Death Becomes Her

Chapters

Arc 1-1 (Awakening)
Arc 1-2 (What You Never Want to Hear)
Arc 1-3 (Sanctum)
Arc 1-4 (Burn Notice)
Arc 1-6 (Burn the Candle at Both Ends)
Arc 2-1 (Of Coats and Masks)
Author's Notes - News
Author's Notes - the worst...
Author's - This is the End...
Arc 1-5 (Luna Burns Red)

Arc 1-1 (Awakening)

Awakening

Without definite leadership, the ponies have fallen into anarchy. What can I do about this? I was struck by an idea. Some ponies worship the sun and others, the moon. So I raised my left hand in a gesture I haven’t made a while and said “Power of the Creator.” I summoned up the moon dust and the fires of the sun then shaped them into ponies superior to all others in every way. These two new ponies are taller, more majestic and possess both wings and horns. The one made from sun fire I made with a radiant white coat and fierce magenta eyes. I made her mane and tail every color in the rainbow then bleached them into a minty hue. On her flank, I placed an image of the sun. The one made from moon dust, I colored midnight blue and gave her eye's of the most beautiful teal I could imagine. I made her mane and tail out of pure energy and colored it two shades of blue, within it a made stars twinkle like the night sky. On her flank I place the image of a crescent moon in the night sky. I dubbed them alicorns.

It took about a week to temper their minds in a way that could handle eternal life; I made them just as human as all the other ponies, except with more charisma, more leadership skills, and keener minds. During that time I had to give them enough power to be superior to every other pony, but not so much so as to upset the balance too much. I decided on giving them access to all pony abilities and the ability to control the Sun and Moon in an emergency. I named the white one Celestia, and the blue one Luna. They were ready, so I wiped their minds and sent them down to earth.

-Kokusho’s Journal,

Year 1012, month 5, week 4, day 2

-Awakening-

Kokusho’s anger seethed out from under the Gates of Tartarus like poisonous gas, he had finally gathered enough power break his slumber. Waves of pure hatred created writhing black tendrils that lapped at the massive titanite doors, snaking their way between any gaps in the structures frame.

“Damn you Celestia, you too Luna,” he said as he gritted his teeth. “How dare they?”

Kokusho, even after nearly three thousand years of slumber, was still perplexed as to where his creations obtained the strength to overpower and banish him. He didn’t remember creating those wretched crystals. The Elements of Harmony, as Celestia called them. It didn’t matter anyway though, he had learned his lesson. The first time he didn’t use his full power, and because of it he paid the price and now he was permanently weakened because of the Elements of Harmony. Luckily, the thousand year time frame in which the elements were apparently inert gave him the time to gather up a considerable amount of power. Still though, compared to what he used to be, he was nothing now.

The black tendrils continued to work their way through the mystical Gate in front of him. Kokusho was so tired of this place, he’d rather be dead alongside the rest of his race than spend another moment behind the gigantic black doors. Tartarus, is what the ponies called this place, it was apparently where Celestia and Luna banished all of the world’s unmentionable evils. It was place for them to rot and fester in their own darkness. For him to be labeled as some sort of evil entity pissed him off to no end, no matter Kokusho was never one to hold on to anger.

Good did come out of it his predicament though, he made many allies while he slumbered. While his form and powers were mostly inert, his mind could roam freely about the depths of Tartarus. He saw all of the creatures imprisoned with him: Ghouls, shades, vampires, lycans, demons, gorgons, and a myriad of other beasts which must have come about by natural means. He made his presence known, and made the most powerful his allies. He rallied the hordes feelings against Celestia and persuaded them to follow him, the world’s true god.

A smirk crawled across Kokusho’s face as one of his black tendrils worked through the Gates of Tartarus. The eldritch energy lapped at the outside air like a parched deer licks at a watering hole. Latching on to the forces of the outside world, Kokusho disassembled his body and pulled himself through the gate.

They would have their freedom.

Awakening

Luna awoke with a start causing her to toss her pillows away as her body snapped to attention. Cold sweat formed beads across her brow and matted the fur on her face, the rest of her body shivered violently, as if let out in the tundra. The prickly sensation, at first alien to the midnight blue alicorn was soon met with realization. The feeling was one that she had never thought she would feel in her eternal life; it was a psychic link, a mind’s eye of sorts, the purpose of which was to alert her if the Gates of Tartarus were ever compromised.

The alert was blaring in her mind louder than a volcanic eruption.

Immediately Luna teleported from her chambers directly to Celestia’s. Already It had begun, her teleport was sloppy and required far too much energy, proof of that what her senses told had had indeed occurred.

“CELESTIA!” Luna cried out, utilizing the royal Canterlot voice.

Celestia’s eyes snapped open and she leapt out of bed like a frightened cat and backpedaled into the corner closest to her bed. Her hooves scratched against the hardwood floor as she attempted to fully come to her sense and find her balance and her mane stood straight up from the sudden rush of excitement.

“What?!” Celestia yelled nervously. She blinked the the dream world out of her eyes and saw that only her younger sister stood before her.

“Why on earth would you do that Luna?” She said as she held a hoof to her chest. Celestia’s breathing slowed to a normal pace and mane resumed it normal flow as the adrenaline slowly left her system.

“Celestia,” she said trying to remain calm. “T-the Gates of Tartarus, their o-opening.”

“Impossible, the only being who would be able to-” Luna cut her sister off, accidentally.

“Surely you feel it, the waning of your powers?” Luna’s eyes fell down to the floor intent on looking at the divot she a pawed out. “He’s trying to get out.”

“We have to go, immediately.”

“It’s impossible for us to make the journey fast enough,” she said shaking her head. “He’s suppressing so much of my power, it was taxing just to teleport here from my chambers. We’d never be able to teleport to Tartarus.”

The Sun Princess's head sank, as she thought of the implications of what Luna was telling her. Just as her sister had stated, she could feel his spiteful ethereal grip on her magic. Her temper mane started to flicker between it's minty rainbow shades and solid pink as her magical strength waned. Luna's condition wasn't much better. After a simple teleport the princess of the night was reduced to a quivering mess. Overcome by magical exertion and fear the Princess of the Night finally succumb to the fatigue and collapsed on her sisters bed.

"Luna!" Celestia screamed as she jumped forward and embraced her sister's shivering body.

"H-how is he d-doing t-this?" Luna stammered. The warmth of Celestia's wings draping over her was usually enough to lift her from any concern, but not this time. It was all too much.

"He shouldn't have the power to perform such magic and still have power enough to open the Gates, at least not alone." She said. Luna was pressed close close to Celestia. She could feel the her sister's ragged breaths and quivering muscles. It took everything she had to be strong for Luna and not break down with her.

"We imprisoned him in Tartarus sister, he was never alone." The dark alicorn closed her eyes, the strain had finally taken its toll.

Celestia's eyes widened in horror at the revelation. Enemies from eons ago, forces and being that should have never existed all possibly at his beck and call.

“Damn him,” Celestia slammed her hooves on the floor “Wait, I have an idea. I can’t say I like it, but it’s our only option.” She gripped parchment, an inkwell, and a quill in her telekinetic grip and began to hastily scribble out a message. Usually, even in the face of great threats such as Discord she retains her composure, but this was much worse than a playful spirit of disharmony.

She finished the letter and scratched down her signature, The alicorn eyed the parchment to make sure she had spared no detail, satisfied she focused whatever magic she could gather. Coating the paper in a golden yellow glow, and teleported the letter away.

Awakening

The letter arrived at Twilight’s library not even an hour ago, but the purple unicorn had already headed out into the night towards the Gates of Tartarus. Upon reading how her princess thought something was wrong at the gates and that she should look into it Twilight dropped everything she was doing and set out. Normally she would have read the entire letter thoroughly, but ever since Cerberus, The gate guardian of Tartarus, had shown up in Ponyville studying Tartarus had become somewhat of a closet obsession for Twilight. What could possibly be behind that gate that would require such a creature to guard it? So, foolishly she had dashed out of the library with nothing more than her saddlebags, ink, quills, and parchment. She left the letter on the floor.

Spike, her number one assistant, walked over to the discarded paper, rolling his eyes he picked it up to his face.

“Hmm, I promised I wouldn’t read Twilight’s letters unless she asked me too…” Even though he told himself that, his little claws were slowly pulling the scroll open. “well since it’s already open.” He said with a sideways smirk.

To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle,

Luna has felt a powerful magical disturbance coming from the Gates of Tartarus. I would like to entrust you, with the task of investigating the nature of the disturbance. I would like you to document and report your findings to me. I really wish that I did not have you to do this for us, but you are the only other pony who knows where Tartarus is.

Do not go alone Twilight, I have a terrible feeling about this, gather your friends for this trip and if anything seems awry, you are to abort your investigation.

Signed,

Princess Celestia

“Oh boy.” Spike groaned. The direction Twilight had run off from the library says that she didn’t even get past the first part of the letter, seeing as she wasn’t headed towards any of their friends’ homes. “I need to send the Princess a letter.”

Awakening

The sight at the Tartarus Gates was anything but satisfactory for Twilight Sparkle. The dark magic in the air made her hairs stand on end and dulled her senses. It was like being drunk, she felt confident, like she could do anything. No, not anything, Celestia sent her here on and task, a task that she would complete. She slowly sifted through the underbrush in an attempt to a get a better look at the Gates.

Twilight poked her head up through a bush and scanned the surrounding area for the source of the malicious, intoxicating energy. Slowly turning her head from left to right, she inspected the massive black barricade. Cerberus was nowhere to be found, tipping off the mare's danger senses immediately Her fur started to stand on end as her eyes continued to search for any sign of trou-

What the hay is that!? Twilight thought. She eyed the strange creature up and down, it was biped, and its body was completely covered by clothes. It looked to be about six feet tall from where Twilight was standing. Like Spike it had, what appeared to be hands, but this creature had five digits, whereas the mare’s assistant only hand four. The creature’s mane was Jet black, and was slicked back, but a few stray bangs had fallen across its face. The young mare’s legs began to quiver uncontrollably as she noticed something from the being that she hadn’t noticed before, he was smoking. Its flesh and hair all seemed to trail away from its body as ghastly wisp and eventually fade away; it was as if the creature were made of mist. Inspecting the creature more closely, she let her gaze glide across its arms and back to its hands. Shadowy tendrils poured from its fingertips and started to bore into the surface of the Gates.

Her eyes widened in horror as two and two clicked: the disgusting power leaking from Tartarus, the magic pouring from the creatures fingertips…It was opening the gates! Twilight gulped hard at the thought of what kind of power the creature must wield to be able to open the Gates of Tartarus. Opening the gates was difficult and tiring for even Princess Celestia, yet here was this thing doing it in what appeared to be a casual manner. She took a single nervous step back, she had to tell Celestia about this now.

A sound resembling the crunching of old bones echoes eeriely through the clearing.

Stupid Twilight. She yelled internally. She looked back at the twig she had broken with her hoof and slowly lifted the appendage as if she had stepped into the most disgusting substance in Equestria. She slowly looked back to where the creature was, hoping that it hadn’t heard the sound.

The creature was staring directly at her, its ice blue eyes drilling into her mind. Twilight let out a freaked out squeal and closed her eyes. She gathered her magic and prepared her teleport spell, it wouldn’t get her home, but it would at least put a few miles between her and it. Her horn started to glow with the familiar purple light signifying the unicorn’s spell casting. She felt the magical energies and latched on to them with her mind. The energy exploded in her mind then…nothing. She had the spell just a thought ago, but now the magic had just fizzled away like a drop of water on a hot skillet.

