The Stone Chisel Way

Chapters

Prologue: The Forest
The Trial
Tabloid's Articles, #1: A Chiselled Cage
A Cage For Me
Jailbreak
Impromptu Interview
Rushkwa
Tabloid's Articles, #2: Gems on Fire
Prisoner's Mule
No Strangers & Pupils
A Pegasus' Farewell
The Sacrifice
Viscera
Tabloid's Articles, #3: Scoop - Tenebris is Back
Crying Under the Moonlight
Bleeding Hut
Surigate
Black Magic
Clamoris, the Nightcrawler
Crystal Tears
Aftermath
Manehattan Blues
Tabloid's Articles, #4: Names
A Ticket to the Gallows
To Give In
The Stone Chisel Way (Part 1)
The Smoke
The Stone Chisel Way (Part 2)
Crimson Flower - The Prayer of Destiny
Community
Death
The Celestia Way
Zero (Part 1)
Finding Out the Truth
The Little House at the End of the River

Prologue: The Forest

There's a big forest, far from the lands of Ponyville and Canterlot. A big, dark one who gives to anyone who walks nearby a menacing atmosphere, a sense of fear that no one wants to deal with, and that's why not only everypony, but also every creature doesn't want to mess with the dark long trees, the purple leaves and the deathly smell of plants rotting from the inside.

However, despite the filthy rumour around the lands which lets no one enter the forest, there are two ponies prowling around it. An old grey stallion with a short white beard carrying a bag and his protected, a young beige pony which emanates much more bright than her mentor. The pony's cutie mark is quite innocent, due to being a small slice of grapefruit, which counters the old stallion's mystery and darkness around his cutie mark, a black star. However, there is a peculiar difference between both of them. While Grapefruit Slice, the young mare, has one horn to control magic, her mentor has two horns, a normal one on his forehead and next to it a smaller horn, near his right ear.

"Are you sure you want to stay in this Forest?" innocently asks Grapefruit Slice. "The rotting plants don't smell quite good and everything here is so menacing if you want me to be honest."

"There's no other place we can stay, Grapefruit," answers her mentor. "It's this or getting caught by those maniacs."

"Are you sure you don't want to walk a bit further?"

"No," he answers, and now, the stallion who has just stopped walking uses his magic to open the bag, revealing his black aura which can call anypony's attention. He gets out a tiny black stone from it, which he slowly puts on the ground only to take a look at it. "I think this is the best place for this."

"What...?" she dares to ask the old stallion. "You... you stole it?"

"Yes," he answers. "If they had that Shadow Star amulet on their hooves, we would have already lost."

The young mare dares to take a look at the tiny black stone which seems inoffensive but actually holds much more power than she can even imagine. "And what do you want to do with it, Mr LaCrowley?"

The old stallion, known by his protégé as the mysterious Wizard of Chaos Black Magic LaCrowley, observes the stone again with his dark magic and dares to keep it again inside the bag. "I've been thinking about a project, Grapefruit."

"Project?" she asks. "What do you mean?"

Turns out there's something else inside his bag, and she finds out what it is once he gets out an old, worn-out scroll of it. She blushes for a second, due to she actually knows what's inside that scroll, but never would have guessed that was inside the bag of Black Magic LaCrowley. "The day you entered the community outside Equestria, you had this in your bag. If Shadow Star saw it, he would have destroyed it, and that's why I decided to hide it."

"And why would you decide to hide it?"

The phenom stallion chuckles. "I'm not that dark, Grapefruit. I've been in the community, but I've never been evil like Shadow Star or even Tenebris."

"I know, Mr LaCrowley," she says. "But you still didn't answer my question."

"You know, Grapefruit," he replies while opening the scroll with his smaller horn. "I may give this an opportunity," he dares to add while reading the title.

"PRINCESS CELESTIA INTRODUCES:

THE MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP"

The Trial

Arc I - Chapter I - The Trial

They finally caught him. After dealing with that stupid stallion for so long, they saw him messing around Ponyville looking for prey, but once the Royal Guards came to action he decided to run. Luckily, they could catch him on time inside the Everfree Forest, where the desperate robber, listening to the guards' celebration, started shouting nonsensical gibberish in front of its audience. Now, being on the ground and about to be sentenced, Stone Chisel has decided to let himself go. The kingdom even wanted to give him a lawyer for his protection during the judgement on Ponyville, but the thief denied the offer by saying: "I don't need those."

Nice things always come to an end, he thinks while looking at the doors that hide the trial that's been made for him. The robber, after gaining the feats of stealing clothes in the Great Galloping Gala and almost having the Crystal Heart on his hooves during the Faire, has accepted his fate. He has escaped so many times from the kingdom's hooves, thanks to that mysterious thing he robbed from his mentor's homeplace which helped him to develop each one of his biggest robberies, he started getting tired of the game. He robbed the Gala and the Faire (although not having the Heart), two of the most important festivals of the land, what could he do after it? He has already won and laughs because he is the only one who can understand it.

"What's going on here?" asks someone around. The Royal Guards make a gap for him which attracts Stone Chisel's attention, turning around to look at who's talking. At that moment he looks at that white stallion with the blueish mane who he has heard many times during his Faire heist's plan... Shining Armor. "I seriously don't understand why are you laughing, Stone Chisel. If I were you, I would be ashamed of your actions, especially about what you did at the Crystal Faire."

The light grey stallion laughs. "You don't understand, Shines," he answers, which makes the Crystal Empire prince mad.

"And what I don't understand... Stone Chisel?" He asks, madly approaching the smiling thief. "From my point of view, we are in the trial where the princesses will sentence you to something for a long period of time because of what you did... I don't see the part where I don't understand."

"Yes," answers the robber. "Maybe you are right, but tell me... you've got to admit my plan to blind the ponies with black mist on the Crystal Faire was really cool."

Shining Armor gets really furious after hearing this, but instead, he decides to just don't answer and turn around, due to this could lead to something worse. Now, Stone Chisel goes back to where he was, being escorted by the Royal Guards around him. He knows that thanks to his mentor's mysterious stone, he can easily escape from this place, but right now he feels quite disappointed because the infamous amulet didn't work while trying to get the Royal Guards off him on the Everfree Forest. He dares to whisper one more time the spell he knows by memory... but nothing happens. What is happening? Why is this isn't working?

Few times in Equestrian history there has been such a big and important trial against an earth pony. Born in Manehattan and raised to be the next generation of his father's gem company, how could this simple stallion be sentenced in a trial where all of Ponyville, along with other figures from outside the town, is present and completely against him?

Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern are the names of the two earth ponies who gave birth to one of the most troublesome, annoying and also complicated thieves in all of Canterlot: the light grey stallion with a silver ring pierced in his left ear, a dark grey chisel as a cutie mark, and named Stone Chisel. He wasn't an evil creature, like those who shall not be mentioned, but was a pretty clever stallion who found his life purpose in stealing from others and planning heists. Besides, not only he was a clever one, but also a pretty bothersome pony who always, always found a way to mock or laugh at everyone around him, even if he was losing the fight.

The Princesses still feel this is too much for an earth pony, but Stone Chisel has been mentioned (and cursed) by the town so many times they thought this was the way to end his evils, so both Celestia and Luna are now on their thrones, knowing this may be the last trial they will ever hold while controlling the Kingdom due to their retirement plan. From one side of the castle, all of the inhabitants of Ponyville are waiting for the trial to start. In the front of the crowd, Twilight and her friends, along with Spike, Cadence and Starlight Glimmer are waiting for the doors to open, while other ponies are shouting for justice behind them so loud that the Royal Guards, who are in the other side, beg for them all to be silent. Far away from the inhabitants, Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern are hiding under tunics, presenting the finale of his own son.

"Silence," softly exclaims the Princess of the Sun, and doesn't talk until everypony stops talking. "The trial shall begin. Let the doors be opened."

The gigantic doors are opened by the Royal Guards, who let enter that robber surrounded by a horde of guards protected by golden armour and even the Prince of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor. Ironically, Stone Chisel is the only one in the whole castle who has a wide smile on his face. His parents and the Princesses show absolute disappointment, while the ponies and even the Royal Guards let him know they are there to look at him suffer. Suffer after hearing the sentence of his life. "HELLO PONYVILLE!" shouts the daring stallion, smiling at the crowd which is booing him. "Thank you for your love! I love you too!"

That only makes the boos and the hate increase even more, so much that the Royal Guards have to interfere, only to calm Ponyville down. "Finished?" asks Shining Armor to the robber, very angrily. "This is not a playroom, Stone Chisel! We are here to hear the sentence you shall deserve!"

However, Stone Chisel, instead of getting intimidated by Shining Armor's menacing attitude, only smiles at him. "I'm quite not sure about that," he says. "I bet your ears are too tired of hearing royal stupidities you've become deaf." Shining Armor, who fell in that playful joke of Chisel's, tries to show him his anger by pushing him away, but his wife Cadence stops him, getting out of the crowd and slowly touching his mane. Princess Luna calms the waters down, asking for an order in the trial. Once the Royal Guards get in their position while the rulers of the Crystal Empire get inside the crowd, the sisters look at each other, asking inside them who will start. "Um..." dares to say Chisel. "I'm not a pony who likes hurrying up things but... would you already say I'll be in the Tartarus forever and put me there directly, just to get out of this waste of time faster?"

The crowd jumps in shock and a bunch of boos rise again on the roof. Twilight gets surprised, looking for the first time at someone so disobedient with the princesses that it can't be real. The Princesses, on the other hand, don't answer his taunt and ask for silence. Stone Chisel then observes that, on the roof, Discord is floating and also observing his destiny. "We'd like to do that too, Mr Chisel," affirms Luna. "But we're afraid you need to learn and remember what you did against our beloved community for your benefit. In my opinion, we need to review one more time all of the evils you have done to Equestria."

"Sure," answers the robber. "No problem. I'll be glad to remember my plans one more time."

Whispers are heard everywhere in the castle while Flash Sentry, the Royal Guards' leader, covering his blue mane with his characteristic golden, shiny helmet, starts reading a scroll being held by Luna's magic. "Stone Chisel, born in Manehattan, son of Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern who are found present during the Castle's court, has been sentenced, due to..."

Chisel laughs. "Oh horse, here we go."

"Planned robbery, working along with Manehattan stallion Stolen Bag, which is still free and wanted alive."

Stone Chisel is still surprised at how they haven't caught that stupid Stolen Bag yet but doesn't say anything. "The famous one," shouts Chisel. "Keep going."

Flash Sentry gets angry but doesn't say anything and keeps reading: "Use of chaos magic."

"What?" exclaims the robber, driving the crowd mad one more time. "I've never used chaos magic for real because I was never a wizard of chaos."

"It is confirmed that you used chaos magic during the Crystal Faire's heist you did, Mr Chisel," interrupts Flash Sentry, showing his naked anger to the thief. "And with that, I talk about the infamous dark mist which blinded everypony and could not be destroyed by clear magic, which lets us know that wasn't clearly unicorn magic. And please, I beg you, as the Canterlot's Royal Guards' leader, to be respectful and morally correct while hearing your sentence."

"Jeez," adds Chisel, looking at him. "Stop being so freaky, Flash."

"I'm not being a freak," exclaims the leader while getting off his position, making a small gap between the guards to let him in. "And for you, I'm not Flash, I'm the Leader of Canterlot's Royal Guards, sir Flash Sentry."

"I appreciate you told me that," says Chisel, "but I didn't ask you." The Leader, instead of losing his mind and attacking the thief, decides to turn around, take a breath and keep reading the scroll, especially when the Princesses warn him with a look he will never forget.

"Last but not least," exclaims the leader. "You are accused of ruining not one, but two of the most important festivals of our lands, the Great Galloping Gala and the Crystal Faire, by using chaos magic, and although it's not confirmed whether you performed chaos magic spells at the Great Galloping Gala, we are more than sure you may have used it, by bringing disharmony to our beloved community. You ruined these festivals for the main objective of robbing the guests' belongings, such as hats, hand fans, monocles or ties, and I forgot to say your sentence has worsened after admitting you tried to steal the Crystal Heart. Moreover, you stole Fancy Pants' golden monocle, valued in more than a thousand golden bits."

"Ha!" shouts Chisel, laughing. "How ironic... why would you buy gold with gold? That Fancy Pants must be an idiot."

A shout, accompanied by a growl is heard in the distance, inside the town's crowd. A wealthy stallion with now a silver monocle raises the roof by exclaiming: "YOU MANIAC! You destroyed one of my most valuable belongings! I came here to watch you suffer! To listen to the words that will declare your fate!"

The crowd gets wild again until Twilight Sparkle and her friends calm down everyone. "Mr Fancy Pants, please!" shouts Twilight. "We are not here to extend the chaos Stone Chisel has brought to us. We want everyone, even Mr Chisel, to handle this calmly."

Celestia nods her head while looking at her student, and now the only word that matters is the one the princesses will say. Every second of this trial was made for their word, and everyone there is not present just to remember what Chisel did in the past, but to listen to their beloved princesses pronounce the words everyone said and wanted to hear. Chisel, on the other hand, does not feel intimidated or nervous, he is just there, waiting for his sentence. "Mr Chisel," exclaims Celestia. "All in all, due to the actions you committed all this time, especially against the Great Galloping Gala and the Crystal Faire, you'll stay on the Tartarus for an undefined time, but my sister and I have decided not to lock you up for the eternity."

