the wooden door, revealing a circular room beyond it with a high ceiling. A large canopy bed with polished wood sat right under a large stained glass window of Princess Luna raising the moon. Two bedside tables sat on both sides of it, each with a small lavender colored lamp. A polished wooden wardrobe dominated the right side of the room, and on the left was a small balcony with a telescope.

These were very nice quarters, without a doubt; still, she preferred the dark, cool air the Everfree Forest provided as opposed to the dry, cold air that blew in from the balcony and filled her room. She trudged over to her bed and flopped down on top of it, briefly reminiscing about the short walk she had just taken. She normally took them to clear her mind, as she usually did back in the days when she would have freedom in the Everfree.

She found herself longing for the forest again - to smell the heavy, humid air that was the aroma of life. To see the forest path during midday, when the canopy dimmed most of the sunlight, creating an ambiance that was incredibly relieving on the eyes. To hear the tranquil hum of the forest environment, or sometimes nothing at all; the silence and the forest noises were of the same value to her. The more she thought of her home, the more her heart ached.

The fact of the matter was simple - she did not belong here, and never would. The forest was her home.

She walked up to the wardrobe and opened it slowly. Her ears twitched slightly upon hearing the soft creak the door let out, but gave no further notice to it. Her eyes searched the back wall of the wardrobe, sifting right through the emptiness that the absence of clothes would leave in any wardrobe. Then she found it - a small indent in the center of the expanse, just off center. While any normal creature would see this and assume it was just a souvenir of a small accident.

Zecora knew better.

She placed a hoof on the space just under the dent, and gave a small push. There was a soft click as the space she pressed on gave a little. When she released the pressure of her hoof, the said area of wood slid out to reveal that it was a small compartment, not a simple area of wood on the back of a wardrobe. Inside it was a small photograph, which she picked up and brought closer to her face so as to see it better.

In the center of the photo stood Joey, with his hands in his pockets. He was smiling slightly with a sad background. He looked relaxed, however, and was slightly leaning to the right up against a gleeful looking Princess Cadance, who had a large grin on her face as if nothing could of gone wrong. To Joey's left stood Princess Twilight, who looked absolutely ecstatic. This photo was taken, according to Princess Cadance, the day before they had ambushed the Dark Lord's attempt to pull an entire army of reapers into this world.

Her head gave a painful throb, and she had a brief glimpse of a teenage boy laying in a thatch bed. The image left as soon as it came, however, and she didn't have the energy to focus upon it. She had been having images such as those flash painfully through her thoughts as of late, and she was pretty sure of who they were about - Joey. These images were so short they didn't give her any clues to as where the boy could be or what he was up to. Sighing again, she looked back down at the photo.

Seeing Joey's tranquil face made her heart freeze up with guilt. It was her fault he was the most wanted creature in the world, her fault that his father was dead...

If she had never prophesied, none of this would of happened. Instead, she gave the Dark Lord a huge reason to kill one of her good friends.

Stop it right now, you, she thought to herself in a scolding manner. This is not what Zecora would do. Thinking of things such as this through the night, rather than hoping he'll survive through his plight? He is a smart colt, Cadance told me so. So why worry too much about him, and instead - let go?

She sighed and smiled at the photo. Wherever he was, she hoped he would stay safe. He was the future and the hope for the entire world, after all.

Joey felt weightless, as if he had no form, no body. He simply seemed to float in everlasting blackness for what felt like an eternity. He did not think much of this; as a matter of fact, he did not think much at all, nor did he feel emotion. It was as if he were some sort of inanimate object, floating through an expanse of nothingness.

Then came the light.

It sliced through the darkness like a dagger, allowing a sliver of blinding light to reach him. Were those... eyelids? Then, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, a thought crossed his mind.

FUUUUUUUUUUCK that's bright! it screamed.

There were voices, too - though they sounded odd, kind of like a warble. He could barely make out what was being said.

"Oh... waking..."

"Is... okay??"

"He... dead... poison..."

Joey slowly opened his eyes, ignoring the sudden burning that was caused by the abrupt presence of light. His vision was blurry, nothing but a bunch of colorful blobs dancing around in his line of sight. The voices, however, began to get clearer, slowly rising in clarity.

"He's awake!" said a familiar feminine voice. It spoke with a surprised tone.

A blob that had blonde coloring on top leaned in close. "Joey?" it asked.

"Dasss mee," Joey said in a voice that did not sound like his own. It was slurred and lazy, very unlike his natural tone of voice, which was usually upbeat and articulate.

His vision came into sharper focus. The figure leaned over him was, unsurprisingly, Jo-Ann. Naiose stood by the door, but rapidly made his way over to the bed as soon as he heard the sound of his friend's voice.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, kneeling down. Joey felt himself grin in a goofy way back at him.

"Neverr been betterr," Joey said, trying to give his friends a thumbs up. Instead of doing so, however, he simply raised an arm lazily and let it flop back onto the bed.

Jo-Ann and Naiose exchanged an anxious glance.

Joey mustered up as much "Listen, I'm fine," said Joey, who had noticed this. He attempted to sit up by propping himself up on an elbow, but slipped. Jo-Ann took pity on him and grabbed his shoulders. She then hoisted him up until his back was resting against some sort of wall.

Naiose turned to Jo-Ann and said, "I'm going to go get Capper and Rain Shine." With that, he strode over to the door and pulled it open, disappearing into the night.

Night. It was night.

Joey looked around to get a better take on his location. He was seated in what definitely looked like a hut. He turned to Jo-Ann and opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to the punch.

"We're back in the kirin village," she said anxiously, looking at Joey quizzically. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes," Joey said reassuringly. "I'm feeling better by the second."

This was indeed true, for his line of thought was starting to return - along with the rest of the feeling in his body. He lifted an arm and stretched, feeling an enormously enjoyable tingling sensation down his spine. He did the same thing with the other arm. Once he was done, he looked up at his girlfriend, feeling immensely satisfied.

"How are you doing?" he asked pleasantly.

Jo-Ann looked at him incredulously for a long, silent moment. She then replied, "Fine - it's been really boring. There haven't been many things to do for the past two months -"

Joey's mouth went completely dry. "Two - two months, did you say?" he asked tentatively.

Jo-Ann opened her mouth to reply when the door burst open, cutting across her would-be reply. In marched Naiose, Rain Shine, and Autumn Blaze, the latter two looking pleasantly surprised.

"Ah, our patient has awoken!" Rain Shine said in her high pitched voice. "So nice to see you again..."

"How long have I been here?" Joey asked immediately.

Rain Shine was obviously caught off guard by the question, for she stumbled slightly. Capper chuckled silently behind her, but when she turned to glare at him he immediately donned a concerned expression. Rain Shine turned her attention back to Joey.

"Two months, give or take a week," she said simply.

"Two - months?" Joey said through gritted teeth, feeling anger seep into his thoughts. He turned to Naiose."Why the hell was I out for two months??"

"It was something they gave you," Naiose said nervously. "You know - for your leg."

"Why did you let them??" Joey roared indignantly. "I wasn't aware that you needed anesthetic to cure spider bites -"

"Those weren't normal spider bites," Rain Shine said, looking dead serious. "Those were bites from the ancient breed of Srork'uzad - which means 'The Blood Corrupter' in Ancient Ponish - but they should have been extinct long ago. Their venom is fatal; once it touches your blood, it begins to multiply. You were in terrible condition when your friends brought you here; near to death, actually.

"There is only one cure for it, and fortunately for you, you were in the right place. While the antidote is extremely effective, it also has a certain degree of toxicity. A sleep-inducing toxicity, to be specific. We had to use such a large dose on you, we did not know whether you'd wake up or not... we were amazed that you had survived that long."

"Well, my dad always used to call me a 'tough cookie'," Joey laughed. "So maybe he was right."

"Tch. No kidding," Naiose added.

There was an awkward silence during which Jo-Ann took Joey's hand in her own.

"So - um... when can I leave?" Joey asked, who had been feeling put off ever since hearing about the length of his coma.

"Today," Rain Shine said happily, now beaming at him.

"Okay! Awesome, I was - wait, what?" Joey asked, taking a massive double take.

"You can leave."

"Today?"

"Yes."

"For realsies?"

Rain Shine chuckled. "Yes, for realsies. Once you have awoken from the slumber the antidote gives you, all you need is a couple minutes to recover - and we've spent more than that amount of time simply standing here and talking."

"Oh," Joey said, looking up at Jo-Ann. "Shall we go, then?"

"Yeah, let's go," Jo-Ann said, looking confused.

Everyone began to file out of the room; Joey and Jo-Ann were the last to leave. Before either of them made it out of the door, Jo-Ann turned and clutched her boyfriend's shoulders.

"What's bugging you?" she asked. "You did a good job hiding it from them, but you can't hide it from me."Joey looked at her grumpily for a second, then sighed in a defeated way.

"You win," he sighed.

"Sooooo? Tell me," Jo-Ann chirped, booping him on the nose with a free finger. "Why are you so mad?"

"I'm not mad," Joey grunted. "Just incredibly annoyed."

"Care to tell me why?" Jo-Ann pressed.

"Well, sure," Joey said morosely. "You'd be annoyed too after learning that you've wasted two months in a bed."

Jo-Ann nodded slowly. "But you're alive."

Joey scowled at his girlfriend. "You don't understand - our mission. "We've just lost two months."

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, I will do my best to continue publishing. I've decided to make this story a shorter one that covers a lot of time, so bear with me :twilightsmile:

Bergemann's Plan

Author's Note

Woo! Done!

Thanks to Coyote de La Mancha for some of the ideas in this chapter!

Bergemann's Plan

Joey drew a harsh breath as he emerged into the dry air of the Dragonlands. He knew he had apparated successfully upon looking at the familiar stone arena that rose to his left.

The clouds were dark and gloomy here, too - it was a little more eerie here, however, since there was an extreme lack of water. Lord Valkaris wasn't playing around when he stationed reapers all over the world. Joey had to give it to him - it was a smart move.

"So, just go in guns-a-blazing?" Naiose asked jokingly, brandishing his wand.

"Yeah, no," Joey deadpanned. "It's time to get serious - I know it's a relief to feel happy again, but this will probably be the most dangerous thing we've attempted so far. So please... take it seriously."

"Alright, alright," Naiose said, sounding slightly grumpy. "It was only a joke."

"Don't worry about it," Joey replied. "Let's just focus on the task at hand. Reckon we should go up? I mean, we kind of are standing out in the open."

The other two nodded in agreement, and they ran to the side of the large stone arena-thingy. Joey motioned for Naiose and Jo-Ann to start climbing while he kept lookout. They began their progress, slowly moving up the side of the rock. Joey gazed around in all directions, especially up.

So far, so good. There was no one to be seen.

As soon as Jo-Ann and Naiose had reached the top, Joey began his ascent. The climb wasn't very hard; there were large punctures in the rock that served as excellent hand and foot holes. He wasn't the strongest, and soon became tired, but pressed on, focusing on placing one hand in front of the other, one at a time. Before long, he had made it to the top. When his head emerged over the upper ledge, he blinked a couple times, thrown off by the sudden end to his climb.

"You recognize this place, Joey?" Jo-Ann asked quietly.

"Er - a little?" Joey replied.

"This is where we hid before attacking the gateway," she replied. "Remember?"

Joey felt a sudden, strong urge to start decimating every single rock in sight. "Yeah," he said in a gravelly tone. His girlfriend seemed to see his mood and did not press any further.

The three friends cautiously made their way to a small gap between two boulders that led into the central arena. Placing his hand on a stone, he looked through the gap, trying to keep as much of himself hidden from view as he could. He expected to see a multitude of dragons and Maulers there, but instead was immensely surprised.

The large clearing beyond was empty except for a small group of creatures standing in a circle in the center. There was only five of them - two Maulers and three dragons. Joey couldn't help but smile when his eyes found the dragon that seemed to be the center of attention in the group.

From what Joey could see from his vantage point, the dragon was slightly shorter than the others with bright red scales. He had a yellow frill on the top of his head, and his wings were jagged and torn-looking on the edges. His teeth stuck out from his jaw in crude places, and his thick, black eyebrows overshadowed a pair of large, sinister yellow eyes.

He was clutching a staff that appeared to be crudely hewn from crystal - crystal claw-shaped (appendages?) were at the tip, holding a fiery red gem that glowed with power. This was obviously a Horcrux, for there was a small, green light swirling around inside the red gem.

"The Dragon Lord's Staff," Joey muttered. "There aren't many of them, either. Should we just do what Naiose said, then? Go in guns-a-blazing?"

Jo-Ann bit her lip as she too peered out at the sight. After a short while, she withdrew from the gap and wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't know - what if the staff is really powerful? How skilled are the Maulers?"

"Good point," Joey said sheepishly, returning his gaze to his friends. He secretly wished he had thought of that. "What if we pick them off one by one until we get found?"

"How do you suggest we do that?" Jo-Ann asked incredulously. "That's almost no better than the first option."

Joey shrugged. "Better than nothing, unless you have a better idea. What do you think, Naiose? Naiose?" He looked every which way, but could not see his friend. He shot an alarmed look at Jo-Ann, feeling a dreadful burning feeling in his stomach.

"Jo-Ann - did you see him go? What just happened? Where is he?" Joey asked in a frightened tone.

"I-I don't know!" Jo-Ann cried in an equally distressed voice. The two began frantically searching the area, but they found no sign of their friend. He had just simply... disappeared.

"Dragon Lord Garble!" rang a reedy, growling voice, making Jo-Ann and Joey jump. "Look what I got 'ere!"

Or maybe Naiose hadn't disappeared...

Joey ran back to the gap where he could see what was going on on the other side of the boulder. In the center of the arena-thing, a new dragon, purple in color, was dragging a frantically struggling Naiose towards the group. The whole place was silent as the purple dragon threw Naiose to the ground at the feet of 'Garble', the supposed Dragon Lord. Joey and Jo-Ann watched in horror as the two Maulers bent in to get a closer look. One of them pointed his wand at Naiose and said, "Incarcerous." Black cords shot out of his wand and bound Naiose tightly on the spot.

One of them drew in a sharp intake of breath. "Is that -?"

"Blimey... it is," muttered the other, taking a step back.

"Who is it? Tell me!" Garble snapped. The Mauler closest to them sneered at the dragon.

"You may be Dragon Lord, Gurgle," the Mauler said in an amused voice. "But you must remember that your authority comes from the one we report to."

Garble opened his mouth, but whatever he had wanted to say had apparently died in his mouth. The Mauler who had spoken payed him no heed, however, and returned his attention to a terrified Naiose.

"Well, well, well... how do you do, Nayosi -"

"It's Naiose," murmured the other Mauler. "Honestly, you never pay attention, do you, Halbert? We're looking at one of the most wanted people in the world and you botch his name."

"Shut up, Gallagher!" Halbert snarled. "Do you realize who this is?"

"Of course I do," said Gallagher indignantly. "It's Naiose Wilson the one who's known to - known to..."

Realization seemed to hit both of the Maulers as they turned to look at Naiose, their expressions showing extreme excitement.

"... Accompany Joey Steffen," they both recited at the exact same time, looking ecstatic. The Mauler named Halbert turned to face the purple dragon so fast that it flinched.

"You!" he said, making it jump to attention. He considered its odd behavior for a moment, then shook his head. Recomposing himself, he demanded, "Where did you find him?"

"Over there, sir Halbert sir!" the purple dragon chanted, pointing directly at Joey and Jo-Ann's hiding spot. "There were more of them too! Sir!" Joey felt a terrible pang of fear rush down his spine as he watched the dragon grinning like mad.

"Show us!" Gallagher said excitedly, and the purple dragon began to run directly at them.

"Guns-a-blazing?" Joey asked nervously.

"Guns-a-blazing," Jo-Ann confirmed in a shaky voice.

As soon as the purple dragon's face emerged over the top of the boulder, Joey pointed his wand and yelled, "Stupefy!" The dragon toppled out of sight and hit the ground on the other side with a loud whump.

"They're here! They're right here!" rang the excited voice of Halbert as the sound of hurrying footsteps drew nearer. "Wand out, Gallagher! Be ready for - argh!!"

Before Halbert could finish his sentence, Jo-Ann lunged out and shot a spell right through the gap, hitting Halbert right in the chest. A bunch of odd red spots started to pop up all over his face and arms, and he keeled over, scratching himself furiously.

"Subigo!" bellowed Gallagher, pointing his wand at Jo-Ann's now fully visible figure. Before she could do anything else, she was sent flying backwards, landing hard on her back. Her wand clattered away across the rocky ground.

Joey sent a spell directly as Gallagher, who had to dive out of the way to avoid it. As he did, however, he retaliated with another sent straight back. Joey hit the deck, feeling the blazing heat of the spell as it missed his head by inches. Getting to his feet, Gallagher roared "Excruciate!"

Fortunately for Joey, the curse missed his left ear by a pinkie's width. He scrambled to his feet in just enough time to block Gallagher's next attack.

The repeated misses seemed to have made Gallagher even angrier. He started fighting with even more ferocity, blasting away at Joey's slowly weakening defenses. After doing this for a couple minutes, he gave an enraged roar, reared up, and sent a white hot beam of energy at Joey's chest.

Joey managed to send a beam of his own back. He grit his teeth as the beams collided, pushing against one another. He willed his side to move closer to his - and his resolve proved to be better than his opponent's. His beam became a cord made of pure energy, winding itself around Gallagher's beam, then slowly looped up his arm. The Mauler's eyes lit up with realization as the cords tightened into a death grip around his arm.

With a massive amount of effort, Joey raised up his wand. The cords followed his movement, and Gallagher was lifted off the ground several feet into the air. He then brought his wand back down, and the cords followed once more. He slammed Gallagher into the ground with a sickening crunch.

Joey had no time to celebrate this small victory, though. He was immediately attacked by the two dragons that had been guarding Garble. He blasted one out of the way, but didn't have the chance to dodge as the other connected its fist with the side of Joey's head.

Stars filled his vision as he felt himself fall over from the momentum of the punch. His face erupted in pain as it connected with the ground. The taste of iron began to fill his mouth.

He rolled over as the dragon came in for a second blow. Spitting blood out of his mouth, Joey cried "Exilium!"

The spell collided with the dragon's chest, and it was blasted high into the sky, turning into a small, screaming dot amongst the clouds. Joey unsteadily got to his feet, feeling the buzzing pain that was the result of the punch. He turned around and saw only two others in the arena - Naiose, who was still tied up on the ground, and Garble, looking extremely unsettled.

It took Joey a moment to register this odd scene. He then blinked hard to focus again, and asked, "Did you really just stand there the entire time?"

Garble looked around for a second, genuinely confused. "Who are you talking to - oh, me?"

"No, that pile of unconscious people over there," Joey quipped. "Yes, I'm talking to you!"

"Oh - er," Garble stuttered, looking around him once more, his eyes falling on the staff. He brandished it out in front of him.

"Don't come near me!" he yelled halfheartedly, eyeing Joey's wand. "I'm the Dragon Lord!"

"Did the Dark Lord really choose you to be the dragon lord?" Joey asked in disbelief. He really wanted to start laughing, but it was important he keep this nice and simple. He settled on spitting more blood out of his mouth.

"Hey!" Garble whined, clenching his fists. His voice was the typical drawl of your typical bully - making it so much harder for Joey to resist the temptation to pick on him. "You watch it, dude! I'll torch you into the ground with magic... and stuff."

"And stuff, huh?" Joey replied, feeling a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. He walked over to Naiose and directed his wand at the rope binding his friend. Naiose got up off the ground, dusting off his shoulders and arms. Joey kept his attention on Garble, but something was now different - Garble was studying Naiose's face as if he had seen something important.

This did not go unnoticed by Naiose, who raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?" he asked Garble, who had just grinned widely as if he had seen something very crucial. This sudden change gave Joey an immense uneasy feeling.

"Srork'uzad venom?" Garble asked maliciously.

"What venom?" Naiose asked carelessly, brushing even more dust off of his pants.

"The venom from those spiders," Joey said in a tone that communicated danger to his friend. Naiose froze, understanding Joey's tone.

"What about it?" Naiose asked in a slightly apprehensive voice. "What do you know that we don't?"

"What I know is that you still have it on you," Garble sneered. "And you know what else? It pairs perfectly with fire."

Before either of the two friends could react, Garble exhaled a massive inferno. Naiose tripped over himself and fell backwards while Joey dove to one side. He looked down to see that the hem of his robes were on fire.

"Aah! Hot hot hot hot hot!!" he yelped, stomping out the fire. He heard Naiose shriek in agony, and instinctively turned his wand on Garble, who was readying himself for another round of fire breath.

"Stupefy!" Joey bellowed. Garble crumpled, barely huffing out a couple of sparks. The Dragon Lord's Staff clattered to the ground, now without anyone to protect it. "Hmm. That was easy." A groan of pain sounded to Joey's right, knocking him back into his senses. He looked over to see Naiose clutching a smoldering face.

"No!" he cried, and ran over to his suffering friend. He pointed his wand and said firmly, "Aquis." The water hissed and steamed upon contact with his friend's face, but soon cooled it off to the point that it could run freely as a liquid.

Not even pausing to take a closer look at his friend's face, Joey pulled Naiose to his feet and threw one of his friend's arms around his neck so he could support him. He then took off in the direction of Jo-Ann, and found her still unconscious. He pointed his wand at her forehead and said "Renovate."

Jo-Ann stirred for a couple moments, then woke up. She groaned and looked at Joey. "Did we win?" she asked groggily.

"Yes - but with a price," Joey replied, casting an anxious glance at the now unconscious Naiose. "Look, I'm going to leave him here with you for a moment; I need to go get the Staff."

"Okay."

Joey did not waste a second running to the crystal-hewn Staff and back. It was way heavier than it looked, though, and slowed Joey's progress on the return trip. Once he reached Jo-Ann, he held out a hand.

"C'mon, we're getting out of here," he said. "Up you get. Need help with -?"

"STOP!!" cried the murderous voice of Halbert, interrupting Joey's sentence. Feeling a pang of horror course through his body, he turned to see the Mauler scramble to his feet.

"We're going. NOW!" Joey bellowed, hoisting Naiose to him and clutching him tightly. Jo-Ann grabbed hold of his free arm while his wand arm pointed to the sky.

Just before they apparated, Joey felt a slight tug on his robes.

"My lord - surely this isn't necessary?"

"Are you contradicting me, Bergemann?" replied the cold, high pitched voice of Lord Valkaris.

The two figures were shrouded in black cloaks as they marched through the dark streets of Canterlot. Their cloaks billowed behind them impressively as they walked.

"No - my lord -" Bergemann stuttered in reply, but his master cut him off by firmly raising his hand.

"I have done my research on all things corresponding to the Elements of Harmony," Valkaris said in a dangerous voice. "The power they possess would do me no help. Instead, they would seek to destroy me... therefore, they must be destroyed. I am clear?"

"Crystal, my lord," Bergemann replied. "But - to kill them - my word - we'd have an uprising on our hands!"

Valkaris stopped dead in his tracks and frowned at his most trusted, most favorite servant. "Are you implying that it is above me to deal with petty things such as pony uprisings?"

"I - I meant nothing of the sort, my lord -"

"Then it should not matter. I have not come all the way here to Canterlot to argue with my most devoted servant," Valkaris said with a finality in his tone, resuming his gliding pace. "Now, come. We must not be delayed any further."

Bergemann flinched upon being addressed as the 'most devoted servant', but Valkaris did not notice. His eyes were fixed upon the great doors that were the entrance to Canterlot Castle.

"Now... the beginning of a new age starts today," said Valkaris in a satisfied tone as he strode up the steps to the door of the heavily secured castle. Two reapers hovered silently on either side, like sentinels. Horrifying, happiness-sucking sentinels. They pushed open the doors with scabbed, rotting hands, and allowed the two wizards passage. As they went by, one of the reapers followed Bergemann with a hooded head , who shuddered and quickened his pace, looking slightly guilty. Valkaris failed to notice this, too.

They strode through the empty corridor, Bergemann chanced a glance at his master. A cruel, purposeful smile played on Valkaris's lips as they progressed - the look that preceded murder.

As they approached the great doors to the throne room, muffled voices could be heard on the other side - one drawling one in particular.

"... And it you knew what's coming for you, Sparklebutt, I'd be a little more grateful for the time you have left. The same goes for you five."

"What do you mean?" asked a frightened voice that Bergemann recognized as the voice of Twilight Sparkle. "What did he mean, time you have left?"

"Time will tell, Sparkle," said the drawling voice that with a pang Bergemann recognized as Scallius's voice. He never really liked the man, since he was usually selfish and rude. Why the Dark Lord put him in charge of operations here, he would never know. Perhaps to drive the inhabitants crazy.

"Now, who likes surprises?" Scallius asked on the other side of the doors. "Tut-tut-tut - I know you all like surprises, you can't hide it from me. Luckily for you, I have a massive surprise waiting for you just on the other side of this door!"

There were footsteps getting closer to the doors. Then they both swung wide open to reveal Scallius, who was smiling as if they had arrived on cue. "My lord," he said in an oily voice, bowing low.

The expressions of all the creatures in the throne room beyond went from extremely angry to terrified in less than a second as their eyes met Lord Valkaris, who strode impressively into the room. There seemed to be a giant, collective shudder.

"Scallius," Valkaris acknowledged dismissively as he passed. Scallius hung around for a moment, looking slightly disappointed that he didn't get more attention. Once inside, Valkaris looked to the sovereigns that had been brought into the room.

"Scallius," he asked softly with a hint of irritation in his tone. "Why did you bring them?"

"You - you don't require them? My lord?" Scallius asked nervously.

"I don't," Valkaris replied coldly. "Get them out of my sight."

Scallius took a deep breath, then turned to the sovereigns. "All right, you all heard him. Get going!"

Muttering nervously, the sovereigns left the room in a single file line. As Twilight made to leave, Valkaris stuck out a hand, halting her progress. She shot a scared glance at his face, then avoided his burning gaze.

"You will remain here, Sparkle," Valkaris said softly, "And so will your friends. I have come on business regarding the Elements of Harmony."

"I-I've already told you, you can't use them," Twilight explained anxiously. "They only operate on the powers they work to sustain, which is friendship -"

"I am already aware that the powers of the Elements of Harmony are of no use to me," Valkaris interrupted firmly. "You have made it quite clear that I am... unable to operate such magic." He spoke those last words with such venom that the six ponies in the room visibly shuddered, even Rainbow Dash.

"Wh-Why are ya here, then?" asked Applejack. Valkaris squinted at her menacingly, making her retreat a couple steps backward.