Slowly, she felt herself rise up and out from the brush. There was no glow around her, but the feeling in Twilight’s chest told her that this was magic, ancient and powerful, the likes of which she hadn’t feel since Discord was loose. Her body quaked violently as she floated forward, looking up she stared directly into the eyes of the creature as she drew ever nearer. She saw no anger or malice, in its eyes, not even a twinge of hate, just sadness and disappointment. After a second of floating forward in suffocating silence, Twilight was face to face with the creature.

“Hello my little pony,” He said as he moved her face to meet his. “Come to greet your creator face to face?”

“Wha-who are you?” She asked shakily.

An amused smirked formed across his face “Wow, it seems like after everything that happened Celestia or Luna would have at least mentioned me.” He waved a finger playfully in Twilight’s face. “Tsk, tsk I’d expect something in the history books about Kokusho…actually, scratch that, the little incident was pretty isolated. Still to not mention their father, the nerve.” He said shrugging.

“I told you my name, so come on, what’s yours?” His tone was playful and casual.

“T-Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia.”

“Ah, so she has a protégé now?” He said teasingly.

“Why are you opening The Gates of Tartarus? Don’t you know what’s behind there!?” She yelled, determined to get to the bottom of the creatures goals, her fear starting to wane.

“I know exactly what’s on the other side of that door.” His face twisted into a disgusted scowl. “Sadly, my powers aren’t as strong as they use to be so I need what’s behind there.”

“If you open that gate ponies will die!” The mare pleaded.

He sighed audibly. “If your princesses had just listened to me it wouldn’t have had to come to this. What I’m doing here is best for Equestria.”

Twilight had stopped shivering a while ago. Kokusho's casual mannerisms and tone of voice put the mare at ease. Even though this creature was opening the gates none of that dark, murderous power that she could feel from the Gates was flowing from the being in front of her. She did, however, look at him with much confusion and disbelief. She focused on her magic and tried to feel for any small indication that it was still there, after about a second of intense concentration she found a small fragment of power that was safely tucked away deep within the core of her being. Reaching out to this power, she teleported herself out of the creature’s magical grip and onto the ground below her, she pointed a hoof at the creature in an accusing manner and narrowed her gaze.

“I won’t let y……………”

Kokusho didn’t hear a damn thing that Twilight was saying, he was too taken aback by the fact that she had just used magic despite the fact that he had cut her magical abilities. His eyes glowed with a faint purple color as he used his magic to look beyond the unicorn’s flesh and into her existential ley lines. There at the center of her being, pulsing strong was a source of power that had integrated itself into the small pony. With each pulse it radiated a familiar energy, one that made Kokusho cringe reflexively.

“Elements of Harmony…” He stated coldly.

“How do you know about those?” Twilight questioned.

“You have them?”

“One of them, I’m the element of magic.” The mare stated proudly.

Kokusho knew next to nothing about the Elements, but the one thing he did know was that when they defeated him it had been six of them together. Closing his eyes and sighing, he came to a decision, one that would tear at his heart forever. If he could neutralize at least one of the elements the threat would be either gone, or severely weakened. I knew this wasn’t going to be pretty, but damn...

“Why are you staring at me like that?” She took a step back.

“I’m sorry Twilight,” He said as he manifested a large blue set of burning magical claws on his right hand. Stars flickered in and out within the magic construct and the excess magic trailed of each bladed end and evaporated in the air.

“Sorry for wh-” Her own shrieks cut her question short as the unicorn threw up a defensive barrier, a reflex she instilled into herself just in case she was ever attacked.

A bright flash illuminated the area as energy collided with energy. The light lasted for barely a heartbeat as Kokusho’s massive aetheral claws tore through Twilight’s shield as if it weren’t even there. Her pitiful power was no match for his eldritch might. The starry blades raked across the mare’s head shredding the left side of her face and completely ripping off her lower lip. She wanted to scream, but couldn’t. The blades continued raking down, eventually reaching her throat. Five burning blades sunk into her flesh and tore out her wind pipe, leaving Twilight standing up right and gurgling like a crab.

It was over before the light from the clash had even dissipated. Twilight lay in an ever growing pool of her own life fluid, the life fading from her eyes with each passing second. Kokusho stood over her and dispelled his claws.

Awakening

Everything was so blurry and muffled, her senses betrayed her. She couldn’t feel anything: Her hooves were numb, her body felt heavy, and her head felt light. She couldn’t even think clearly anymore, ideals and thoughts came to her in fragments…she didn’t understand what was happening. Her eyes slowly lowered to the dirt and suddenly she noticed how wet her face felt and that one of her eyes didn’t work. Red extended on the ground all around her. A brief moment of clarity came over her as she realized what had happened to her. With each passing moment the unicorn’s eyelids grew heavier, and her heartbeat grew weaker.

Kokusho knelt down over the Twilight and put his hand on her mauled face and brushed her mane gently to the side. “If only there were a better way,” he whispered into her ear as she closed her eyelids.

Heh, I’m not getting out of this one…Looks like curiosity finally killed the mare. She thought as the she faded into silence and darkness.

Arc 1-2 (What You Never Want to Hear)

What You Never Want to Hear

It’s so normal looking, even though the mare has an anime face it just walks around and grazes. I got it! I pointed at the pony and colored its coat pink! Then I made its eyes blue, and its mane bubblegum pink, then I hit its mane with a burst of wind. She looked like she had just been in a fight with a blow drier. I beckoned the creature over to me; she trotted over to me nervously nuzzled my hand gently acknowledging me as her master and creator. Pinkie, you shall be my experiment pony. - Day 5

Today I called Pinkie to me. I had an Idea yesterday, I had created animals, let’s see if I can bestow upon them human level intelligence. I place my hand on Pinkie’s head and focused on what made humans human, and then removed the worst of it. I remember how my sisters use to act and imparted a little bit of her into Pinkie. It didn’t work. Pinkie went into what I believe is some sort of coma. - Day 6

IT WORKED! Pinkie woke up today and started pestering me about being bored, so, in jest, I suggested to her that she should throw a party. She ran out and tried to her hearts content, but alas there was nothing to make a party with. I could just conjure the material but I wanted to see how she would handle it. She asked what my name was, I didn’t tell her my real name, so instead I said Kokusho...you know, like the Magic: The Gathering card. - Day 7

- Journal of Kokusho

Week 3, Days 5-7

-What You Never Want to Hear-

The skies over Equestria wept. The world had just been robbed of its Element of magic. The forces of natural harmony have been shattered.

Kokusho’s head hung low as he quietly uttered a prayer for the pony, her blood was on his hands. What had happened during his slumber? His mind ran circles, and he gripped at his hair. Why did that mare have an Element of Harmony? It didn’t make any sense, back when Celestia and Luna wielded them against him he could sense their terrible power. There was no way such powerful magic could be housed within a mortal shell and not flay the creature’s soul, yet that mare, Twilight Sparkle held the power at the core of her being.

“Why?!” The human screamed. Kokusho clutched at his bare chest as he fell to his knees. His eyes caught sight of the pool of Twilight’s blood and slowly travelled upwards until he was staring at her dull, lifeless, lavender form amidst a small crimson sea. “Celestia…Luna…”

He was spent, prying open the Gates of Tartarus was no easy task, despite how casual he made it look. Kokusho was hunched over the ground on his hands and knees panting like a tired dog. The rain was relaxing, but unsettling at the same time. The drops were icy, not like cold, more like …sadness or emptiness, the kind of chill that comes from losing a part of yourself. As the water soaked his hair and slid across his naked body his form started to shift. His black hair lightened up into a dark shade of brown and the vaporous wisps rising from his body started to disappear.

The inhabitants of Tartarus were now pouring out of the gates in droves; all around him dark figures dashed through the brush and glowing eyes of all colors gave fleet glances before leaping off into the forest. The ground started to quake as a towering creature slowly approached the downed. The beast was massive, it was easily over 3 stories. The world darkened and the smell of brimstone and sulfur filled the air as the creature’s shadow started to overtake Kokusho. Kokusho craned his neck upwards towards the cry sky to take in the full sight of the monster in front of him. The rain that dripped off of the creature was blackened by soot and stunk of ash. The creature resembled a horned werewolf. Giant black horns grew from the sides of its head and a burning amber mane. Its deep auburn coat hugged tight to its muscular physique and large amber tufts of fur on its arms blazed with supernatural fires. The claws on each of its hands looked sharp enough to rend steel with little. It arched its back, inhaled, and released a soul shattering howl into the night sky, causing all of the wildlife to scatter. The wolf sniffed the air and growled quietly. It looked to its right and saw the fresh corpse of a young pony, its lips retracted, plastering a devilish grin on its face.

“Ah, Kokusho, I see you’ve already had your taste of revenge. Now, my wolves get to experience the hunt once again.” His throat rumbled with excitement and his claws trembled with delight at the thought of tearing into the herds of succulent ponies. “ALL OF EQUESTRIA SHALL BECOME MY PACK’S FEEDING GROUND!” He roared.

“No.” Kokusho said quietly. He tried to stand, but nearly buckled. “You will subdue the outer most northern provinces. You are not to bring your slaughter into the heartlands. Do you understand Ifrit?” He said shakily. “Don’t overstep your boundaries in your bloodlust.”

“Fool, I am The Lord of Devastation. Did you really think that you could command me and my wolves outside of the Gates of Tartarus?” Ifrit bellowed. A circle of wolves was now forming around the two. Golden eyes hidden in the bushes stared out at the man and the beast. “I will do as I please!” The demon wolf declared as he stepped away. He barely went two steps before he suddenly stopped, he tried to force himself forward, but all that accomplished was sinking his hind paws deeply into the mud.

Ifrit whipped around snarling like a wild beast, but it quickly turned into a frightened whimper. Kokusho held on to Ifrit’s arm the human’s grip was like a vice, inescapable. Icy blue eyes pierced Ifrit’s burning amber eyes. Kokusho’s gaze invaded the demon’s spirit, invoking primal terror from the creature. The wolf trembled under Kokusho’s grip.

“I can feel it in the way your blood pumps through your veins, and in the quickening pace of your heartbeat. You. Fear. Me. And that fear is justified. It’s a terror bred into you, the instincts of an animal who knows that it’s outmatched. Heed my words Ifrit, if you stray from the north or turn that place into a mass graveyard I will wretch your damned soul from your still writhing body and dump it into the void.” The demon’s eyes widen at the mention of the void. That dark, cold, lonely place outside of any realm of existence where nothingness ate at every fiber of one’s being until they too become nothing. Demons like Ifrit couldn’t truly die, the only way to be rid of them was to destroy their souls, which was for the most part impossible. But should the soul of a demon become trapped in the void they too would be consumed by the realm of nothingness like everything else that went there.

Kokusho released his hold on the beasts arm and allowed him to walk away, neither looked at each other again. Ifrit growled quietly under his breath and snorted before letting out a saddened howl. The wolves around Kokusho quickly dispersed, leaving the area around him once again barren. The man stared at the ground, face sunken and set into a frown. What have I unleashed upon the world?

His thought process was interrupted by the sound of hooves splashing in the mud, near him. He looked up to see what the possible threat could be, but was instead greeting by the sight of a bright yellow fox like face a few inches from his own. “Belius.” He said as he released a breath he wasn’t aware that he was holding.

Belius stood a few inches above Kokusho, her lower half was equine in form. She had four legs, all ending in bluish colored hooves and a shaggy off yellow coat with bright yellow fur along her back. Her upper half was similar to a diamond dogs, except slimmer and more feminine. Belius’ upper body maintained much of the same color pattern had her lower body, but on her chest there was a large tuft of white fur with a few clumps of green tips and her coat hugged to her body much more closely. The fur on her shoulders was bright yellow like her shaggy back fur and her arms ended in clawed hands that were the same color as her hooves. She had a face similar to that of a fox, the tips of her ears with the same shade of blue as her hands. On the creatures back where to massive swords crossed like an “X” and held to her by thick brown leather straps wrapped around her shoulders.