Once the Princess stops talking, the crowd, instead of celebrating what has happened, gets silent. Everyone is mentally processing what is happening right now and, although they are happy on the insides just because the most notorious robber of Ponyville has finally got what he had to deserve, they are still surprised at how these events are actually real instead of a dream. Chisel, ironically, raises one of his hooves and shouts: "Woo-hoo! Better for me."

"However," says Princess Celestia, attracting everyone's attention. "My best student, Twilight Sparkle, along with my sister and me have decided you could have an opportunity to get redeemed of your actions, and that would be becoming Mrs Sparkle's second student in the ways of friendship, along with Starlight Glimmer."

Some of the crowd wants to repudiate that, almost in silence, afraid of being listened to by the princesses... Stone Chisel must pay the price, they say, but once Chisel's smiling, sarcastic face drastically changes after hearing that, everyone keeps their mouths shut. Chisel doesn't have his goofy, mocking smile right now, but a serious gesture, frowning. "You say... I don't know what friendship is?"

Luna dares to reply to him. "According to the investigations of Mrs Sparkle and Mrs Glimmer, they have concluded one of the main causes of your mocking, challenging behaviour is your lack of friendship." What Luna says makes Chisel change his face again, but this time with an angrier grin. He's clearly mad.

"And what do you know about me, huh?" he shouts. "You clearly know me for what I do, not for who I am! You don't know anything about me!" Now, he turns his head to look at Twilight Sparkle, but he is stopped and almost attacked by Royal Guards. "You don't know me, Twilight Sparkle! You and your friends don't know who I am!"

"We clearly know who are you!" shouts Twilight. "And that's why I'm offering you this one-time opportunity to be my student along with Starlight Glimmer. Mr Chisel, everyone can change for the better..."

"Screw you!" shouts the furious stallion, making the crowd get shocked again, also waking up the boos. "I strongly deny your offer! I don't want to be your student! Nobody of you here, even my parents, knows who am I from my inside!" Chisel now tries to jump onto Twilight one more time, but she, while being protected from her friends, her student and Spike, traps him with his magic and fastly puts him back on the castle's floor, being imprisoned by the royal guards. The Mane 6 and the Princesses get disappointed at Chisel's reaction, thinking it would have been a big opportunity to change somepony for the better, but it didn't work. Stone Chisel gets trapped by the guards and his defeat is shown to the world. He hardly resists and he even requests to see his parents one more time, so the two mysterious hooded ponies approach the chaos just to hear what his son has to say. They are so disappointed with their son that they don't even get their tunics off, showing how much respect they have for him. "You know I did the right thing," exclaims Chisel, looking at his hooded parents. "I know you know... I did the right thing." His parents, surprisingly, don't answer him and just walk away, ignoring his words.

Tabloid's Articles, #1: A Chiselled Cage

A CHISELLED CAGE

An article written by Tabloid, veteran journalist of the Manehattan Gazette.

The day has finally arrived, hasn't it?

I remember this time where Stone Chisel was in all of the newspapers of the town. He did this, he did that... and everypony who tried to look for him and kick his butt simply failed. All of my fellows I know always told me their only dream they thought about was beating up Stone Chisel, and if you ask me if I had that stupid dream on my mind, I'll reply to you that I had it sometimes. I've got to admit it.

As a veteran unicorn, with my hooves trembling, my body shaking and being helped by my assistant, journalist Ink Pot, and with that I mean I'm also hardly writing anything, I must say Stone Chisel was one of the most shocking, crashing and also funniest (you've got to admit it, my fellow pony) things, and I would dare to say characters, that I've seen in my long life. While Princess Celestia, her sister Luna and her famous student Twilight Sparkle, who I met thanks to her brave feat against wicked lord Tirek, have defeated the most dangerous villains Equestria has ever seen, such as King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis and Discord... Stone Chisel was free. It's ironic to learn that it was more complicated for the kingdom to catch an earth pony rather than a powerful being like Tirek. However, what makes me laugh even more than this pitiful, pathetic game of hide-and-seekof the royal guards and the thief, is that special behaviour of Stone Chisel that no pony else has. That way of making fun of others, laughing at them... the stallion clearly has got certain talent with that. I honestly think this Stone Chisel doesn't fool around with what's he doing, and that's why they gave him that certain spot on the Tartarus which everyone is talking about.

When the news came to me, I thought it was too much for Stone Chisel to stay on the Tartarus, but well, everybody's got an opinion. The news also said he denied an offer from Twilight Sparkle to become her personal student in ways of friendship, something that if he could have accepted, it would have been such a perfect, bittersweet ending, but Stone Chisel really ruined my dreams. That good ending I was waiting, little filly, was eventually ruined, and I already know this was going to happen. What calls my mind is that, according to a fellow of mine, the Royal Guards of Canterlot had a cage on Tartarus especially reserved for him, near the cages of Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow. Is this evidence of the anxiety the guards had while trying to catch the thief? The hate they had on him because his ass was nowhere to be seen? Is this the chiselled cage everyone was waiting for? I could say the hate does exist on their minds, I mean, who did humiliate the Royal Guards in such way? Only Stone Chisel could have done that, and what about the town of Ponyville, Canterlot, the natal Manehattan? The Great Galloping Gala and the Crystal Faire? Huh? That hate is finally spread like perfume on the bathroom. The chiselled cage is now in front of our eyes, fellows, and I'm afraid that, despite Stone Chisel is a robber and I've dreamt kicking his booty more than once, we lost the opportunity to learn more about one of the most important characters of the showbiz of Equestria.

A Cage For Me

Arc I - Chapter II - A Cage for Me

The smile that was shown on Chisel's face is now gone. They told him he didn't know anything about friendship, as if he was stupid or something like that. Do they think he doesn't know what that is? What? Do they think he is a kind of monster instead of a normal earth pony which knows what friendship is in a way? It looked like they were considering him as a dumb stallion, and he's anything but dumb.

"What's the matter, Chiz?" shouts Flash Sentry, behind him, taking revenge for that awkward moment minutes ago. "Where's that smile of yours?"

Chisel, on the other hand, doesn't want to hear him. "Hey, Flash, why don't you shut up? You sound like a filly who's just got her cutie mark."

Flash now gets next to Chisel and even trots faster. "You know I won't shut up, Chisel. Since the first time I met you when we locked you up in Canterlot a time ago, the only thing that I dreamt every night was your face inside a cage in the Tartarus, and now... that day has come." The Leader chuckles while nudging the robber's loin with one of his hooves. "Just think about it, this is the last time we will see each other before you get locked up on the Tartarus."