"Such insolence - I will be the one asking questions," Valkaris said in a soft, dangerous voice. he then looked around at the others as if daring them to say something. His eyes lingered on Fluttershy's form, who was curled into a terrified ball.

When it was apparent that no one was going to say anything, Valkaris continued. "The Elements have been unable to operate properly with the presence of reapers. Even if I was able to use them, they would not function. The magic-draining abilities of the reapers inhibit the Element's ability to function. They drain all the love and happiness out of the air - the very things the Elements require to operate.

"But you know all of this. So why come back, as some of you have already asked?" His gaze lingered maliciously upon Applejack for a moment. "I answer you: extreme problems require extreme solutions - and I'm afraid the Elements fall under the category of 'extreme'."

"A-are you talking about us?" Twilight asked, her pupils shrinking. "Or just the relics?"

"I have done my research, Sparkle, and I know what you are asking," Valkaris replied with a glint in his eye. "I am very well aware that the Elements do not require their relic counterparts to work their magic." His lips curled into a small smile as he watched the Elements before him begin to realize what he was saying.

"Y-you - you mean -" Twilight began, but stopped talking as soon as she saw his sneer. She looked absolutely terrified.

"As I said... extreme problems require extreme solutions," Valkaris replied quietly.

"B-but we haven't done anything wrong!" Twilight protested. "We've done everything you've told us to do! We haven't given you any trouble -"

"Ah ah ah, Sparkle," Valkaris said smoothly, cutting across her dialogue. "Indeed, you have been compliant thus far. But happens if Joey Steffen would happen to show up? Undoubtedly then you would team up against me and banish the reapers from the area - the Steffen boy would undoubtedly know the methods to do so. You would then probably attempt to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat me. I must admit the idea of you using them against me is... formidable. I cannot allow this to happen."

"Wh-What do you mean?" Rainbow asked, looking shaken.

Valkaris smiled a cruel, evil smile in reply. He then turned to Scallius, who had been standing at the closed doors behind him like a sentinel.

"See to it three days from now," he ordered, "And make it quick - if I hear that you have - ah - 'played with your food before you eat it', you will suffer my... displeasure."

Scallius bowed, repressing a shudder. "Of course, my lord."

"Good. I have nothing else to say here, then," Valkaris said brusquely, turning towards the door, which Scallius opened dutifully. Before he took a step, Valkaris stopped and looked over to his favorite servant, who had been watching the entire scene in silence.

"Why so quiet, Bergemann?" Valkaris asked, eyeing the Chief Mauler.

"Is there something you would like me to say, my lord?" Bergemann replied confidently. Valkaris chuckled darkly to himself, and strode towards the door. As he reached Scallius, he paused.

"Oh, and Scallius," he added, looking the burly Mauler in the eye. "I am stationing Bergemann here until the executions have happened - he will be reporting to me, so remember to swallow your own desires and carry out the task you are assigned. Good day to you all." After he had strode past the throne room doors, they closed automatically with a loud boom.

Twilight stared at the place where the Dark Lord had disappeared. So this was it... they were going to be murdered. She looked around at her friends, taking in their reactions.

Pinkie's mane had gone completely flat, as it usually did when she became upset. This, though - this was different. Her mane had somehow become even straighter than straight. She gazed at a spot on the ground with a horrified expression on her face.

Rarity and Fluttershy were sobbing into one another's shoulders. They both looked beyond miserable, they all did - even Rainbow and Applejack began to shed tears of fear and disbelief.

Twilight understood how they felt - hollow and hopeless. Why, it was only this morning when they had woken up and wondered where Joey was, and how close he was to finishing his mission - to finishing it all. Now they probably wouldn't even see where everything was going. They were actually going to die - after everything they've been through, all the times they've narrowly avoided death, all the experiences they shared together - it wouldn't matter anymore in three days.

"Scallius, leave the room," Bergemann ordered, but Scallius gave him an indignant glare.

"What!? You aren't in charge here!" he cried angrily.

"I am as good as," Bergemann replied coldly. "The Dark Lord appointed me to watch over you, and it would be rather disappointing if I were to let something... slip."

Scallius took a step back, horrified. "You wouldn't."

"I would," Bergemann replied darkly, "So know your place."

Muttering furiously under his breath, Scallius left the throne room. He slammed the doors behind him, making the torches along the ornate pillars rattle in their sheaths.

Oh, great, Twilight thought miserably. Now Rod Steffen's killer is in charge - whoopee.

Bergemann turned to all of them and surveyed everyone's expressions. His gaze seemed to soften ever so slightly as it rested on the sobbing forms of Rarity and Fluttershy.

"As I understand it, you six are one of the main reasons there's still hope in the world," Bergemann said softly.

Twilight looked up at him, confused. There was no hint of unfriendliness of any kind in his voice - it was just a simple sentence with a simple tone. What was he getting at?

"Wh-What more could ya possibly want?" Applejack said thickly as tears began to fall at quicker intervals. "Yer master there is goin' to have us killed..."

There was a long pause during which Bergemann seemed to be carefully judging his next words. Finally, he said "None of this is my decision, you know that."

"Y-You're still affiliated with those brutes!" Rarity wailed, glaring at the man harshly.

Bergemann's expression was unreadable, but his eye twitched ever so slightly. "We'll see. Meet me at the top of the west tower tomorrow evening. As I understand it, then will be your last opportunity for free roaming. Make sure you're not followed. Am I clear?"

Everyone stared at Bergemann suspiciously. What was he doing?

As Bergemann turned to leave, he hesitated, then turned back to face the group. "Do not speak of this outside. If you do, I will have an easier time choosing a side."

With that said, he swept away from the room, leaving a stunned silence in his wake.

KIRIN VILLAGE

Joey felt himself reemerge into the warm afternoon atmosphere just outside of the kirin village. He took large, deep breaths, and steadied himself. Heavy sets of footsteps pelted in a different direction, but Joey payed them no heed, for he was dazed with happiness by the incredible luck they had with obtaining the Dragon Lord's Staff.

"Jo-Ann," he panted. "Where is the crown?"

"Back in my hut - why?" she replied.

"Go put the staff with the crown - and hopefully Autumn and Fern will return soon with the Breastplate, assuming all goes well," Joey replied. "Then we'd have three - count 'em, three Horcruxes."

"I know!" Jo-Ann agreed excitedly.

A pitiful groan from the ground made Joey and Jo-Ann jump. Joey looked down to see Naiose clutching his face.

"Naiose!" Joey cried, feeling his stomach disappear. "I'm so sorry! Here - let's get you to the infirmary... Jo, could you help me?"

Jo-Ann nodded, and the two hoisted Naiose off the ground by his shoulders and helped him steady himself. Even while all this was happening, Naiose did not remove his hands from his face.

"C'mon, then... to the infirmary," Joey muttered, and the three friends hobbled over towards the kirin village.

As they approached, they heard the sound of hooves crunching on the hard gravel approach. Looking up, Joey saw a very surprised Rain Shine, who was beaming at them.

"You have returned! With such speed, too! And you have the... Staff..." Her eyes found Naiose, and instantly her pupils shrank.

"Oh, dear..." she murmured with a deeply concerned expression. "To the infirmary, then!"

"Glad you could suggest it," Joey deadpanned.

Jo-Ann hit him on the shoulder. "Oh, stop, she's doing all she can..."

"Right. Sorry."

CANTERLOT

Twilight nervously walked up the corridor that led to the stairs which ascended the west tower of Canterlot Castle. As she progressed, her mind was exploding with questions.

What did Bergemann want? What was he aiming for? Was it safe to be doing this? Sure, her friends were probably already there, but they were most likely asking the same questions themselves. On second thought, why shouldn't they talk to him? They had nothing to lose anyway, for they'd be dead in the next twenty four hours...

No, Twilight. Positive thoughts, the purple alicorn scolded inwardly. Tears threatened to invade her eyes, but she blinked them away. No use in crying; the initial terrifying shock had passed.

As she climbed the steps leading up the west tower, she felt her anxiety become stronger than ever before. Was he just going to end it early for herself and her friends by simply throwing them off the tower?

She was so lost in her thoughts that it seemed like it had been mere minutes when she reached the top room of the tower. There were voices coming from inside - feminine voices, murmuring at low volumes. She instantly recognized them to belong to her friends.

As she stepped up to the door, an annoying buzzing instantly filled her ears, giving her a sudden desire to leave. Instead of giving up, however, she grit her teeth and swallowed the irrational desire, looking at the door determinedly.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside quickly. Once she had, the buzzing noise instantly stopped. Looking around while feeling very confused, she saw all five of her friends huddled in a small circle in the center of the room. They were all occasionally shooting anxious glances at Derek Bergemann, who was leaning over a balcony in silence.

Once she had entered, the heads of her friends snapped in her direction. Rainbow frantically gestured for Twilight to join them, but before Twilight could even take one step, Bergemann turned away from the view the balcony provided. His gaze rested on Twilight.

"Good - you're here," he said briskly. "My apologies for the buzzing noise - the precaution is necessary. Don't want to be overheard..."

Twilight froze. "P-Precaution??" Was he going to kill them before their designated moment.

Bergemann frowned at the alicorn's anxious expression. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know," he said irritably.

"Oh, yeah?" Rainbow retorted. "Nothing stopped you from killing Joey's dad!!"

Bergemann flinched visibly, to the pony's immense surprise. He massaged a temple with one of his hands, then took a deep breath. "I'm - I'm aware," he said tersely.

Twilight felt her heart lift slightly. Something wasn't right - now that she thought about it, the man did not say a word during the entire time the Dark Lord had been present. He seemed like the confident, steady type, ready to go to any lengths to serve his master. Now, she wasn't so sure.

"Why did you want us here?" Twilight asked in a bold tone that did not sound like her own. Bergemann looked at her blankly, so she continued, "I mean, we'll be dead by tomorrow, so it's not like it matters..."

Bergemann opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Whatever sentence he had been about to say had apparently died in his mouth, for he closed it again. He looked extremely nervous - the expression of his face made Twilight picture a filly who was about to steal candy from a store.

She chanced a glance at her friends. Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack stared at Bergemann, obviously confused with the sudden change in his attitude. Pinkie stared at him in disbelief, whereas Fluttershy... was it compassion?? Yes - she was gazing at him with a compassionate look.

Twilight felt herself smile. Even in the face of hopelessness, Fluttershy found it in her heart to be kind.

Bergemann turned back to the balcony and leaned on it, hanging his head. Was he trying to trick them with this despairing attitude? To lure them into a false sense of security?

"You - you don't have to die tomorrow," Bergemann said through gritted teeth.

There was a collective gasp, and Twilight nearly tripped over herself in shock. "Wh-What??"

"I said, you don't have to die tomorrow," Bergemann repeated meekly.

"I - I don't understand," Twilight pressed, raising a shaking hoof to her cheek. "The Dark Lord told us two days ago that w-we are going to be killed - why did he change his mind so quickly -?"

"He didn't," Bergemann said, cutting her off.

"He - he didn't?" Applejack asked uncertainly.

"No," Bergemann replied, more firmly this time. "He didn't." There was a heavy silence following this statement.

Finally, Twilight broke the silence. "But - if he didn't, how can we survive?" The others nodded in agreement.

"With inside help," Bergemann replied, now looking slightly frightened at the prospect.

"Wait - so you mean -" Rainbow started, but Bergemann talked over her.

"I'm over it!" he said, wringing his hands together. "I - I can't do this anymore - being a Mauler -" His voice shook awfully as he spoke.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Applejack said in a calmer tone. "Slow down, partner. Tell us slowly."

Twilight took Applejack's new attitude towards Bergemann as a good sign - it meant that whatever the poor man was feeling right now was genuine. Her friends seemed to think the same thing.

"I - can't - being a Mauler is -" Bergemann stuttered, then groaned and hid his face in his hands. To everyone's surprise, Fluttershy fluttered over and placed a hoof on his shoulder. He looked up at her, surprised.

"Listen to Applejack," Fluttershy said soothingly. "Take it slow."

Bergemann looked at the pegasus mare incredulously for a moment, then at the ground. He then clenched his eyes shut and began to speak smoothly, as if Fluttershy's presence seemed to put a stopper on his frightened stutter.

"I've been doubting him for a while now," Bergemann said tonelessly. Upon seeing everyone's questioning looks, he added, "You know, the Dark Lord. I've been rethinking everything ever since I killed - well, you know..." His voice trailed off into silence.

Fluttershy gave his shoulder a slight squeeze, telling him that they were all still listening. He sighed, then continued.

"The Dark Lord - I was - I mean, am - his favorite. My fellow Maulers would give up their dominant arms to have my position - and I would gladly give it up. The pressure upon me to be as evil as my master constricts my liberties so much that I have little left - the expectations of me are too high.

"Ever since I killed Rod - my own brother, for Christ's sake - I've been having these nightmares. It wasn't like Princess Luna would pacify my dreams; ever since the incident at the gateway, she wants nothing to do with me. That goes without saying for everyone, really... except those who support the Dark Lord. They see me as some sort of hero, the one to cleave a path of destruction before our master so he doesn't dirty his own robes doing it himself. They all respect me - even though I've stopped respecting myself..."

"No - don't say that -" Fluttershy began, but Bergemann cut her off.

"The truth hurts, miss, but it must be accepted for me to move forward from here. I've murdered, girls - murdered, and only until recently has that settled with me. Do you realize what that means? The fact it took that long for all those murders to register makes me a monster. A monster, yes, but a monster that longs for change."

"Change?" asked Twilight.

"Yes - change," Bergemann replied, now looking a little frightened again. "It helps that I can use Occlumency against the Dark Lord - he has no idea I've been having these thoughts. Not a clue. Still, wherever he goes, I go; he thinks it is an extreme honor for me, but I have had enough. I-I can't just walk away from my post, though - he'll kill me!

"By being in the Dark Lord's presence almost every hour of the day, he was keeping an eye on me without fully knowing it. What could I do? One suspicious move, and he makes an intense inquiry. If he really wanted to, he can break through my m-mental defenses and access my fears - who would stand a chance?

"So I waited. And waited. I watched creatures of all kinds get tortured every day. The regime is so harsh, I'm surprised there hasn't been an uprising. And the manhunt! Surely you know of that, don't you?"

"Are you talking about Joey??" Twilight asked, perking up instantly. The interest of herself and her friends had reached its peak.

"I am," Bergemann replied.

"Do ya know anything concerning him?" Applejack asked.

"AJ!!" Rarity scolded. "You don't know if we can trust him!"

"Yes, Ah do, and yes, we can!" Applejack retorted. "Everything he's told us has been the truth so far."

"How could you know that!?" Rarity asked incredulously.

"Am Ah not the Element of Honesty?" the cowpony asked coldly. Rarity's pupils shrank.

"Goodness gracious, dear, I... I'm sorry, really -" Rarity stuttered, but Applejack smiled at her.

"Forget it, Rare. Ah forgive ya." She turned her gaze back onto Bergemann. "So... do ya know anything about him?"

"Not much," Bergemann admitted. "I do know that he's had some close calls - especially the incident in Kludgetown several months ago."

"Kludgetown??" all the ponies asked at once.

"Yeah... interesting place," Bergemann said thoughtfully. "I had to visit it to extract a Mauler named Divvens from a dumpster... he had apparently survived falling from the top levels of the city. Other weren't so lucky... what were we talking about? Oh, right - Joey and his two friends."

"Do ya know where they are?" Applejack pressed eagerly.

"No - and for Joey, that's a good thing," Bergemann replied. "The mini-battle in Kludgetown was quite interesting from what I heard. which. The things I gathered from my master was that the whole thing was mainly just chasing Joey around the city - and not to mention nearly catching him and his friends in a civilian's home. Since then, though, there has been no sign of him."

Rainbow punched the air with a hoof. Pinkie's mane became a little poofier again, but she still looked a little hesitant.

"How badly does the Dark Lord want him?" Fluttershy asked shyly.

"Oh, you have no idea," Bergemann said darkly with a hollow chuckle. "It's almost become something of an obsession to him - he's gotten so caught up in it, it's almost all he ever thinks about. The Mauler Claudier is in charge of the task force made to find Joey; he's the Mauler he speaks to the most, aside from me. He is obsessed, I tell you. He truly thinks that if he kills the boy, he will become truly immortal. If what the prophecy said is true, then... I would believe it, too."

There was a long silence that followed this heavy statement. The ponies looked at one another anxiously, hoping dearly that Joey would keep his wits about him.

"Er - Mister Burger?" Pinkie asked tentatively.

Bergemann looked at her for a moment, surprised, then chortled to himself. "It's Bergemann, actually," he corrected.

Everyone burst out into laughter for a short moment, then quieted down. When this happened, though, something seemed to break - the ponies felt an emotional connection with the man leaning against the balcony rail. An icebreaker, if you will.

"So," Twilight said once she and her friends had calmed down, "Didn't you say something about us not having to die tomorrow?"

The smile on Bergemann's face was instantly replaced with a look of fear - not a strong fear, but they could see the hesitation in his face.

"Y-Yes, I did," Bergemann said, focusing on Twilight. "Thank you for bringing the conversation back - this is important. If you are all to beat this massive problem that has taken over the world, I have a feeling we may need the elements."

Rainbow spoke up, but Applejack placed a hoof over the prismatic pegasus's mouth. "What does that have to do with - oof!"

Bergemann decided to ignore this. "I've heard rumors of a pond in the Everfree that has magical properties. Are any of you familiar with such a pond?"

"I mean - there's one," Twilight replied. "The mirror pool..." She gasped.

"So it exists, then," Bergemann said with a small smile. "Good - I take it you've already figured out my idea?"

"Tell me if I'm wrong," Twilight said eagerly. Bergemann then nodded in confirmation at her, so she launched into her theory.

"So what I'm guessing what you're trying to tell us is that we could make copies of ourselves and -"

"Bingo," Bergemann replied, smiling.

"But how are we going to get out of the castle?" Twilight asked. "We can't make copies of ourselves unless we are at the pool."

"I can lower the defenses around the castle just long enough to allow you to teleport out," Bergemann explained. "If that works, you know what to do. Just make sure you can get your copies here before roll call tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I've got it," Twilight said happily. She felt a new fire light up inside her chest. They were going to live! The other five ponies looked jubilant at the prospect of it.

"Good. So, I think we can do it -" Bergemann said eagerly, but then -

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"BERGEMANN! IT'S PAST CURFEW FOR THE ELEMENTS AND THE REST OF THE SOVEREIGNS!!" bellowed the voice of Scallius from the other side of the door.

"Oh, no..." Bergemann said softly, looking petrified. Nonetheless, he strode over to the door and put on a cold expression. He pulled open the door sharply and gazed down at a terrified looking Scallius. "I wasn't aware there was a curfew," he said in a curt voice.

"Do you realize what the Dark Lord would do with us if he knew??" Scallius squeaked, fidgeting on the spot. "You know how seriously he takes curfews!"

"My mistake, then," Bergemann replied in the same curt tone. Despite the confident outer shell, he felt his heart drop - he had not expected this.

Scallius waved his wand above his head, and thick chains appeared around the Elements, rendering them motionless except from the neck up.

"Well - what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Scallius muttered, and turned to move down the stairs. "Besides, we get to kill the Elements tomorrow! The fricken' Elements, Bergemann!"

"Yeah," Bergemann chuckled nervously.

"God, can't you remove this awful buzzing noise??" Scallius snapped as they passed through the doorway to the stairs. "It's killing me."

"Seems like a magical malfunction," Bergemann said in the strongest voice he could, knowing very well it was his Muffling Charm. He disbanded the spell and followed Scallius. As they approached the bottom of the stairs, a cold, awful feeling stole over him. Sure enough, as they turned the corner, a reaper glided past them, feeling its way along with rotting, scabbed hands.

"Good thing these things are here," Scallius grunted, turning down a hallway to go in the opposite direction. "Keeps all our prisoners from trying any funny business."

That's going to make this way more complicated, Bergemann thought to himself with a hollow feeling in his gut. How in the world was he going to help them pull this off?

He looked back at the Elements, who had been levitated to the air inside their bindings. They all had betrayed expressions on their faces.

Stay calm. I'll try to figure this out, he mouthed at them. Twilight gave a small, frightened nod of understanding, then relayed the message to her friends.

KIRIN VILLAGE

Today had to have been the worst day Joey has had in the past few months.

He had awoken to terrible news - he learned from a sobbing Autumn Blaze that the Elements of Harmony were going to be executed. He shed a fair amount of tears himself when he had heard this - they were some of his best friends. On top of that, Fern Flare had reported what was definitely Mauler activity in the area, changing the atmosphere of the kirin village from cheerful to fearful.

On the plus side, on the day before this one Autumn Blaze and Fern Flare returned triumphantly from Mount Aris, the Hippogriff capital, clutching Queen Marinia's breastplate. So cheers.

The only good thing about this particular day was that Naiose was finally due to get out of the infirmary. He had been fully conscious for the past day, and heard the depressing news before Joey had.

At the moment, he was pacing nervously outside of the infirmary hut, waiting anxiously for his friend to emerge.

Apparently Garble wasn't kidding when he said that Srork'uzad venom and fire were not a good match - as a matter of fact, it was the understatement of the century. Apparently the combination of the two makes the venom act up again as well as heat up to boiling temperatures.

In other words, Naiose's face was scalded horribly.

Fortunately, though, the kirin doctor had the perfect remedies for the skin when it came to burn scars. Within twelve hours, Naiose's face was back to normal, except for the large bandage over his eye. Apparently when that Srork'uzad spider jumped on his face and spit venom onto him, a bunch of it went into his eye. Not good.

"Any minute now... any minute..." Joey murmured, pacing furiously.

"Joey, he'll be fine," Jo-Ann consoled. "He's had worse."

Before Joey could reply, the infirmary door behind them opened, admitting Rain Shine, the kirin doctor, and Naiose.

"Naiose! Finally!" Joey said with relief upon seeing his friend. However, his head was turned to the side as if he were hiding something.

"... Naiose?" Joey asked, coming closer. "Is everything okay? You did heal up nicely, didn't you?"

"He did," the kirin doctor said. She was a mare with a golden brown mane and turquoise coat. "Although he will have some lasting scars... kid, knock it off. Turn around so they can see."

Slowly, Naiose turned. As he faced them fully, Joey felt his heart leap into his throat. Jo-Ann gasped behind him and cried, "Oh, Naiose!"

There was a long scar that stretched from his right eyebrow down to his cheek. The scar crossed right over his right eye which was... milky white.

He had gone blind in his right eye.

"I'm... I'm not a freak, right?" Naiose asked with a nervous laugh.

Joey stared at him. "Does it hurt, or does it feel fine?"

"It feels fine," Naiose replied.

Joey grinned like mad and spread his arms. "Well then, in my opinion, you look like a badass."

Naiose couldn't help but grin back. Moments after he did, the smile slid off of his face. "So - what about the Elements?"

Everyone in the vicinity lost their smiles. "What about them?" Joey asked in reply.

"Well... I mean, shouldn't we have a memorial or something?" Naiose said nervously.

Rain Shine stepped in as there was a general murmur of assent. "I think that would be a grand idea. Shall we do it tomor -"

KRAKKA-BOOM!!!

The infirmary hut exploded in a flurry of flame and splinters. Coughing op dust, Joey staggered to his feet and whipped out his wand.

CRACK... BOOM!!!

Another explosion hit the central rope bridge of the village, reducing it to cinders and fiery scraps. Explosion after explosion hit the village, sending large columns of smoke into the sky.

There was no time for reaction; Joey threw himself out of the way as another ear-splitting blast exploded ten yards from his position. He rolled over on his knees and bellowed, "Jo-Ann! Get the Horcruxes! Naiose! Hold on to me!!"

Out of the smoke in dust, he saw Naiose's arm lunge out and fasten itself on his own arm. The sounds of Jo-Ann pelting off were the last things Joey heard before another explosion landed three feet from him. He was blasted off of his feet and landed hard on his face a good twenty feet away from his old position.

"Naiose!" he bellowed, trying to ignore the painful ringing in his ear. "Naiose!"

"I'm here!" he cried, and Joey shakily got to his feet.

"Where!?"

"HERE, YOU RETARD!!"

Joey stumbled off in the direction of his friend's voice. as he did, another feminine voice called out of the distance.

"Naiose!? Joey!?"

"Jo-Ann, we're over here!!" Joey shouted desperately. More sounds of footsteps, but they were heavier, rougher.

As Jo-Ann emerged from the shadows, she pelted towards Joey as fast as her legs would let her and grabbed hold of him. Right behind her was a hooded Mauler.

"Stupefy!" Joey cried, aiming his wand at the Mauler. The spell hit him fully in the face, and he toppled backward into the haze.

Swallowing the immense ball of guilt that had swelled in his throat, Joey turned on the spot, apparating away from the smoldering village.

CANTERLOT

Twilight and her friends stood side by side in a straight line, facing a line of Maulers. The word that they were going to be executed had spread quickly, and many tried to oppose. They were tortured of course - especially Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, who loved them the most. They stood off to one side, bound in heavy magical chains as they were forced to watch the Maulers raise their wands at the Elements, who were now silently muttering to themselves.

Twilight would of never seen herself in this position nine months ago - why, she had been teaching another friendship lesson at her renown school. As she eyed the wand trained on her, she hoped with all of her heart that her students would remember everything she had taught them, even in these dark times.

"Joey," she said in a strangely calm voice that did not sound like her own. "If you're out there... save them. Save all of them."

As one, all of the Maulers gave a hefty roar.

"MORDO!!"

There was a roaring noise of rushing wind, a flash of green light, then nothing more.

Joey sputtered as he fell on all fours, clutching his chest. They had emerged on a mountainside surrounded by a small forest.

He knew it as soon as the strange, overjoyed feeling that was not his swept down his spine. He felt tears come, and did not stop them. There was no use - they were gone, dead.

Jo-Ann came over and put an arm around her boyfriend. She was crying, too, but she hadn't known the Elements as long as Joey did.

"It happened, didn't it?" Jo-Ann asked shakily.

Joey nodded slowly, then turned back to the campfire they had made. Naiose was seated there, staring absentmindedly into the flames. He had definitely noticed them talking, and probably deducted what they had been talking about.

The three friends did not exchange a single words as they cooked sausages over the fire that were from their rations. Only the sizzling and popping of the sausages and the campfire could be heard.

Joey felt another wave of pain heave in his chest, and curiosity stole over him. Was the killing of the Elements so important that it had made Lord Valkaris happier than he had been in months? Or was it something else?

Finally, he gave in. "Jo-Ann, could you hold my cooking stick for me?"