“Master?” She said softly. “You look…unwell,” she nuzzled his shoulder gently to get his attention.

“I-I need to rest.” The man swayed uneasily on his feet, his balance getting progressively worse with each passive second. Kokusho fell forward, but was caught by the soft dexterous hands of the fox face being.

Gently, Belius lifted the human up and place him on her back. He clutched instinctively clutched onto her soft, warm fur. His vision faded in and out, as he allowed himself to sink into the realm of sleep he chanced another glance at the corpse of the innocent pony he had murdered.

Her corpse was gone.

The darkness overtook him before he could fully register what he had seen.

“Sleep well.” Belius cooed. Her hooves started to disintegrate and turn into mist. Soon her entire form as well as her passenger had turned into tiny water droplets. A light breeze passed through the clearing and whisked them away.

-What You Never Want to Hear-

Twilight stirred under her covers, tossing her sheets and pillows wildly around her bed. The mare grunted and snorted in her sleep, fits of thrashing randomly came and went as her mind was assaulted by fragments of memories that she couldn’t understand. The lavender mare saw, something, a creature unlike anything she’d ever seen.

“Kokusho…” Twilight mumbled from under her covers.

The mare’s mind was assaulted by bright flashes, and disorientating sounds. In she jerked hard to the left, causing her pillow to be thrown into the adjacent bookshelf. Giant blue claws filled her visual range, and dread filled her heart. What was she so afraid of? Nothing made any sense to her at the moment, everything was so disjointed.

“I won’t let you…” The pillow received her words openly, but returned no comfort. “NO!!” She shrieked like a banshee, filling the library with an ear shattering wail.

The bladed appendages dug into her flesh and shredded her face. Memories of searing pain flooded her senses. She could feel her warm life essence leaking out from her head, Twilight tried to suck in air and gasp, but blood filled her lungs and choked her.

“--ight, Twi--, TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled as he gripped her coat. He had been trying to shake the suffering pony out of her hysteria for several minutes, but all he could get from his surrogate sister was whimpers and wails.

“S-Spike?” The mare choked out.

“” The small dragon brought her into a deep hug.

“It’s okay Spike, it must’ve all been a bad dream. What the hay did I eat last night?” She chuckled awkwardly into her hoof.

“Twilight, don’t you remember?” He said as he wiped away the last of his tears. “You’ve been asleep for almost an entire week, everyone’s been worried sick!”

Twilight put her face into her hooves and closed her eyes. “Urgh.” The images in her head swirled and combined, slowly creating coherent memories.

“The Princess sent you that letter.”

Flashes of parchment ran through her mind, she remembered being asked to do something important. The sight of the Everfree forest dashing past her and the smell of an approaching downpour took her away from reality.

“I was worried when you rushed out before reading all of it, so I wrote the Princess back and told her what was going on.”

She put a hoof on her chest as she recalled the touch of the ominous magics being using on the Gates of Tartarus. She remembered the creature that was responsible for tampering with the ancient barricade. As more images started to fall in line Twilight found that drawing breath was becoming ever more difficult.

“And then later on in the night you just sort of returned. Your coat was covered in mud, twigs, and blood. I-I thought you were hurt, but other than a few scrapes you were fine.”

She recalled how helpless she felt when she could use her magic, once again she was in that creatures magical grasp. Hello my little pony. It spoke the words with the same love and endearment as her teacher. She started panting rapidly, she could feel her assistant shaking her and she could hear his voice calling out to her, beckoning her to return from the dark recesses of her mind. Elements of Harmony. Twilight had never heard the words spoken with such venom. She trembled violently and sank her face even deeper into her hooves. The claws were so close to her, she could feel the magic energy emanating from them. Her pupils dilated to the size of pin prick as she slowly ran her hoof down her face and across her neck, taking in the feeling of the slightly raised skin of fresh scar tissue.

I’m sorry.

The unicorn’s eyes snapped shut as the hands responsible for her death crashed down on her skull. Twilight tried to yell out, but her throat was already raw. The only sound she could muster was a terrified whimper. Tears streamed from her eyes and rained down on Spike’s head. The young dragon did the only thing he could think of.

Spike let his big sister’s head rest on him as her gently stroked her mane. “Shh.” He whispered into her ear. Just this once Spike wished that he could be a giant, monstrous dragon. At least then he could scare away whatever had brought one of Equestria’s strongest mares to such a state, but for now, all he could do was be there for her.

Twilight’s breathing steadied and she stopped shivering. Spike looked the and gently laid her head down on the pillow that remained on her bed. He smiled at her tear stained face, she looked peaceful. The young dragon shook his head, he still wasn’t sure of what had happened, but at least Twilight didn’t look like she was panicking anymore.

-What You Never Want to Hear-

The lavender mare’s nose twitched in her sleep. Even in the grasp of deep sleep her body knew the smell of pancakes and hay strips. She slowly shifted around in bed and poked her nose out from under her covers.

Her mane was all over the place, but she didn’t care. The smell of food was too tantalizing, so like a sailor drawn to the jagged shore by the siren’s song, Twilight forgot about the world and simply drifted towards the kitchen in a daze. Before she even knew what was happening she was seated at her oak dining table. Spike had placed a generous helping of flapjacks in front of the mare.

“Hmm.” She mumbled. She had never noticed how hungry she was before. Between the nightmares and the panicking the fact that she had went a week without eating just seemed like a back burner issue.

“Amazing as always Spike,” Twilight beamed at young dragon causing him to blush a little.

“Ahh, don’t mention it Twilight. I mean I wouldn’t be your number one assistant if I didn’t help you whenever you’re out of it right?” He said with a smile.

“Very true,” Twilight rubbed his head with her hoof and smiled.

The two enjoyed breakfast together as brother and sister. Spike graced Twilight with small talk about what had been going on while she was resting. He explained how her friends visited every day and even helped run the library in the past week. Twilight almost sprayed orange juice out of her nose when Spike told her about how Pinkie thought that she had a super special late night party with her special somepony and she just needed a lot of rest. Spike chuckled at Twilight’s expense, earning himself a swift bop on the head from the flushed mare.

As if the back of his noggin were some sort of mail button, Spike burped plume of green fire. A rolled up piece of parchment slowly floated down into the dragon’s hands.

“A letter from the princess?” Twilight asked as she cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah, I let both her and Luna know that you were finally awake.”

The paper was grasped by Twilight’s familiar purple aura and hoisted away from Spike. Using nothing but her telekinesis she popped the scrolls seal and unfurled the letter.

Dear Spike,

This is wonderful news! I have to see Twilight immediately, Luna and I have been wondering about her wellbeing ever since you told us the state she returned home in. As soon as I finish writing this letter I shall send a carriage to escort Twilight directly to the castle.

P.S. Spike, thank you for taking such good care of your older sister and my faithful student.

With warmth,

Celestia

Twilight blinked stupidly for a few seconds before what she had said fully registered. “The chariot will be here any minute!” She could already see the shadowed forms of the pegasi guards and the carriage flying down from Canterlot. She tapped her hoof on her head as she tried to figure out a way to get prepared before her escorts made it to her home. Then it hit her… MAGIC!

-What You Never Want to Hear-

The castle seemed much livelier today, kind of like how it was during Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding. Guards trotted to from room to room, some carrying deadly, master crafted spears and others levitating bundles of gleaming golden armor. Twilight cantered briskly through the majestic halls, the clip-clop of her hooves was muffled by the plush red carpeting that Princess loved so much. The fibers tickled her hooves, causing the mare to walk around with a stupid grin plastered across her face. She finally reached the gigantic red double doors leading to the throne room. Two unicorn guards stood stone faced on both sides of the frame, both seemingly glaring at nothing, when in reality they were both diligently scanning the hall for any disturbance.

The royal guards’ expressions softened when Twilight trotted up to them. She was about ask if she could go in, but the unicorn stallion to the right of her spoke up first.

“Ah, miss Sparkle. Celestia was expecting you; however, The Princess is not on the throne at the moment. She awaits your presence in her study.” The guard said as he pointed her in the correct direction. As if she didn’t know.

Twilight trudged through the castle hallways; her eyes traced the patterns on the elegant carpeting. The interest she had in the active status of the guards was soon replaced with a downtrodden thought pattern. Was this her real life or was she in some kind of fantasy, some sort of pony heaven? Had anything she dreamed actually occurred and if none of that was real, then where did the scars under her coat did come?

The unicorn was stopped by the sudden appearance of two massive mahogany doors. Caught up in her mental machinations, Twilight smashed face first into the barrier with her full weight, rattling the wooden frame.

“Ow, ow, ow,” She said as she rubbed her throbbing nose with a hoof.

Celestia’s guards snickered at the poor mare under their breath.

“Twilight, Is that you out there?” A motherly voice asked from behind the door.

“Yesh,” The mare said though her hoof.

The doors slowly creaked open and Celestia poked her head out to greet her to greet her faithful student. The Princess beamed down on the young pony and shot annoyed glances at her guards. Celestia was exactly as Twilight remembered her: pristine white coat, lively shimmering magenta eyes, and flowing mint toned rainbow mane. She was the pinnacle of equine beauty.

“Well don’t stand out there like a stranger Twilight!” The Princess said enthusiastically. “Come in, I’ve just prepared a fresh pot of tea.”

Celestia whipped around and retreated back into the recesses of her study with Twilight in tow. The lavender pony watched her teacher’s regal stride, had it always been soForced? The alicorn gestured for Twilight to take a seat on comfortable looking red and gold phoenix feather pillow. Between them was a small table upon which sat a kettle of tea. The princess took her seat across from the unicorn and gave her a weak smile.

“Twilight, I can’t began to tell you how happy I was when I found out that you were fine.” She bit her lower lip. “When I thought I had lost you…” Celestia looked away from her company and gazed dreamily at the setting sun. “Twilight, I never want to feel like that again.” The sun god’s cheeks shimmered in the honey colored sunlight.

Twilight had to rub her ears to make sure that she was hearing everything correctly. She rubbed her eyes to straighten her vision; obviously something was off because she was sure that Celestia was crying. The thought of such a thing was so alien to her that it would have been downright hilarious if it wasn’t playing out right in front of her. Twilight’s muscles locked up and her eyes shakily scanned the princess.

What do I do, What do I do!?. She thought. If this was Fluttershy or Pinkie, a hug and some encouragement would go a long way. For Applejack and Rainbow strong all she had to do was be there for them show that she had their back hundred and ten percent in their endeavors. And if were Rarity, they would sit down and talk it out over a meal or maybe take a spa trip and cool off. But this was Celestia, Princess of Equestria, and Goddess of the Sun. How does one comfort the most powerful being on the planet?

The air was thick with the uneasy feelings of the two mares. Celestia, noticing her student’s muddled expression, coughed quietly into her to snap the young unicorn out of her daze.

“I apologize Twilight, it’s just that everything is just so,” The princesses grunted uncouthly and put a hoof up to her forehead. “Never mind, we aren’t here to talk about that.” She said dismissing the thoughts from her mind. “How about some tea to ease our tensions?”

“Y-yes that would be nice Princess.” Twilight watched as her mentors golden aura encompassed the tea kettle and the two porcelain cups and tray. The china rattled and rose unevenly from the table. Is Celestia struggling? Twilight mused. She continued to watch as the alicorn started to shakily pour them two cups of tea with her telekinesis.