"Sir Sentry," interrupts one of the guards. "Princess Celestia said he would get locked up for an undefined time, not for eternity."

"Yeah," he replies. "But I reserved a special cage for him. Just right in the middle between Tirek's and Cozy Glow's. He won't survive this."

Chisel now makes a small, almost inaudible growl. He doesn't want Flash Sentry to laugh at his anger. Now, that he knows they reserved a cage for him in the worst place he could have ever imagined, he starts thinking about how can he escape from there, because, as Flash says, it is not an easy place to stay. Tirek is an evil lord... and what about Cozy Glow? He remembers hearing the news about the evil filly who tried to handle the School of Friendship by her own hooves. Nope, it won't be easy to be there. It won't. Will his special thing work? It didn't work when he tried to escape from the Everfree Forest.

"Flash Sentry!" is heard from behind, which makes the Royal Guards stop with Stone Chisel. Twilight Sparkle, flying along with Rainbow Dash and Spike stop in front of them. "Wait," she exclaims, looking at the prisoner. "I need to settle things with Stone Chisel."

Now what? He thinks on his inside, vaguely looking at the alicorn princess with resentment. The Royal Guards decide to make a gap for Twilight Sparkle, and the last one to get out of the way is Flash Sentry with his golden armour, whispering Chisel some threatening words: "If you dare to touch the Princess..."

"I prefer to kick your butt rather than the Princess, so shut up," interrupts Stone Chisel. "And what do you want now? I already told you I don't want to be your student."

"I strongly want you to reconsider your decision," says Twilight Sparkle. "Starlight Glimmer has grown up for the better thanks to me and has learned what friendship means on Equestria. Why don't you want to follow the only way that may get you out of the Tartarus?"

Chisel takes some time to answer, burying his mocking attitude under the ground and finally deciding to say something: "Ms Twilight," says Chisel. "I already have a master."

"She's not talking about being your master, Mr Chisel," interrupts Spike. "She wants you to be her friend, with the main objective of being taught about friendship... for you!"

"What?" interrupts the offended thief. "You think I don't know what friendship is? I've already said it in that trial, don't make me mad again."

"I'm not trying to make you mad," says Twilight again. "I'm telling you what you need. I'm telling you the truth."

"The truth?" shouts Chisel, now getting angrier. "I'll show you the truth!" The robber tries to jump onto the princess but Twilight, being cautious, surrounds him with his magic and puts him back to the ground again. The robber, now being angrier than before, says: "I know what friendship is! Do you think I'm stupid? I may be a thief, a robber, but I'm not a dork!"

"Then," interrupts Rainbow Dash. "Explain to us what friendship means."

"Are you kidding?" says Chisel. "It's a word which has an abstract meaning!"

"Then explain what it means to you!"

Dash put Chisel on the stage, exposing him. Instead of answering Rainbow Dash's question, Chisel turns his head around and shakes his mane. "I deny your offer, Twilight Sparkle. I'd rather rot in the Tartarus than become another student of yours."

Twilight takes this very personally and she, getting completely shocked by Chisel's statement, dares to say: "You prefer being locked up in a cage rather than being one more stallion in Ponyville?"

However, Chisel doesn't answer her question back and gets carried by the Royal Guards again to his personal jail. "I'm still waiting for your answer, Mr Chisel!" shouts Dash, but Stone Chisel also doesn't answer her. The ponies and Spike look at the guards fading away in the paths of Ponyville. "Pff... silly," whispers Dash. "I asked him what friendship meant to him and he didn't even dare to answer me."

"What..." asks the Princess to herself. "Did I... did I do something wrong? Why doesn't he want to accept the offer?"

"It's not your fault, Twilight," corrects Spike. "It's Chisel's decision, and it's not because of you. He may have decided this because of something personal, of him, Twilight."

"But..." says Twilight, turning around. "I don't understand. It's a once-in-a-lifetime offer, Spike... one chance to get forgiven... why would he reject that?"

Spike raises his shoulders while Dash gets to the ground. Behind them, the remaining manes appear. "Did he accept the offer?" asks Rarity.

"I don't see him 'round here," replies Applejack. "Did the Chisel...?"

"He rejected it," says Twilight, with a disappointed tone. "Why would he...?"

Applejack nudges her friend's loin while Fluttershy starts talking low. "He may be in a midlife crisis, Twilight." A phrase which makes Dash and Applejack laugh.

"Midlife crisis, Fluttershy?" adds Dash. "He made that decision three times. I think he has an opinion on his head."

"But he didn't tell us what friendship meant to him," interrupts Spike.

"It may be his crazy head with opinions, so leave him alone, Spikey Wikey," says Rarity, nudging one of his wings with a hoof. "Leave him alone."

Now, Flash Sentry and his guards escorting the robber stop on the small bridge of the town, which offers a whole view of Ponyville from far away. "Do you like it?" asks the leader of the Royal Guards to the robber. "We brought you here because it may be the last time you will see Ponyville from here."

Stone Chisel gasps. "I've been waiting for you to open the freaking portal for an hour. Would you fuckin' open it or not?"

The Guards get surprised and start laughing because of Chisel's question. "Watch your language, you!" shouts Flash Sentry, smiling. "I've heard Cerberus doesn't like to listen to cursing stallions."

"I don't care about Cerberus," replies Chisel, approaching Sentry in a really bad way. "And now... would you open the portal now? Because I can't stand looking at your stupid face and mane for more than a second."

Now, Flash's smile disappears and his gesture is serious. He looks at a unicorn guard, who nods his head and uses his magic to open a round portal to a dark place. "I think the same, Stone Chisel," replies Flash while turning his back to the robber. "I can't stand looking at you but... I've got to admit I'll miss you. You escaped from us so many times, playing this stupid hide-and-seek game, that I realize I'll miss playing the cat and the mouse with you. It was a fun ride."

Chisel, who is now in front of the intimidating portal, chuckles. "I think the same, Flash," he answers. "But I laugh because all of you were idiots trying to get me... but you never got me."

"Until now," answers the leader, and then he approaches the robber. "You reminded me of something I want to settle," he whispers in the robber's pierced ear. "Don't call me crazy but when we caught you, you were shouting some kind of gibberish which, in my opinion, sounded like a strange spell." The robber laughs but Sentry keeps whispering: "What was that?"

Chisel, who keeps laughing, just enters the portal, escorted by three guards. "It was an idiom in ancient Equestrian. Do you know what that meant?"

Flash raises his eyebrows. "What?"

"Screw you," replies the robber, in a burst of laughs, while entering the portal with the three guards.