"Uh... sure - why?" she replied, but Joey had already closed his eyes and laid down, letting the vision sweep over him.

He was sitting in a large dining hall lit by emerald green torches. Before him was a long, polished dark oak table. Laying on it was a Mauler who was twitching and shrieking horribly.

"How longer will I have to tolerate your incompetence, Claudier?" Joey spoke in the cold, high pitched voice that belonged to Lord Valkaris. "You have now failed twice, twice, to catch the boy, even when he was at your fingertips. Shall I just end it now, and appoint someone more worthy to lead the hunt?"

"It will never happen again, my lord!" Claudier shrieked. "Please!"

Joey hit the poor man with another torturing curse, sending into another painful frenzy.

"Let that be a reminder, then," Joey said in a soft, dangerous tone. "You may go."

"Thank you... thank you, my lord..."

The man left the room hurriedly. Once he was gone, Joey turned to Bergemann, who was standing at his left side. "Well? Is it done?"

"As you requested, my lord," Bergemann replied tersely. "It was quick and swift."

Something about the way he held himself, although slight it was, told Joey that his favorite servant was in a great mood. "You seem better than usual, Bergemann - was it the fresh air?"

"Of course, my lord," Bergemann replied, now smirking slightly. "Well - that, and watching Scallius follow orders perfectly for once."

Joey cackled. "Indeed." He turned suddenly to a Mauler on his right, who sat up. "Rosier, didn't you say you had a problem regarding a lost relic?"

"Yes, my lord," Rosier replied. "Silly thing, really - it's been hard keeping the Hippogriff populations under control as of late, as they have lost what they claimed was a piece of armor that once belonged to an ancient Hippogriff queen. It has been a struggle, my lord, but I assure you those who have crossed the line will be put to death."

"Good - although do not make these executions irrational," Joey replied, feeling satisfied. "I would hate for something to happen, then have to deal with another silly uprising."

"Of course, my lord. Which reminds me, speaking of relics - the Minotaur race has requested an alliance in return for protection over their artifact - a scepter of some sort."

Bergemann scoffed. "From what I've heard, it's under heavy protection of the Minotaurs themselves in Minos, their capital."

"They would like additional protection," Rosery said heavily.

Joey sighed exasperatedly and rubbed his neck irritably with a pale, skeletal hand. "So be it. Send the reanimated body - he has enough skill to more than protect..."

Joey jerked himself awake. "The last Horcrux is in Minos - the Minotaur capital!"

Naiose looked at him startled. "How can you be sure??"

"My uncle said it himself - you know, Derek Bergemann," he added upon seeing his friend's blank expressions. "Anyway, he said it's heavily guarded - but if we can get that, we only have Starswirl's Journal left!"

"I can't believe this," Jo-Ann loudly over the sound of Naiose's whoop. "This is amazing. Only two more..."

"I know!" Joey cried, and Jo-Ann brought him into a kiss. They held each other like that for a couple moments until Naiose spoke.

"Um... not to interrupt your 'moment' or anything, but our fire just turned green."

Joey and Jo-Ann broke the kiss and whirled around to find that the fire had indeed turned a bright green. It gave a small whine, then shot a giant flame into the air. Joey had to back up to keep his eyebrows from getting singed.

As soon as the flame came, it disappeared. When it did, the fire returned to normal - though something was different.

A piece of parchment fluttered down from above, and Joey reached out and caught it. He scanned it to see tidy handwriting all over it.

"It's - it's a letter!?" he asked incredulously. He looked up at Naiose. "This day can't get any weirder, can it?"

"Read it!" Jo-Ann said eagerly.

Dear Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann,

Please do not be distraught by whatever news you heard about us - just keep your chin up and push forward with your mission - I'm sure you're doing great!

I can't put anything huge into this letter in case it gets intercepted, but despite whatever news you've heard concerning my friends and I, I would like to let you know - you aren't the only escape artist in the world.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle
Rarity
Applejack
Pinkie Pie
Rainbow Dash
Fluttershy

After Joey had finished reading the letter, he mouthed the words 'you aren't the only escape artist in the world' over and over again. He looked up at his friends as realization dawned on him. They seemed to be thinking the same thing as he was.

Looking back at the letter, Joey shook his head. "How did they manage to do that?? They'd have to be in two places at once!"

"Maybe they were in two places at once," Jo-Ann reasoned. "You know - magic."

"Doesn't matter how they did it," Naiose said with a grin, reclining slightly. "The thing that matters is that they're now on the run, just like us. Alive."

The Resistance Begins

Author's Note

There's a bit more dark content in this chapter - just a small warning.

Also, getting motivated is hard. I'm doing this for you guys, since you've been great thus far. 👍

The Resistance Begins

The three friends slept very well that night with a renewed fiery confidence in their chests. When they had awoken the next morning, they were all shamelessly cheery as they began to hide their traces.

"It really helps that we know where Minos is," Joey said happily as he spread the charcoals from the fire over the ground. "I mean, I know we can't apparate there, but didn't someone say that Minos was on an island directly south of Kludgetown?"

Jo-Ann put down her rucksack in thought, rattling the Horcruxes inside. "I think so - yeah! Remember, Naiose? It was that huge pink dude we overheard on, like, the second day we were in Kludgetown!"

Joey nodded. "We also know that Kludgetown is friendly with the Minotaurs - so they'll probably have a trade going. And instead of using trucks to deliver stuff to other cities, Kludgetown companies use -"

"Airships," Naiose said, finishing his friend's sentence. "Are you saying that we should just go back to Kludgetown and hijack and airship?"

"Yes and no," Joey replied. "What I was thinking was that we should sneak onto an airship that's bound for Minos, then travel there. No hijacking."

"Yeah... that sounds like a much better plan," Jo-Ann laughed. "Sneaking onto an airship shouldn't be too hard - if we use Disillusionment Charms, we could pass undetected in broad daylight there."

"Exactly," Joey replied. "However, since the citizens of Kludgetown are dumb in many ways, they might be expecting us to come back - we still need to exercise caution."

They finished their packing in silence.

"So... when are we going?" Naiose asked, heaving his rucksack over his shoulder.

"Now?" Joey suggested. "I mean, the sooner the better - what if they decide to execute someone else back at Canterlot?"

"That is true," Naiose replied. "I'm down for leaving - Jo-Ann?"

"Let's do this," Jo-Ann said determinedly. She looked Joey in the eye and smiled. "Let's go get that Horcrux."

"We'll discuss a plan once we get a view on the city," Joey replied. "From what I gathered from my vision, the Minotaurs heavily guard the scepter, so we shouldn't have a hard time finding it. Now, let's go - who wants to apparate this time? It seems like I've been doing it a lot recently."

"I can do it," Jo-Ann offered.

"Good," Joey replied with a smile.

CANTERLOT

Cadance still could not believe that Twilight - her very own sister and law - was dead. Not only that, but it had all happened so quickly - three days. Three days! Was this another sign of cruelty from the Dark Lord?

What was the last thing she heard from her sister in law, anyway? She racked her brains, but could come up with nothing.

She came to her senses and quickly realized that she had been standing in her quarters, staring at nothing in particular. She shook her head violently to clear it and walked to her balcony. From this point she had a marvelous view of the side of the mountain as well as the entrance to the Crystal Caves.

The Crystal Caves... that was where she had met adult Twilight for the first time. It had been a rough start, since Twilight thought she was the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis, in disguise. She had then performed their little dance, and instantly Twilight knew who she was.

Ah... the memories - the prospect of not being able to make any more memories with her favorite sister-in-law was something more terrible than she had ever faced. She inhaled deeply to prevent the flow of tears, then stared at the gloomy sky above. Here and there was the occasional reaper, so far off that it looked like a dot. Her thoughts drifted to the Dark Lord.

Why did this all happen? Why was he so determined to wipe out the Order that he would cross dimensions just to follow them? That horrible Mauler, Bergemann (her stomach gave a spiteful lurch at the very thought of the name), had killed the Order's most powerful wizard - Rod Steffen. Joey's dad.

And now they were after Joey. Cadance was fully aware of the prophecy and what it meant, but things were getting crazy concerning her adoptive son. From the snippets she heard Scallius drop, it seemed like the Dark Lord spoke of almost nothing else. Did killing her Joey really mean that much to him?

A soft knock came on the door, and judging from the volume and intensity of it Cadance could tell that it was friendly.

"Come in," she said hoarsely.

The door opened softly, and in walked a miserable and disheveled Celestia. Once inside, she closed Cadance's door with a soft click. The solar princess then turned to Cadance and studied her face with a concerned expression.

"You haven't been out of your room for days," Celestia said after a long, awkward moment. "I know you're suffering - please, just talk to me. Or Luna, even. I know the death of the Elements, especially Twilight has - has p-put you off..." Her voice shook a little before trailing off into silence.

Cadance walked briskly over to her aunt and hugged her tightly. A couple of tears began to fall.

"It's - it's just so horrible -" she sobbed, and Celestia began to stroke her back with a wing.

"I know," Celestia said in a deadened tone. "The fact that you had such little time with her before she left... the fact that I have - oh, Cadance..."

The two just stood there in each other's grip for what felt like hours. There were moments when one of them would randomly burst into tears, but after awhile finally they released each other.

"Th-Thank you," Cadance said softly in a grateful tone. "Thanks for seeing me."

Celestia studied her niece for a second with an inquiring gaze. Finally, she replied "Twilight can't be the only thing on your mind right now. I know that look."

Cadance looked away, feeling hot in the face. Why did her aunt always have to know?

"It's about Joey, isn't it?" Celestia asked quietly. Cadance nodded. Celestia walked over to her niece and sat down on her haunches next to her. She gestured for Cadance to join her, which she instantly did.

Putting a wing over Cadance's shoulders, Celestia said softly, "I've been thinking a lot about him recently, too. As a matter of fact... I've been having regrets, too."

Cadance looked around at her aunt. "Regrets?"

"Yes," Celestia replied, looking apologetic. "Regrets... remember when I gave him up to that horrible drug dealer, what's-his-name?"

"Sporco?" replied Cadance, keeping a slight edge out of her voice. Even though her aunt was genuinely sorry for doing that, Cadance couldn't help but feel disgruntled by the injustice.

"Yes, him," Celestia continued. "I just - what if that's all he thinks about me? I am family to him now, am I not? What if he dies, and all he saw me as was a princess that doesn't care about him and just wanted to get the job done."

"To tell you the truth, Auntie, I'm not sure," Cadance said truthfully. "He is a really hard pony - I mean, human - to read. I don't know what to tell you, but what I do know is that he doesn't hate you."

Celestia looked up hopefully. "He - he doesn't?"

Cadance shook her head. "No. I can't say what he thinks of you specifically, but I do know that he cares about you as a friend. However, if we do get through this... just have a talk with him. I'm sure he'll be understanding."

Celestia smiled at her niece and sniffled. She then got to her feet with a faint smile on her face.

"I'm sorry for dropping this load on you, Cadance... the princess duties Scallius has been placing upon Luna and I has become way too strenuous."

"I understand, he's been doing the same with me," Cadance said with an irritated look. "He's been such a wet blanket lately."

Celestia hugged Cadance. "No matter," her aunt said with an attempt at a cheery voice. "At least Joey is alive; we'd know if he was killed. While he still lives, we have hope."

Cadance smiled a teary smile. She missed that kid so much.

MINOS

Everything had gone according to plan so far perfectly - so perfectly, as a matter of fact, that it made Joey uneasy.

The airship's security had been minimal - Joey would of thought that it would of been a lot more tight under Lord Valkaris's regime. That was not the case, however - apparently the Dark Lord had struck up some sort of alliance with the Minotaurs, for their guards seemed to be cheerier in a cruel way - or were they always like that?

No - their armor bore a new symbol upon their breastplate - an adder entwining a skeletal fist. The mark of the new dark regime. They looked as if they were proud to wear it, too.

The city of Minos was, despite the common patriotic mood for the dark regime, was a nice city. It reminded Joey of Los Angeles from back home - the ratio of shabby buildings to nice ones seemed balanced. The streets were paved with old cobblestone, which was cracked or crumbling in many areas. A hazy smog hung in the air due to the number of forges in the city that polluted the air with their smoke.

Even though the Minotaurs had a slightly brutish style to their everyday actions, their city was well organized and easy to navigate. They even had street signs; if the three friends ever got lost as they snuck around, they'd head back to a major landmark in the city and start over. Fortunately for them, they found what they were looking for a mere hour after they entered the city.

The location of the vault was not hard to find. It was the third largest building in the entire city. It was a large triangular shape that reached for the sky - it must of been around a hundred feet tall. It sloped down into the ground in the back, meaning that the chamber inside probably went underground. The large triangular gates were flanked by six guards on each side, each of them on full alert.

They clearly wanted no one to get inside.

At the moment, Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann were crouched under the shadow of a very large barrel, just having taken off their Disillusionment Charms (well - except for Jo-Ann, who was paranoid). They had been careful to come this far without touching anyone by managing to avoid large crowds of street-goers. They did this mainly by staying as far away from the center as they could, for it tended to be the busiest area. They very rarely spoke for obvious reasons, but occasionally one of them would trip on their own robe or nudge a vendor's stand.

"What. The. Hell," Naiose murmured as he peered around the barrel. Retracting his head, he gave Joey the most disgruntled look he had ever seen. "There's too many of them."

"Well, what do you expect?" Joey replied. "It's their most treasured artifact - of course they'd guard it like no tomorrow. Haven't you seen how stuck up these guys are?"

"Well - yeah," Naiose replied morosely, chancing another glance at the guards. "How in the world are we going to get past them, though? Security's really tight here, and it's not like these guards were born yesterday."

"True..." Joey replied, then looked back to Jo-Ann. He couldn't see her because of the Disillusionment Charm, but he could feel her small hand on his shoulder.

"You never told us - did you hear anything when you were over by the guards?" Joey asked. "Anything about security?"

"Mostly just boasting," Jo-Ann replied, sounding bored. "You know, 'there's no way in and no way out, just the door' and stuff like that. Although they did occasionally complain to one another about having to stand outside in the heat while the other guards got to protect the inner doors leading up to the chamber. Also, they mentioned booby traps."

"Wonderful," Joey grunted, but Naiose sat up next to him.

"Guards on the inside?" he asked, interested.

"Why are you asking as if it's a good thing?" Joey asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "It's a very bad thing."

The other two ignored him. "Yeah," Jo-Ann replied. "Why?"

"Well - if the only way out is the door, that would be their only source of fresh air," Naiose explained calmly. "And like Joey said, the Minotaurs weren't born yesterday - they would have planned for something like that."

"What does this have to do with - OH!" Joey gasped in realization. He then got a well deserved jab in the ribs from Jo-Ann and Naiose to quiet him. "We're going to use an alternative route!"

"Yep," Naiose replied. "I'm willing to bet one of my fingers that there's a vent or two somewhere. They would have to be big, too, so they cold get more air down to the guards below."

"All we need to do is find one," Jo-Ann chirped. "Good thinking, Naiose!"

Naiose beamed, then looked around the barrel again. "What do you say we start now?"

"Alright - just stay down," Joey replied, placing another Disillusionment Charm upon himself. Naiose mirrored this action, then the three friends quickly departed their hiding place with magically muffled footsteps.

"Let's check the area behind the vault's entrance first," Joey whispered as they approached the gate. The other two nodded, and they slunk around the side of the building. One of the guards reached back and scratched his rear, but took no notice of the sudden breeze that was made from Joey, Jo-Ann, and Naiose sneaking by.

Behind the building was just a filthy alleyway. No one was there except an intoxicated Minotaur, who dozed away wearing an aluminum garbage can lid as a hat.

"Guys - if you see anything that looks like a large vent, tell the rest of us immediately," Joey said, beginning his search. He looked over at the drunk Minotaur uncertainly. "Should we do something about him? You know, to be safe?"

Jo-Ann bit her lip apprehensively. "I - sure, I guess... just don't do anything that would give us away."

"Well, yeah," Joey said, recognizing the obvious. He pointed his wand at the drunk Minotaur and muttered, "Stupefy." The Minotaur crumpled to the ground, toppling over the garbage can lid. It clattered to the ground with a horrifying CLANG.

Joey's insides froze in fear as he stood frozen to the spot. There was a shout of shock from one of the guards, and heavy footsteps came pelting around the side of the building. Joey couldn't see his friends due to the Disillusionment Charms, and hoped dearly that the charms would hold.

Turning very slowly on the spot so he wouldn't make any further noise, Joey saw two of the Minotaur guards peering around the alleyway with eager expressions. They fell quickly, however, when they only saw the collapsed drunk slumped against a wall.

One of the guards gave a surly huff and grunted, "Drunks. Always the drunks."

The two guards shuffled out of the alleyway morosely, clearly suffering from a severe disappointment. Once they were out of earshot, Jo-Ann hissed, "Are you insane? You nearly gave us up!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Joey hissed back. "I'm trying!"

The three friends did not exchange another word as they began their search again.

"Do you smell that?" Naiose asked after a long moment of intense searching. They had been all over the alleyway three times, and were just about ready to move on. As they were, however, a strange odor filled the alleyway - one that smelled familiar...

"Yeah..." Jo-Ann agreed, sniffing the air.

"It smells kind of - kind of..." Joey began, but a sense of extreme excitement stole over him. "Kind of like a cave!"

The other two paled, and Naiose groaned. "Y-Yeah, it does..."

"I don't think the Minotaurs would have a vault in a cave," Jo-Ann murmured. "Especially if there's a chance that those - things are there."

Joey shuddered - he did not want to think about those horrifying spiders back in Griffonstone - those still appeared in his nightmares. He grit his teeth and said, "I agree with Jo. Those spider thingies would probably kill the guards as soon as they got the chance. Plus, there's a good chance that the spiders only reside in Griffonstone."

"Well..." Naiose replied, but Jo-Ann cut him off.

"Where's the smell coming from?" she asked to no one in particular.

"It seems like it's in this general vicinity," Joey replied, gesturing at a wall to his right that was lined with dusty aluminum garbage cans. "It could very well be trash we're smelling, just keep in mind."

"I really hope the fuck NOT," Naiose said firmly. "I would commit scooter-ankle right here on the spot."

"Scooter-ankle?" Joey chuckled. "Haven't heard that one in a while... what about toaster bath? That's a classic."

"Nah," Jo-Ann intervened. "Too cliche."

"What about speed bump?" Naiose suggested.

"Ahh, yes," Joey said in mock nostalgia. "As a child, it was my dream ambition to become a speed bump."

Jo-Ann slugged him in the shoulder. "Stop it," she said firmly.

"What? My parents could just make another one of me - OW! Okay, okay, I'll stop."

"Thank you."

While Joey and his girlfriend shared this small exchange, Naiose began to check the garbage cans, where the smell was stronger. He looked around them, under them, over them, and in between them. Finally, he had no other place to look. So he therefore began, to his dismay, to check the last place he could - in them.

Lifting the lid of the first one, a putrid smell that was a combination of rotten fish and eggs met his senses. He wretched and replaced the lid to its original spot quickly, blinking tears of disgust out of his eyes.

"Naiose - are you checking the trash cans? Where are you?" Joey asked, making his way over to the row of cans. He promptly bumped into Naiose.

"Oh. There you are."

"Can it," Naiose said, walking up to the next garbage can. "This is the last possible place we can look in this area - I can't believe we forgot to check inside them."

"I can," Jo-Ann replied. "They look disgusting. Joey, what's so funny?"

"Can it. Can it, get it? Because we're looking in garbage cans? And he told me to can it...?"

"Joey, shut the fuck up and help me look," Naiose said, shaking his head. "You and your puns, I swear."

"It's been forever since I've made one!" Joey protested. "You're just jealous."

"Guys, focus," Jo-Ann said firmly, cutting across the unnecessary dialogue. "Let's... let's just get this over with."

There were only five other trash cans, since the first one had already been checked. Naiose and Jo-Ann stepped up to their respective cans and took a peek. Ignoring their retching sounds, Joey selected the can second from the right. He braced himself for the terrible smell before he hoisted the lid up. Holding his breath, he pulled it off.

There was no smell. He looked down, smiled slightly, and said, "First try."

"What?" Jo-Ann asked, walking over. Her arms were extended so as to not run into anyone, and they found her boyfriend's arm.

"Found the vent," Joey announced proudly. "See?"

Naiose joined them and inhaled. "Yep, that's definitely the cave smell."

"What d'you think?" Joey asked his friends. "Just go for the gusto?"

"Got a better plan?" Naiose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really - thought I'd ask," Joey replied. "Alrighty, then! Tally ho!" He vaulted into the can and felt himself plunge into pitch darkness.

The wind whipped by his face as he felt the passage slowly curve into a horizontal position. The stone was incredibly smooth and damp, so he glided right over it. When the passage became completely horizontal, Joey pointed his wand at his rear and said loudly, "Arresto Momentum!"

The surface below Joey slowly began to get more of a grip on him, and friction played its part as he came to a complete stop. Fortunate for him, too, because there was a vertical drop inches from the spot where he came to a stop. The vent bent downward at a ninety degree angle.

He tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain in his forehead as his head collided with the top of the vent. Blinking tears of pain out of his eyes, he rolled over onto all fours and pointed his wand back up the chute.

"Expecto Patronum," he whispered, and a silver burst of light emanated from his wand. In one fluid movement, it morphed into a brilliant phoenix, which perched itself in front of him. It blinked at him peacefully, awaiting orders.

"Relay this message to my friends," Joey murmured softly to the luminescent bird. "I'm okay - the vent is safe. Once the passage goes completely flat, use a Braking Charm."

The phoenix flew up the passage with a burst of silver light. Once it was gone, Joey returned his attention to the drop. Something at the bottom was filling up the drop with a dim golden glow. Peeking over the edge, Joey saw a grille barrier below. Below that was another room.

I really hope this is the right one, Joey thought to himself as he heard a sliding noise coming from further down the passage.

Jo-Ann came to a sliding halt next to him and said breathlessly, "Naiose is coming soon - only a moment."

Another sliding noise came from the darkness, and the two were joined by Naiose, who looked windswept. He paused to catch his breath for a moment, then grinned up at Joey.

"Awesome," he muttered. "Now what?"

"The end of the vent is here," Joey replied quietly, looking back down at the grille. "I just hope we're in the right place."

"One way to find out," Jo-Ann said, giving Joey a playful nudge towards the drop. Joey gave a start and grabbed hold of her arm.

"Not funny," he grunted as the other two giggled silently. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

He grabbed the edge of the drop firmly and slid himself over so that he was hanging by his hands. It was in that position that he faced a new problem - the grille was still a good five feet below him. He grit his teeth and gripped his wand even tighter, as he was still holding it. He then let go of the edge and dropped, preparing to squat down as soon as his feet connected with the grille so he wouldn't make a lot of noise.

Unfortunately for him, the time never came. The moment he put his weight upon the grille, it broke off and fell into the room below, taking him with it. He had no time to react before the grille made contact with something.

CLANG!

Joey landed on top of the grille painfully and rolled off onto the ground. Groaning, he got to his feet and held out his wand, preparing to fight the guards that were surely in this room. The bad news was that there were indeed guards in that room.

The good news was that there were only two of them, and the grille had fallen on top of the both of them, knocking them unconscious. Joey let out a sigh of relief. Now this was really lucky.

A loud banging noise sounded in front of him, making him jump. Looking up and beyond the collapsed grille and guards, there was a large set of doors, identical to the ones that were on the outside. How many layers did this place have?

There was another banging noise coming from the door, this time louder, as if someone was trying to knock down the door.

"Mitrus! Covialus!" bellowed an angry Minotaur's voice. "What's going on in there??"

"This git was goofing around, then knocked the vent cover off!" Joey roared back in a passable Minotaur voice.

"Which one are you??" the Minotaur from the other side demanded.

"Er - Mitrus!! How are you unable to recognize my tone!?" Joey bellowed back. To his surprise, the Minotaur on the other side of the door chuckled.

"To be fair, comrade, we all sound the same here," the Minotaur said in a slightly kinder voice. "Might wanna get that voice checked out, though!"

"Yeah, fine!" Joey growled back, trying to put a surly edge in his voice.

The sound of clanking armor grew fainter as the Minotaur on the other side of the door left. Joey let out a relieved sigh and looked up at the vent. "Guys! We're clear!"

Jo-Ann and Naiose silently jumped down from the vent, the latter taking care to tread on the face of one of the unconscious guards. Once they were safely on the ground, Naiose looked around the room. "So - are we going there next?"

"Going where next?" Joey asked, looking around wildly.

"Over there, retard," Naiose deadpanned, pointing to a small door in the wall opposite of the large double doors. "The door that's literally right in front of us."

"Okay, okay, I see it," Joey retorted. "Leave me and my three brain cells alone."

"Joey, you do not have three brain cells," Jo-Ann said with a grin, "And Naiose, stop calling him names."

"Yes ma'am," Naiose said in an oily voice with a bow. Joey aimed a kick at his friend's shins.

"Don't mock my girlfriend, you thot," Joey said in mock anger.

"Heh... well, shall we get going?" Jo-Ann said as Joey and Naiose gave each other a fist bump and began following her. "Boys," she muttered as the three friends stepped up to the door.

Joey grabbed the fine, curved silver handle of the door and tested it. It was not locked, so it swung open freely, revealing a long, roughly hewn rock passage behind it. Naiose let out a groan.

"It's fine - we only have to deal with booby traps or something," Joey said consolingly. "I'm positive there are no spiders. If there are, then... well, use fire, I guess. You know? The ignition spell?"

"We'll have it ready," Jo-Ann replied calmly. Joey smiled appreciatively at his girlfriend, who returned the look.

Joey entered the corridor first. The air immediately became damp and cold, as it naturally would feel in an underground cave. A light condensation covered the walls, making them glisten as Joey lit up his wand.

"Okay... Lux."

The passage seemed to go on for a lifetime, occasionally turning to the left or right. It even sloped down every now and then, leading them into colder and damper air. It was only after Joey stepped on a pressure plate when something interesting happened.

He felt a hand sharply pull him out of the way as a massive iron spike shot up from the place he was standing a split second before, tearing a hole on a small part of his robe.

"Dude!" Naiose yelped, while Jo-Ann pulled Joey to his feet. The three of them stared transfixed at the iron spike as it slowly slid back into the ground. When it had disappeared, they all exchanged nervous looks.

"Hoo boy," Joey said weakly."What did I tell you? Booby traps."

"How are we getting across?" Naiose asked.

"Trial and error, I guess," Jo-Ann replied, looking the corridor up and down. "We can trigger the traps with our wands - then all we'd have to do is memorize the way across."