The white cup slowly floated over to the unicorn, it was almost to Twilight with The Princess’ golden aura suddenly released the piece. It all happened so fast, before either mare could even react the table between them and all of the china had been shattered into a million pieces. The lavender mare’s coat had been stained brown by the unexpected assault of tea.

“Oh, Twilight I’m so sorry let me just clean this up.” Celestia said embarrassed.

“It’s not that bad Princess, here let me hel-”If Twilight’s jaw hadn’t been connected to her skull it would have fell through the floor. Princess Celestia’s flowing mane mane fell limp on her neck like a normal pony’s and her beautiful mint polychromatic mane became a solid cotton candy pink.

“Princess, y-your mane!” She said a little louder than she wanted.

Celestia looked up at Twilight and cocked her head quizzically. She shifted her eyes to the left and saw the regular pink colored hair hanging down over the side of her face. She drew in a large amount of air, but quickly threw her hooves over her mouth to stifle her gasp. Her horn once again started to glow, but every time it lit up it immediately faded away. With each pathetic pulse of her dwindling magic the prismatic coloring of her mane attempted to return, but to no avail. She hid her face from her student and stood up.

“This is not a good time, I-I don’t wish for you to see me like this!” She said as she trotted briskly into the back room of her study. She closed the door behind her and called out from the other side of the bookcase. “Just give me some time to collect myself.”

Twilight didn’t know what to say. Her idol just had a breakdown in front of her and she had done nothing to comfort her. Am I really so weak that I let her status keep me from treating her like a friend? The mare held her head down and stood up from her comfortable plush cushion and slowly trotted towards the door. She invited me here to show me how worried she was about me, and how important my safety was to her, but when she needed me I just sat there. Her mood had just taken another one – eighty. Twilight had no idea how much longer this roller coaster would last, but the one thing she knew for sure was that she wanted off, now. This ride that she was on wasn’t fun. So far it had been mostly highs of confusion and lows of depression. I just want to know what’s going on. Why are the guards mobilizing? What happened to me that night? Why does Celestia look so, fragile? She knew that the answers to those questions would only bring more questions, so the mare did all that she could at the moment.

She cried.

-What You Never Want to Hear-

Cyan eyes peered through a crack in shutters of one of Celestia’s windows. Luna had seen everything that transpired within the confines of her sister’s study. She was supposed to join them in welcoming Twilight back, but ever since the young unicorn stepped onto the palace grounds she had been sensing a dark, powerful aura from her. She watched as the young unicorn sulked around the study, deciding that it was now or never, Luna focused what magic she could gather and tossed herself and Twilight through space.

The sudden teleportation caused Twilight sway on her hooves. She leaned against a walk as she waited for the stars in her vision go away and when they didn’t fade, she resorted to rubbing her temples to clear her senses. Once she looked around the room and noticed that the walls and ceiling were decorated like the night sky she understood that she wasn’t going blind or crazy. It didn’t take long for the mare to realize where she was, Celestia’s room was decorated with beautiful reds, golds, and whites, mimicking the day the Princess brought; whereas, this room was the antithesis of Celestia’s which could only mean…

“Hello Twilight.” The dark alicorn said flatly. Like her sister, Luna’s mane was solid and made of hair, just like any other pony’s. It no longer flowed supernaturally; instead it just sat there static. Unlike Celestia thought, Luna looked much more energetic, a far cry from fine, but still a lot better than Celestia.

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds. Twilight’s eyes began to narrow on the pony in front of her. Something about Luna’s tone, and the way she stood before her intensified the unicorn’s irritation.

“What is going on!” Twilight growled. “The guards look like they’re gearing up for war, You and Celestia look like you both have one hoof in the grave, and I can’t remember everything from that night one week ago!” She was panting heavily after the outburst.

Luna let the young pony vent, if anypony deserved to be angry, it was Twilight. Celestia dragged her deeper into this conflict than any other being on the planet. The Princess of the Night sighed heavily as she prepared to break her young friend’s heart.

“This is hard to explain Twilight, please bear with me.” She said as trotted slowly to the large window on the far side of her room. Luna gestured for Twilight to join her. They both looked through the window and down into the courtyard below. The guards were preparing many large contraptions which Twilight recognized as catapults and ballistae, things she had only seen old Equestrian history books.

“Yes, we are preparing for war, yet war is not the correct term.” Luna looked at Twilight and could see the confused look on her face. “You see, war implies that both sides have an equal chance at victory, but as it stands…” She looked back down on the soldiers moving diligently to and fro. “We will be slaughtered.”

“How can you be so sure Princess?! Whoever these enemies are I believe that Royal Guard can handle them. My brother is fit to lead this time and I’m sure that he wouldn’t let anything within a mile Canterlot!” The young unicorn said. Her face beamed with pride and confidence when she mentioned her brother.

“You know this enemy Twilight. Do you really believe that we have a chance here?” Luna’s company simply shook her head at the princess’s statement.

“I know the enemy?” The unicorn asked.

“Think.”

“Kokusho.” Twilight whispered. Images of large titanite doors sliding open flooded her mind.

“He opened the Gates of Tartarus one week ago. When he escaped he brought with him an army of monsters the likes of which Equestria hasn’t seen for thousands of years. Chances are that he wants both me and my sister’s heads on a pike and when he’s done with us, he will lay waste to Equestria.” Luna was gritted her teeth at the thought of a her country burning.

“Y-you and Celestia. You two can stop him, if he was in Tartarus you defeated him before, right?” She eked out.

“That goes with your question about the current state of my sister and I. No Twilight, we cannot stop him this time. Somehow, Kokusho is draining our strength. Celestia is in such bad shape because all of her magic is being used to keep up her appearance. She has the most public duties after all. I have been able to hold on to much of my strength by using magic sparingly. Celestia always meets threats head on, she’s never felt so powerless.”

“I, just…” Twilight placed her face in her hoof. Everything was messed up even with an explanation given to her she still didn’t understand. Luna and Celestia killed, Canterlot a warzone. Impossible. She didn’t know if the words Luna spoke didn’t make sense because she couldn’t imagine war in such a peaceful time or because she simply denied that such a thing was even true in the first place. She placed a hoof on the window for support and looked up at Luna. Her face was that of somepony who was broken, with little left to lose.

Twilight closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. “What happened to me that night, one week ago?” She asked sternly.

“You died.”

Arc 1-3 (Sanctum)

Sanctum

It’s time to start my project. Project build a world I call it.

I raised my left hand and said “Power of the Creator.” I felt a weight come down on me, one that was surprisingly absent before. Guess I never noticed that the planet didn’t have an atmosphere (So that’s why my ocean boiled away).

I flew into space and looked around. The debris of the moon was still there. All that remained of the moon was a ring of dust and mile wide rocks wrapped around the planet, the remnants of a body that humanity once looked to for its beauty. I raised my right hand and said “Power of the destroyer.” The cloud of stone started to glow orange. When I was satisfied with the molten glob I clenched my right hand into a fist and caused the cloud to collapse in on itself. I pulled the glowing planetoid to me and commanded that it remain with the planet. I cooled the new moon and began attacking it with telekinetic strikes (the moon just isn't the same if it isn't all beat up) and gave it a gentle push to start it on its orbit.

- Journal of Kokusho

Day 7

-Sanctum-

Twilight was in a panic again, the mare’s heart raced and her eyes darted back and forth. She wasn’t looking for anything, but the sheer ridiculousness of what Princess Luna had just said to her made her question the validity of her situation.

“What do you mean by I died? ” Twilight fumed.

“It is exactly as I said Twilight Sparkle.” Luna responded calmly.

She chuckled awkwardly at Luna. In her mind it wouldn't be to far fetched for a crew of camera wielding ponies to leap out of the curtains at any moment. The images of her nightmare flashed through her mind, causing her to cringe. “Well, no offense princess, but I’m right here. There’s no way that I died.”

Luna sighed and stared out at Canterlot. “Spike sent us a letter after you foolishly ran off alone. My sister and I rushed to the safe and prepared to send the Elements directly to Spike.” The princess of the night bit her lower lip and looked down at the young mare beside her. Twilight was like a daughter to Celestia and like another sister to Luna. “However, shortly after we prepared them the Element of Magic’s gem drained of all energy and fell dormant.”

“I don’t understand. What does that have to do with me dying?” Twilight was shaking her head; half of it was her trying to make heads or tails of the situation, while the other half was her denying even the slightest possibility of her death.

“As I’m sure you know Twilight, Celestia lost her connection with the elements which is why they were powerless stones when you and your friends first found them.” The lunar princess said. “Other than losing their connections with their chosen wielders, the only time the elements fall dormant are when a current wielder dies.”

“Neither myself, nor my sister could sense your magical presence. You were gone!” Luna said forcefully. Her gaze had hardened at Twilight. Luna’s teal eyes drilled into the young mare, causing Twilight to backpedal away from the window. “My sister was on the verge of tears, and then suddenly your element came back to life, and shone just as bright as before!” She stomped a hoof, the sound of cracking marble filled the room. Pregnant silence sat between the two mares as Luna ground her hoof into the crumbled stone of her floor. The alicorn’s horn began to glow with silver wisps of light as she fashioned her spell. She violently threw back her head, whipping her extravagant teal mane away from her face and releasing the gathered energy.

Immediately, Twilight noticed two things wrong: First, was that Luna’s room became much darker, as if the sun had been lowered, though it was nowhere near time for the arrival of the night. Second, all of the sounds of the outside world had been silenced; she could hear neither the chirping of the birds in the royal garden, nor the activities of the guard ponies. Twilight’s horn tingled from the power of Luna’s magic and the sensation of cold water splashing against her coat spread across her entire body. The young mare started to step away from her princess, as beads of cool sweat to trickled down the side of her head . Luna was behaving irrationally, Twilight could only guess at what Luna was going to do.

Luna took a step towards Twilight. The princess held her head low and her eyes were alight with magical power. “When the element of magic returned to life, I felt something else come with it, a dark presence.” She said as she glared at Twilight, continuing her menacing approach she raised her head and looked down of the shaking unicorn. “At first I thought that perhaps a shade had taken hold of your corpse,” The Princess of the Night was now towering over her subject. Using her powerful forelegs, Luna shoved Twilight over and pinned the mare on the floor. Twilight could only whimper as the forceful hooves of the alicorn held her firm. “but now that you stand before me, I can feel what afflicts you. Death’s Essence. Twilight,that dark power must be purged from you. I pray that I am not too late.” Luna lowered her horn until it was mere inches above Twilight’s heaving chest. A single spark of silvery magic arched from the princess’s horn like lightning to metal rod, soon the single spark turned into a raging stream of lightning like magic.

“B-but princess, I’ve never heard of-,” A searing lance of pain shot into Twilight’s chest, causing the mare to instinctively arch her back and shriek like a primal beast. The magic felt like it was flaying every nerve ending in her body at the same time. It was as if somepony had placed the sun inside of her bosom and the glowing sphere was trying to burn its way through her flesh to freedom. Her eye’s rolled back in her head as pained tears soaked her muzzle. Her senses were so oversaturated that if it were not for the torn and ragged feeling in her throat she wouldn’t have even known that she was screaming.