"Hello, neighbours." That's what Stone Chisel said when he got locked up in a small cage between Tirek and Cozy Glow. The little filly, which seemed innocent a time ago, gets angry on the inside when somebody dares to interrupt the only way to communicate with her friend Tirek. The Lord, on the other hand, doesn't care. He's still trapped and that's the only thing that matters. However, once he finds out the new neighbour is just an earth pony, with neither wings nor a horn, as Cozy Glow has, he dares to ask.

"An earth pony?" says a weak Tirek while the Royal Guards close the Portal. "In Tartarus?" Stone Chisel thinks he is going to show respect, but Tirek, however, starts laughing. "Pathetic!"

"Someone who does not handle magic in a cage, who dares to interrupt my personal space with my best friend?" shouts Cozy Glow, trying to get out of her personal jail. "How useless are you!"

Stone Chisel, feeling offended, dares to answer. "Hey! Don't insult me! The Royal Guards spent more time trying to get me rather than getting you, so shut up, I'm more intelligent than you."

Now both of them try to get out of the cage. "Don't you dare to insult me, pathetic pony!" shouts Tirek, offended. "If I were in my best form, I would have consumed you with just one of my hooves!"

"But you are not on your best form, dude," says Stone Chisel, now laying on the cage's floor. "You are old, weak, locked up in Tartarus and also that beard on your chin looks stupid... Now, would you let me sleep?"

Tirek, now getting furious, points at the earth pony while touching his beard with his other hoof. He clearly didn't like that commentary. Cozy Glow doesn't say anything but gets surprised at how this stupid earth pony is being so impolite to her friend, the intimidating Lord Tirek. "You... you know who I am?"

"I know," replies Chisel. "My mentor told me about you." The robber gets up and starts running around his cage. "Lord Tirek, the tyrant! The goat who consumed the magic of all the ponies of Equestria, yes! And was defeated by his own brother, lucky Scorpan, yeah... my mentor told me everything about you." And then, he turns around to look at the other prisoner. "And you... you are Cozy Glow... aren't you? Hahaha! You wicked filly."

"And who are you to talk to my friend in that way?" asks Cozy Glow, angrily. The robber smiles now.

"You... you are friends? What? Uh... well, this clearly was expected, though. What could you do locked up in this place?"

"Answer my question!" shouts the filly while looking at her friend Tirek, who is still touching his beard.

"My name is Stone Chisel, filly, and don't you dare shout at me."

Cozy Glow swears she heard that name somewhere, one day, but she doesn't anything. On the other hand, Tirek now laughs and stops touching his beard. He clearly knows something. "Stone Chisel..." he says, chuckling. "Hmmm, as a tyrant, I've heard your name once... which reminds me of something... that mentor you were talking about... is he a kind of master? Or what?"

"He's a master," replies Chisel.

"And who is him, then?"

The robber now turns around to look at the tyrant. "I think he knows you, Tirek."

Chisel's phrase makes Tirek laugh. "Everybody knows me, pony."

"I mean... he knows you personally."

"So? Tell me who's this pony, because I think I've already got someone on my head."

"Say it, then."

Tense silence between the two prisoners while Cozy Glow is just observing what is happening. Tirek, smiling, gets his head out of the cage, touching an approaching Chisel with one of his hooves. "I know it," he answers. "A pony who handles chaos magic, isn't it? A chaos wizard..."

"Yes."

Tirek now starts thinking. "Hmmm... no, it can't be... no, no... I got it. I got it," he whispers. "Shadow Star."

Chisel laughs. "Are you kidding me? Shadow Star is dead."

"Is he?" exclaims the tyrant, shocked.

"Yes, he passed away like decades ago..."

"So... who is it? I already know it's a chaos wizard."

"Chaos wizards?" interrupts Cozy Glow, something that stops the conversation between Stone Chisel and Lord Tirek. The earth pony turns around and lies on the floor, only to reveal one last name.

"My mentor is Black Magic LaCrowley." Chisel says that because he is already in that cage, why would he hide a secret now? Besides, he knows he wants to escape and get out of here and also leave these ones, but he has recognized his master plan didn't work so well while trying to escape from the forest, why would it work now? The earth pony expects Tirek to get shocked, but instead, the tyrant starts laughing.

"Pathetic," replies Tirek. "Black Magic LaCrowley? I've seen him when everyone got caught in Tartarus. He is the scraps of the scraps... of the scraps of Shadow Star. He is hardly a chaos wizard as those like that crazy nomadic unicorn.

"You met chaos wizards, Tirek?" asks Cozy Glow. "What did that name mean, at first?"

"Ponies who handle chaos magic," answers the tyrant.

"Or more like... ponies who hated unicorns because they had horns and decided to get fake horns," interrupts Stone Chisel. "That's a better definition."

"What?" says the filly, now paying full attention to this. "Which kind of chaos magic?"

"Well," replies Chisel. "My ment--"

"I'm not talking to you," she interrupts. "I'm talking to Tirek."

The robber, now angry, turns around. "Screw you," he says and closes his eyes, trying to sleep.

Cozy Glow laughs, while Tirek sighs and starts speaking: "Well," he says. "Chaos magic existed way before me, and there were some creatures who were jealous of others, such as earth ponies with unicorns and this, because they couldn't handle magic like them, so a couple of creatures of all Equestria found the existence of this dark, black magic who could manipulate everything, even more than normal magic, and that's how the Wizards of Chaos were born."

"And you met some of them?"

"Yes," he answers. "Lots of them were imprisoned in Tartarus, along with Shadow Star, who became an alicorn thanks to it and was locked up because that magic was illegal. I talked to some wizards of those but we never had quite a good relationship... they thought I was not able to consume dark magic... hahaha... they never knew about how powerful I am. Oh," he adds, looking below him. "I forgot Tenebris is down there, petrified."

"And did you consume their magic?" she says, looking like a small girl who is listening to a fairy tale.

"Uh... I never thought about it. I was in---"

Flash. A black mist surrounds both of them and they eventually disappear, leaving Chisel alone. The robber, still with his eyes closed, smiles. "Finally you shut up, you neighbours... huh?" However, he has no answer at all. "Hey! If you want to ignore me, please tell me. Whoops, I forgot you are ignoring me," he adds, but at the moment he opens his eyes, he realizes there's no one with him. Neither Tirek nor Cozy Glow is next to him, something that bristles his fur. "Hey... um... What?"

In that cold cave where he is now alone, Stone Chisel finds out Tirek and Cozy Glow are gone.

Author's Note

Ok, if you arrived here... I think you did it because you liked the story.