"Sounds like a plan," Joey said smartly. "Why don't we start triggering instead of yakking?"

The three friends each in turn shot a simple Stinging Jinx at the tiles in the floor. They immediately stepped on the tiles that were proven to be safe. Progress was slow, but they managed to get to the other side without a single scratch.

"Ugh, that took forever!" Joey groaned impatiently as soon as they reached the other side. "Let's get going; the sooner we get out of here, the better."

Unfortunately, they had gone through three more challenges before getting anywhere interesting. The first consisted of a large pit in which they had to lasso massive stalactites with rope and pull them down to make a bridge. The second was a very confusing riddle that consisted of choosing between a vial with a key at the bottom, poison, and vinegar. The only reason they had passed that one was because Naiose accidentally smashed the vials with poison and vinegar.

The third challenge was the most interesting as well as dangerous; they had to duel a huge basilisk to the death. Something about stalactites seemed to be catching on, for they managed to cause one to embed itself in the basilisk's skull.

Finally, they had reached a large set of impressive, golden doors. Before Jo-Ann or Naiose could walk up to it, Joey threw himself in front.

"Wait a minute," he said dully. He peered suspiciously at the golden doors for a second, then turned right and pushed up against the wall. The confused looks of Jo-Ann and Naiose quickly turned to surprise as they realized it was a door. Joey, however, seemed completely unfazed by this, and continued on impatiently.

A couple of turns later, and their goal was in sight - the Scepter of Argegrabus sat on a pedestal in the middle of a huge circular chamber. It was completely unguarded, and -

Once Joey looked again, his heart sank. Not another challenge, surely!

A cloaked figure was all that stood between the three friends and the Scepter. It held itself in a familiar way, but Joey couldn't pin down who he knew that had that posture. It was much smaller than a Minotaur - human sized, actually. It seemed to sense their presence immediately, for it turned to face them.

"Okay, I don't know who you are, but could you please make it quick?" Joey asked wearily.

The cloaked figure drew a wand.

"Oh - THAT'S NOT GOOD!" Joey yelped, whipping out his wand in just enough time to deflect the figure's attack. He sent a retaliating spell back, forcing the figure to dodge with surprising agility to one side. In the process, however, its hood slipped off, revealing a face Joey never expected to see again.

"D-DAD!?" he cried, nearly dropping his wand in shock.

Roderick Steffen took advantage of the moment and knocked Joey off of his feet with a spell.

"STOP!!" cried Jo-Ann. "He's your SON, you can't - AUGH!"

She was sent sprawling across the floor by Rod's merciless aggression. Joey couldn't believe what he was seeing. No, it couldn't be true, he was dead, he saw him killed -

Then Joey saw his father's face up close - or what was his father, anyway. His eyes were so black they seemed to draw light from the air. The skin on his face was sagging, and he looked as if he had just woken up from a fifty year nap.

No - this wasn't his dad... something was wrong.

"Why do you not fight me, boy?" Rod said in a deep, evil voice that was not his. It was as if someone had taken Lord Valkaris's voice down eight octaves. "I'm sure you miss your father very much."

Zombie-Rod spoke in a gloating tone as he retrained his wand on Joey. He wore a leer that would have never shown on his father's face. He shot another curse at Joey, who deflected it into the ceiling. The ceiling began to quake and collapsed in the area that it had been hit.

"Joey, I think it's a reanimated corpse!" Jo-Ann cried in horror. "Don't listen to it! That's not your dad - just his body!"

No - she was wrong - the deep voice had to be a trick of the mind! His dad was right there, perfectly alive and intact. He couldn't hurt his own father! He could bring him back - this was his chance!"

"You aren't dead!" Joey cried as Rod attempted to curse him again. "You're my dad!! We can make you better!"

"Joey, NO!!" Naiose bellowed, throwing himself in between Joey and the corpse. "It's not your father, Joey - it's a dead body bewitched into doing the caster's bidding!"

"YOU'RE WRONG!!" Joey bellowed, and attempted to shove Naiose out of the way. There was a flash of light, and Naiose began to scream louder and more terribly than Joey could of ever imagined.

His 'father' had used the Torturing Curse on his best friend.

His 'father' had been trying to kill him and his friends.

Tears of realization welled up in Joey's eyes as he watched his friend writhe on the floor in agony. Rod hit him with another curse, sending Naiose into another hysterical frenzy.

"NO!!" Jo-Ann screamed, sending a spell at Rod, who deflected it and prepared to curse her in retaliation.

"Excruciate!!" Rod bellowed, but he looked down at his hand and realized that his wand was gone. It clattered across the floor away from him to the other wall.

Joey, having just disarmed his zombie-father of its only weapon, kept his wand trained on the very last thing he wanted to kill. He was no suffering from second guessing himself yet again; his dad was right there, half-dead, but alive. How could he be a reanimated corpse?

A vivid image of his father's dead body getting sucked into Tartarus at the Gateway, right after he had been murdered by his own brother. Then two words slipped into his mind - half dead.

This was not his father. His father was dead - forever. No but-wait-there's-mores.

"Are you going to kill me, then?" zombie-Rod sneered, sensing weakness. "I challenge you, then, to finish it. Prove you have the guts to do what it takes."

Joey grit his teeth and ignored the flood of tears running down his face. This was going to take more guts than he could possibly imagine. He hated what he was about to do - every cell in his body screamed for him not to. Regardless, he tightened his grip stubbornly on his wand.

"Mordo," he half-sobbed.

A flash of pale green light, and it was over. The reanimated corpse of Roderick Steffen, instead of collapsing, dissolved into pitch black smoke, sending a shockwave through the chamber. A soft, creepy scream that sounded like Lord Valkaris echoed through the chamber shortly afterward.

Naiose and Jo-Ann stood rooted to the spot in a stunned silence. It was over just as quick as it started - but it was such a twisted battle. The fact that they had just witnessed their dearest friend dispose of a horrible evil that resided in his own father's dead body made them feel more sorry for him then they had ever felt in their lives.

Joey collapsed to his knees and let his wand clatter to the ground. He looked down at his shaking hands, which were both palms up, and tried to ignore the thoughts screaming at him.

Coward!

Sicko!

You are such a disgrace - you killed your own FATHER!!

Truly despicable... how could you be the one to save the world?

"No... stop it..." Joey grunted, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. He felt weak, exposed, and defeated; he went from impatient to insane in less than ten minutes, who else would do that? He couldn't do this, he just murdered his own father, he couldn't do it -

He felt a warm hand grip his shoulder, and Jo-Ann's face came into view. She looked terrified.

"Joey... please tell me you're going to be alright," she said meekly.

Joey grunted and wiped the tears off of his face. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"I worry about you every day," his girlfriend replied, and hugged him extremely tightly. His chest tightened painfully with bad emotions.

"Let's discuss this later," Joey said firmly, getting to his feet. He did so unsteadily, but Jo-Ann assisted him, and he was inwardly grateful for that. He sniffed loudly as he stooped over to pick up his wand from the floor.

He had just collected his wand when a magical siren began to wail, echoing painfully off of the walls. There were deep, gruff shouts coming from the passage they had entered through.

The Minotaurs were now aware of the intruders.

"Joey!" cried Jo-Ann, but her voice was quickly muffled by something. Joey whipped around to see the hem of a cloak whip out of sight into a new tunnel that was definitely not there before. His two friends were nowhere to be seen.

Without a second thought, he pelted towards the tunnel and plunged into darkness. His body collided with something soft and alive, which gave a loud "OOF!" as they both tumbled to the ground.

"Lux!!" Joey cried, and the tip of his wand lit up to reveal a familiar African American man on the ground, who was groaning and panting heavily.

It was Martin Quigby - a member of the old Order of Illisair.

"Jeez, kid, you could have given me a warning that you were coming!" Martin said indignantly, getting to his feet with help from Joey. "Now, first thing's first..."

He pointed his wand at the opening of the tunnel, and it instantly sealed itself magically with rock. Anyone from the outside would have never known there was another way out.

"Wha -? Martin? How?" Joey sputtered, but Martin smiled slightly at him. "Have you been hiding here the entire time?"

"You mean in this here tunnel? No," Martin replied carelessly. "We've been hiding here."

Joey's mouth fell open as they stepped into a large, brightly-lit cavern. There were small little tunnels leading off to another room here and there, separated from the main room by large curtains. There was mismatched furniture in a circle in the center of the room - mostly armchairs, but there was an occasional loveseat. Standing there, in the center of the room, was the remainder of the old Order - Gage, Glynn, and Karen. Karen and Jo-Ann were in the middle of a tight embrace.

Glynn strode up to Joey and clapped him on the back. "Welcome! I take it - by the look of you - the trip wasn't easy?"

"You have no idea," Joey said in a voice that did not sound like his own. Everything was happening quicker than he could process once again - he had gone from trying to steal the Scepter to killing an evil version of his father, and then was now in the middle of the remaining members of the Order. It had been, what, twenty minutes? The luck they had received was incredible.

"Oh! Joey!!" Karen exclaimed, and bolted over to him. She wrapped him up in a massive bear hug, squeezing the air out of him.

"But - but -" Joey sputtered as Karen released him. "How did you know where we were?"

"Utter luck, mate," Glynn replied, shaking Joey's hand firmly. "We knew the guardian was activated, so we sent Martin to scout out who it was. You know, just in case it was someone who was willing to help us."

"Help you what?" Joey asked cautiously. "What are you planning to do?"

"Start a massive revolt," Glynn said airily. "It's our best chance."

"No, it isn't," Joey replied. "It would ruin everything."

Glynn looked as if he had been struck in the head with a club. "Oh... right... your mission. Forgive me, but... would a revolution really damage the chances of success with your mission?"

"Yes," Joey said emphatically. "There will be a time, and it may come soon... I just have to figure out where the last one is..."

"The last what?" Karen asked, looking from Joey to Jo-Ann, then to Naiose. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," he said hurriedly, but Karen squinted at him.

"Right... and I suppose you've been looking for these 'nothings' for a long time now?" she asked shrewdly.

Joey felt ice fill his lungs. "Y-You know?"

"Of course I don't," Karen replied impatiently, and Joey instantly relaxed. "But the fact that you said 'I have to figure out where the last one is' is a dead giveaway."

"Ah. Well, my dad told me not to tell anyone..." Joey replied nervously, feeling every single eye in the room on him. "I think I made myself clear before I left."

"Joey, listen," said Jo-Ann from behind him. She put a hand on his shoulder. "I know what your dad said, but to be fair, you did tell the kirin about our mission."

The kirin... he had completely forgotten about the kirin. Were they all right? Did they escape? Were they getting enslaved or killed?

"Joey - Joey!" Jo-Ann said irritably, shaking him out of his thoughts. "Well?"

"W-Well, the kirin didn't have a lot of contacts with the outside world," he reasoned. "If word of what we're doing happened to get out and reach the Dark Lord, we'd be in serious trouble - not to mention the fact that it would jeopardize our mission."

"We can trust them though, Joey!" Naiose intervened exasperatedly. "They're the freaking Order!! Even if they wanted to tell others about the you-know-whats, they'd get murdered on the spot by Maulers!"

Joey looked from Naiose to Jo-Ann, feeling ganged up on. "You guys aren't being serious..."

"We are," they said simultaneously.

Joey huffed. "Forget it," he said gruffly. "We're too close to the end to do this now."

"Actually, it's better that way," Jo-Ann reasoned. "They could help - we only have the Journal to get now."

"She's right," Naiose added. "There isn't a lot of stuff left to do. All we have to do is find out the location of the journal, then retrieve it."

"So you just want me to tell them?" Joey asked pleadingly.

"Duh," Naiose snarked.

Joey sighed, then turned to face the other members of the Order, who had been waiting through the argument patiently.

"Do any of you know what a Horcrux is?" Joey asked.

Martin frowned. Most of the other Order members looked confused, but Glynn's face went completely pale. "So that's what you were looking for," he said quietly. "Is the Dark Lord using them?"

"Not consciously," Joey replied, "But there are a lot of them. He apparently did a large emotional release of magic and scattered them across the world... then they latched onto the most powerful artifacts that exist."

Glynn nodded, then turned to face the group that had no clue what a Horcrux was. "For those of you who don't know, a Horcrux is an isolated chunk of soul," he explained. "That chunk is separated from the rest of the soul so as to preserve it - it gives the owner extra lives, if you will."

Everyone else looked much less confused now.

"So - that's what the Dark Lord has been using to stay alive for so long?" Karen asked.

"Yep," Joey replied darkly.

"So... are you just trying to use them as leverage against the Dark Lord, or are you trying to destroy them somehow?" Martin asked.

"Destroy them," Joey said quietly, "But we don't know how."

"I do," Glynn said immediately.

Jo-Ann gasped excitedly, and Joey turned towards Glynn slowly. "You do??"

Glynn nodded. "I do... but in order to do it, you need all of the Horcruxes in the same place at once. It's very complicated."

There was a long silence during which Jo-Ann, Joey and Naiose ecstatic looks. They could destroy the Horcruxes.

"So what's the plan?" Glynn asked.

Joey gave a start and looked at the man incredulously. "What!?"

"Well, it's your mission," Glynn explained. "You should have a plan, yes?"

"Well..." Joey murmured sheepishly.

"... We've kinda been winging it," Jo-Ann said, finishing her boyfriend's sentence for him. He gave her a grateful look.

"No plan!?" Karen said in a high pitched voice. "Nothing to go off of? Do you know how dangerous that can be??"

"We've scarcely noticed," Naiose replied tonelessly. Karen seemed to realize what he meant almost immediately and didn't press the matter.

"Um - so have you guys been hiding out here the entire time?" Joey asked, looking for a quick change of subject.

"Yeah," replied Gage, catching everyone by surprise with his sudden statement. "It's been incredibly boring."

"Amen to that," Martin muttered.

Glynn shot Martin a nasty look, then returned his gaze to Joey. "Everyone's been restless for a while now... I've managed to keep them going with the prospect of a revolt. It hasn't been easy..."

"What do you mean, 'keep us going'!?" Martin burst out indignantly. "It sounds to me like you lied to us."

"Stop it, Martin!!" Karen scolded. "Don't you start! Glynn has been doing his best for us and you know it!"

Martin huffed and retreated into a sulky silence.

"Why did you choose the vault for your base location?" Jo-Ann asked Glynn.

"It would be the last place they'd expect," Glynn replied. "Right next to the vault - who would see it coming? Not only this, but our base here is protected by the traps and guards the Minotaurs have stationed to protect the vault."

"What was wrong with Joey's dad?" asked Naiose. As soon as he had asked it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say, for everyone in the room cringed and cast anxious looks at Joey, whose expression had become stony.

"The thing is... I haven't told anyone else this... but he was a Horcrux, not the Scepter," Glynn replied. "Don't ask me how, because I have no clue."

"Wha - no, that's not - that's not true... that's impossible!" Joey spat. "How could you possibly know that!"

"Ever since Horcrux-Rod was stationed in the vault, I began to watch it," Glynn explained, taking a seat in one of the armchairs. "The first time I recognized it because of Rod's face, I was beside myself. I even almost approached it... then I saw the eyes. That told me that something wasn't right. So I waited.

"He began to show signs of dark magic with his everyday activities - stuff that the true Rod would never dream about. He was acting weird - bloodthirsty, even. He was always muttering to himself, and it was by this that I realized he was connected to the Dark Lord. He was muttering stuff that was coming directly from the Dark Lord's mind. Then I knew that it was more than a simple reanimated corpse. It had to be connected to a part of his soul."

At that moment, Joey felt his chest give a painful heave. "So... I just took care of one off the Horcruxes without knowing it?"

"Yep," answered Glynn bluntly. "The only way you can destroy a Horcrux when it isn't in the presence of its fellows is when it's either isolated or if it's in something that can move and think for itself."

"Ah," Joey said. "I guess that makes sense."

"Before you go asking any more questions, let me ask you something," Glynn said before Joey could speak again. "It pertains to your mission - do you know what the last Horcrux is?"

"Yeah, actually," Joey replied, looking back at his two friends. "A journal of some sort."

"He means Starswirl the Bearded's Journal," Jo-Ann corrected.

"Of course," Glynn groaned. "Of all powerful artifacts, it had to be that one."

"Why?" Joey asked. "Is it dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" Glynn chuckled. "Heh, no. As a matter of fact, I happen to know where it is."

"YOU DO!?" Joey, Jo-Ann, and Naiose cried at the same time.

"Yeah," Glynn said bitterly, "Except the problem is, it's kept in the most guarded place in the entire world."

Joey felt his heart come crashing down. "You don't mean -"

"Yeah, I do," Glynn said with a weak smile. "Canterlot."

The atmosphere in the room became so tense Joey could of sworn you could slice a hole in it with a knife. Everyone stared at Glynn apprehensively, then exchanged nervous glances with one another.

"We need to do it as soon as possible," Joey said, cutting through the silence.

"W-What!?" everyone else yelped except Glynn, who massaged his temples, then looked up at Joey.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "With such little preparation?"

"We don't need preparation," Joey replied. "We need a diversion."

"B-but surely you realize the Dark Lord himself will know where you are?" Karen sputtered.

Joey felt fear and apprehension boil up in him like acid, but he had made this decision. "I don't care. The prophecy says we need to meet anyway, and if I can destroy all of the Horcruxes before we do, we're even."

"What about that Soul-Switching Spell?" Glynn asked hurriedly. "Your souls are still bound together; you have to break the connection first!"

The fear grew tenfold. Joey had not forgotten, but the fact that things were much more complicated did not do anything to soothe him.

"I'll figure that out later - we have a Horcrux to snatch."

Evening came in chilly fashion the next day, as a freezing cold gust woke him from his nap. Jo-Ann, Naiose, and himself had been napping in a cave very close to Canterlot - just on the other side of a small hill directly below. Here it was very cold, and the skies over the city were incredibly dark, much darker than the areas surrounding them.

The three friends had left the Order's safe refuge in Minos to come all the way out to their current location to prepare to make a break for the castle when they had the go ahead.

The plan was very simple; Karen was in charge of the diversion, which would occur just after dark. She was currently in Ponyville, where they had helped her drive out the reapers and lone Mauler (who was now hanging unconscious by his underpants from the town hall flagpole). Glynn, Martin, and Gage were to come into the city from above (via the mountain) and rid the place of reapers. There would be an explosion of some sort, and that would be the signal.

After they do that, Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann were to make a beeline for the castle using their new skill - smoke-travelling. Just as the Maulers could travel quickly via tendrils of pitch black smoke, the three friends could now travel in tendrils of smoke that seemed to be made of pure light.

Now all they had to do was await the signal...

Karen stood on a little rise just off the path to the main gates of Canterlot. Behind her was the population of Ponyville in its entirety, looking very anxious. The moment she had asked the village to assist her in a diversion, the movement to accepting the task wholeheartedly was outstanding. The entire village, excluding the children, had rose to the occasion magnificently. They had instantly accepted once they had been told it was to help Joey get into Canterlot.

Now, they all stood out in the open, facing the city. All they had to do was charge at the gates... but how many of them would return home to their families?

She did, of course, tell them that the chances of dying were formidable. They would not be deterred, though, even when they were told that they might not return to their children. This failed to change their minds, too, to Karen's uncomfortable surprise. Apparently they valued the freedom of the world over their own families. This was honorable as well as depressing at the same time.

She turned to the crowd and swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. "Are you all sure you want to do this?" she asked loudly.

There was a murmur of determined assent.

"Okay, then," Karen said heavily. "Follow my lead."

Hanging Tree

Author's Note

Please listen to this as you read - I think it would really add to the effect. The soundtrack is property of James Newton Howard and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.

Hanging Tree

Karen looked at the silhouette of Canterlot with determination, and began to march towards it while singing.

Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
They strung up a mare,
They say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be.
If we met, at midnight,
In the hanging tree.

Some of the other ponies began to follow nervously, watching her as she continued her march. Others, however, joined in on the song.

Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where dead mare called out,
For her love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be.
If we met, at midnight,
In the hanging tree.

Many looked at her curiously as she sang, but the song seemed to give more and more ponies heart by the second. They marched forward more confidently, now looking towards the gate of Canterlot with determination.

Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where we told you to run,
So we'd all be free.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be.
If we met, at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of hope,
Side by side with we.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be.
If we met, at midnight
In the hanging tree.

The singing began to get even louder, and now everyone present had a determined look as they marched. They had completely forgotten about the prospect of death; as one, they were all thinking, for Joey. For freedom.

The guard Maulers at the Canterlot gate stood up as soon as they heard the approaching crowd.

Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where they strung up a mare,
They say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be.
If we met, at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where dead mare called out,
For her love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be.
If we met, at midnight
In the hanging tree.

The Maulers guarding the gate felt uneasy as they faced the oncoming crowd, which was hidden by the fog. They readied themselves, training their wands on the darkness in front of them. Each of them eyed the darkness with apprehension. The ponies continued to march, led by Karen, purposefully towards the gate, not feeling any hesitation. The Maulers glanced at one another, frightened, before the charge happened. As they they trained their wands on the mist, they shook slightly.

There was a great roar as the immense crowd charged out of the darkness without hesitation.

"MORDO!"

The line of Maulers sent killing curses into the crowd, collapsing the ponies on the front line. They pushed forward in waves, but the Maulers continued to shoot curses into the crowd without hesitation, felling as many oncoming ponies as they could.

Karen retaliated with curses of her own, but her aim was terrible from being jostled by the crowd. She watched as Ponyville's line crept slowly forward.

From the balcony of the castle, the princesses watched in horror as their own subjects launched themselves at their oncoming doom.

"Why?" Celestia said, eyes wide in immense shock as she watched the massacre. Her fellow princesses watched in disbelief by her side.

The crowd from Ponyville was vast, however, and began to overwhelm the Maulers. They lunged at them, knocking them to the ground and beating them to death, while others dashed past the gates and rigged the edges of the gates with their magical explosives.

Once this had been done, they ran away, into the darkness. At this moment Scallius looked out from a balcony the terrible scene below. His eyes rested on the explosives, and comprehension dawned on him.

"NO!!" he cried, but it was too late.

BOOM!!!

The archway over the entrance to Canterlot was blown skyward in a massive flurry of flame, dust, and debris. The Maulers who had tried to flee were lost in the fiery ball of death. The ponies of Ponyville gave a roar of triumph, then retreated back into the mist before the dead Mauler's reinforcements could arrive.

From their cave, Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann witnessed the large spectacle with ease. They all simultaneously jumped to their feet as soon as they saw it.

"Now! This is our chance!" Joey hissed, and the three friends bolted from their hiding place and turned into the tendrils of smoky light. They zoomed up towards the city, ignoring everything else. In the city, a silver lion and a silver boar ran rampant throughout the streets, forcing reapers to leave.

The three friends landed on the closest balcony of the castle. They snuck up to the doors barring them form the inside and pushed them open slightly.

The place was eerily empty and quiet. The diversion had done its job properly.

"C'mon, we don't have much time," Joey whispered, and nudged the door open just wide enough to slip through. Once they were in, they hurried down the corridor to the left. They had no idea where to go; all Glynn said was that it was in a vault. Surely the ponies wouldn't booby trap the vault like the Minotaurs did...?

The drawling, magically magnified voice of Gavin Scallius echoed throughout the castle, freezing the three friends where they stood.

"All sovereigns report to the throne room immediately."

Joey looked at his friends significantly. "Scallius... we forgot about Scallius."

"It doesn't matter," Jo-Ann said impatiently. "We have to find the Horcrux."

"Then let's split up," Joey grunted, also feeling impatient. "If you find something, send a patronus and we'll all meet back here."

Jo-Ann looked at him suspiciously, but Naiose nodded.

"That's fine," Naiose replied seriously. "Any Maulers except Scallius are probably at the gate right now, so the halls should be clear."

Jo-Ann looked slightly mutinous, but then groaned, "Fine. Just be safe and don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah, I'll try," Joey said quickly. "Let's just look for that Horcrux."

Cadance walked up to the large throne room doors, processing everything she had just seen. Why would her ponies do something so stupid? It made no sense - just blindly charging down the guards at the gate of Canterlot to their deaths. She knew it was a revolt, but it was so pointless - how would it affect anything? The Dark Lord would just replace the damaged gate along with its protection, undoing everything that just happened.

Except for the lives taken.

She felt a bitter tear roll down her face. Why did everything have to go so wrong so quickly? The world had descended into darkness in a matter of months... these humans were really a deciding factor.

What also bugged her is how easily her fellow princesses allowed themselves to be pushed around. Even though she knew that they had to keep low profile so as to indirectly help Joey continue on with his mission, she found it incredibly hard not to blow Scallius into a thousand slimy pieces. The realistic side of her knew Scallius would put up a terrific fight, but she digressed.

Before she could place a single hoof on the door, they were pulled open by Tempest. The Captain of the Guard smiled slightly upon seeing Cadance.

"Wha -?" Cadance stuttered, taken aback by Tempest's show of emotion - Scallius always ordered her to stay as emotionless as possible.

"It's okay - Scallius isn't here yet," Tempest said in a quiet voice. "I'm taking advantage of the opportunity, since - since - you know..."

Cadance felt her stomach drop to the floor. Tempest had seen the revolt as well. She pulled the Captain into a brief hug, catching Tempest by surprise, but she returned the hug nonetheless. When they had released each other, Tempest smiled at the pink alicorn, then stepped aside to allow her into the throne room.

The sovereigns all stood in a huddle, talking in hushed tones. Cadance joined them, and quickly realized that they were all consoling Celestia and Luna. The two sisters were a mess, with tears flooding down their faces. Cadance couldn't help but tear up herself.

King Gaius, who had been humbled by his whole dark ordeal in Equestria's capital, took notice of her.

"Oh, Cadance - I am so sorry," he said in his deep voice with genuine regret. "I did not witness what you did, but - but I can't imagine your pain right now..."

"Please, don't worry about us," Celestia choked. "We can manage... Scallius will be here soon..."

"That wretched man can not possibly ruin our life any more!" spat Queen Novo, whose wing was draped over Luna's shoulders. "He is nothing - just a pawn of the Dark Lord."

"If I may," Thorax added, stepping forward timidly. "You don't think that the rash actions of the ponies may... you know... make the Dark Lord come here himself?"

Everyone in the room paled.

"Oh, s-sweet -" Ember stuttered, who had barely said anything during her stay at the castle. "H-He's definitely going to come..."

The throne room doors burst open, revealing an immensely ticked off Scallius. He looked murderously at the three pony princesses.