A dark smoky aura started to rise from Twilight’s coat as Luna continued to feed magic into her exorcism spell. The air in her chambers was quickly starting to smell of ozone from all of the magical discharge, but Luna couldn’t stop, she had to save Twilight. Tears welled up in the alicorn’s eyes as she watched her sister’s beloved student and her friend writhing on her floor in unbelievable pain. The more dark aura that rose from the young mare’s body, the more effort Luna had to put into drawing it out, at this rate what little magic she had left wouldn’t be enough to finish the spell. Twilight’s body went rigid and she stopped reacting to the pain of the spell altogether, suddenly her body started to twitch and jerk erratically. Luna’s eye’s widened in horror as the mare began to seize up from the trauma of the exorcism. If she didn’t finish the spell soon Twilight’s life could be in danger.

It was now or never. Luna pulled back with all of her magical strength. The dark aura embedded itself deeper into Twilight’s soul and refused to budge. The unicorn’s eyes migrated from the roof of her skull and locked gazes with the Goddess of the Night. Slowly, Twilight’s irises started to shift from their natural dark purple color to a sinister, bloodthirsty shade of crimson.

The possessed mare released a gut wrenching roar. What forced its way out of Twilight’s throat sounded as if it came from everywhere and nowhere at once, thousands of voices seemed to mesh with that of the unicorn’s, forming an eerie cacophony of sound with barely any semblance to a voice.

“Pain!” Twilight cried out in countless wailing voices. “Escape!”

Faster than Luna could react, Twilight smashed her hooves into the alicorn’s right fetlock, shattering the princess’s foreleg like it was made of cheap plywood. Luna buckled from the sudden pain and attempted to clutch at her bloody, broken limb, but before she could nurse her injury Twilight had brought her hind legs to bear right beneath the blue alicorn’s chest. She lashed out, her movements as precise as a machine. Her hooves impacted Luna’s rib-cage with the force of a speeding locomotive; an audible, fleshy crunch reverberated off the walls of Luna’s room and a wave of force threw pictures off of the walls and toppled curios.

From Luna’s perspective the world seemed to have slowed to a crawl. Splintered wood, blood droplets, and glass all hung nigh motionless in the air as her body careened through several cabinets and a wooden door before finally slamming into her black marble bathtub. The princess rose shakily on three hooves, she dry heaved as the pain from all of her injuries started to set in. A sharp marble spike was lodged in her shoulder, and life essence dripped from the mare’s nose. It took nearly everything she had to drag herself out from the ruins of her bathroom.

Twilight, still consumed by the collective desire to escape, was viciously stomping around the room and slamming her hooves against the walls in an attempt to free herself from Luna’s extra dimensional prison. The princess hobbled back into the main chamber of her bedroom, crushing glass and loose stone as she walked. The sounds of her approach caused the feral mare to snap her head towards Luna and focus all of her attention on the pony that caused her pain. Twilight ducked low and glared at her friend, her eyes were filled to the brim with bloodlust. Luna looked deep into the young mare’s gaze and saw the intent to kill as plain as day, but there was also something else, she sensed a symphony of conflicting emotions from the possessed mare’s face. Twilight’s body trembled like a panicked animal and her pupils were dilated from the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Suddenly, the unicorn pounced at Luna, but she was prepared this time. With but a thought, her attacker was caught mid-jump and suspended several feet above the floor. Her quarry writhed in her telekinetic grip. Luna narrowed her eyes and sneered as she used her magic to cut the blood flow to her quarry’s brain. Within seconds the thrashing stopped and Twilight’s eyes started drift to the back of her head, her irises returned to their normal color and the mare went limp in Luna’s magical grasp.

Gently, the princess rested the unicorn’s body on her bed and sighed. Using her magic, Luna ripped the marble spike from her shoulder then focused her last reserves of magic on her injuries. Bones snapped back into place and cemented themselves together and flesh rewove itself until nary a wound could be seen on her body. Luna rubbed a hoof across her face to wipe away the dried blood from under her nose, at the same time she released her encapsulation spell, bringing her room back into the normal flow of Equestrian space-time. With her final ounce of strength Luna slid over to the bed and collapsed onto the fluffy mattress next to Twilight.

-Sanctum-

The morning sunlight rolled into Princess Luna’s room at a snail’s pace. Slowly, the resting form of Twilight was bathed in the warm rays of Celestia’s sun, causing the mare to toss and turn. The unicorn weakly slid out of bed. Groaning the entire time, she walked over to what she assume was a sink, not once did she actually look around at the destruction surrounding her hooves. All Twilight knew was that she hadn’t had a headache this bad since the morning after the Grand Galloping Gala. Never try to drink Celestia under the table. She said to herself as she ran a cool stream of water from the faucet. She dipped her hooves in and savored the icy feeling against her skin. She gently splashed her face a few times to stimulate her mental faculties. Her vision started to clear and the pounding in the back of her skull subsided, for the first time since she’d been awake she actually looked around. The scene threatened to knock her out. What the hay happened to Princess Luna’s room?

The mare was trying to formulate the answer, but right as the gears in her head started to turn she heard voices through the wall, directly outside of Luna’s room. If her hearing was correct both Celestia and Luna were outside of the room, as well as a stallion with a scratchy voice. Twilight trotted carefully to the wall, making sure her hooves didn’t crush any marble or glass and alert the ponies that she was eavesdropping on. The princesses’ voices were coming through the wall behind Luna’s bathroom mirror. She pressed her ear against the mirror and listened in.

“So, i-it’s inside my faithful student…” She heard Celestia say. Twilight could hear the metal clanking of her teachers golden horseshoes against the white marble floors of the castle hallway. It sounded as if the princess huffed and stomped around for a little before calming down.

“I’m afraid so sister,” Luna said. “I tried my best the Death Essence from Twilight, but after a week of symbiosis, it’s fully merged with her. I’m certain that she’d die if we removed it.” Twilight could make out the weak rattle of Luna’s chest regalia as the alicorn dipped her head.

“Truly, I curse the name Unicornelious,” Celestia seethed. She spat at the name. Twilight couldn’t remember a time when Celestia’s hate of another was audible in her speech. The unicorn couldn’t even remember a time when she thought Celestia hated anypony; Celestia had spoken of Discord, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and even Sombra with not a hint of malice in her voice. “Had he not created that abominable magic Twilight would not be in this predicament.”

Wait, there’s something wrong with me? Twilight thought. She raised a hoof to her chest and gently pressed down on the soft fur. Something is inside of me, and whatever it is it obviously isn’t nice. Luna’s words resonated in her mind. Whatever had bonded with her was apparently a part of her for life now. She had almost fallen into her own thoughts, but luckily she caught the name Unicornelious before spacing out.

Where have I heard that name? Unicornelious…Ah ha! I read a report he wrote with theories about where a pony’s energy goes after death. It was interesting theory-craft and well thought out, but if I recall correctly, he was one of the Grand Magi before Luna was consumed by the nightmare, so why does Celestia hate him? Twilight now had at least a little information. Hmm. Death Essence, Unicornelious, I bet I could find something about him in the restricted sections of the archives! Her eyes brightened at the thought of all knowledge she would get to pour through during her quest for answers. Even though she was far from out of the fire, Twilight could feel her mood beginning to improve. Twilight gathered her magic and prepared to teleport. My magic feels…different. Note to self, see if this Death essence has any effect on unicorn magic. With her mental note in place, she winked out of existence.

-Sanctum-

“I can’t say that I fully understand your plight princess,” The Night Guard Stallion said.

“Which brings me to my question,” He looked at Celestia, then back to Luna. “exactly what can the Luna Adeptorum do in all of this? We could be out securing Equestria’s borders against the coming threats, surely one mare isn’t worth the full attention of your private forces milady.”

“Nox Dux Grim Stride,” Luna said, looking down at the stallion. “That one mare happens to be one of the Elements of Harmony, our last line of defense against the encroaching evil. She is also a larger threat than anything else out there and our greatest chance of survival.”

“Luna, his question still stands. I would be lying if I said that I saw the reasoning behind summoning Grim Stride here. What are you planning sister?” Celestia narrowed her eyes at her sibling.

“Something you won’t like.” Luna said with a sad chuckle.

Celestia had reacted exactly as Luna expected. It took a little longer than she wanted, but after she revealed most of her plan Celestia agreed that it was in fact Equestria’s best chance at weathering the upcoming storm. Reluctantly, Celestia gave her sister permission to set her plans into action. With her sister behind her plan, and Grim Stride accepting his new task the trio separated.

“I believe in Twilight, she’ll overcome this hurdle and return to use as the same mare.” Celestia’s words echoed in the back of Luna’s mind as she trotted over to her bed. Her mind jumped from one idea to the next as she tried to think of ways to break the news to Twilight. Sweeping her gaze across the jumbled up black sheets, the night princess noticed the absence of a certain lump that should be there, resting peacefully. She trotted around the room and searched for clues as to Twilight’s whereabouts until finally entering the bathroom. She quickly scanned the room and whipped around, writing the place off as lacking any evidence. Mid turn she caught sight of something on the mirror, Luna stopped on a dime and ran over to the reflective glass and stared intently. It was faint, but Luna could see it clear as day, the warm, fading mark of a pony’s ear was temporarily tattooed onto the mirrors surface.

“This complicates things.” She said as she rushed out of her room.

-Sanctum-

Twilight reappeared inside the Starswirl section of the Royal Archives. The place was exactly as she remembered it. Rows upon rows of shelved tomes dotted the large circular room, scrolls littered the floor were some Magi had obviously gotten a bit too enthusiastic about his research. The young mare giggled to herself at the thought the pony scrambling out of the library when his duties called. She knew the feeling of getting overly excited over learning something new. The stench of paper old as Canterlot itself filled her nostrils, causing her to shudder.

The hairs on her back stood on end, this was just like when she crept into the archives for that time spell. She literally worried herself crazy over that and in her clouded judgment she unnecessarily infiltrated the library. It just started to occur to her exactly how much knowledge was held in this room. Almost everything Starswirl the Bearded had ever written would be right here. Smacking herself with a hoof, Twilight continued to trot through the vast archives in search of her goal. Despite how much she wanted to dive nose first into the books surrounding her, she was on a mission.

She traversed the archives based solely on memory. The part she was looking for was well hidden, and out of the way, but it looked normal. The truth is that Twilight only knew where she was headed because of her old curiosity. As a young filly she had heard Celestia offhandedly mention Luna’s Sanctum. In her reverie the sun goddess had accidently let the little book worm filly know that it was hidden in the Royal archives. There were books in there not meant for the eyes of anypony other than the princesses, but whatever was in there could shed some light on her situation, and maybe tell her what was going on.

Twilight trotted casually towards plain looking bookshelf. She stared up at the towering structure and its tomes, books of all colors and ages adorned its shelves. Taking a look around to make sure no pony was watching, Twilight pulled down on a red book. The bookcase stuttered and shook violently before slowly sliding to the side and revealing a large, black wooden door with a light blue crescent moon symbol on it. Dust puffed out from behind the sliding bookcase, coating Twilight in a thin layer of gray grime. Immediately she could tell something was off, the last time she saw this door, the concentration of magic protecting it was enough to nearly fry her brain just from laying eyes on it. Now she sat there staring at the entrance to the unknown with no ill effects.

Perhaps back then I was just more sensitive to powerful magic because I myself wasn’t very skilled…Even though she told herself that, her mind kept drifting to the Celestia’s magic failing to hold on to their tea cups and both princesses taxed postures. She thought back on the creature, Kokusho, he called himself. Could he have something to do with this?