These four chapters were something I came up with one day and I wrote them impromptu. Originally, I planned some kind of knot and outcome (I actually have the fifth chapter, almost completed) but I'm not 100% sure how I'll continue this story. If it has good feedback and you like it, I'll keep going with the story then. If not, I'm afraid I'll leave this on a hiatus and make something better with it.

Thank you for reading.

Jailbreak

Arc I - Chapter III - Jailbreak

Ok, what has just happened?

From a minute to another one, Tirek and Cozy Glow have disappeared with no explanation and Stone Chisel is the only one who knows this, and he wouldn't like to be seen by Cerberus in this particular scenario. That's why his plan, the one he tried to do on the Everfree Forest and didn't work, needs to be done now. It's a very risky and almost useless plan, but it's the only thing that can save him. He looks that inside the cave where he is, there is a small hole which leads to some stairs. That's why he decides to stand up, clear his throat and whisper: "Celestia, LaCrowley... I hope this freaking amulet I fucking swallowed is worth it right now."

The earth pony fastly gets in position, smashing his hooves to the cage's floor, taking a long, looong breath and saying the magic words: "Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true." Chisel expects for something to happen, but nothing changes. "Come on... come on... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true!" Nothing happens again. "LaCrowley! You son of a... Come on, make this damn amulet work... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come TRUE!"

And then, out of nowhere, Stone Chisel starts floating, which makes him take a long breath after shouting his spell three times. It has worked. FINALLY. That's when a black mist starts sticking to his body, completely covering his light grey skin and fur, turning into some kind of shadow. I've gotta hurry up, he tells to himself, being conscious that this spell won't last so long. He easily gets out of the cage by simply going through the iron bars, which didn't even touch him. His body is no longer something touchable either visible, and can float and even go through every kind of solid objects. The amulet actually worked, but instead of celebrating this, Stone Chisel gets mad at it because it didn't work when he tried to escape from the guards. It didn't work there and he thought it wouldn't work here... what is happening with the small magical charm inside his body?

He goes downstairs, floating and going through the dark grey stone walls and finds a bigger cave with lots of light blue platforms, filled with monsters, criminals and ruthless creatures imprisoned in small cages. What really calls his attention is that on a platform in the cave's centre, there is an enormous black dog with three heads. The robber takes some time to observe the beast but hurries up once his body starts feeling cold. "No," he thinks. "I've got to hurry up before someone sees me." He forgot, after so many tries of enabling it on his body, that the magical effects are limited, and once he feels a cold rush in his stomach, that means the floating time will be gone in no further. He starts waving his legs, travelling around the dark, depressing environment inside the cave, about to overfly the three heads.

Nevertheless, the stallion's body begins to feel colder once he approaches the Cerberus. The beast's snores don't help too much to him, making the whole place shake as if this was an unexpected earthquake, making Stone Chisel shiver so much that he has to stop floating. The sounds tremble his body so bad he even feels the cold mist inside his stomach moving with him, occasionating the spell to break in the worst time it could have been and the stallion falls to the platforms, thinking about if this is his finale, but Cerberus' back, who has been interrupted while sleeping, spares him, cushioning his fall. The now mad dog wakes up from his dream and looks around, and Stone Chisel, trying to get out of this, tries not to move and play dead. The prisoners from around start looking at what's going to happen, without even saying a word, while the three heads of the beast find out there is an immobile body with a piercing which reminds him of a stallion. Cerberus, now growling, dares to touch once the mysterious object who is annoying him at the moment, and when he decides to slowly approach one of his heads to listen to some weird whisper from around, he finally finds out something:

"Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true... come on... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true... make this work, damn it... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true... fucking LaCrowley... Dáz Krhëk Ko§ Krƒühhk, make my dream come true..."

Cerberus is listening to everything the stallion is whispering, and Stone Chisel, with his eyes closed, hasn't realized the beast is literally behind him, with just a thin line of air separating them. Then, the robber feels a strange impulse of air with a certain smell, looking like something that came up just from a dog's nose. The breath force is so strong he is moved until the platform's edge, looking with one of his eyes to the precipice, a cliff so deep and narrow he can't even see what's on the bottom. After taking a look at the abyss, the robber starts trembling, having such a big lump in his throat he can't even talk. The three heads, trying to debate and come up to a conclusion, decide to kick away the strange doll, making Stone Chisel fall to the abyss, and the robber, now in freefall, wants to shout with all of his force, emptying the air of his lungs but decides to calm down and repeat unstoppably, once again, that spell.

About the fifth time, it finally works. Stone Chisel's body turns black again, almost like a shadow, and starts floating around the abyss. There are no cages there, but what calls his attention is there is a scary, strange buzz heard at the bottom. He gets scared once he gets nearer, but... how could someone on the bottom see him, even if it's a beast? He is conscious he has to do this quickly because he has to get out of here, but turns out curiosity just killed the cat... and he doesn't know the cat is him in this case. The deeper he gets, the louder the buzz can be heard, the colder it gets. He thinks, maybe, it's because the spell is coming to an end, but then he finds out, and he realizes the cold actually comes from the outside. Wasn't the deeper supposed to be hotter because it's nearer the lands' nucleus? His Manehattan teacher in his early days told him the nucleus was hotter than anything else, so, why is this getting much colder?

He finds out a possible answer a minute later when he finally arrives at the bottom. The first thing he looks is there is a strange cold mist which doesn't let him see. He starts prowling around and that's the moment he finds a drawing on a wall:

What's this strange symbol he's looking at? And why it is around a cold mist at the bottom of Tartarus? He starts floating around again trying to find another symbol or anything, and then, just several seconds later leaving the strange writing alone, he comes across something made of stone. What calls his attention is that the big rock has a certain warmth that comes from the inside. Is something inside the rock? There is only one way to find out, and he has the power to do it.

...

Well, how stupid. That was actually a bad idea. A very bad idea, he thinks after being fastly expelled from inside the stone a second after getting it through. He is thrown away to the ground and, not being able to crash himself into the walls or the floor, gets inside the cortex, falling down, being so scared he is praying for something to stop him, like a cave or even a lake of lava. He can't float with no air around to do it, and if the spell ends up during freefalling, he will get crushed by the ground and die instantly, and he doesn't even know if his bones are going to survive in pieces after that.

One second. He was only a second inside the mysterious stone, but that miserable, stupid second was longer than anything else he has ever lived. His eyes were blinded by some kind of red light, which could be the main cause of the stone's inside heat. The environment from inside was suffocating, so much he couldn't even take a small breath while feeling his invisible skin getting burned alive. His stomach's cold, showing his amulet was going to end, stopped and now it's magically warm again. Maybe the magic has come back? Maybe...? And what he won't forget, never, never, is a shout he heard from the inside. A shout so deafening it can even be heard from outside the stone, as that mysterious buzz. Looks like all the problems have been solved, but there are still loose ends to tie... what was that symbol? And what was the mist? And most importantly... what was inside that stone?