"How COULD you???" he roared, making the sovereigns who weren't in tears glare at him. "Ordering your citizens to ambush the front gate!! Do you realize how much TROUBLE I'll get in!? DO YOU??"

"It wasn't them, Scallius," Ember snarled, "And you know that, too. Look at them!"

Scallius peered at the sobbing princesses and sneered. "I do not have sympathy for traitors," he said bitterly.

"Nor do you have any sympathy at all," Novo said, standing up.

Scallius whipped his face towards her. "Do not antagonize me, unless you want to make matters worse for yourself. Just because I'm getting an inquiry doesn't mean that you are scott-free."

"What do you mean?" Cadance asked thickly. "We didn't do anything! That was their own decision!!"

Scallius walked slowly over to Cadance with a look of immense hatred, then leaned in so close that their noses were almost touching.

"The Dark Lord will not care whether or not you did or didn't do it," he snarled into her face, filling the air around Cadance's nostrils with a nasty scent. "You will be punished either way."

"No - we didn't!!" Celestia cried, clearly beside herself with grief. "The c-citizens acted of their own accord!"

"Will it matter to the Dark Lord!?" Scallius snapped, glaring at the solar princess.

"B-But -" Cadance replied, but Scallius pressed his nose into hers, effectively shutting her up. He looked like he was about to explode.

"YOU WILL SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" he shrieked, then to everyone's horror, spat on Cadance's face. There was a stunned silence as everyone watched Scallius's phlegm slide disgustingly down the side of Cadance's shaking face. Before anyone could say anything, another voice they hadn't heard in a long time spoke out.

"That was a mistake."

Scallius whipped around just in time to see Joey, who had just taken off his Disillusionment Charm, aim his wand at the Mauler's chest. Before Scallius could do anything, Joey hit him with a Stinging Jinx, sending him backward onto the ground.

Howling and clutching his chest, he whipped out his own wand just in time to block Joey's next aggression. Before Joey could attack again, though, Scallius dissipated into a tendril of smoke and shot out of the room via one of the stained glass windows, sending shattered glass into the royal gardens below.

Everyone stood in complete silence as they stared at Joey, the kid the world had been depending on. Joey panted slightly, then said through grit teeth, "No one. Treats. My mother. Like that."

Cadance let out an ear-splitting squeal and lunged at Joey, wrapping him up in the strongest hug she had ever given.

Everyone else in the room was lost for words, but could not help but smile at the heartwarming display. It was finally Luna that broke the silence.

"Why did you come? You shouldn't be here!" Her voice was desperate and concerned.

Cadance released Joey, and the boy turned to the lunar princess. "The last objective of my mission is here..."

"But - but the Dark Lord is on his way as we speak!!" Celestia squawked. "Surely there's some sense of urgency in you?"

Joey looked her in the eyes with a deadly serious expression. "We need to evacuate Canterlot... it's time for me to stop running."

"Evacuate Canterlot??" Luna asked indignantly. "Under whose authority, exactly?"

"Yours," Joey replied. "The Maulers have been driven out of the city - there's no need to act neutral anymore."

"Sweetie, the Dark Lord will find you," Cadance said in a scared tone. "You have to leave!"

"I can't leave," Joey responded stubbornly. "This is the way it has to be - me and him, the two of us."

"You're not thinking of fighting him alone!?" Celestia asked with utmost concern. She stepped forward and placed a wing tentatively around him.

Joey smiled slightly. "No, I'm not - we're all in this together if you want to help."

"We will fight," Luna said firmly, with a fiery look in her eyes. There was a movement behind them, and they remembered that the other sovereigns were there too.

"So will we," Queen Novo added, stepping forward. "I will call upon the Hippogriffs; they will answer my call."

"The Changelings will fight too," Thorax said with a determined smile.

"Any Griffon who wants to fight shall," King Gaius said, also stepping forward.

Joey looked around at all of them, surprised. "You have to realize that you would be sending your own subjects to their deaths," he said emphatically. "There's no guarantee of victory."

"Indeed," Queen Novo replied firmly. "Nonetheless, I have not changed my mind."

"Nor I," King Gaius.

"It's like you said, Joey," Thorax said with a slight smile. "We're in this together."

Ember coughed to grab everyone's attention. "I can see if there are any dragons out there still loyal to me... I can't guarantee anything, though."

"You guys are the absolute best," Joey said happily, a sad smile creeping up on his face. "I hope we live through this."

"Oooh!" Luna said, and wrapped Joey into a hug of her own. "It's good to have you back, even if it may be on the evening of a battle."

Joey smiled at her, then turned to Celestia. "Where can I find the journal of Starswirl the Bearded?"

Celestia was taken aback at the strange request. "Wh-What? Why do you need to know?"

"It's the key to finishing my mission," Joey said in a serious tone. "If I can find it, I'll have all the - the things I have been looking for."

The three princesses gave him a curious look, particularly Cadance, but did not press the matter.

"If it is for your mission," Celestia said with a warm smile, "I would be more than happy to."

Joey grinned from ear to ear, feeling his spirits soar higher than they had in months. He took out his wand and said, "Expecto Patronum."

The familiar silver phoenix burst out from the tip of his wand and came to a rest on his shoulder. It looked at him interestingly.

"Tell Jo-Ann and Naiose to follow you, then come straight back to me," he ordered the patronus. It gave off a soft, beautiful musical note to let Joey know it understood him, and flew out of the throne room. Seconds later, there were heavy running footsteps, and Glynn emerged around the corner with Martin.

"Where's Gavin Scallius?" Glynn asked urgently. "Sources said he was still in the castle."

"He's gone," Luna said, evidently surprised by the sudden appearance of some of the Order. "The coward ran for it after Joey ambushed him."

Glynn let out a sigh of relief, but still looked on edge. "We need to set up defenses around the castle - Celestia, is Shining Armor here?"

"Yes," Celestia responded business-like. She lit up her horn and called, "Shining Armor! Glynn requires your assistance!"

Immediately there was a flash of light, and Shining Armor stood there, awaiting orders. His eye caught Joey's, and he did a massive double take. Despite trying to hold up his guard's stance, he was fidgeting horribly, casting glances at Joey every few seconds.

This did not go unnoticed by Celestia. She smiled at him and said, "At ease."

Instantly, he lunged at Joey, nearly tackling him into a massive hug.

"What are you doing here, champ?" he asked, ruffling Joey's hair. Joey raised an eyebrow at him with a half smile.

"There will be a time to answer questions later," Luna said, stepping forward. "My sister is assigning you to Glynn so as to assist him in setting up defenses around the perimeters."

"I'll need everyone else in the Order, too," Glynn added. "We can take as much as we can get."

"What about my mission?" Joey asked indignantly.

Glynn groaned. "That's right - I forgot... but I really could use your magical skill in assisting the defenses."

There were more running footsteps, and Naiose and Jo-Ann emerged from the corridor beyond. Looking straight at Joey, Jo-Ann asked, "Did you find it? The journal?"

"Yes and no," Joey sighed. "Princess Celestia, I'm going to help Glynn with the defenses. Would it be okay if you showed these two to the vault?"

"Certainly," Celestia warmly. She then gave him a brief hug and said, "It's truly good to see you again. All of you." She released him and walked towards the door, motioning for Naiose and Jo-Ann to follow. Once they were gone, Joey turned to the crowd.

"Cad - er, I mean, mom - could you help evacuate the city?" he asked.

Luna stepped forward and smiled. "No need to say any more - I know of six ponies who would be more than willing to help. I just need to grab some parchment and a quill."

"I've got you covered," Glynn said immediately, conjuring a blank roll of parchment, a quill, and some ink out of nowhere. They hovered in front of Luna, who smiled at Glynn in thanks. She then wrote a quick note, then incinerated it in bright green flames.

"That should reach them instantly," Luna said brightly, turning to Joey.

Even more footsteps, and Karen and Gage emerged through the doorway. Karen had tear stains on her face, and avoided the princess' gaze.

"Mrs. Roth? What's wrong?" Joey asked, but then saw the woman cast an anxious glance at the princesses again. "Oh."

"Is something the matter?" Cadance asked, looking at Karen curiously.

"She - she led the volunteers from Ponyville in the attack on the front gates..." Joey muttered. "If there's anyone to blame, it's - it's me."

"So - so there was a reason?" Luna asked earnestly, looking from Joey to Karen.

"Indeed," Martin said, making her jump. "It was a massive diversion to allow Joey a swift entrance into the castle."

All eyes in the room fell on Joey, who seemed to shrink on the spot. "I had no idea there would be so many Maulers at the gates..." he said weakly.

Luna scowled. "Indeed? Even though you knew that Canterlot was under the most protection in the entire world?"

Cadance walked over to her emotionally reeling adoptive son and embraced him. As she did, she glared daggers at Luna.

"Have some sympathy, Auntie," she said in a scolding tone. "Can you think of a better alternative?"

"Sneaking in?" Luna deadpanned.

"Then what, get caught by all the Maulers that were hanging around?" Cadance shot back. Everyone was surprised with the whole interaction, since Cadance and Luna had gotten along so well before this.

Luna looked as if she had been slapped in the face, making her see sense. "Oh... I see..." She turned to Joey with a regretful expression and said, "Forgive me, child - I've never seen something so terrible before... you said they were volunteers?"

"Three things," Joey replied with an understanding smile. "First, I would prefer not to be called 'child'. Second, I forgive you. Third, yes, they were volunteers."

Luna gave him a sad nod and opened her mouth to say something, but Glynn cut across her.

"I know we haven't seen each other for a long time, but can we please get a move on? Time is of the essence."

"Yeah, Glynn's right," Karen said, more confident now that the tragic matter of the attack had been settled. "The Dark Lord could arrive at any time - and believe me, once he knows that Joey is here, it will become a top priority for him to come."

"Yes - yes, of course," Luna replied, then turned to the sovereigns. "Those of you who cannot perform magic should assist with the evacuation of the city. The Elements will be here soon, and it would be best to get a head start."

Cadance looked like she had been clubbed in the head very hard. "The Elements are dead, Auntie."

"They are not," Luna replied urgently. "Twilight sent me a letter telling me everything after the execution happened, since I am able to perform Occlumency. They are indeed alive, and shall be here shortly. However, that is not the pressing matter at the moment -"

"You can perform Occlumency?" Joey interrupted, impressed.

"Enough!" Luna snapped, making everyone jump. "Those of you who are assisting with the evacuation, follow Princess Cadance. Those of you who are setting up the defenses, follow Glynn. I shall go find my sister - remember! Time is of the essence!!"

"Joey - Shining Armor - we need to create a defensive bubble around the inner city, mainly the castle. Shining, I hear that force-fields are your specialty?"

"Yep," Shining Armor said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Good - the spells should coexist nicely with each other," Glynn said happily. "Karen, Gage - I need you to go find any secret passages into the castle and seal them. After you do, Karen, go find your daughter and hold the west tower."

Karen nodded, then hurried off in the other direction. Gage turned to Joey and held out a fist.

"Good luck, dude," he said. "Stay safe."

"You too," Joey replied, feeling content with the unexpected exchange. He really wished he had talked to the guy more often.

Once Gage was gone, Glynn turned to Martin. "Once we've set up the protective bubble, go see if Karen and Gage need assistance." He looked up as they entered the inner corridor just outside the front doors of the castle, studying the multitude of suits of pony armor that lined the walls. "I could do something with these..." he muttered.

As they hurried up the corridor to the front gates, the crowds started to arrive, many of them in their nightclothes. They filled up most of the corridor as they were herded past, but the panicky din was something to behold. Many of them had terrified expressions, talking hurriedly to their friends or looking for a lost child. As Joey passed, he could feel heads turning.

"Did you see that?"

"It was him! Joey Steffen! I just saw him!"

Some ponies even called out words of encouragement, which helped to slightly ease the lump of fear that had been slowly rising in Joey's throat.

"OMYGOSH!! JO-JO!!" squealed a familiar, squeaky voice.

A pink blur nearly knocked him off of his feet. He looked down to see Pinkie Pie hugging him like no tomorrow. Looking up, he saw the other Elements running full speed at him.

"Joey!"

"JOEY!!"

They dogpiled him, burying him under affection. Joey managed to claw his way out of the pile, finally getting back on his feet. He peeled Pinkie off of him - which was hard since she was nearly his size - and faced the six friends.

"Hi," he said, but Glynn tugged on his robes, pulling him in the direction of the castle's front doors.

"Joey! No time!" he cried urgently, and Joey continued to follow him.

Soon, they had reached their destination. When they did, Luna and Celestia joined them. The evacuation was now being redirected into the Crystal Caverns under the city, so those who were fighting had space to move. At the same time Hippogriffs, Griffons, Changelings, and several dragons began to arrive, looking apprehensive.

Queen Novo landed next to Glynn as they looked out over the city, which had been drenched in darkness since all the lights had been put out.

"You do realize we won't be able to keep out the Dark Lord indefinitely?" Celestia asked, looking on edge as she stared into the darkness.

"No, but we can at least delay him," Glynn said with a slight shake in his voice. "And we will call him by his name - Lord Valkaris. It does not matter anymore; he will try to kill us either way. Shining Armor - if you would, please."

Shining nodded and walked out onto the front steps. He lit up his horn and shot a reddish-pink beam into the sky, which spread into a large, protective bubble that fell transparent after a couple seconds. With a smirk, he turned to Glynn and Joey.

"Very good," Glynn complimented. "Now let us humans do our part for you."

With that said, he turned and looked around at the many suits of armor that lined the inner corridor. He raised his wand and gazed at them determinedly.

"Armis Locomotor!!"

To Glynn's satisfaction, the suits of armor began to jump down from their plinths, landing on the ground with harsh clanging noises. As the last of them jumped down from their plinths, they marched, drone-like, through the front doors.

"Protect the parameter!!" Glynn shouted over their noisy march. "Do not let anyone of dark intent in at any costs! Attack them on sight!"

As most of the creatures at the front doors watched transfixed as the suits of armor marched away, Joey and Martin had stepped out into the front courtyard. They both trained their wands at the sky and began to mutter incantations.

Protego Maxima... Fianto Duri... Protego Maxima...

A smooth stream of spells shot out of their wands and rose to the sky, slowly building upon the nearly impregnable bubble that stretched towards the ground.

Stopping momentarily during her evacuation procedure, Twilight watched in awe as the reapers in the sky, which resembled faint dots, scattered in the bubble's wake.

"Twi! Snap outta it," Applejack said irritably. It was clear that she too was trying not to stare at the new protective bubble.

"Right - sorry."

Back at the front doors of the castle, Joey and Martin were finishing up their work. As soon as the edges of the protective bubble reached the ground, Joey and Martin returned to Glynn.

"Okay - Martin, go to the north tower," Glynn commanded. "Make sure to try and shoot down any Maulers that might try to penetrate it via smoke travel. Joey, head up to the rafters, and take your two friends with you. Be on guard."

Joey nodded, and made to run off to his assigned destination. Before he could, however, he was stopped by Cadance, who had just returned from evacuating the city. She trotted up to him and gave him a quick hug.

"We've just been reunited - make sure we can have more mother-son time in the future, okay?" she asked, looking at him with a small smile playing on her lips.

"Heh - yeah, no pressure," Joey joked. "I'll do my best, mom."

Cadance smiled slightly more, then gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "Be safe."

Joey pelted off down the corridor towards the stairs that would take him up to the castle rafters, hoping dearly that everything would turn out okay. Deep down he knew, along with everyone else, that was an incredibly ugly battle was in their future.

Derek Bergemann stood next to his master, gazing over the city of Canterlot. The protective spells that had been placed over the place sparkled against the cloudy skies. Behind him was the Minotaur Royal Army, as the Dark Lord managed to coerce their king into allowing him control of their army.

To his left, his master looked upon all the preparations in front of them with an amused look.

"Fools," he laughed softly, rotating his wand through his fingers as he usually did before performing magic. "When will the Order ever learn?"

"My lord... should we just call it off?" asked a Mauler hesitantly, looking at the city apprehensively.

Lord Valkaris, expressionless, turned to face the said Mauler, not saying a word. The Mauler instantly melted back into the crowd with a sheepish bow and muttered, "My lord."

Valkaris turned to face the magical bubble protecting the city, and thrust his wand out towards it. He screamed something unintelligible, and a massive, dark green beam of energy erupted from the tip. It connected with the bubble, making it quake. He kept up the connection until little tears formed. Slowly, but surely, the force field was diminished under the might of Lord Valkaris. Its tatters fell like paper onto the castle below.

The nearly indestructible bubble, the castle's strongest protection, was already done for.

Valkaris cackled as panicked shouts could be heard from below. Every face in the crowd of Maulers and Minotaurs was turned to him attentively, awaiting their next command anxiously. A cruel smile formed on Valkaris's lips.

"Begin," he said softly.

The Battle of Canterlot, Part 1

Author's Note

The Battle of Canterlot, Part 1

The Minotaurs charged, and a large chunk of the Maulers began to zoom towards the castle in their smoky tendrils. The Minotaurs were slowed, however, by the suits of armor that were standing guard at the entrance to the city. They brought their large axes down on the suits, which occasionally would deflect the blow and counterattack. The others were cleaved in two.

At the castle, Glynn turned to the princesses, who were still slightly put off from how easily the protective bubble fell.

"Get to the throne room - you won't be out of the fight there, but you won't be in it," Glynn shouted. "Make it a temporary infirmary."

Celestia and Luna narrowed their eyes at the same time. "We will not sit idly by while you fight!" Celestia said heatedly. "Do not forget that we are princesses. My sister and I know ponies that are much more suited to infirmary work than we are. Lulu, gather Miss Rarity and Miss Fluttershy and assign them the infirmary task."

"My apologies," Glynn said sheepishly.

"Nonetheless, it would be good for us to stay inside so as to keep it well defended," Celestia responded quickly, eyeing the approaching Maulers. "Now, I must get going. Best of luck, Glynn." Once she left, Glynn whipped out his wand and faced the oncoming storm.

Those Maulers were now very close... his pupils dilated.

"INCOMING!!" he bellowed, and shot a spell at one of the tendrils of smoke. The spell connected with it, making it materialize back into a Mauler. He hit the ground limply, bouncing painfully over the ground.

There were more shouts and hollers from the Hippogriffs and Changelings, who were positioned in the courtyard due to their magical and/or flying capabilities. Curses rained down from above as the Maulers blasted through ornate archways that lined it. Huge craters were blasted in the pavement, sending Hippogriffs and Changelings alike flying in all directions.

"Get inside!!" bellowed Glynn, throwing open the doors while trying to curse as many Maulers out of the air as possible.

Whatever the non-humans expected the battle to be, it clearly wasn't this. They seemed dazed by the massive amount of destruction in just a short time. They hurried into the castle in a half-daze.

Meanwhile, in the rafters, Joey had heard the sounds of battle commencing. He walked closer to Jo-Ann, who had the bag full of Horcruxes. Naiose had Starswirl's Journal, and the three friends had been planning on where they should combine all of the Horcruxes when the sloped roof to Naiose's left exploded in a flurry of timber and stone shards.

His friend whipped out his wand as a Mauler emerged from the dust. He cursed aside one of the guard pegasi that had accompanied them up to the rafter, then shot another at Naiose, who blocked it with a swift swiping motion. Jo-Ann cursed the Mauler from the side, and he tumbled backwards out of his own hole. Several squads of the Unicorn Guard charged into the room to assist the three friends with the oncoming horde of enemies.

When the first Mauler emerged through the hole, he was immediately blasted away by a beam from one of the guards. Two more landed, then suddenly, there were three Maulers there. The unicorn guards held their own, however; due to their ability to use magic, they were able to keep them at bay.

"We can't stay here!" Joey cried out to Jo-Ann and Naiose, blasting a Mauler out of his way. "We have to destroy the Horcruxes!!"

Naiose fought his way through the crowd to Joey. "Do you think the guards can hold their own?" he asked at a shout.

"Yes, I'm positive! Jo-Ann! JO-ANN!"

His girlfriend clutched his arm. "I'm right here - what's the problem?"

"We have to leave!" Joey replied, pulling her through the crowd after Naiose. "We need to take care of the Horcruxes!"

"What about the guards?!"

"They'll manage!" Joey shouted back irritably. "We can help them later! Let's go!!"

The three friends sprinted through the crowd towards the stairs, blasting aside Maulers as they went. Before long, they had reached the stairs unnoticed because of the commotion. Joey ushered them down, keeping watch just in case someone decided to attack. Seeing no one, he followed his friends.

The hallways below were empty, but quaked slightly as spells from the outside hit the castle. Shouts, hollers, and crackling sounds of spells being fired echoed around the place ominously.

"C'mon... finding an empty room shouldn't be too hard," Joey muttered to his friends, and they ran down the hall until they found a small door on the left. Joey walked up to it and edged it open. It was a spare bedroom, and it was completely empty.

"Perfect," Joey heard Jo-Ann say from behind him. "There's enough space..."

"Yeah," Naiose agreed, then turned to her. "What did Glynn tell us to do again when we had all of them?"

"Place them in a circle, I think," Jo-Ann murmured.

"Nice. Real helpful," Joey said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Naiose walked up to the bookshelf that sat against the opposite wall from them. He perused the titles, looking like he had seen something there and was trying to confirm it. When he had reached the left side of the bottom shelf, he paused.

"Huh," he said. "That did say Horcruxes. Maybe this book will help?" He held it up for the other two to see. The title read, Horcruxes: A History and Their Actualities.

"How in the world did the ponies get their hands - I mean, hooves - on this??" Jo-Ann asked indignantly.

Joey looked around the room, squinting. Something about the scent in the air was familiar... he walked over to a cabinet and opened it. Nothing but a small mirror was inside. He moved on to the next one, and found nothing. The search proved fruitless until he checked a drawer in the bedside table.

There sat a lonely picture. He picked it up, blew the dust off of it, and studied it. It was a photo of his father, his mother, and himself all at a Colorado Rapids game... his favorite soccer team. How old was he when the picture was taken? Fourteen, maybe?

As he stared at the photo, the words that came out of his mouth next were automatic. "This was the room my dad stayed in when you came to Equestria for the first time."

"Oh..." Jo-Ann said quietly, gauging Joey's reaction. "Oh wow. That explains the Horcrux book."

"Uh, guys?" Naiose said impatiently. "Look, I know that this is weird for you, but can we please hurry this up? We don't exactly have hours to do this."

"Yeah - you're right," Joey said curtly, brushing off his friend's inconsiderate behavior. They had a huge task at hand, after all. "Jo, can you pull out the Horcruxes? Let's start by placing them in a circle, like Glynn told us to."

Before long, they had set out four the five Horcruxes in a near-perfect circle, with one gap left for the last one, which happened to be Queen Marinia's Breastplate. The moment Joey placed the Breastplate in the last spot, all the Horcruxes began to shiver, quaking on the ground magically. Each of them shot a beam of pitch black energy towards the center of the circle. In then place where all the beams met, a large sphere of the same energy swelled up in the center. An eerie howling sound filled the room, but nothing else happened.

After a couple of minutes of nothing, Joey murmured, "Well. That was anticlimactic."

Naiose laughed, then started searching through the pages of the book he had found. He grunted, then closed the book with a snap. "Nothing," he said.

"You didn't even give a proper look," Jo-Ann said irritably. "Here, give me that."

Naiose handed over the book to her, and she herself began to look through it. Every now and then, she frowned, but after a long moment of silence she grinned.

"Here it says that the only way a Horcrux can be destroyed is by the special touch of its creator. There's a spell here, too..." The smile fell off of her face into a look of absolute hopelessness as she read back over the sentence. "Oh, no... Lord Valkaris has to be the one to destroy them."

Lord Valkaris has to destroy them, Joey repeated in his mind with dread settling in his stomach. Wait. Lord Valkaris... himself...

"Do people who share souls count?" he asked quickly.

Jo-Ann and Naiose immediately perked up. "I - I don't know! Try it!" Jo-Ann urged eagerly.

"Okay - uh... what do I do?" Joey asked, eyeing the magic spectacle on the floor.

"Try touching the ball of energy," Naiose suggested.

"WHAT!?" Joey yelped. "Are you mad??"

"Just do it," Naiose said impatiently.

Joey hesitated, then stepped up to the shaking circle of Horcruxes in front of him. He knelt down and rested his eyes on the dark sphere of pulsing energy. He took a deep breath, then plunged his hand into it.

He expected to feel a searing, burning sensation, but was thrown off completely when a stingy, icy cold pressed in on his hand from all sides. He yelped, but it was lost in the shrill shriek that sent knives through their eardrums. As soon as he placed his hand within the sphere, his chest erupted into a roaring pain.

The horrible scream of Lord Valkaris issued from each of the Horcruxes in the circle as each of them began to shrivel up slowly and turn into a black color. They continued to do this until they all resembled raisin-esque objects. When they had become that way, the black energy faded, and a soft wail echoed throughout the room. The Horcruxes were no more.

Joey doubled over in pain and clenched his eyes, submitting to the vision that loomed over him.

"My lord!!" cried a Mauler as Joey slowly got to his feet. He was standing on a high rise that gave him a view of the entire city of Canterlot, which was nearly completely drenched in flames. He did not pay this much attention, however; he had blacked out terribly and painfully - why??

"M-My lord! Are you alright?" the Mauler said warily. "Do you need help g -"

"I do not require assistance, Claudier," Joey snarled in his cold, high pitched voice. "I am merely feeling my power return to me... destroying the protective shield over the city was, I must admit, quite taxing."

The Mauler retreated back into the crowd, and Joey looked back upon the nearly ruinous city below him. He smirked as a slight feeling of satisfaction came to him, but he felt a foreign emotion become dominant in his core - anxiety. Of course he had lied to his Mauler - the idea of magic leaving him in the first place was absurd. But why did he black out? He had his Horcruxes, didn't he, safely inside of him?

... Or were they?

No... it would not matter what the location of the Horcruxes were. Surely the boy wouldn't know of them - his worst enemy as well as danger. No - he would think that Horcruxes are merely a fairy tale spun up by that miserable witch, J.K. Rowling. Would he?

A sickening image of the boy's father swam into view.

He had forgotten about the boy's father... maybe he had let something slip to the self-righteous man before his death?

He hoped dearly that this wasn't the case - but just to be sure, he needed the boy dead - and soon.

Joey awoke from his vision and looked at his two friends, alarmed.

"He's figuring it out, I think," Joey said breathlessly. "Now he wants me dead even more... I think he's onto us!"

"We need to get out of here," Jo-Ann replied. "We were assigned to help fight - now we have to hold up our end of the bargain."

A loud BOOM echoed from above, unsettling dust that lay on the ornate crystal chandelier above. The three friends exchanged worried glances, then departed the room quickly.