She pressed a hoof against the dark door and pushed as hard as she could, to her surprise she fell straight through the black threshold. While it was a relief that gaining entrance wasn’t difficult, it also confirmed her fears. Luna was able to maintain this spell throughout her entire exile to the moon. For it to be down now… Twilight bit her lip to her fight back her tears. Oh princess why didn’t you tell me? She sniffled a few times as the thought of the burden both Luna and Celestia must be carrying at the moment. She turned towards her goal and steeled her resolve, desperate to continue. Perhaps she could find a way to help the princesses while she looked for answers. Before her was a deep, seemingly unending staircase, the mare sighed. Honestly, it was starting to get old, castles with secret staircases that went down forever. She gathered her magic and began to levitate herself. She shot a lavender ball of energy down the passage to make sure it was a straight away, with the path confirmed as straight and unobstructed she used her telekinesis to toss herself down the passage far faster than she could have ever hoped to run.

“Yeah! WOOWHO!” She yelled like an excited filly as she flew through the passageway after her purple beacon. The runes on the walls slowly came to life around her, as if the stone itself was invigorated by the presence of the mare. Feeling comfortable in her control, she threw in a few stunts for good measure. Soon the mare was twisting and spinning through the air like a certain rainbow maned pegasus she knew. And just like a certain pegasus she abruptly crashed into a bookcase, bring her giggling to halt. “OWOWOWOW.” She said as she dug herself out of a mountain of old books.

With her body free of its text blanket, she was free to get her bearings. The room was massive, but it didn’t look like a library. Sure the wall she crashed on had a bookshelf, but out from there the chamber had an elegant dais with hundreds of ancient runes carved on it, a long formal looking table, and rows upon rows of glass cases exhibiting artifacts that Twilight had never seen in any book. Her horn burned as she walked by the oddities, their power was obvious to the mare so she left them alone, regardless of how curious she was. She stepped on to the dais and noticed that the runes on the device matched the runes she had been seeing on the walls.

A small spark of purple energy jumped from her hooves to the dais, causing a few of the runes to glowing. Twilight looked down curiously at the phenomenon. Focusing on the runes she let some of her power trickle into the platform. Runes started to come flare to life and the chamber started to light up, the more of herself she put into the dais, the more the chamber seemed to reciprocate. Soon the chamber could maintain power without her constantly feeding it magic. The feeling was strange, it was like having a second body. Instinctually she called several books over to her with the magic of the Sanctum.

She looked over the covers of the books she had gathered, one was simply labeled Notes, with the name Unicornelious. The color of the tomes pages and the layer of filth on it reinforced exactly how long it has been since anypony was in this place. The next book was simply a black bound hoof book, and the final one had the words Instrumenta Deos hoof written across the cover. Twilight sat Instumenta Deos off to the side and instead dove straight into Unicornelious’ snotes. What was in this book was like of the most relevance to her. She started to skim over Unicornelious's notes in search of anything useful.

---

I can’t live like this anymore, why Luna? Can you not see that this strife is tearing me apart? My wife and daughter were taken from me far too early. All I want is to see them again. I have the power, the knowledge, and soon the means, but the Moon has forbidden me from creating the spell that will allow me to be reunited with my precious Lily Petal and Rose Bud.

Luna caught me trying to use the spell and sentenced me to life in the dungeon, the cow. But I still hold no ill will towards her, how can one whose family is just as immortal as them ever hope to feel the pain of loss. I have never seen her with a special somepony, and she has no foals, all she has is Celestia. I pity her. She thinks she has stopped me, but foolishly she allowed me to keep my notebook.

Everything has been prepared and my runes are all hidden under the straw in my cell, all my spell requires to work now is a single soul that will act as a catalyst. So excuse me while I go get one.

Twilight cringed as she turned the page, burgundy stains that the mare knew was dried blood was speckled across the text.

---

It’s beautiful, the ultimate spell. I shall call it, Death Essence. Finally it’s complete, I’m the first pony create a spell that will allow one to transcend the barriers between life and death. Once I take this magic into myself, it will allow me to interact with the souls of dead ponies. I’ll be able to see my family again.

She flipped through a large section of blank pages, until she came to the next entry.

---

What have I done? I was just defending myself, and I killed a pony, but that isn’t what has me so scared. After he…expired, I saw his soul I tried to interact with it, but when I touched it the spirit went inside of me! For a moment I could hear him cry out in fear in my mind, but it quickly left. After I ate his soul, I felt stronger, faster, and more alert. I looked in a mirror and it looked like I was ten years younger. The entire situation left me hungry for more, I fear that if this empty feeling inside of me continues grow that I may kill again.

Lily Petal, oh sweet Celestia, please somepony help me. I’ve killed so many but I need more…The voices won’t stop and I can barely tell who I am anymore. It was just too much, every soul I took made me better, more than a normal pony. Now Equestria’s entire army is after me, even the Luna Adeptorum but it’s ok I have a friend now, I forged him in the fires of Izalith. He helps a lot, by binding it to the Death Essence I have learned that I can access the talents of those poor ponies I hurt…so I guess they aren’t really gone.

I think I’ve reached some sort of equilibrium. I’m no longer hungry, and the voices have stopped. I can feel it, where ever souls are supposed to go they no longer do it on their own, I’ve ruined the cycle. If I don’t absorb them with the Death Essence they sort of just fade away, every time I see it happen it just feels wrong. But where do they go…I must know.

This will be my last entry, I have my answers. I know I goofed, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done, but sorry will never be enough to atone for what I’ve done. I tossed my friend down a chasm, I hope it leads to Tartarus. I’ve turned myself in, the guards will be here any moment. One hundred thousand, five hundred and fifteen ponies died by my hooves. Knowing Luna, the lifespan won’t last long enough to apologize to the families of those that I’ve wronged. So I apologize for not getting to apologize.

Twilight’s stomach curled up into knots. She was harboring an abomination of dark magic inside of her. Unicornelious was crazy, selfish and reckless, but at heart he was a hurt stallion who was desperate to see his family again. But that thing he created drove him to sickening feats, and now, it was a part of Twilight forever.

“I’m a monster,” Twilight dropped all of the books on the ground rested on her belly. She shamefully covered her face with her hooves and tried to hide herself from the world as she sobbed into her fore hooves.

The cold metal of a horseshoe pressed gently into the bawling mare’s shoulder. The unicorn looked up with bloodshot eyes and locked stares with the gentle blue of Luna’s gaze. “And a monster might be the only thing that can protect Equestria right now.” She said reassuringly.

Twilight stood up unsteadily and wiped the tears from her face. “I'm going to be here for more than I week aren't I?” she joked.

“I’ll send Spike a letter for you.”

Arc 1-4 (Burn Notice)

Burn Notice

I began to notice several strange occurrences, the planet itself seems to react to me and heed my commands. Magma becomes rock where I stepped, wind blew, and valleys closed at my whim, even the day - night cycle I under my control.

Hell I’m still alive after the world ended in light and fire, which is just as ridiculous. Honestly, I’m not sure what I should be feeling. –Day 2

-Journal of Kokusho-Burn Notice-

The world came speeding back into focus as Kokusho’s head materialized. Rapidly, millions of tiny water droplets coalesced solidified and shifted colors. Being turned into water, disassembled, flown across a nation, and then reassembled was a new experience for the man and he couldn’t quite compare it to anything.

Kokusho eased his grip on Belius’ fur and slid off of her back. His bare feet impacted against the warm black pebbles that seemed to make up the ground with a soft patter. He looked down and remembered that he was completely nude. I was wearing clothes when Luna and Celestia imprisoned me, so where exactly did they go? He thought to himself.

He looked around himself and checked his surroundings. The sky here was blackened by ash and for a moment, he thought he had caused this. He clenched his teeth and stared at the ground, the black pebble strewn, soot covered ground. Kokusho raised a brow in confusion for a quick moment as everything started to fall in line. The air in this area smelled of sulfur and there were cracks in the ground that periodically spewed steam like a tea kettle. It was warm to, really warm If he and Belius were mortal it wouldn’t be hard to believe that they would have suffocated or been burned to death just by standing where they were.

The human shivered, not from the temperature, but from the thought of being nude for another moment. Creating clothes was a simple task, even with his currently diminished powers he could easily complete the task with no strain to his reserves.

His mind focused on his old outfit: A black cowboy duster, a dark blue turtleneck, a long black scarf and a pair of grey pants with black chaps . With his outfit created, he could finally breathe easy knowing that if the denizen of the world fled from him, their horror would be born from the fact that he was a strange and powerful creature and not because of his huge terrifying python. Kokusho sniggered at bit at his own cockiness, which in turn led to him on his knees banging the scorched earth with his fist in hysterics. His own internal pun was too much for him at the moment.

“Master?” Belius asked with a hint of concern. She watched as the human continued laughing until the laughter turned into coughing, at which point she rushed over to him. Kneeling over, she tenderly placed a hand on the man’s shoulder.

Kokusho waved her off. “I’m fine, I’m fine, just laughing at a joke.” He said as his giggles faded.

Now with the issue of clothing rectified, Kokusho decided to look up at his surroundings. The pieces of the puzzle gingerly fell in line as he took in the sights. Before him in, jutting out of the blackened earth was a large jagged hill. The man could see a thin, steady stream of black smoke trailing from the peak of the soot covered hill. The putrid odor of rotten eggs was at its strongest in the direction or the hill, and heat seemed to emanate from there as well.

“Belius, why did you bring me to an active volcano?” Kokusho raised an eyebrow at the water spirit. There was work to be done and they didn’t have the time to go on a sightseeing tour. He turned the idea over in his head, there was no doubt that Equestria had changed in his absence. Mentally, he sat aside a reminder to take some time out to look around the planet when all of this was resolved.

She looked over to her master and gave him a small bow. “Master, before we left Tartarus you told me that the first steps of your plans included acquiring enough power face the Alicorn Sisters once more. You said that you would need to reclaim your gauntlets and gather any interesting magic that you find along the way,” she said while rising from her bow. The fox-like being then pointed towards the volcano “and this place exuded magical power. I thought that perhaps this location would be a good start you.”

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Thank you, I appreciate the effort.” Turning to face the volcano, Kokusho stretched out his senses towards the towering rock formation and just as Belius had informed him, there was power there. It the fact that he couldn’t sense it from outside the gates of Tartarus, like Belius could, worried him. Hopefully this endeavor would be worthwhile, keeping Celestia and Luna weakened like this was more of a drain than he expected. His senses were dulled, and his magic was severely weakened. The man looked down at his hands and watch as the appendages shivered weakly under his gaze.

Might as well get this over with. He thought to himself. Wordlessly, he started to stride towards the smoking black mountain. Belius, ever faithful, followed close behind. The gravity of what he was doing started to catch up to him. With his powers as weak as he was, there was a high chance that he could be mortal at the moment and he was willingly walking into an active volcano. Slowly, doubt began to creep into his mind and his pace started to slow to a crawl.

The change in Kokusho’s demeanor wasn’t lost on Belius. She’d known Kokusho for several thousand years, and in all of the time she’d spent with the human, he never looked as he did right now. Frightened wasn’t quite the word to describe the emotion that she was sensing from him at the moment, it felt more like uncertainty. She trotted to his side. Perhaps there is something I can do to ease his tension. She thought. Digging through her mind, she remembered that Kokusho was Tartarus’ inmate zero, the first being consigned to oblivion within the grim, dark immaterium.

“Equestria and the world have changed much since you walked its surface. My imprisonment was relatively recent, perhaps I can fill you in on what has changed? ” She said, hiding her concern behind well practiced professionalism.

As they travelled up the side of the volcano, Belius explained how Equestria had expanded even further then its previous borders and how uncontrolled wilderness was exceedingly rare even when she and her kin were free. She took the lead, forcing Kokusho to keep pace if he wanted to hear her story. Every so often he would get caught up in thought and stumble over a stone or take a misstep, but Belius would be there to catch him every time.