Crash. Suddenly, his life has been spared by a cave. He feels his back getting crushed and hurt by some rocks under him, but thankfully, at least he didn't get crushed while being in the cortex. Despite being inside a dark cave, he can hear some voices coming from far away, and once he slowly moves his head, he finds a beam of light far from him. Nevertheless, while he tries to move, having his loin hurt, he finds another beam of light coming from above. A red hot light that fulminates him with its heat. He tells himself to take a look, maybe because he may identify what is going to kill him. Daring to find a face for his killer, he looks at the shadow emanated by the light. A big beast with long horns, dark blue fur, blue eyes and a golden collar with a gem on his neck. Once the mysterious monster gets down and touches the cave's rocky surface, the place gets illuminated by a menacing, frightening dark red light, but once the gem on his neck starts shining, the colour fades to grey. The beast which turns out to be a ram takes a look around and then discovers Stone Chisel crushed into the ground. "You," says the beast. "You touched me."

"What?" whispers the robber, with so much pain he can't even talk louder, but then, out of nowhere, the ram's eyes shine for a while and Stone Chisel's back starts moving on his own. It hurts and tickles at the same time, but he also gets scared while listening to bones moving inside his back with no pain at all, he gasps. Is he... is he doing that? Oh my god. Oh, Celestia, LaCrowley, Mom and Dad, whoever... this man is allegedly fixing his back by just looking at him. No. No. He feels the end. The end, his end... near. He doesn't know how to react to this, so he just does the only thing he can do: "AAAHHHH!"

The shout is heard everywhere, with echo, something that makes the ram fix Stone Chisel's back faster and once he finishes with that, he fastly stomps one of his hooves in the Chisel's belly. "You... you have something that revived my hope."

"What... what are you talking about?"

"You've got inside the statue I was trapped in, and something connected with my heart... my hopes... it was something so powerful the stone broke in pieces after you got expelled."

"What?" says Chisel again, being trapped by the ram's hooves. "I... I freed you?"

The ram nods his head. "Yes... and you have something that belongs to me."

Now, the robber feels a certain shiver around his body. "For you?"

"I felt connection. My hopes were revived when you entered... You have something that woke up my soul, and I don't know if it's you... or if it's something else inside you."

Stone Chisel, now with his back fixed, takes a breath and moves from where he fell. His back is OK now. "You... you fixed it?" he asks, trembling, looking at his loin.

The dark ram nods his head. "I fixed it for you to answer my question, you filthy pony."

That way of saying filthy pony hid certain cruelty behind, something that made Stone Chisel shiver a bit. "Um..." says Stone Chisel. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"You don't know, you useless creature?" shouts aloud the big dark ram. "You dare to lie to Tenebris, the leader of the night rams?"

Oh... oh no. Did he? Did he, for real? Was Tenebris inside that statue where he broke in? The one that his mentor Black Magic LaCrowley told him was the first Wizard of Chaos... and also the cruellest? No, this must be a dream, no... No... "You... are Tenebris?"

"What do you think? You ponies left me here to cry... but I never did, you piece of litter. I'll have my revenge once I get my Rushkwa and my tribe of night rams again."

...Rushkwa? "What?" says Stone Chisel. "I've heard you were a wizard of chaos. That's why... Do you want to take revenge?... What did the ponies do to you?"

The dark ram, now known as Tenebris, approaches the thief. "They did this to me."

"What?"

"Don't you see? Trapped in the Tartarus as a statue. Cold mist around me because that's what I need to survive. They wanted me alive for eternity to suffer. And last but not least, this," he says, and then he points with a hoof to the gem on his neck. "A magical necklace which kills my inner power. The real me. They did this... the Princesses of the Friendship Ideology."

Now Stone Chisel begins to understand. "Friendship Ideology... you mean..."

"Celestia and Luna."

"Wow... how ironic, from the Friendship Community, isn't it?" he says, chuckling. "I'm also a victim of them, like you."

That last phrase makes Tenebris raise his eyebrows, confused. "You've been through my hell?."

"No, um..." adds Stone Chisel. "You see... my name is Stone Chisel and I'm a professional thief, and today I went through my trial and they told me I didn't know anything about friendship. What they don't know is that I know how to help people... but in a different way, don't you know? A mentor, that you may know, taught me that way."

"That I know?" says Tenebris. "A night ram of mine?"

Stone Chisel gets confused at hearing that because he has no idea what a night ram is. "Um... a stallion called Black Magic LaCrowley. One of the Wizards of Chaos."

"No," immediately answers. "I've got no idea about this Black Magic and the Wizards of Chaos."

"What?" says Chisel, shocked. "But LaCrowley said you were the first wiza--"

But at that same moment, Tenebris stomps Chisel with one of his hooves. "Listen, pony. I don't care about what you are telling me and I'm only keeping you alive because this obnoxious gem is controlling my power and also because I'm waiting for your answer to the question I asked before."

"Um..." he says, getting his loin stomped by Tenebris' strong hoof. "Seriously, I have no idea about that connection you meant. I have no idea! Let me go!"

"WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT MY PLAN?!"

The big ram and the stomped thief hear that shout from far away. Once Tenebris turns around, there is a blue light covering his dark grey aura, showing several, scary figures observing the scenario from beyond. At the same time he takes a look at one of the figures, Tenebris finds out he has a connection with him. "Me, Grogar, the Father of Monsters... nobody wants to face me while developing the plan that will invade these lands for my benefit. Who are you and why are you under my lair, stranger?"

Tenebris knows there is something wrong with them but doesn't say anything. He leaves Chisel alone, and the thief takes advantage to walk away, but once he looks that Tirek and Cozy Glow are behind the blue-haired ram, he decides to stand straight. They are with Grogar, a beast that used to appear in LaCrowley's tales. Furthermore, behind Grogar there are Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra, two of the scariest enemies of the lands of Equestria. Clearly, he knows this won't be something easy to get out of.

Tenebris, instead of getting intimidated by all of these presences, gets nearer them furiously. "GROGAR!" shouts the angry ram, in such a way it intimidates them back. "Where were you all this time?"

The ram gets confused, with a certain spark on his eyes. "And why I should tell you where I've been all this time?"

"Because you promised me you were going to help me against the enemy."

At a really awkward moment, Stone Chisel smiles at Tirek and Cozy Glow and slowly turns around to get out of there, but Tenebris also turns around. "You're not going anywhere until you answer my question."

"But... but!" shouts Chisel. "I've got no idea what happened and which kind of connection you felt!"

"I don't care," says Tenebris. "We'll find the answer together, then."