The hallway was now a whole new world. A huge chunk of the wall opposite of them had been blown away, revealing the open air from outside beyond. There was frantic clopping as Rarity dashed past, levitating a mangled griffon on a stretcher. To their left, Maulers were charging around the corner, and all that stood between them and the three friends were Twilight, Celestia and Shining Armor, all of whom were soiled from battle.

As a Mauler narrowly missed Celestia's head with a curse, Joey sent another down at the aggressor, who had to dive out of the way.

"Nice of you to join us!" Twilight said through grit teeth, blasting a lavender beam of magic down the hallway. She hit a Minotaur squarely in the chest, sending him backward into a wall, which crumbled from the impact.

"Sorry! We were a little bust doing saving-the-world stuff!" Joey replied, swiftly blocking an approaching curse as he began to battle side by side with his friends and the princesses.

"And what would that be?" Twilight asked, hopping to one side to avoid a curse before retaliating.

"Just destroying fragments of Valkaris's soul," Joey shouted in a conversational voice. "I can explain later if we get through this!"

"Less talking, more fighting!" Shining Armor shouted.

They held their ground for a while, forcing Maulers and Minotaurs alike under cover. Mostly just the Minotaurs, however, since their axes and swords were no match for magic.

"You can do better than that, Rosery!! Were'n't you put in charge of the Hippogriffs?" Naiose taunted, easily avoiding a curse from the said Mauler. He sent one back at the man, making him spin out of the way. His hood fell down, revealing a skinny man with pale blonde hair.

Rosery sent another curse at Naiose as a diversion, then immediately, shot a spell at the ceiling. It exploded upon contact, raining the entire corridor in large stones and rubble. Twilight pulled Joey out of the way of a column that surely would have squashed him only moments before.

The cave-in separated the evil forces from the good ones for the most part. A large pile of marble and foundation rose nearly to the top of the corridor, which now had a massive hole in the ceiling. The sound of people scrambling over rocks could be heard from the other side.

"Is everyone okay??" Joey shouted, and looked around him. There was Twilight, Celestia, Shining, Jo-Ann - but where was Naiose?

"Naiose!" Joey called, feeling a horrible feeling rise in his gut. "Naiose! Where are you?"

He took a step forward and nearly tripped over something soft. That something soft sputtered as his foot made light contact with it. Joey looked down and felt his insides vanish.

Naiose, half-buried under rubble, was covered in scratches and bruises. He coughed up some blood as Joey knelt down next to him, hardly believing his eyes.

"Heh... was a good show, wasn't it?" his friend asked thickly, looking at him with his one good eye.

"Naiose, no - no, don't you dare!" Joey said in a mad panic, trying to wipe blood off of his friend's face with the sleeve of his robe. "Stay with me, buddy!"

"Heh... good show... too bad..." Naiose laughed, then coughed terribly, getting even more blood on his face. "To bad I can't see... how this ends..."

Joey's best friend for life looked up at the hole in the ceiling and moved no more.

The Battle of Canterlot, Part 2

The dead creatures who were fighting for freedom littered the courtyard and the entrance to Canterlot Castle. Everywhere Luna went, there was someone dead already there. She had never seen anything like this in the entire thousand years of her life - merciless curses raining down upon the castle, tearing parts of it apart as well as sending it up in flames.

Far above the castle, tendrils of black smoke and light smoke pursued one another across the cloudy skies around the castle's many towers. Spells rocketed into the side of the north tower, which gave a mighty rumble as it collapsed in on itself. Shouts filled the night along with the sounds of crackling spells and crumbling structures.

A trio of guard pegasi flew by the west tower, each of them clutching several small glass orbs that pulsed with light. One of them shouted, "Come on!" The three of them dive-bombed the courtyard below and dropped their magic orbs towards their targets. The orbs exploded in a flash of light upon contact with anything.

Back in a central corridor, Joey let Naiose's head fall limply into his lap. Tears stung his eyes fiercely, and he gently laid Naiose back down on the floor. He then dragged him out from under a large chunk of ceiling and rested him down, not taking his eyes off of Naiose's tranquil, bloody face.

In an instant, pure hatred boiled through his veins as he looked around at the top of the massive pile of rubble.

"ROSERY!!!!" Joey bellowed, and began to scramble up the mound of rubble in a blind rage.

"Joey, come back!" Jo-Ann sobbed, and pursued her boyfriend up the pile with tears flooding her cheeks. Celestia, Twilight, and Shining all stared at Naiose numbly, feeling more hollow than they ever had in their lives - for Celestia, somehow, even more than when she banished Luna to the moon.

As Joey reached the top of the pile, a Mauler's head appeared over the top. "Excisis!!" Joey screamed, pointing his wand at the Mauler. Deep cuts appeared in the Mauler's face, sending droplets of blood down onto Joey, who wiped them off of his forehead with a sleeve as he continued to climb. The Mauler toppled out of sight, screaming painfully.

Once he had reached the top, he saw the Maulers and Minotaurs attempting to scale the rock, with Rosery supervising them. Joey jumped off from the top and landed on one of the Minotaurs, smashing its head into a broken column he had been scaling. He used the unconscious Minotaur's body as a cushion as he leapt off of it and plunged own again. He used a cushioning charm just before he hit the floor, and brought up his wand to deflect a curse that came from Rosery.

Joey roared as he got to his feet. Rosery raised his wand to cast another curse, but Joey blasted the wand out of the Mauler's hand. Now defenseless, Rosery pelted off down the corridor to the left, towards the entrance hall of the castle. Dodging several curses, Joey gave chase.

Jo-Ann followed him closely behind, desperately attempting to call Joey to his senses, but Joey couldn't hear her. Blood was roaring in his ears as he chased Rosery fiercely, his newfound hatred for the man stimulating him.

Rosery dodged a hippogriff and pelted past the front doors, one of which lay on the ground as it had been blasted off of its hinges.The Mauler flew down the front steps, with Joey following close behind. Rosery shot a curse back at Joey, who had to duck behind the door to avoid it. He pulled Jo-Ann to his side as the spell ricocheted off the door, narrowly missing her. Joey continued his chase, giving himself covering fire by firing spell after spell.

He was now right in front of Joey, giving him a perfect shot - if he could hit the man from here...

Rosery squawked as he found himself facing with a twenty-foot dragon. The dragon was clearly fighting for Lord Valkaris, but it was paying little attention to anything else but its victims. It wheeled around and saw Joey, and when it did, its eyes narrowed as a wicked smile formed on his lips. He raised his foot to take a step forward - right over Rosery, whom which the dragon was completely unaware of.

"No! Stop - I'm on your side! STOP!!" Rosery shrieked, but the dragons foot fell on him with a disgusting CRUNCH.

The dragon took a mighty swipe at Joey, giving the boy little time to process what just happened. He threw himself out of the way as the spiky tail missed his ear by mere inches. He scrambled to his feet again, but Jo-Ann tackled him, forcing him behind a large bell. The dragon's tail glanced off of the iron bell, breaking a spike. It gave an enraged roar of pain, and then focused its attention onto a small group of changelings.

Joey took Jo-Ann by the hand and led him to multiple piles of rubble, where they could take cover from the apocalypse happening around them. They had not even gone within ten feet of the closest pile when a large group of huge, pale, wrinkly spiders began to climb over them and give pursuit.

Srork'uzad spiders. Wonderful.

The two friends ran as fast as they could away from the horrible creatures - right into the thick of battle. Although as Joey looked closer, something was different. It appeared that some of the Maulers were dueling one another - which meant that they had rebelled to help his own cause!

Joey and his girlfriend ran right into the thick of it all, dodging, twisting, and ducking around many curses. They retaliated as much as they could, praying that they were hitting the right people. It was almost impossible to tell who was who in all of the chaos and noise.

"EXCRUCIATE!!"

"Mord - AUGH!!"

"STUPEFY!"

The two friends then found themselves leaving the crowd behind, running into a more isolated area. They turned a corner and pelted alongside a balcony that hung over a large cliff. Then Joey saw a horrible scene before him.

A Srork'uzad spider had its pincers deep into Gage's neck, injecting its horrible venom into his body.

"NO!!" Joey cried, and the spider released Gage and turned to face him. It did not have a chance to even lift a leg before Joey cursed it backward over the balcony, sending it screeching over the vast drop to the forests at the base of Canterlot Mountain.

Jo-Ann grabbed Joey's shoulders and spun him around to face her. She looked terrified, but Joey returned the action with a glare and shook her off. He ran to the side of the courtyard that was closest to the city and turned in the direction of the gates. Martin and Glynn were already there, felling Maulers and Minotaurs alike as a unit.

"Guys! Reapers!" Joey cried, pointing out at the skies over the Canterlot gate. Hundreds of small black dots were flying towards them, slowly getting closer.

At the same exact time, Glynn, Martin, Jo-Ann, and himself released a patronus. They all darted off in the direction of the reapers, forcing their retreat as well as keeping them out of the battle.

"Joey! I told you to be in the rafters!" Glynn bellowed, but Martin shook his head at the man.

"That isn't an area of importance, Glynn, don't you even know the castle?" Martin asked impatiently. "We need to be focusing all our energies on the upper levels - didn't you see the north tower fall??"

"I did!" Glynn replied angrily, but Martin ignored him and turned to Joey.

"Are you familiar with that zebra-lady? Zecora?" Martin asked hurriedly.

"Yeah - why?" Joey asked, bewildered by the sudden change of topic.

"We need you and Jo-Ann to find and protect her - she's priority number two for Valkaris," Martin explained quickly. "Now go! Quickly, please!!"

Joey shot Jo-Ann a hesitant look, then started running back towards the castle, dodging more spells and the occasional Minotaur, all of whom attempted to manhandle Joey. As they made their way back into the castle, they found many dead creatures from both sides of the fight. They bolted past them and hurried up the first set of stairs they found.

At the top of the stairs, Joey turned a corner and almost hit a Mauler who was turned the other way. Joey jinxed him in the back, then ran around the unconscious body.

Up another set of stairs, take a left, then a right, then another right, then up another set of stairs...

As he and Jo-Ann reached the top of the stairs, they saw Zecora wandering through the corridor ahead, looking lost and frightened.

"Zecora!" Joey shouted. "Stay there!"

Zecora jumped and faced the two humans coming at her. At first she looked terrified, as if expecting an enemy, but smiled weakly upon seeing Joey. A surprised glint lingered in her eye.

"Ah, it has been so long," she said in her deep, smooth accent. "But why does the Chosen One depart from the throng?"

"We were told to come protect you," Joey said nervously. "But - Chosen One? I think that's a little much..."

"It is you who are to save us all," Zecora said in a strange tone - was it sadness? "It is you whose job it is to answer freedom's call."

That look she was giving him... he could have sworn it was pity - he didn't like it one bit. He looked at Jo-Ann, who shrugged apprehensively. Joey turned to face Zecora again and managed a smile.

"Look... I'm happy you are okay," he said in a falsely cheery voice. "Really. We need to get you to a safe place, though."

"You have feeling, but are not happy," Zecora said seriously. "The death of your friend - 'tis a matter for anything but laughing."

Damn, she's good, Joey thought miserably. He frowned at the zebra and said firmly, "We are not discussing that right now. I don't even know how you knew about - about Naiose, so just leave it alone, okay?"

Zecora recoiled, but nodded understandingly. There was a long, eerie silence - why had the explosions stopped? What was going on?

The earsplitting, magically magnified voice of Lord Valkaris echoed through the castle, shaking its battered foundations.

"YOU ARE ALL FOOLS," it said in a soft tone. "BUT I AM REASONABLE. I WILL GIVE YOU SIXTY MINUTES TO HAND OVER THE BOY - YOU KNOW OF WHOM I SPEAK. HAND OVER THE BOY, AND YOUR LIVES SHALL BE SPARED. HAND OVER THE BOY, AND YOU WILL BE REWARDED. IF YOU DO NOT GIVE TO ME WHAT I SEEK, I SHALL ENTER THE FRAY MYSELF."

There were some screams as this was said.

"I GIVE YOU UNTIL MIDNIGHT."

The grounds fell silent. Joey looked at Jo-Ann, horrified, and felt a weird feeling that he knew of someone else that had been put in this exact situation. But who was it?

"Your father... he is in my head," Zecora said mistily, breaking the silence. "He does not want to talk to me, but you instead."

"I'm - I'm sorry?" Joey asked, not sure if he had heard that right. "He's in your head??"

Zecora nodded her head, then looked at Jo-Ann seriously. "I only need you to come with me through this door," she said, gesturing to a door on her right, Joey's left. "There shall only be you, and no humans more."

Joey was going to comment on her choice of phrasing, but decided the better of it. Instead, he squinted at her and asked suspiciously, "Why do you need only me? Why can't my girlfriend come along?"

"He only wants to see you, for dreadful information he bears," Zecora said, massaging her noggin with a hoof. "He wants to keep the number to one with whom the facts he shares."

Ugh - her phrasing was terrible. Joey ignored this, too.

"Yep. Sounds like my dad - stubborn as all hell," he grumped. He turned to Jo-Ann and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be okay - just go downstairs and see if you can help with the injured, or... worse."

Jo-Ann sensed the pent up sorrow behind her boyfriend's strong look, and she couldn't help but admire his ability to hide emotions. She pulled him into a kiss, and kissed him as she never had before. After a long moment, she released him, smiled, then pecked him on the cheek. She hurried off down the direction from which the two of them came.

Joey turned back to Zecora and sighed. "What does he need to tell me?" he asked.

Zecora motioned wordlessly for Joey to follow her, and entered the room to his left. He drew out his wand, knowing that in times like these that you couldn't be too careful.

The room was yet another spare bedroom - spacious, yet unused. Zecora stood in the middle of the room, watching Joey intently as he closed the door. He turned to her, hoping dearly this wasn't a trap. He then decided to use Legilimency - again, he couldn't be too careful.

He looked deep into her eyes, and immediately saw that this was no trap. He withdrew quickly, and looked at the zebra curiously.

"Well? Let's see what he has to tell me," he said.

"First you must place your hand on my head," Zecora said, stepping closer to Joey. "Only there will you be lead."

"Lead by what? My dad?" Joey asked, but Zecora looked at him irritably. "Ahh, alright, alright. Doesn't hurt to ask, sheesh."

He placed his hand on her forehead, and immediately felt a lurching feeling in his gut. He felt his feet leave the floor behind him as he spiraled into her head.

The room around him disappeared, replaced by complete nothingness. Everywhere he turned, he could see white.

Everywhere except right in front of him.

There, clothed (for some odd reason) in a royal purple toga, stood his father.

Without hesitation, Joey leapt to his feet and dashed at his father, who had spread his arms in a welcoming way. The two embraced each other tightly for a moment, then released one another. Joey looked his father up and down.

"So - how'd you get into Zecora's head?" Joey asked, hardly believing he was actually talking to his father again.

His father chuckled and folded his arms. Only then did Joey see how relaxed the man looked - the tired bags under his eyes were nonexistent, his stress wrinkles were gone, his posture was much straighter than it had been in the months leading up to his death... this was a younger version of Rod.

"Well... I'm not entirely sure," Rod said, looking around them at the blank, purely white nothingness that surrounded them. "What I do know is that I can think for myself as if I am still alive - probably because of Zecora's connection to the prophecy."

Joey looked at his dad blankly. "I don't understand."

Rod chuckled again, and spread his arms in a gesture to their empty surroundings. "Well, for starters, we are in Zecora's mind. Well - part of it, anyway."

"P-Part of it?" Joey asked, feeling more confused by the minute.

"Well... through my connection to her through the prophecy, I become sort of a - of a - second consciousness, if you will," Rod explained with a thoughtful look. "I have the ability to think for myself, but I'm also subject to hearing Zecora's thoughts. She, on the other hand, can also hear mine. This is how we are able to communicate with one another."

"What happens when the prophecy is fulfilled?"Joey asked. "What will happen to you?"

"Fade away," his father replied with a sad smile, "Just like the magical bond of the prophecy. Only then will I be able to rest."

Joey felt his jaw go slack. So that was it. He really was gone.

There was a long silence where the two stood in awkward silence - well, awkward for Joey, anyway. Rod stood there, studying his son's face with an unreadable expression.

After a long moment, he spoke. "I am so proud of you."

Joey looked up at the man. "What?"

"Your mission - it's nearly complete," Rod said, looking at his son with a fierce pride in his eyes. "You successfully found all the Horcruxes - including my dead body. I'm really sorry about that last one," he added quickly upon seeing Joey cringe. "What makes me most proud, though, is that you held your head high. You pushed on. You persevered."

"H-How do you know all this??" Joey asked, thinking back to all the moments along his journey where he was struggling mentally. Heck, he still was.

"I've been able to see into the mind of anyone who's connected to the prophecy," Rod replied seriously. "That includes Lord Valkaris."

"Wait - you can see into Valkaris's mind!?" Joey yelped.

"Yeah, I know," Rod replied with a faint smile. "And let me tell you, ever since the battle started, he has been terrified."

"Terrified?" Joey asked blankly, failing to comprehend how such a fearful being could be terrified of anything. "What on earth could he be terrified of?"

"You," Rod said simply.

There was a long pause. "M-Me?" Joey asked.

"Yes - you," his father replied, looking deadly serious. "He has a suspicion that there might be something hidden within the prophecy's magic that could have a deeper meaning. He has a hunch that he is, despite his great power, in danger as you still live."

"What do you mean by this whole 'power of the prophecy's magic' thing?" Joey asked. "I'm not sure I understand... it seems to be really significant. How can it control all this stuff if it's only a prophecy?"

"In the culture you grew up in back home, prophecies are no more than speculations - a guideline, if you will, that the characters involved are convinced they have to follow," Rod explained. "They are there, but not really considered. They are merely ideas and predictions - in other words, it's up to the characters involved to determine whether it happens or not.

"That is not how prophecies are in real life. They are the complete opposite - in the rare occasion that a prophecy is made, avoiding it is impossible. Prophecies in real life are unavoidable - whatever it says is an inevitability. The magic of the prophecy creates an unbreakable magical bond between anyone mentioned by it - untouchable and, as I said earlier, unavoidable. The only way you can break the connection is by fulfilling the prophecy - only then can your fate be up to you."

"So that's why Valkaris is afraid of me?" Joey asked, feeling much less confused.

"Well - yeah," Rod replied. "Remember what the prophecy says? The rebel shall give or take sacrifice, one calling on his final breath - the 'rebel' in the prophecy is me - and I was sacrificed for a greater cause. By doing so, I turned Valkaris's best lieutenant against him."

"Bergemann??" Joey asked in disbelief.

Rod nodded. "The very same. The magic of family is a deep and complex branch of magic... it can dispose of the deepest of evils. By killing me, Derek broke his obsession with the Dark Arts. Even in his deepest evil, he had love - something that Lord Valkaris still fails to see. Not only that, Valkaris does not hold that special power within himself, which will be his downfall."

Joey looked at the floor in a stunned silence. "So - so you're saying that he's -"

"On your side now?" Rod interrupted with a smile. "Yes. Yes he is."

"Damn," Joey said quietly, then looked around. He then looked at his father. "You said that family is its own branch of magic. What did you mean?"

"Well, I can't tell you everything about it, as so much of its overwhelming power is unknown," Rod replied. "I can tell you what is known, which is very little. As I said moments ago, the power of family can overcome the deepest of evils - like the Imperius Curse, for example. Don't ask me to list other stuff, because I have no clue if there are others - I mean, there are minor curses and harmful spells, obviously - but I'm talking about the big stuff.

"All I know that is the power of family doesn't make you invincible - quite the opposite, actually. It undoes evil magic - it doesn't prevent it. If there is a particular moment when the family magic gets stronger through the power of two immensely powerful emotions - like unbearable grief combined with intense determination, for example - only then will it be able to do its work."

"Wow..." Joey said quietly, then sank into a long silence. "Is there anything else Valkaris doesn't know?"

"Well, his knowledge about the soul switch remains woefully incomplete," Rod said with a victorious glint in his eye. "That'll hurt him in the long run - or maybe even in the short run."

The soul switch. Joey looked back at his father.

"How do I undo the Soul Switch spell?" he asked excitedly. "You said there was a spell - what do I have to do?"

His father's face fell. "Oh - that... right."

Joey felt a lump in his throat. "Is something wrong?"

His dad sighed, then looked away, unable to meet his own son in the eyes. That was not a good sign.

"Dad...?" Joey asked nervously.

"You remember what the prophecy said?" his father asked wearily.

"Er... parts of it," Joey said nervously. "W-Why?"

"The Dark Lord has powers his enemy knows not, but his enemy holds the last breath that shall be his end," Rod said, looking Joey in the eyes apprehensively. What was that expression? Pity?

"Yeah... but you said there's a spell," Joey replied desperately.

"There is no spell," Rod said bitterly, looking down at his feet. "I lied to you so that you would be happy and unconcerned."

"Then how do you break a Soul Switch spell?" Joey asked, fearing the answer.

"Neither will exist as his foe still lives," his dad recited sadly. "I think you know what it means."

"Do I... do I have to die?" Joey asked, fear coursing through his veins.

His dad closed his eyes, somber, and nodded slowly.

The vision around him came crashing down, and Joey felt himself leave Zecora's mind and reenter the cold world beyond.

He was back in the corridor with his hand outstretched to where Zecora's head had previously been. The zebra had backed up, looking at Joey with an immense sadness taking control of her facial features.

Joey looked at the ground in numb shock. None of it mattered anymore... it had been fruitless to hope. For neither could exist while the other still lives... it was true. It was inevitable.

In order to bring balance back to the world, he had to die.

Joey's Sacrifice

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

The Final Duel

For the past couple of hours, it was as if Cadance had been in another world.

As she walked among all the dead laid down in the Canterlot throne room, she thought in that moment she felt more hollow than she ever had in her entire thirty six years of life. The deaths of her royal guards as well as Naiose, Gage, and Martin hit her hard. Especially Naiose and Gage - how old were they? Couldn't have been a day older than Joey...

Then there was Joey. He had been upstairs, according to Jo-Ann, for a long time - too long. How long was he planning on talking to Zecora?

She stopped dead as a horrifying thought came to her. What if he had snuck out to go see Lord Valkaris?

She shook her head to rid herself of the nasty thought. Joey wouldn't do that unless he had a real reason - and he definitely would have acted a lot more somber if he was going to die. Doing other wise just wasn't like him. Plus, it was nearly midnight - everyone would have known by now if he had died.

That's when the shockwave came.

The stained glass windows lining the throne room imploded, sending sharp shards everywhere. Cadance dove instinctively over the nearest bodies to shield them from the glass - which moments later she sheepishly and painfully removed herself from them, as they were already dead and could not be harmed any further.

There was a panicked shout, and Cadance looked up at the large clock that hung above the doors to the throne room.

Midnight. Their time was up.

She made haste to the front doors of the castle, where she joined her fellow princesses. She gave Twilight an awkward sideways hug with her wing before turning her attention upon the dark and empty courtyard. It was eerily silent; she assumed the Dark Lord would already be there with his troops, ready to resume battle.

Cadance looked around. "Does anyone know where Joey is? I don't see him!"

"I haven't seen him," Jo-Ann replied, who appeared at Cadance's side. "I'm sure he's still in the tower..."

Cadance turned away, feeling a scared feeling well up in her. What if Joey wasn't upstairs? What if he snuck out to confront the Dark Lord...?

No, that was silly. Someone would have easily seen him - he's the reason the battle started in the first place. They'd want to talk to him... yes, that was probably the thing holding him up.

Almost as if she had read her niece's thoughts, Celestia looked over at Cadance. "Where's your son?" she asked curiously. Luna and Twilight both turned their heads to listen, also looking curious.

"I - I don't know," Cadance replied. "Jo-Ann said he was up in the tower, but..."

"But what?" Luna asked with a slight edge to her voice, but any reply was cut off by Lord Valkaris's magically magnified voice.

"YOUR HERO IS DEAD."

Cadance's stomach dropped as she exchanged a terrified look with the other princesses. No - no, no, no, no...

"YOUR FUTILE EFFORTS ARE OVER," it continued. "I HAVE WON."

Out of the darkness in front of them came the immense crowd of Maulers, led by a gleeful looking Valkaris. He looked out over the crowd of resistance fighters in front of him, and removed the magnifying spell over his voice. There was a long, tense moment during which he walked out into the space between the two armies. His eye glinted wickedly.

"Joey Steffen is dead!!" he cried, and the crowd behind him began to laugh among themselves triumphantly. Even Valkaris himself cackled, beside himself with glee.

"NO!!" bellowed all four princesses (and Jo-Ann) at once. "YOU'RE LYING!!"

"Am I?" Valkaris sneered. "Bring him forth!"

The crowd behind him parted to allow one of the large dragons to pass. As it reached the edge of the crowd, Cadance saw that one of its closed fists was holding something.

The dragon tossed the limp form of a human to the ground roughly. It then retreated back into the crowd.

"No... no... oh, sweet Celestia, no..." Twilight moaned as tears began to fill up her eyes.

Valkaris strode over to the body and kicked it in the side, rolling it over so that now it faced the rebels.

It was Joey.

The entire crowd was so quiet you could have heard an ant walk. Everyone stared, horrified, at Joey's body, which still hadn't moved. Cadance could vaguely feel tears flowing down her face relentlessly.

"No... NO!!" Celestia bellowed, and the entire crowd began to scream and abuse Valkaris with their words. Valkaris stood there with a gloating smile, soaking all of it up as if they were compliments.

"Silence!" he said after a moment, and raised his wand. The crowd fell silent as though a large, invisible blanket had fallen upon them, muffling everything. Valkaris smiled. "Much better." He began to pace back and forth in front of the crowd, looking each creature in the eye individually. "If you do not believe me that your precious 'Chosen One' is dead, observe."

He pointed his wand at Joey's body and said calmly, "Excruciate!"

The body was lifted into the air and shook uncontrollably, but the expression on Joey's face remained passive. After doing this a couple of times to prove his point, Valkaris turned and spoke to the horrified and disgusted crowd.

"You have all fought bravely - however, I think enough innocent blood has been spilt today. Surrender now, and your lives will be spared. Surrender now, and we can build a new age together - a one world regime. Surrender now, and experience the glorious new golden age we have before us."

Lies, Cadance thought, looking at the ground bitterly, but then a golden glint caught her eye. Did that pool of tears in front of her just - sparkle?

"Now... who wants to join me in my efforts first?" Valkaris said with a cocky air. "Ah, yes... how about this charming young lady?"

