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.