The path to the base of the volcano was treacherous. Seething streams of sulfur spewing magma flowed down hill through crevices forged by fire. Large vents, leading to the depths of the earth, ejected steam and noxious fumes at seemingly random intervals. The stench of rotten eggs and the sweltering heat grew with each step forward, but so did the strength of whatever magic lay in wait within the mountain of fire.

The conversation that Belius started during their trek, had shifted in subject to her own motivations . It was a conversation that Kokusho often defaulted back to when in the water goddess’s presence. Her goals were simple, and relatable, which is why he enjoyed listening to her tales, every word she spoke reassured him that she would never betray his trust. Every time he had her speak about it, he managed to get a little more out of her.

“Celestia wonders why disaster upon disaster befalls her nation, she brings it upon them, and her subjects suffer because she can’t leave the natural order alone!” Belius vented. Her tone was obviously heated and the fur on the back of her neck stood on end, but it was a calm controlled sort of anger, one that she could direct. “The Sun made me into what I am now, I never wished to take up arms.” She said as her rage receded.

Kokusho and Belius had travelled the entire way by the time the water spirit finished her story. Kokusho had completely forgotten about his prior uncertainties, every doubt in his mind had been replaced with determination. Determination to make the alicorn sisters answer for their crimes against Belius. It was one thing to give up on one’s own goals, but when your goals are intertwined with those of another’s quitting was not an option.

“Master.” Belius said calmly in an attempt to garner the man’s attention.

“Yes?” He said.

She pointed to an old, ash covered wooden sigh at the entrance of the cave. Kokusho walked over to the sign and reached out to touch it. The layer of ash was as thick as tar, it was as if the sign hadn’t been disturbed in centuries (If the carbonized insect exoskeletons in the layers of ash were any indication). He swiped his hand back and forth across the wooden sign to clear it of the obstructing substance. With each pass of the palm, the writing on the sign became clearer. His hand bustled with magical energy as it continued to pass over the wooden plank. Enchanted sign, explains how it survived being on the side of a volcano all of this time. He thought as he wiped the last trace of ash from the board.

The wooden sign was perfectly preserved, the writing as clear and concise as if it had just been painted on. Above the wording was a single, simple drawing, a red pony skull with crossbones behind it. Kokusho traced the writing with his finger as he read hastily scribbled writing out loud.

Warning,

To whomever this may concern, turn back now. The prize is not worth the peril. Old gods sleep here, and we were fools to disturb their rest.

The message ended there. After the last word the ink trailed off ominously towards the ground.

The man’s skin chilled at the message he just read. What are these Old Gods that they speak of? He asked himself.

Belius rested a soft, furred hand on his shoulder. He looked into her eyes for a split second and could see the wordless message she was sending him. I’m with you. She removed her hand from him and slowly entered the mouth of the cave.

Kokusho smiled weakly as he watched Belius disappear into the darkness of the volcano. She’d been supportive up until this point, he had no reason to doubt her. If he needed to he could lean on her, and he felt confident in that fact.

The inside of the cave was relatively unremarkable. Magma drooling stalagmites hung from the ceiling of the cave, making both Belius and Kokusho have to keep an eye up. The man ran his hand along the cave walls, the layer of ash that had built up was thicker then goat cheese. It wasn't enough for it to be deadly, but it had to be dirty as well. He quickly used a small burst of wind to blow the ash off of his hands before continuing.

After a couple of minutes traversing the glowing cavern an odd lump of stones caught Kokusho’s eye. He walked ahead of Belius to get a better look. Kneeling down, he started his inspection of the stones. They were all black, he reached down and picked one up and he gave it a firm squeeze, causing it to break apart in his hand. “Bone char…” He muttered. The man looked over the rest of the skeleton, much of it was missing. It looked to be a pony, he snapped one of the bones in half, revealing that it was mostly hollow. “A pegasus…” Several blossomed metal bits were on the ground where on the ground where the pony’s ribcage was supposed to be.

Belius slowly trotted up to the man and stopped. “Hey Belius look at this…” He got no response. “Belius?” he asked as he looked up at her. She was staring at something further down in the cavern. Kokusho stumbled to his feet, following her gaze, his eye fell upon the wonder that captivated his general.

The cave opened up into a massive antechamber with magma falls continually spewing the molten stone down into the earth. In the center of it all is a large dilapidated metal structure, much too angular to be of pony design, not to mention the metallurgy is much to advance. In a trance like state, Kokusho started to walk towards the structure with Belius in tow.

Kokusho reached a hand out to the metal building, only to be stopped by a greenish-blue field of energy. Power jumps between his hand and the force field as he runs his fingers across the barrier. “A cold plasma field?” He knew exactly what it was, but he never thought he’d seen what has before him right now.

“What form of barrier spell is this?” She cocked her head inquisitively as she prodded the barrier with one of her swords.

“No, this is not magic. This... is technology. Human technology.” He said with a small chuckle. “My people did amazing things with nothing more than their mind and tools.”

He tried to push his way through the barrier, only to find that it is completely unyielding.

“Identification please.” A scratchy monotone female voice demanded.

After a quick second of searching Kokusho finds the source of the speech, a working security panel near a large sliding metal greets him and Belius with the same demand.

“Um,” Kokusho stammered.

“Biometric scan initiated.” Green light shot out from the small panel, encasing Kokusho in a grid like image as it slowly works its way up his body.

“Welcome subject V4N-6U4-R5.” The panel stated as it lowers the shield and opens the door.

“Don’t look at me, because I don’t even understand.” Kokusho said as Belius raised a hand to question the situation.

Wordlessly the duo entered the structure.

Dust, Dust everywhere; The interior wasn’t nearly as bad as he expected. They were met by angular metallic walls and the smell of stale air. Several automated guard bots lay in disrepair in the halls of the structure and even though there seemed to be power, barely any of the systems were operational. Lights flicker on and off and random intervals, but for the most part the halls remained evenly light allowing Kokusho and Belius to easily navigate the structure. The emergency lights flickers seemed to be a bit too consistent to be a shortage of power, one side of the hall flashed as if trying to get their attention. He looked up at the water spirit, both nodded, wordlessly deciding to follow what they believed was guidance.

Boots, watches, and skeletons littered the dirt covered floor, the crunching of ancient remain underneath their feet echoed offed the walls creating an eerie symphony that emphasized how dead the place was. Following the lights, they were eventually lead to a wide open room.

In the center of the circular room was a gigantic transparent tube with some sort of metal coiled along the inside of it. Blinding white energy danced inside of the contraption and seemed to pool into an orb in the center of the tube. A few computer consoles were fading in and out and crackling with static near the device. So this is the power Belius felt… Kokusho started to walk towards the consoles, the same white energy that filled the device started to arch across skin and clothing and his eyes started to glow a brilliant blue as if he were using magic.

“W-what is that?” Belius took a step back from the intimidating device. The power pouring from it was like nothing she had ever felt before.

“It’s a warp pipe generator. Large ships used them to travel unbelievable distances instantly.” Kokusho replied hazily.

The spirit could only give him a puzzled looked. She had no idea what a "warp pipe", all she knew was that the contraption towering over them was powerful. Looking at it made her hairs stand on end, every fiber of her being told her to destroy it, but her loyalty to kokusho demanded that she stay her hand.

He reached out to the console causing it to spark to life. “Subject: V4N-6U4-R5, please place both hands on the feeder pylons.” Stated a mechanical voice. Two rods with grooves for comfortable gripping started rose from a panel connected to the warp pipe generator.

“Hmm…” He said as he walked over. Cautiously, he gripped the pylons.

“Wait!” Belius yelled. Before she could move to her master’s side the room was engulfed by white light, making her lightheaded. She could swear that she heard one of the sound boxes speaking as she slipped into unconsciousness.

“…Children… Genetic experimentation… One success…… Survival… So sorry… Should’ve told the public… Could’ve saved more…… Beacon… Project VANGUARD………… Will return.”

A verdant beam of energy burst from the top of the volcano, lighting up the night sky as it left the atmosphere.

-Burn Notice-

Twilight panted heavily and spat a glob of her own blood from her mouth. She'd become use to the sharp taste of iron and the pain serious injury over the course of her training. Grim Stride’s strike was vicious and left the mare’s ears ringing and her jaw rattling. The left side of her face was tarnished by a bloody gash and the teeth on that side of her jaw were cracked and felt loose. A single drop of blood leaked from the wound on her face and impacted the gray matted training floor. Steam rose from the gash on her cheek as the flesh knitted itself back together. Her teeth made sickly crunching sounds as they moved back into place and repaired themselves.

“Pathetic!” Grim Stride yelled. “Protect your left girl!” As he chastised the mare he , once again, demonstrated a proper left side guard with a short sword. He took her hooves in his and worked her through the motions.

Twilight’s face was flushed redder that Big Macintosh’s coat. Grim Stride’s face was practically touching hers, his warm breath washed over her neck and threatened to melt her on the spot. As his foreleg intertwined with hers she felt his toned muscles relax and pull taut as he maneuvered. She whimpered quietly as her mind sank into a sea of inappropriate thoughts.

“…And that’s how you perform the square guard. Twilight…Twilight!” He called to her, but she continued to stare dreamily off into space. He lightly cuffed her in the back of the head, drawing her out of her dream world. ”Ready up Twilight.”

Grim Stride stepped back into position. He stared at the mare, the fury of battle burned brightly in his eyes as he prepared to strike her. “Defend yourself!” He shouted as he extended his hoof blade and lunged at her.

The knight’s strike was flawless, his stance impeccable. Everything about the movement was as close to the concept of perfection that a mortal could a hope to achieve. A white cone of condense air formed at the tip of the blade as it was thrust at Twilight. If Twilight was the same mare that she was a month ago then she would have been skewered before she could have even reacted, but she wasn't, Grim Stride made sure of that.

Her combat trained eyes easily tracked the blade despite its super-sonic speed. Twilight hastily moved her head slightly to the right to avoid the attack. A loud booming sound erupted in near her face, knocking her off balance and causing her ears to ring. The mare’s blade had been hovering by her side this entire time, her mind told her to parry the blade, but her body still obeyed the instinct to dodge. No matter how much Grim taught or how much she learned, experience was still experience, without it, all of the combat knowledge and techniques she knew were worthless.

Grim Stride, noticing her distracted state of mind drew his hoof back away from her. “Focus!” He barked at the mare. He lashed out again, the blade effortlessly cut through the air and shattered the sound barrier as it sped towards her face. Grim Stride’s hoof and weapons became a barely perceivable blur of hundreds of rapid thrusts.

Twilight replied in kind by nimbly weaving her head in and out of the flurry of attacks, parrying and countering where she could.

Luna and Celestia sat in a balcony overlooking the training floor. The entire facility was several hundred feet below the castle, deep within the crystal caverns inside the mountain Canterlot was perched upon, ever since Luna had returned to power the Luna Adeptorum, have been reestablished and their numbers skyrocketed. The standard guard barracks had proven inadequate in housing the massive surge of soldiers and as such a new training and housing area was needed. In her wisdom, Luna suggested rebuilding the old Luna Adeptorum training facilities from their old castle in the caverns under the city. Seeing as her soldiers were to become nocturnal due to the influence of the magic that they would receive from her, the princess had no problem with their facilities being under the radar, so to speak. Being away from the public’s eye has allowed her to make sure that her guard was as deadly and efficient as possible.