He flicked his wand, and Jo-Ann was magically pulled out of the crowd. She looked absolutely mutinous.

"I will never join you," she snarled. Valkaris chuckled coldly, sending a shiver down both crowds.

"Don't be a fool..." he said softly. "I know what you have lost - I even understand -"

"You'll never understand!!" Jo-Ann shouted back hysterically, nearly screaming. "Order of Illisair!!"

The crowd of rebels and sovereigns roared, breaking through the silencing charm. They charged forward, catching Valkaris off balance. He shrieked some sort of curse, and anyone in a wide radius of him fell dead in a flash of red.

"Joey! Where's his body!?" Cadance sobbed, searching the ground earnestly side by side with Twilight and Celestia. Luna, however, was busy venting her anger on one of the dragons, which came crashing down on the crowd of Maulers.

Then the tears that fell from the faces of Cadance, Twilight, Celestia, and Jo-Ann began to act strangely. The moment they fell from their faces, they turned a brilliant gold. The moment they hit the ground, they zoomed off in the same direction - into the thick of the crowd. This continued on for a couple of minutes.

After a little while, Valkaris screamed, "ENOUGH!!" and sent out a shockwave that cleared the ground around him on all sides in a fifty foot radius. When the crowd of rebels attempted to push back, they found a magical, invisible wall preventing them from advancing any further.

Joey's body was nowhere to be found, but Valkaris did not notice or care. He glared murderously at the crowd in front of him, and raised his wand. He pointed it at Celestia, who was immediately bound in tight, black cords and magically thrown past the magical wall. She landed in the empty circle between the armies. Nothing stood between her and Valkaris.

"You and your colleagues have been too much of an issue," Valkaris snarled, pointing his wand at the solar diarch. "Now your country must deal with the consequences."

"NO!" Luna screamed. "SISTER!!"

Valkaris sneered as he looked into Celestia's defiant eyes. "Goodbye... your highness." He straightened up and refocused his wand on her.

"Mordo!!"

The swift death Celestia was expecting never came. She cracked one eye open, and felt her jaw hit the ground.

Joey was standing there. Alive. He had apparated in front of Celestia just in time to block the curse with his wand.

The entire courtyard was silent as they stared at Joey in disbelief.

"No - no, you are dead!! I killed you!!" Valkaris screeched, attempting to curse Joey again. Joey blocked it with much difficulty, but stood his ground defiantly. Valkaris roared, absolutely irate, and materialized into a column of smoke. He zoomed at Joey and knocked into him, and the two spiraled off into the sky in Valkaris's tendril of smoke.

"For the Order!!" screamed a new voice, and to everyone's surprise, Derek Bergemann apparated in front of the crowd of rebels, facing Valkaris's dark army. He roared and began to charge, and others followed him, all untied under the prospect of Joey's incredible survival.

Spells rocketed forward, but the rebels were in their prime. Celestia floored Claudier, and Ganger at the same time. Scallius fell screaming at Luna's horn. Cadance, Twilight, and Rarity were dueling seven Maulers at the same time, and clearly had the upper edge. Glynn jinxed down Minotaurs left and right.

Far above the castle, Valkaris and Joey fought one another tooth and nail in Valkaris's tendril of smoke. Valkaris took gut wrenching maneuvers, attempting to throw Joey off as they struck each other in the face. After a minute or two of this, Joey saw the west tower out of the corner of his eye, and pulled on Valkaris with all his might. Valkaris was too bust trying to land punches to realize where they were headed.

The two of them smashed through the tower, and immediately plunged back down towards the courtyard. Far below, the falling tendril of smoke caught Glynn's eye.

"INCOMING!!" he bellowed, and everyone in his vicinity looked up. Those who saw what was coming dove out of the way, and other followed. Others were struck down in their attempts to get out of the way.

The column of smoke collided with the ground, sending dust and bits of stone everywhere. Everyone else fighting stopped what they were doing, and turned to watch with bated breath.

The smoke cleared, and the impact of the landing sent Joey tumbling across the ground. Valkaris did not tumble when he landed, for he caught himself before he moved very far. Both of their wands clattered away from them.

As one, they both rolled over onto their stomachs and looked each other in the eyes - hazel to scarlet. Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion.

Joey and Valkaris both began clawing their way towards their wands Joey was not so far from his...

Only five feet to go...

Four feet...

Three feet...

Only two more feet... Valkaris was awfully close to his wand as well...

Just one more foot to go...

At the same exact time, Joey and Valkaris reached their wands. They stretched out as far as they could and brought them into their clutched with their fingers.

Once either of them had gotten a good grip on their wands, they both slowly stumbled to their feet. At the same time, both of them had brought their wands down in a slashing motion.

"Mordo!!"

"Edomo!!"

A beam of pale green light issued from Valkaris's wand; a beam of blue light issued from Joey's. They met in the center with a great roaring noise, and the two wizards, light versus dark, good versus evil, pushed against one another's spells, trying to gain superiority.

Where the beams met, there was a small white bead of energy there. It slowly moved towards Joey's wand, making the boy break out into a sweat as he grit his teeth harder than ever and pushed back. He halted the bead's progress inches from his own wand.

He thrust his wand downward, breaking the connection. The sudden end to the connection threw Valkaris slightly off balance. Joey used this and struck again.

"Edomo!!" he cried, but Valkaris countered.

"Mordo!!"

The beams of light met again, but this time, the bead moved closer to Valkaris's wand. Joey relentlessly pushed against the bead, feeling more pain than he had ever felt in his life as he did so.

The bead connected with Valkaris's wand, and exploded into millions of particles. Valkaris recoiled, and looked slowly down at his own hands.

Joey watched carefully, along with everyone else in the courtyard, as Valkaris stared down at his own shaky hands. Slowly, he began to turn to dust, which blew off in the wind.

Valkaris let out a pained, soft wail as he turned his face skyward, knowing he was defeated. He disentegrated completely, leaving a silent wail on the cool night breeze.

Epilogue

There was complete silence as everyone watched the last particles of Lord Valkaris flutter away on the wind. Then, slowly, every eye in the crowd fell upon Joey, who stood there silently, staring at the very spot where his greatest foe had disappeared.

Then chaos broke loose. Maulers began to apparate away, Minotaurs booked it, and the dragons took off into the sky, all in an urgent rush to escape. The army of rebels roared in celebration, pushing in on Joey from all sides. Everyone tried to reach out to him, to touch him, to congratulate their hero. Joey, however, looked completely overwhelmed by the massive amount of attention. The four princesses took notice of this and instantly teleported around Joey, shunting away the crowd with their wings.

"Give him space - move along now, give him space!!" Celestia said loudly, her voice cutting through the triumphant cheering of the crowd. "He needs it more than any of us could know!"

Joey gave her a grateful look, and smiled around at the other princesses. Cadance landed next to her adoptive son, wrapped her forelegs around him, and teleported to the throne room. It was completely silent, as everyone had gone outside to fight.

Joey had barely gotten a glimpse of the room, however, when Cadance showered him in kisses, holding him tighter than she ever had.

"Mom - mom!" Joey chuckled slightly, and Cadance released him. "I'm okay... it's all fine now."

Cadance studied her son's face for a second, then nuzzled his forehead. "No, it's not. But it will be."

Joey smiled slightly at his adoptive mother, but she could still see a haunted, empty look behind those hazel eyes. She gave him another hug, not a tight one, but a warm one, to let him know that everything would be okay.

"I... I know," Joey said quietly once they had released one another again. "It's just... you know - Naiose..."

Cadance lifted his chin slightly with a hoof. "I know what you're thinking, Joey - all the creatures in this room - you think they're dead because of you."

"Well, they are -" Joey said, looking distressed, but Cadance covered his mouth with a hoof.

"It was their choice to come and fight for you, Joey. Their choice," she said softly with a sad smile. "And it's not because they felt like they had to, either. They wanted freedom just as you did. They wanted justice, just as you did. They loved you, just as you loved them. You died for us all, for Celestia's sake."

When she said that last sentence, a vivid image of a man hanging on a cross flashed into Joey's mind. He looked up at his mother as soon as the vision passed. "You - you really think so? That's why they - why they came?"

Cadance kissed his forehead and smiled at him. "Beyond a doubt. Now, I believe there are three other princesses who are dying to see you - they can only stay professional after a miracle like that for so long, after all."

Joey laughed. "Okay, okay. Let's see 'em."

Cadance lither horn, and the throne room doors flew open. The other three princesses of Equestria flew through it at high speed, tackling Joey into a large ball of fur and legs. Joey found himself subject to a multitude of hugs and kisses, and he was officially at the mercy of the three.

"Mom... help!" Joey cried in a strangled voice, but Cadance merely stood there and laughed at the silly but heartwarming display.

Finally, the boy was released from their clutches, but Celestia still held him at a foreleg's length. "Can you forgive me?" she asked earnestly.

"For what?" Joey replied, bewildered.

"For the whole 'Sporco' incident," Celestia said anxiously. "I'm so sorry, I should have made an inquiry first -"

"Oh, that?" Joey asked, and to everyone's amazement, laughed. "Don't worry about that. I forgave you about that AGES ago, but the fact that you tried to apologize makes me feel a lot better about it."

Celestia smiled a teary smile and gave him a quick squeeze.

Then the aftermath actions began.

The citizens of Canterlot were overjoyed at the prospect of the end of the brief Dark Age, but were horrified as soon as they lay eyes on the ruined castle and city. They were split into groups by the princesses and assigned to different cleanup tasks.

The throne room was cleared of dead bodies, except for one other miracle. Gage had somehow miraculously recovered from the spider attack in the courtyard, and was moved to the hospital wing in the castle.

For the castle itself, it was in dire need of repair. Fortunately, every able bodied Changeling and Hippogriff happily took up the challenge, and could be seen repairing bricks out in the courtyard, singing merrily as they worked.

As for Joey, he was in the castle with the princesses, helping wherever he could with repairs. He mostly just rebuilt small things, such as vases and statues, with a simple Repairing Charm. He was just finishing up one of the stained glass windows showing the Elements banishing a strange creature when he was approached by the four princesses.

He turned to them as the broken glass returned to its original glory. "Hey," he said, watching as they stopped in front of them.

"As we are all aware of the paternal relationship between you, Princess Cadance, and Shining Armor, they'd like to make it official," Celestia said, lighting up her horn. A document flashed into her existence at her side, which she caught with magic and levitated towards Joey. "Cadance wants to give you the choice to sign again, in case you've changed your mind."

Joey looked up at Cadance, who smiled nervously at him, then down at the familiar document.

Upon signature, the child in question has no right to denounce his guardian. Upon signature, child and guardian consent to becoming a PERMANENT legal family.

Guardian Signature: Princess Mi Amore Cadenza
Child Signature:

Joey stared at the document, then smiled. A vivid image of himself writing I'm with stupid on the dotted line came to the front of his mind. He smiled brightly at Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, his mother, and bent over to write on the parchment with the quill Celestia had supplied him with. As he finished writing, he handed the document back to Celestia, who made sure to double check this time. Cadance snuck a look over Celestia's shoulder, not able to help herself. When she saw the signatures, she smiled the biggest smile she had ever smiled in a long time. (Heh)

Child Signature: Joey Steffen

CRYSTAL EMPIRE - ONE MONTH LATER...

"Ack, no, Flurry! Get off of my head!"

Flurry squealed in delight as Joey attempted to pry the baby off of his head. Despite his efforts to remove her, Joey was laughing.

"All right, all right," Cadance giggled, entering the room. "Flurry, get off of your brother - it's almost time for the surprise." She levitated Flurry off of Joey's head and into her arms. Flurry stuck out a pouting lip, and Joey laughed.

"I think she thinks my head is her favorite bed or something," Joey said lightly.

"Yeah, something like that," Cadance said, smiling down at Flurry. She looked back up at Joey. "When did you say Jo-Ann and Karen were coming over?"

"They said around five, but that's in four minutes," Joey said, glancing down at his phone. A week after the Battle of Canterlot, Twilight miraculously found Joey's backpack full of extras under a bed in one of her spare bedrooms. Joey promised her that it would be the last time he lost it - he couldn't even bear the thought of being separated from his memes for another day.

Since the battle, much had changed - Glynn and Joey, as the Head Magicians for the new Order of Illisair, had relocated the reapers to Tartarus to guard it. Since Lord Valkaris was gone, the foul creatures had no choice but to owe their loyalty to the free world.

Gage had been adopted by Princess Luna - the two had struck up a beautiful mother-son relationship during the first two weeks after the battle, and was adopted in the third week. They agreed that this would make Joey and Gage surrogate cousins, since Luna and Celestia wanted to be Joey's aunts as opposed to great-aunts. Gage and Joey soon became great friends, and wrote to one another often.

Jo-Ann and Karen had moved to hippogriff country, but visited as often as they could. Jo-Ann and Joey at this point were basically meant to be, so there were plans to have them married at the age of eighteen - the age where humans traditionally become an adult. This was an exciting and terrifying prospect for the two of them.

Glynn stayed with the Hippogriffs occasionally, but was more of a free agent in the first three weeks. As of recently, though, the princesses had given him the position of Royal Ambassador, a job he never thought he could manage. But lo and behold, he became one of the greatest ambassadors in world history.

Joey had moved in permanently with his new family - Cadance, Shining, and Flurry. Joey and Flurry struck up an almost inseparable connection, one that you would usually get if you spent hour upon hour bugging one another. Bugging one another lovingly, anyway.

Twilight visited often, usually with one or more of her friends. In the first week she brought a ton of gifts, both for Flurry and Joey, but Joey managed to convince her not to do so for himself anymore. So now it was Flurry getting all the tangible love, and everyone was happy. Twilight often found herself in friendly competition with Celestia and Luna for the 'best aunt' award, but it had simmered down immensely after Joey called them ridiculous.

The Elements of Harmony did their very best to keep in touch with Joey, who had promised to make an effort to come see them every couple of months. Every single one of the Elements were still amazed at how Joey managed to return from the dead - it confused all of them, and Joey found himself mulling it over in the hours between waking and sleeping. Nonetheless, they were his best friends that were of the equine species.

Celestia and Luna did not have to rule alone anymore - not only did Luna have a wonderful new son and both of them wonderful new nephews, they found themselves holding their respective courts with massive smiles upon their faces.

"... Joey?" Cadance asked, seeing Joey's vacant look. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Wha -? Oh, no, sorry," Joey said quickly, shaking his head. "Would you mind repeating it?"

"I said, 'let's go to the kitchen - dinner's about to start'," Cadance said with an air of secrecy.

Joey looked at his mother curiously. "Are you hiding something from me?"

Cadance batted her eyes at the ceiling. "What? No - me? Never."

"Yeah. You're real convincing," Joey said with a shadow of a grin. "Let's see what you've got."

"What I've got? Moi?" said Cadance seriously. "I've got nothing - it's just normal dinner."

"Mm-hm. Okay."

The two of them shared a laugh as they walked to the dining hall. As they approached the doorway leading into it, Joey saw that the room beyond was dark.

Cadance walked into the darkness and vanished. Joey paused, listening hard for his mother. No clopping sounds of hoofs on the marble floor could be heard.

So what did he do?

Joey goosestepped into the room obnoxiously, saying in a loud voice, "Wow, sure is dark in here. Good thing it's so dark, because I can't see where I'm going. It's so dark in here, it's black and stuff. I sure hope nobody's planning a surprise party on me, because I'd be veeeeeeeery surprised!"

Shining Armor clicked on the light, looking slightly deflated. "You're no fun."

"Moi?" Joey asked as Cadance ambushed him with a long nuzzle on the neck. "The name's Joey. Party Pooper Extraordinaire. I specialize in pooping your parties, with money-back guarantee!!"

"Your sarcasm reaches a whole new level," Cadance laughed.

Joey looked up and saw a large banner that read:

17 - Happy Birthday, Joey!! - 17

"Okay, now I'm surprised," Joey laughed. "I completely forgot that my birthday even existed."

"Well, that's what family's for, then, isn't it?" Cadance said happily.

"What - reminding me when my birthday is?" Joey asked with an ornery air.

"If you need us to," Cadance quipped, not missing a beat.

"Wow - WOW. Thanks, mom," Joey laughed, accepting the roast while feeling humbled. Cadance wrapped him up in a hug, and was shortly joined by Shining Armor. Flurry sat on his head. Joey chuckled and hugged his surrogate parents back.

"I love you guys."

"We love you, too," Cadance replied warmly. "More than life itself."

Author's Note

HOLYCRAP WHOLLYCRAP HOLEYCRUP it's done! I can take a nap now...

Thank you to Makerofthebuttswagger for making this story! Wait a minute...

And, of course, many thanks to Coyote de La Mancha, who has helped me develop as a writer immensely by reviewing EACH AND EVERY one of my chapters. Thank you!

And, of course, thank you to all my readers (especially the ones who have stuck with me this whole time - hats off to you)!

To celebrate, I am taking the summer off - so, in other words, I'll be active until June 6, 2019, and I'll return sometime in August. Stay fresh!

~Makerofthebuttswagger

The War Begins

Author's Note

Here it is! After a long break, I'm back to writing! Huzzah!

P.S. - It's highly recommended to listen to the music I give you when you reading; it will help the overall mood.

The War Begins

CANTERLOT

Princess Cadance stood out on a lone balcony in her Aunt's castle that overlooked what was once the bustling and peaceful city of Canterlot. Now it gave her a cold, hollow feeling whenever she looked down upon it.

The city was was shrouded in a heavy gloom, courtesy of the dark, churning clouds above. They cast a cold, miserable wind upon the city below, stirring up trash and unwanted feelings of hopelessness. One would think that it was Windigos that were responsible for these depressing conditions, but in reality they were the effect of creatures called reapers - terrible, happiness-devouring creatures of darkness that spread cold, darkness, and miserable thoughts wherever they ventured. The human wizard by the name of Rod - or Roderick - had once explained to her the terribleness of these foul beings, but now that she was forced to be in their presence around the clock, she finally understood what he had meant.

The streets of Canterlot were almost always empty, except for the occasional small group that scurried from place to place in a hurried and frightened manner. The streets and alleyways were littered in paper, most of them being wanted posters that had been posted all over the world. Whenever Cadance saw one of these papers, her heart gave an odd leap - but at the same time, felt a sinking feeling.

One of the said papers fluttered up to Cadance's balcony on the harsh wind, coming to a rest on the marble railing to her immediate right. She picked it up with her magic and hovered it in front of her face. All at once her heart gave a leap and a sinking feeling as she laid her eyes on the picture that dominated the poster.

A young human boy, no older than sixteen, with messy brown hair, hazel eyes, and a slightly pointed face stared back at her from the paper. Above his head were giant words in a harsh, black print:

WANTED ALIVE
Joey Steffen
5'11'', brown hair, green eyes
1,000,000 bit reward for capture

Signs like this had been posted up all over the world, but they didn't only ask for Joey. Numerous wanted posters of other humans had been posted up as well. Cadance knew that these people were the protagonists - the ones to root for. Most of the world's population knew this, too. The people on the posters were not guilty of anything - instead, they were the victims of a new, evil regime that had been set place.

A dark wizard by the name of Lord Valkaris had begun his great ascension to power two weeks prior to the present day. In the span of one day, he had every kingdom under his control - including the hidden Seaquestria. He had then assigned his Maulers - that is, those who followed him almost religiously - to different cities as sentinels. This way, Valkaris had eyes all over the place. He also had Imperius Curses placed upon influential political figures, so that they could keep things running smoothly when the sovereigns refused to cooperate. Finally, as a precaution, he had stationed reapers all over the world to keep sowing confusion and despair among everyone.

The princesses of Equestria had done exactly as the wizard Roderick had told them - follow along. It had been a miserable path to take, that was true, but no one had been harmed under their watch. Most of the other sovereigns, such as Queen Novo of the Hippogriffs and Thorax of the Changelings, had done the same. King Gaius, King of the Griffons, did not submit to this plan. He had dealt with the consequences - fortunately, he agreed to do the same after being tortured by Valkaris himself. Now all of them, as well as the Elements, were being held at Canterlot Castle.

Cadance sighed and looked closer at the face of Joey Steffen. She had only just taken him under her wing when he left. His father Roderick had given him a task, one he said would lead to the defeat of Valkaris. His son had accepted the task readily, and soon after that had run off with his girlfriend, Jo-Ann, and best friend, Naiose.

She was so sad to see Joey go, and yet... she knew that he would be happier if he died trying to save the world rather than dying in his surrogate mother's clutches. It was this fact that soothed her fears slightly, but they still gnawed at her insides - what if they got caught? What if they were killed? She forced these horrible thoughts from her mind as she refocused her gaze upon her son's face.

"Where do you think he is now?"

Cadance gave a start when the voice had spoken and whirled around to see her fellow princesses standing there - Twilight, Luna, and Celestia. It was Twilight who had spoken; the lavender alicorn timidly stepped forward, indicating that she had spoken.

Cadance sighed and look back at the 'wanted' poster. "I wish I knew."

"Wherever he is, he is most likely safe," Luna said consolingly. "He has to excellent friends at his side, as well as his wits."

"Not to mention the fact that if he was caught, it would definitely be all over the news," Celestia said gravely. "All we can do for now is hope."

Cadance and Twilight nodded, looking at Celestia. Luna, however, kept her gaze to the sky which was grey and even more ominous-looking over the horizon. This did not go unnoticed, for Celestia gave her sister a questioning look.

"Is something wrong, sister?" she asked apprehensively, eyeing Luna.

"Look at the sky, Tia," Luna replied vaguely. "What do you see?"

"I see a lot of grey," Celestia deadpanned.

"No, no... on the horizon... over Manehattan," Luna continued, not breaking her gaze.

Celestia looked in the direction of Manehattan and squinted. Cadance and Twilight copied this action and looked for themselves. After a moment, Celestia inhaled sharply.

"I see it, sister."

MANEHATTAN

The very moment, far away from Canterlot, the skies over Manehattan began to churn. A couple of the ponies going about their daily business noticed, and began to head home immediately. Meanwhile, a faint, rasping scream echoed from the sky, gradually becoming louder and louder.

Then, after a long moment, a horrifying face emerged from the clouds, although it was made of the same cloud that surrounded it. It was skeletal, like that of a human skull. It opened its jaws slowly, and the screaming became even louder. Many of the ponies below were now looking up in fright and began to panic ever so slightly.

Then they came.

Zooming out of the skull's mouth came two tendrils of pitch black smoke. The tendrils were not attached to anything, and they entered into a gut-wrenching dive towards Manehattan.

They zoomed through the streets, busting through vending stands and carriages of all sorts, reducing them to splinters as they sped by. They rounded corners and dodged ponies, causing a small amount of mayhem as they traveled by at an amazing speed. Finally, they rounded another corner and sped towards a large suspension bridge that spanned the Hoofson River. They zoomed towards it, ignoring the screams and shouts they caused along the way.

Upon reaching the bridge, they encircled it, slowly getting closer. As they went by, cables shook harshly, then snapped like pieces of string. The whole bridge shook tremulously, then collapsed into the Hoofson River. Everyone who watched the horrifying event was too transfixed upon the collapsed bridge to even notice that the two tendrils of smoke had disappeared from view.

Meanwhile, over the warehouse district, the two tendrils of smoke came and collided with the ground close to an old refinery that was composed of aging bricks. After a brief moment, the smoke cleared, and two men in black cloaks stood there, studying the wall of the refinery in front of them.

After a moment, the shorter man chuckled. "Never gets old, does it?" he said in a growl of a voice, shaking his head and chortling to himself. "Scarin' the pulp outta them, it always gets me, every time."

The taller did not reply, but started forward towards the brick wall in front of the pair. Pulling out his wand, he muttered an incantation and tapped one of the bricks. Instantly, they began to rearrange themselves into a small archway.

"You were never much of a talker," grunted the squatter of the two, hurrying through the gateway after his fellow, whose cloak had swept out of sight.

They traveled through a series of underground corridors, all of which were lit by emerald-green torches, bathing the place in an eerie green light. After many turns, the taller man took an abrupt left into a room, the shorter one panting as he struggled to keep up with the taller man's strides.

The room was long with a low hung ceiling, also lit by emerald torches. A table dominated the center of the room, and surrounding it were numerous other men and women in black cloaks. Neither of the new arrivals had eyes for any of this except for the man that sat at the end of the table.

He was a skeletal figure, and almost literally so. The shape of his head bore resemblance to a skull, and his skin was a very pale grey. His narrow, scarlet eyes rested on the taller of the two men who had entered the room.

"The news, Bergemann?" Lord Valkaris spoke in a low tone. His voice radiated an evil coldness unlike any other; it seeped into the very bones of those seated around the table with little confidence, causing them to shoot apprehensive glances at their master.

"My lord," the taller of the two arrivals replied, taking a confident step forward. "The city of Griffonstone has been brought under complete control. The troublesome rebels have been dealt with; it was clear they had underestimated us."

"And what of the Hippogriff country?" Valkaris pressed, leaning forward in his seat slightly.

"Rosery is now overseeing it," Bergemann replied calmly. "Queen Novo has also been relocated to Canterlot Castle, as you instructed."

Lord Valkaris stared intensely at Bergemann for a few moments, causing the tension in the room to rise dramatically. Everyone waited with bated breath as the Dark Lord stared down his most appraised servant. After a moment, a cold smile stole its way onto his face as he looked towards Bergemann with satisfaction.

"Good, good," he purred, drumming his long, pale fingers against each other. He then redirected his harsh, commanding gaze to the squatter wizard. "Any news from Canterlot, Dickenson? Our dear equine friends are still playing by the new rules, are they not?"

Dickenson bowed low. "They are keeping unusually quiet, my lord," he replied in an oily voice that earned him leers from around the table in his direction. "They have not done anything out of the ordinary; rather, they seem to have only been subdued."

"That is, no doubt, from the death of Roderick Steffen," Valkaris sneered, looking appraisingly at Bergemann. "That would definitely work to put them off, wouldn't it? Indeed... but why do you seem out of your usual character, Derek?"

Bergemann made eye contact with his master once more. "I don't know what you mean," he said stiffly.

"Don't be a fool," Valkaris said, sneering even more. "Could you possibly be sad at the murder of your brother? Traumatized?"

A couple figures at the opposite end of the table snickered. Valkaris's gaze lingered on them for a moment, then returned to Bergemann, who hastily replied, "Of course not, my lord. I will admit, though, that it is not every day when you have the opportunity to kill one of your kin."

Valkaris chuckled darkly. "Indeed... but we are kin to you, are we not, Bergemann?" All eyes present rested on the tall wizard.

"In a sense," Bergemann replied stiffly.

"Always the one with the most pleasing answers," Valkaris said softly. He then gestured to the seat at his immediate right, which was empty. "Bergemann, here. Dickenson, next to Slater."

The two wizards took their respectful seats, and everyone turned their gaze upon Valkaris, who had placed his elbows upon the table and folded his hands. He stared at them intently, as if he were deep in thought. After a long, tense moment in which everyone else seated at the table watched him, he looked back up and addressed Bergemann.

"Have you discovered any clues as to where we can find the rest of the Order, Bergemann?" he asked quietly.

"No, I haven't even seen a hint of a trace," Bergemann replied, folding his hands on the table and gazing back at his master.

"Hmm," Valkaris muttered, bringing his hands to his chin. "They seem to be wise enough to avoid public excursions, at any rate... but it does not make my task easier." He stood up and began to pace around the table.

"Why aren't the wanted posters enough?" he asked, pausing behind Dickenson. He did not seem upset, however; he seemed to be in speculation, but still addressed the table. When no one answered, he moved on. Dickenson visibly shuddered after he felt the presence of his master leave.

"I would think that initiating a task force as well as a large reward would be motivation enough for the creatures that reside in this world," Valkaris continued softly, stopping behind another woman. He placed his hands on the back of her chair, gazing at all the apprehensive faces along the table. The woman looked as if she were about to faint. "And yet - I still lack the knowledge of Joey Steffen's position. I am no closer to capturing him than I was when we first set foot in this world.

"I was a fool then; I did not foresee the magic of prophecy being present here. Now, just from the power of one prophecy, it has bestowed hope upon those who fight for their own insignificant liberty. I was, I must admit, disappointed - and have been nothing but so since stepping foot into this god forsaken world. The gateway between us and out home has been sealed - we may as well call this place our home... as much as it disgusts me."

He gazed around the table once more, then resumed his pacing.

"The Order is finished, yes - effectively, we are the new Order of Illisair. We are what it should have been all along, how the noble Scaron Sletherus said it should have been. But now I am far greater a magician than Sletherus. I am the pinnacle of human magic... nearly unstoppable."

A weedy man at the lower end of the table leaned forward. "Almost... unstoppable? My lord," he added quickly as Valkaris slowly turned to face him. The Dark Lord regarded him for a moment, then continued his pacing.

"Yes, Lynskey - almost unstoppable," Valkaris replied lazily, putting his hands behind his back as he paced. "You all may be wondering why I hold a strong desire to capture Roderick Steffen's son, Joey. Ask yourself this - how many times has he escaped me, without the aid of his father?"

"Just the once, at the gateway after I killed his father," Bergemann replied casually, looking intrigued. "But, my lord - how is that relevant?"

"In due time, Bergemann," Valkaris replied. "Let me ask another question: if he has only escaped the once, and holds no extraordinary talent like his father, then why haven't we found him?"

"He has gone into hiding, my lord," Dickenson said, casting a look around the table.

"Do not explain to me the obvious, Dickenson!" Valkaris said harshly, causing many around the table to flinch. "It was a question for all of you to answer, not for myself! I may assume that our task force isn't putting in the effort I require?"

He glared at the people that sat at the opposite end of the table, specifically the man in the middle. They all shuddered.

"M-my lord," said the man in the center, casting nervous glances around. "He has his friends with him, and m-many hiding places, I'm sure -"

"They are all children," Valkaris said in a dangerous voice, "And you tell me you cannot find them? As I suggested earlier, perhaps you aren't exercising the level of effort I desire?"

"We - we are, my lord -"

"Such lies, Agees," Valkaris said in a low hiss. Most of those sitting at the table barely repressed a shudder as the hiss echoed along the table.

Valkaris faced the man named Agees fully, giving him a murderous, piercing gaze.

"Mordo!!"

There was a flash of pale green light, a sound of rushing wind, and it was over. Agees keeled over onto the floor, dead.

Valkaris resumed his seat at the head of the table, and stared down at his hands, which he had placed on the table. "Claudier... you are now in charge of finding Joey Steffen. Do not disappoint me." He did not look up as he spoke, but the message was clear.

A tall man stood up quickly and hurried toward the door, beckoning for the other members of the search delegation to follow. When they were gone, Valkaris looked up at the company around him.

"I require the boy in order to become truly immortal," he muttered, staring back down at his pale hands. Despite his quiet voice, his voice carried to every corner of the room. "I thought I understood the prophecy, but I was a fool. I understood nothing."

Everyone at the table watched their master with an immense nervousness. The tension of the situation seemed to press down from all sides, making the room seem much smaller. The Dark Lord, however, did not seem to be reprimanding them; he seemed to be talking to himself more than anyone else.

"Now, I understand," he said in a whisper. "Roderick Steffen was not my mortal enemy the prophecy spoke of. It was speaking of his son rather than his father... Joey Steffen is my mortal enemy."

Everyone watched apprehensively as he lifted his head and gazed around the table. His expression was neutral, but a trace of evil determination lingered upon his face.

"I, and I alone, must be the one to kill Joey Steffen."

We're Getting Nowhere, and We're Getting There Fast

Author's Note

Sorry if this one's a little rushed. Writer's block is killing me.

We're Getting Nowhere, and We're Getting There Fast

♫ The kirin village is alive with the sound of music... ♪

But seriously, it was.

No, seriously! It really was! When Rain Shine said that they would have a feast, she wasn't kidding.

The sound of happy chatter resounded from up and down the table, ringing madly in Joey's ears. He was sitting near the head of the table, on Rain Shine's left side, trying very hard not to sulk about the delay.

Two months. Two months - that was sixty more days that the princesses had to live through. While he honestly didn't have a single to as what exactly they had been dealing with, he knew it was nothing easy. Now, thanks to him, they had to wait even longer.

Then it finally settled on him - he could of died in that cave. He remembered the pain in his leg, the way his consciousness ebbed away gradually... the sudden reality of it all was terrifying. How could he have been so stupid? He cared more about obtaining the Horcrux than actually making sure his life was - well, still active. Jo-Ann and Naiose must have been absolutely horrified - he would have felt the same way if one of them had been dying.

It wasn't as if he had never had close calls with death before - the encounter with Lord Valkaris back in the Castle of the Two Sisters was definitely one of them. So why did this one feel different? Could it possibly be the pressure of saving the world slowly constricting these terrifying possibilities into his head?

Yes - yes, that was probably it. After all, he thought about it often in the late hours between waking and sleeping. He often thought about the horrifying prospect that he would have to face Lord Valkaris - if he managed to destroy all of the Horcruxes, anyway.

"Joey?" Jo-Ann asked, leaning forward slightly. "Are you good?"

"Wha -? Yeah," Joey said, shaking his head. He managed a small smile and threw it her way, but it did not sway her. He huffed. "Look, I'm fine."

She gave him another skeptical look, then began to chew on her corn cob. Joey shifted slightly in his seat and reached for his own. He distracted himself from his thoughts by watching Rain Shine's fruitless attempts to woo Capper. She was currently trying to spoon-feed him corn.

"Choo-choo," she giggled, moving the spoon closer to Capper's retreating mouth with her magic. "Open wide, sweetie."

"How old are you?" Capper sputtered indignantly. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone, I say!"

Joey grinned as Capper threw a disgruntled look his direction. "Need help?" he asked smoothly.

"If you don't mind," Capper said tersely, fending off another attack from Rain Shine's spoon.

Joey raised his wand and flicked it in the direction of Capper's face. Instantly, a fabulous handle mustache sprouted from the area just below his nose. He yelped, looked down, then glared at Joey. "Seriously!"

"Ooh!" Rain Shine squealed, looking at her crush with sparkling eyes. "Wook at you, you've got yourself a cewt widdle mustache! How pwecious!"

"Indeed, Capper," Joey snorted, fighting to keep a straight face. "How precious."

Capper fought off a swooning Rain Shine's attempt to kiss him on the cheek, then glared daggers at his human friend. "Joey," he growled. "If I make it through this, you are in for a world of -"

"LOVE!!" Rain Shine squealed, obviously not listening to what they were saying.

At this point Joey keeled over sideways in laughter at the perfect timing of it, and was shortly joined by Jo-Ann, Naiose, and Autumn, who was sitting nearby, as they watched the struggling feline.

"I must have you!" cooed Rain Shine, attempting to hug Capper. Capper dodged her open forelegs and quickly stood up and raised his hands to his chest.

"Um - I-I've got t-to - excuse me, please," he stammered, slowly backing away. He then turned tail and booked it into the woods.

Rain Shine gave pursuit, screaming, "Love, wait! You must return! You did not finish your corn!"

Joey thought his sides would burst with laughter as he watched the strange scene. Gasping for air, he pulled himself back to the table, clutching it for support. He fought his way into a sitting position and clutched his sides. After a couple moments, he began to calm down, breathing at slower intervals. Finally, wiping tears from his eyes, he said, "What a legend."

"You're such a dick," Naiose chortled.

"What can I say?" Joey replied. "The temptation was too much for me."

After a couple more minutes, the feast began to break. Kirin began to return to their homes, occasionally bidding one of the humans good night. After another hour or so, Capper and Rain Shine had failed to return, so the three friends played rock-paper-scissors to determine the one to find them. Jo-Ann lost, so she disappeared into the woods.

Five minutes later returned, laughing, as a disheveled looking Rain Shine followed her with an unconscious Capper draped over her barrel. Upon seeing this, Joey raised an eyebrow.

"What in the world?" he asked, eyeing Capper's motionless form. "Why is he like that?"

"Rain Shine beat him unconscious," Jo-Ann said with a large grin.

"WHAT!?" Joey cried, shooting a revolted glance at Rain Shine. "How much lower can you stoop?"

"I didn't beat him unconscious," Rain Shine scoffed. "He was already tired... I wasn't the one who booby trapped the branch."

"So he booby trapped a branch to hit himself, did he?" Naiose deadpanned. Joey let out a snort of laughter, unable to contain himself.

"No!" Rain Shine squeaked, getting red in the face. "It wasn't like that - it just backfired."

"All right, all right," Jo-Ann laughed, covering Joey's mouth with a hand, preventing him from saying something else. She looked around at them, and twice her eyes met Capper's slumped form. "We need to get him to bed."

"I can do it!" Rain Shine stated triumphantly.

"No, you won't," Joey said, his voice shaking ever so slightly with a laugh that wanted to get out. Resuming a straight face, he asked, "Can't you act like the leader you're supposed to be, like, ever?"

"She was actually pretty professional while you were in a coma," Naiose reasoned. "She kept things running really smoothly - tonight was just the perfect time to let her hair down."

"Hair?" Rain Shine asked, genuinely confused.

"But - wha -? Yes, hair!!" Naiose sputtered exasperatedly. "You know, the stuff on your head -"

"I think you mean 'mane'," Rain Shine said bluntly.

"No, I don't!" Naiose said angrily. "When I said hair, I meant -"

"Naiose, do us all a solid and shut up," Joey said, feeling slightly amused. "You're getting triggered over hair."

"Go fuck yourself," Naiose retorted.

"Gee, thanks."

"I think we all could use some rest," Rain Shine intervened with an unreadable expression. Her eyes fell on Joey. "Can you take Capper?"

Joey nodded, then waved his wand above his head. Capper's limp body rose slowly off of Rain Shine's back, then over to Joey's side. "C'mon, Naiose," he said, heading off towards their hut.

The next day during late afternoon, Joey sat on a rock skirting the forest that bordered the kirin village. As he sat there, he let his mind roam free. Unfortunately, this meant that he kept thinking about how he had spent two whole months wasted away in the kirin village's infirmary. He still had yet to find out what happened while he was out.

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. He pulled out his wand and rotated it slowly in his hands, staring at it absentmindedly. Had Naiose and Jo-Ann somehow discovered something else during his coma? Maybe they had found another Horcrux, but haven't told him yet...

No, that was silly. Jo-Ann would instantly tell him if anything of importance had been discovered - not to mention that Naiose would have, too. They were his best friends, for heaven's sake!

The sound of footsteps padding over dirt sounded from behind him, but he paid it no attention until they got very near to him.

"Joey?" asked the voice of Jo-Ann tentatively. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Joey grunted in reply. He turned to face his girlfriend, who stopped a few feet in front of him. Before she could reply, however, Joey asked, "Has it always been like this?"

Jo-Ann looked confused. "Has what always been like this?"

Joey gestured firmly towards the kirin village in the background. "This! Was it this uneventful the whole time I was asleep?"

Jo-Ann's expression seemed to fall slightly, as if she knew what he was going at. "Oh - er, yeah, it has... why?"

Joey groaned and buried his face in his hands. "So we're nowhere closer to finding another Horcrux, then?"

"No..." Jo-Ann replied quietly.

Joey felt his heart sink - he knew it was foolish to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help feeling let down a little. He turned away from his girlfriend and gazed into the tranquil forest setting beyond. He remained in this position for a long time. He could tell that Jo-Ann was still standing there behind him, and imagined a guess to as what her expression at that moment was - probably concerned.

After what felt like a lifetime of silence, he heard her soft footsteps close the distance between them. A small hand was then placed on top of his head, stroking it slowly. Joey closed his eyes and secretly enjoyed the simple display of affection. After a moment, Jo-Ann spoke in a concerned voice.

"You've been distant with me recently... why?"

Joey huffed ever so slightly. "I haven't -"

"Yes you have," she interrupted. "You have never been easy to read, but I can always tell if something's wrong. You can't hide this from me - you've been acting increasingly distant. You know that, don't you?"

Joey chose to stay silent, mostly because he could not think of a way to answer her. Was he really becoming distant? If so, the fact that Jo-Ann picked up on this behavior faster than he did was slightly alarming.

Jo-Ann took this silence as an answer, and moved her hand down to his shoulder. "Joey - talk to me."

Joey looked up at her face, and instantly regretted it. What he saw was a beautiful face, one full of confidence, courage, intelligence, and love. A face that seemed to shine like the sun itself, yet remain humble all the same.

When he returned his gaze to his own hands, however, he saw different things. The hands seemed alien; cowardly, selfish, and stupid - the way he felt about himself. It was the first time he had really noticed these specific traits. It did not help him in the slightest, though; he felt unworthy, dirty, and not worth anyone's time.

"Joey?" Jo-Ann asked in a meek voice.

"I don't deserve you," Joey replied in a hollow voice.

"You - what?" Jo-Ann said sharply. Her tone cut into Joey's frail emotional state like a dagger.

"I - I don't deserve you," he repeated lamely. "When I look at you, all I see is perfection. When I see myself... I see a selfish coward. One that doesn't take anyone else's thoughts into consideration. One who makes stupid mistakes, and is labelled for it... like he should," he added bitterly.

"Don't - don't say that," Jo-Ann said, clearly making an attempt to sound firm. "N-None of that is true."

"Oh, it's true," Joey said. This time there was a slight edge to his voice. "Who walked out on the princesses without a word and left them to worry? Me. Who wanted to visit the Castle of the Two Sisters despite the fact he knew we weren't safe there? Me. Who told you and Naiose to follow him through that horrifying cave? Me. Me. Me. It was all my fault - then I almost died, again, right after ignoring your pleas to get out of the cave to get me to safety. You were terrified for me, but did I ever listen? Did the big and famous Joey Steffen listen? No."

"Stop it," Jo-Ann said in a shaky voice.

Joey ignored her and continued, staring at the ground bitterly. "I never think about anyone else - just me. I can't do anything right, and I'm a terrible leader. Everyone on this world acts as if I'm so great, but the only reason I'm special is because of that prophecy. Then there's you; the shining star of the group, the one who saved Naiose and I, not once, but twice. What have I done except come up with vague ideas? I'm not worth your time. We should have never -"

His last words were cut across by Jo-Ann hitting him across the face. He did not recoil and get mad, like he usually would of. Instead, he closed his eyes and enjoyed it. It was what he deserved, right? A useless nobody who had pulled his friends into a dangerous mess multiple times. He even half hoped that she would hit him again.

He saw her squat down in front of him, looking into his emotionless face with a searching expression. It quickly fell into a sad and slightly regretful one as her eyes started to sparkle with tears.

"How long have you been feeling this way?" she asked softly, looking up at him with those gorgeous brown eyes. "Joey, speak to me."

Joey felt himself turn away, unable to look her in the eye. "A long time," he muttered evasively.

Jo-Ann did not reply, but rather kept staring at him with a - was it pity? Oh, no. That was the last thing he wanted right now.

"Look, don't pity me," Joey said quietly, making to turn away, but she placed a hand on his leg. He stopped, but still avoided her gaze.

He felt a warm hand place itself upon his left cheek, turning him back towards his girlfriend. Even after he was facing her once more, she did not remove her hand. She looked close to tears.

"Joey - you are special," she said quietly, "And you don't need me to tell you that. I'm sure you already know..."

"But what have I done?" Joey protested, feeling a sudden dampness in his eyes. "I've been practically useless -"

"You've come up with some of the best ideas so far," Jo-Ann explained. "You defended Naiose and I from the spiders as we opened that door. You convinced us to push the extra distance to get the Horcrux. You called yourself a selfish coward, but you are the complete opposite; you valued other things more than your own life. You weren't afraid of dying -"

"Yes, I was!" Joey cried, feeling a tear slide down his cheek. He hurriedly wiped it away, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Jo-Ann's other hand twitch in the direction of it. He ignored this and added, "I still am, Jo-Ann."

"Join the club," she replied, managing a small smile. "I'm not talking about your fear of death overall. I'm trying to tell you that when it comes down to the choice between dying or accomplishing something of dire importance, you would gladly lay down your own life to do just that. That isn't what a selfish coward would do. That's what a brave, caring person would do."

Joey simply stared at his girlfriend. Tears were rolling down his face at long intervals, but he did not try to hide them. "A-Are... you being serious?" His tone wasn't accusatory - it was the sound of someone who felt lost.

Jo-Ann's heart absolutely melted at the question. She gazed into Joey's suffering expression, and placed her remaining hand on his other cheek. She pulled him into a long kiss, ignoring the tears that began to pour from her own eyes.

When they had released each other, they looked into each other's eyes for a long, tranquil moment. A new fire had seemed to light up in Joey's eyes, as if he were taking Jo-Ann's words to heart. He wiped his face with a sleeve of his robe.

"I need a towel," he muttered in a thick voice.

They both gazed at each other for another moment, then burst out laughing. Despite the heavy physical pain on his chest that was a result of Valkaris's soul, Joey felt a different burden beginning to lift as he laughed with his girlfriend - true, genuine laughter. All their troubles seemed to float away for those brief, happy minutes.

"Alright, alright," he finally said after a couple minutes. "Let's head back to the village and continue the mission."

"I thought we were staying here?" Jo-Ann asked, taking Joey's hand as she got up.

"We are," Joey replied, starting back towards the village with Jo-Ann in tow. She noticed that he seemed to have a new spring to his step. "We just need to figure out where to go from here. I figured that the village could be our hub for as long as we are welcome here."

Jo-Ann nodded. "I guess that makes sense - but where do we start?"

Joey shook his head sadly. "I have no idea." Jo-Ann gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he smiled down at her.

"How about that book Capper let us have?" Jo-Ann asked.

Joey's eyes widened. "I completely forgot about that! Do you think it would tell us where any of the other Horcruxes are?"

Jo-Ann tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know - it wouldn't hurt to look, though, would it?"

Joey shook his head. "Nope. Best option we have right now, actually." Jo-Ann nodded her head in agreement. As they reentered the village, Joey looked back at Jo-Ann.

"Were you being serious earlier?" he asked.

"About what?" Jo-Ann replied.

"You know... the whole thing about 'nothing getting anything related to our mission done while I was in a coma'," Joey clarified, looking at her with a slightly hopeful expression.

"Oh, that. Yeah, I was serious."

"Nuts," Joey sulked. He then jumped slightly as another thought popped into his head. He looked urgently at Jo-Ann and said, "Where's the Crown of King Ventaius?"

"In my rucksack," Jo-Ann said simply. "Nobody knows of it except you, me, and Naiose, as well as Capper and Rain Shine."

"Thank God."

Two days later

After two days of perusing The History of the World's Greatest Artifacts cover to cover, he began to realize how serious Jo-Ann was about the uneventful nature of the kirin village. Sure, the kirin were energetic and talkative, but even their shenanigans got old after a while.

Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann became increasingly irritated as the hours passed, not even finding a single clue about the whereabouts of any of the Horcruxes.

Whenever Joey wasn't scrutinizing the book, he sat on the large rock on the edge of the forest that bordered the village. He now called it his Thinking Rock, for here he did most of his thinking. Heh.

Now that they had found one Horcrux, he found himself wondering how he would be able to destroy it. He made it clear to his other friends, however, that they should prioritize getting all of the Horcruxes first, then dealing with their destruction later.

A bell rang in the background, signaling lunch. Joey slowly stood to his feet, hoping dearly that their lucky streak would start up again soon.

Another week went by, yielding the same results as the two previous uneventful months that he had been moping about. He found himself starting to lose his temper more quickly than usual. He'd have to watch that so as to avoid future problems.

Fifteen days later, nothing had happened. Joey was pacing the floor in his hut as Naiose and Capper watched him think out loud.

"Ugh... almost three months - what the heck!!" he burst out, giving Naiose a start.

"You need to chill out," Capper said calmly. "Shouting like that isn't going to help anything."

Joey glared at Capper. "I don't remember asking you!"

Capper opened his mouth to reply, then seemed to think the better of it. Joey began pacing again, since no one verbally opposed him.

"How much time do we even have left?" he mused angrily. "What if Lord Val - okay, sheesh, Naiose - the Dark Lord finds out what we're doing?"

"Only time can tell, Joey," Capper intervened.

"Yeah, and we're losing more as we speak!" Joey snapped.

Another three weeks had gone by, and still nothing had been accomplished. Joey was now extremely frustrated, but this time he was not alone with these feelings. Jo-Ann had been becoming increasingly frustrated as the days wore on, occasionally bursting out into rants. Naiose, on the other hand, was trying to remain neutral, but it was clear the infuriating lack of progress was eating into him as well.

The kirin noticed these changes, and immediately Rain Shine held a small meeting; she brought Autumn Blaze to the meeting along with another kirin mare called Fern Flare. During this meeting, Joey remembered Rain Shine asking them what the matter was, and after a while - with the permission of Joey and his friends - revealed their mission to the two kirin. They were utterly revolted after Joey finished explaining the whole concept to them.

"So... you're looking for the Horcrooxes?" Fern Flare asked with a small frown.

"It's Horcruxes," Joey corrected wearily. "But yes, we are. As of now we have only found one and are no closer to finding another."

"Then let us help!!" Autumn chirped. Everyone stared at her except Rain Shine, who stroked her chin with a hoof.

"Yes... yes, that would work," she said, turning to Joey. "We are willing to assist you if you would like."

"Assist... how?" Joey asked, squinting at her. "It's really dangerous - surely you don't mean that you want to collect them?"

"I do," Rain Shine replied coolly. "We are more than willing to help you look for the hidden ones - more minds makes for less work in a situation like this. Besides, if what you said is true about the 'wanted' issue, it would be safer for us kirin to make excursions rather than yourselves." She looked at the two kirin seated to her left and smiled with pride. "Not to mention that these two are the best lookers I've ever come to know."

Autumn and Fern Flare both blushed slightly at being addressed.

Joey opened his mouth to argue, but Jo-Ann kicked him under the table. His eyes watered in pain as he heard Jo-Ann reply, "We'd be more than happy to get some help - just don't make a huge deal out of it."

The rest of that meeting had been spent discussing what the next Horcrux would be. Joey managed to reason with Rain Shine that if there was a Horcrux that was under heavy protection, he would retrieve it. Finally, they settled on Queen Marina's Breastplate, the artifact of the hippogriffs. If all went well, they would attempt to steal the Dragon Lord's Staff.

When the location of the Staff was mentioned, Joey stood up.

"Are. You. Kidding me??" he cried in outrage. "The book said that the Staff was lost centuries ago!"

"That book may or may not be slightly out of date," Capper coughed sheepishly. Joey rounded on him.

"WHAT!?"

"Joey, please sit down," Jo-Ann pleaded, tugging on the sleeve of his robe. "I know you're tired and frustrated - we all are."

Joey took a deep breath and looked over at Rain Shine apologetically. "Sorry," he muttered.

"No worries," Rain Shine replied kindly. "You have the weight of the entire world on your shoulders - it's understandable."

Joey looked around the table, then back at Rain Shine. "Why don't you guys go for the Hippogriff's artifact while my friends and I go for the Dragon Lord's Staff?"

It was now Autumn who stood up, looking mutinous. "But -"

"It makes sense," Rain Shine said tersely, "But are you sure that is advisable?"

"Divide and conquer," Joey replied. "This is my mission, after all. I was under the impression that you wanted to help, not carry the load for us."

Rain Shine opened her mouth, then closed it. She nodded slowly, looking around the circle. "It's decided, then. Autumn Blaze - Fern Flare - how fast can you prepare yourself to leave?"

"As soon as possible!" Autumn chirped, and Fern nodded. "I've been to the Hippogriff's capital once, and I know a bunch of hidey holes there."

"Just be careful," Joey warned them. "There will be Mauler's there - you know, the Dark Lord's servants. There will also be reapers, and I've told you about them, so take caution. You remember what you're looking for?"

"The Breastplate," Fern repeated. "Seeing as it's the main artifact of the Hippogriffs, it shouldn't be too hard to locate."

The meeting ended shortly thereafter. Autumn and Fern made haste to pack, then teleported unceremoniously away as a unit. Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann huddled on top of Joey's thinking rock as the sun began to slowly sink below the horizon.

Ever since the meeting, the atmosphere changed dramatically. It was as if the balloons of stress and frustration had popped upon knowing that, finally, they were getting somewhere. The mood seemed now imperviously happy, like everything would be okay.

"Should we just wing it?" Naiose asked once they had gathered.

Joey nodded. "Seeing as we know nothing about the dragon culture, we kind of have to. Fortunately, we've been there, so that's a bonus - we know what to expect terrain-wise."

"So no plan?" Jo-Ann asked, fighting a grin.

"Nope," Joey and Naiose replied at the exact same time. They looked at one another for a moment, startled, then burst out laughing. Jo-Ann joined them, and pecked Joey on the cheek.

"So - when do we leave?" Joey asked, looking at his two friends.

"Why don't you tell us, captain?" Jo-Ann joked as Naiose began to chant O Captain, My Captain for some strange reason. "You're in charge."

Joey grinned. "Better to do it under darkness, so why not now? It's not like we have a plan, anyway."

"Heh. True," Naiose replied.