Celestia’s hooves were pressed against her muzzle as she watched her faithful student engaged in mortal combat. The princess’s mane now lay limp across her shoulders, a dark monotone pink. She’d had to relinquish the magic used to maintain her otherworldly appearance the night she spoke with Twilight. Her control of the sun had been slipping more and more. She doubted her subjects could tell, which brought relief the alicorn, but the fact that she knew still disturbed her on a level she could quite vocalize. The sun was a part of her, it was her power, she was the physical embodiment of the great star. Having her connection to it slow fade was like feeling yourself being slowly pushed aside by those you love. Raising the sun used to be a joy for her, but now when she reached toward the sky with her magic, the sun slapped her touch away, as if to say that it didn't need her.

Celestia looked over to Luna and studied her sister’s calm, collected expression. Unlike herself, who had fought to control the sun, Luna had simply given up on influencing the moon once she felt it reject her commands. Celestia could understand why Luna had given up, but the ease at which her sister just let go puzzled her. The sun was an integral part of who she was, it took until this morning for her to let the sun go.

“How has Twilight been doing, Luna?” Celestia asked. The sun princess released an exasperated sigh as she awaited her sister’s response.

“She’s taken to hoof to hoof combat almost as naturally as a dragon to magma,” Responded the darker alicorn. “Getting her to convert her knowledge of magic into war spells was foal’s play, she’s absorbed every bit of demonology that we threw at her, and her physical growth has been astonishing. Heh, she can even counsel souls.” Luna knew that those weren’t the answers that her sister wanted.

“Luna…” Celestia looked into her sister’s aqua eyes, the sun goddess’s expression pleading with her younger to tell her what she wanted to know.

Luna sighed, reluctantly she turned to face Celestia. “She’s taking this far better than expected.” She looked at her sister with a sunken scowl. “Despite what happened to her, I don’t think the gravity of the situation has fully caught up to her.” Luna eyes sink to the floor as she continues to talk, her gaze seemingly boring a hole in the stone of their balcony. “She’s been beaten, tortured, and sent through unbelievable hells, all to fight our enemies for us. Do you know what drives her sister?”

The sun goddess closed her eyes and shook her head dolefully. She knew what Luna was about to say, but she didn’t want to hear it.

“She takes it all just so that you won’t be disappointed in her. Her loyalty to Eques - No, to YOU is unwavering. She believes in you fully and would never directly go against you.” Luna said as she placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder.

Celestia’s face was buried in her hooves by this point. Her Faithful Student , was doing this, for her.

Luna continued watching the lavender unicorn’s training with a steel gaze. “Celestia, it’s almost time for Twilight’s arrangement and the mana transfusion.” Both alicorns slowly stood up and walked out of the balcony.

Twilight and Grim’s sparring session came to an abrupt end when both ponies clashed with the force of several hundred pounds of explosives in the center of the training floor, sending both into the wall opposite their opponent. Twilight slowly started to crawl out of her crater, the wall took much more damage than the mare that had crashed into it. Her impact left a six foot depression in the wall, small pebbles and large chunks of stone fell to the floor as she forced her body out of the hole. Her body was covered in bruises and long lacerations. She shook herself violently, causing dust and rocks to drop out of her coat and mane. Her wounds were healed before she could shake all of the debris from herself.

She quickly glanced across the room and saw Grim Stride pulling himself out as well. He looked no worse for wear than when they started today’s training session. He flared his bat like wings and shook in place, cleaning himself off with ease. He and Twilight methodically made their way to the center of the floor and stared into each other’s eyes.

Their gazes seemed to last for an eternity, both ponies wore a stone mask for an expression. Two death glares cold enough to freeze the sun met between the two and battle for supremacy.

“Good Job, Twilight.” Grim finally said, breaking the pregnant silence. “We’ll finish today’s session with a bit of demonology.” He flashed the mare a gentle as he gestured for her to move towards another section of the training hall.

Twilight squealed quietly to herself. Demonology was her favorite part of training, she got to research and learn about the creatures that she would probably be confronting. The history of history of was at the tips of her hooves, even though the situation was dire, books and study would always be one the unicorn’s most heated passions.

Twilight entered the projector room. This was where the Luna Adeptorum went over combat stratagem and reviewed intelligence. In the center of the room sat an enchanted table made from petrified wood, it was enchanted to hold a libraries worth of knowledge and project the data as scaled down three dimensional models and text. Glow gems lined the walls, giving the room an eerie moonlit effect that Twilight had learned to find comfort in. The mare took a seat on the left of the table.

Grim Stride trotted in and casually placed his hooves on the table, the image of a tall fox-like quadruped with two arms and yellowish fur manifested in the air over the table. “Belius,” Grim started. “What do you know of her Twilight?”

“Hmm… She came from the oceans to the east of Equestria. Belius was the cause of the Silver Winter over three thousand years ago, before that incident no one had ever seen or heard of a creature like her. Because the Silver Winter threatened to freeze all of Equestria the Princesses had to banish Belius to Tartarus to save the nation.” Twilight stated.

“Correct. According to first hoof accounts by the Princesses, Belius is some sort of water de-” Grim stopped mid-sentence and watched as Twilight summoned a notepad and quill. Every time he lectured she pulled out the notes, and every time, he found his face buried deeper into his hooves. “-mon, so expect mana dominance from her in all matters pertaining to water magic. As an elemental Belius cannot be killed while in the presence of her element, she will simply regenerate continuously. It’s theorized that she can’t even be killed because of the composition of our atmosphere.”

“Mana dominance, I’ve heard of that. That’s the theory that states that if to equal magical forces are exerted on the same object that magic with the higher affinity for that object will have an easier time with the task. It’s why moving the moon was harder for Celestia than moving the sun even though the moon is smaller and closer.” Twilight summarized.

“Correct.”

The double doors to the briefing room slowly spread open, flooding the chamber with soft artificial moonlight. Celestia and Luna stood in the doorway, both wore the best mask of confidence they could muster. “Twilight, if you don’t mind, it’s time to depart for the Anima Conclave .”

“Oh, um yes Princess.” She bowed in a shallow manner and quickly trotted over to the two alicorns. “Aren’t you coming Grim?”

“No, not today. I’ve got something important to take care, see you around Twilight.” Grim flared his wings and performed a short hop, giving him just enough air to comfortably glide past the princesses and out of the room.

The bat pegasus flew an inch too close to Luna, allowing her to keen senses to pick up the sound of his racing heart and slightly elevated body heat. “Hmm…Go on without me sister and prepare Twilight on the dais, I’ll be up in a moment.”

“Luna, what are you doing?” Celestia asked as she looked at her younger sister skeptically.

“Let’s just say that curiosity has caught itself a mare.” She said with a sly smirk.

Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes at Luna’s antics. Always something with her . She said to herself. She draped a single alabaster wing over her pupil and scrunched her face up in concentration. After a second of two of focus both ponies disappeared in a flash of light.

Luna followed the trail of dark magic from the pegasus until she found herself at the Luna Adeptorum’s locker wells.

Trotting quietly through the maze of steel containers, Luna found her quarry.

Grim Stride stood in front of a locker with a picture of Twilight’s cutie mark branded on the face of the door, the stallion was still as a glacier. He’d have been mistaken for a statue if not for the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He held an envelope in his teeth; the the thin parcel was small, square and red and appeared to have very elegant writing on it. He shook away the thoughts of completing his action and sighed, holding his head low he walked away.

The princess of the night held a hoof to her mouth as she tried to hold in her squeal.

With a quick charge of her horn Luna teleported to the Anima Conclave, Twilight was already on the dais going through her arrangement, Luna hated seeing the young mare go through the torturous process, but it was necessary. The Anima Conclave, or Luna’s Sanctum as Celestia started calling it after her younger sister started to spend most of her time there, was built by Unicornelious to aid in controlling the Death Essence . The dais in the center could arrange and quell the hoard of souls that the Death Essence held in a manner that made them complacent and willing to lend their strength to their host. Without constant upkeep, the souls would eventually go rampant and attempt to overthrow the host, and fight for control of the body until nothing more than the basic desires of the souls were left driving the shell of a pony. Through testing they learned that Twilight, for all of her willpower, could only go about a week and a half before she started to struggle with who she was, less if she called upon the souls within her frequently.

Twilight stepped off of the platform, panting heavily with each step she took. “Ok… Luna’s here… Let’s perform… the mana transfusion.” White wisps from the arrangement spell were still trailing off of her body and floating off into the air. Her legs shivered as her nerves tried to make heads or tails of the pain they had just experienced.

“Twilight, you should rest, the transfusion can wait until later.” Celestia pleaded with her student. She hated seeing Twilight like this, the thought of willingly putting her student through pain to benefit her own goals made her stomach knot up.

“Don’t… Worry… About me Princess…” The young mare took a deep breath and stood proudly before her mentor and ruler. “I c-can handle this… Do it!” She said shakily.

Celestia looked at her sister sadly. The mighty princess of the night could only stare at the floor and nod weakly as the dark blue aura of her magic started to encapsulate her horn and Twilight, they both knew that they needed the power. What if Kokusho were to show up at the castle today? There was nopony who could fight him unless they accepted Twilight’s magic. Tendrils of raw mana began to pour from the unicorn and snaked towards the two princesses. As the magic touched Celestia's coat the energy shifted from lavender to gold and started to swirl around her body before finally sinking into her chest, revitalizing her. Luna went through a similar ordeal except with dark blue energy. Once the magic finished sinking into Luna’s chest she gasped violently. Her eyes glowed a furious white as her dark magic scrying spell activated without her consent.

“CELESTIA!” Luna yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “HAVE YOUR GUARDS PREPARE THE CARRIAGES FOR DEPARTURE WHILE I MOBILIZE THE LUNA ADEPTORUM!”

“Sister what’s going on?” she asked as she stood at attention.

“IFRIT, HE MARCHES ON TROTTINGHAM!”

Arc 1-6 (Burn the Candle at Both Ends)

Author's Notes - the worst...

The reason my story hasn't updated in two months is simply because I don't have a computer anymore, and driving to a library is to write quite the strain on my wallet (I live in the middle of nowhere with the nearest semblance of civilization over an hours drive from my house I have a freaking train track going through my yard), but do know that I am working on it... It may be a paragraph a freaking month, it may be a word a day, but dammit I love this story and I don't want to let it die.

I respect all my readers, so it's only fair that I let you know what the deal is.

(Same message that's in the blogs)

Arc 2-1 (Of Coats and Masks)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Author's Notes - News

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Author's Notes - the worst...

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Author's - This is the End...

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Arc 1-5 (Luna Burns Red)

Author's Notes - News

How are all of you wonderful people doing?

First things first, no I've not dropped the story and yes, I'm still working on it.

It's taking me awhile to get this next chapter out to you for several reasons. The first two are shitty excuses, but the last two reasons are legitimate.

Reason:

1) Constant distractions kids, in and out my house. Relatives leaving and going. People telling me to go here then there, build this help with that, just URGH! Impossible to focus. This was constant.

2) Thanksgiving and Christmas within a months time each other add that to the other compound above problem by like 30, then add in the super macho family members on my back like "WHAT N---! YOU WRITIN' STURIES 'BOUT RAINBOW PONIES! YOU FUCKIN' GAY N----!" I just could not focus.

3) Legit reason here. This is going to be a big chapter literally and figuratively. It might be over 5k words might even end up over 8k words. A question is going to get answered and that answer will create more questions. Things will happen and the threat will hit the point where it's real instead of a possibility that Luna and Celestia can plan around. Because this is the "take off" chapter I want it to be as good as it can be so I've written it at least twice, but hated them and restarted. The newest version of the chapter is at 1.8k words and I'll be working on it some more later today.

4) My C#, Visual BASIC, HTML and JAVA, and Database classes have started. Lots of work plus this have landed on my shoulders. I'm feeling a little stressed, but it's still manageable.

So please guys, put up with my awful schedule. Don't quit on me yet.