"Did you finish?" replies Grogar, again. "Don't you dare to hold the back on Grogar again, you piece of filth."

And at that moment, the gem in Tenebris' neck starts trembling uncontrollably, turning his eyes to a fiery orange. "The only piece of filth here is you, only you. You promised me you were going to stay with me until the end, but when they trapped me in the stone prison for eternity... where were you? Where were your promises when I failed? When my Rushkwa failed? WHERE WERE YOU?!"

Grogar suddenly discovers something from the ram, which is now intimidating everyone while his dark grey aura is slowly turning into a dark weak orange. "Oh," says Grogar. "Which silly mind did free you from the stone, Tenebris?"

"No way," says Tirek, looking at Stone Chisel in the back. "You did this? You freed Tenebris, pony?"

"Um... yes but no," says Chisel, holding his desire to run away. "It's quite a long story, I was messing around the pla--" He, instead of saying what he has to say, immediately runs away while trying to perform his spell. However, seconds later, gets trapped by magic, but this time is Grogar the one who holds him back. "NO! I'M FREE! I'M INNOCENT! DON'T SACRIFICE MY SOUL!"

"Shut up," says Grogar, "and tell me... how did you free Tenebris from his jail?"

"I just entered."

"How?" asks Grogar. "Nothing can pierce magical stone."

"He entered the jail for a second, I do not know how... but something connected with my soul and unleashed my inner powers so quickly it broke the stone from the inside."

"How?" asks Chrysalis. "Did this happen when Discord broke free from the stone?"

Grogar makes a small chuckle and looks to Chrysalis for a second, something that calls Tenebris' attention. If he knew there was something wrong before, now he is getting nearer to his point. "Discord was trapped too?"

"Uh-huh," replies the ram. "He was freed a time ago but luckily the Princesses defeated him, Tenebris."

The dark orange aura around the place is now getting lighter. The big dark ram is now getting furious while looking at Grogar's blue fur. "And how do you know that?"

Now, Grogar's allies are looking at him, confused. Where was Grogar all this time? And how does he know Discord was set free? "Come on," says Grogar, laughing. "You think I'm stupid enough to don't get informed about what is happening on my lands?"

"And you think I am ignorant enough to fall into your lies?"

Grogar this time gets angrier and pushes Tenebris away with his hooves. "What are you talking about, you fool? Me, a liar? Grogar, the Father of Monsters, a trash talker?"

"You are not Grogar, in the first place!"

And in that right moment, Sombra, Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow and even Stone Chisel get confused at looking at both rams. "How is that possible?" interrupts Cozy Glow. "He looks like Grogar and talks like Grogar! He is, indeed!"

"No," adds Tenebris. "Of course not, filly. If the real Grogar was here he would have recognized me. He would have recognized his relatives, his partners, his long-time allies. Rams and Night Rams got on well at one time, and since the moment you called me stranger, I knew this wasn't Grogar... Who are you?"

"How dare you... you clearly are not recognizing me for who I really am, you imbecile night ram!"

Tenebris could handle this situation until Grogar insulted his family, his tribe. This fake Grogar clearly knows the tribal chief of the night rams, creatures of the North of Equestria, but doesn't consider him as an ally. At that right moment, the orange aura around the dark cave gets lighter and the gem in Tenebris' neck starts trembling much faster. "DON'T INSULT MY TRIBE!" he shouts while his blue eyes shine looking at the ram, only to spread a cold mist coming out of his mouth which covers Grogar for the whole. Everyone behind the ram takes a step behind but doesn't run away because they want to know what is really going on. However, the cold mist around Grogar suddenly increases its size, revealing there was a taller being imitating the ram. "I knew it. Grogar would never have insulted my tribe."

Everyone gets shocked at realizing that Discord comes out of the cold mist. The God of Chaos looks everywhere around and stops when he looks at Stone Chisel. However, one of Tenebris' hooves covers the thief pony and stomps the draconequus' tail. "Discord?" says Sombra, shocked. "He tried to..."

"Trick us?" shouts Tirek. "Playing as Grogar?"

"Or maybe he was..." interrupts Cozy Glow.

"Why would he go back to the bad side again dressing as Grogar?" shouts Chrysalis. "He clearly wanted to play with us."

"I knew it," says Tenebris. "When you said I was a stranger, I knew it was you, Discord. No one else could have called me in that way."

"Hey!" shouts Discord, happily. "Hey, guys... Hey, Tenebris! Long time no see! Sorry if I couldn't help you to get out of your prison at Tartarus, you know... I didn't have much time because I was also---"

"Shut up," interrupts Tenebris. "Tell me how can I get rid of this gem and unleash the power you and that foolish bell gave me so I can complete my mission."

"Hey, but..." says Discord. "Don't you know that there has been a new School of Friendship which practically gives access to all of the creatures for friendship? Clearly, your mission has been accomplished! Isn't it, guys?" he says while looking at his former allies, but no one says something because everyone is looking for the same: get rid of him. At that same moment, Tenebris gets Discord up with his magic.

"I don't care about that now," interrupts Tenebris. "The United Kingdom of Creatures I had in mind is now gone, Discord. Now that the Princesses banished my community from these lands and they are dead or lost because of them, my mission now is to get my tribe back, get my revenge and then... go back into my lands where nobody would dare to battle us. Now, would you let me know how can I destroy this... hateful gem?" Discord desperately looks at Stone Chisel, who is still standing straight behind the night ram, but Tenebris finds that out. "Don't look at that waste, Discord, and tell me how can I get this gem out of me, because if I can't with my power, neither you!"

Discord doesn't know what he should do, so when he is about to snap his fingers, Tenebris smashes him against a wall with his magic, and nobody does anything. They, and even Stone Chisel, are standing to know who is Tenebris for real. "You know that bell gave me the ability to get the magic out of you."

"NO! NO! I won't tell you!"

"Since when you are the good one, Discord? The God of Chaos trying not to assemble pure chaos?"

"He was reformed by the ponies," interrupts Tirek. "He's on their side, not ours."

Tenebris turns around and looks at weak Tirek with his horns and his beard, with Cozy Glow staying behind him and having Chrysalis and Sombra next to him, who are just looking at the Ram with respect. "So... you are the new villains?" A mighty roar gets heard by all of them, and the orange aura gets much lighter, so much it blinds everyone. Tenebris tries to absorb Discord's magic, but seconds later he throws the draconequus away with his magic, while the dark ram is growling. "Imbecile gem... stupid, obnoxious gem... it doesn't let me..."

Discord this time gets crashed nearer Stone Chisel, so the robber approaches him to help. That's when the draconequus looks at the robber. "You..."

"I can't absorb your magic," says Tenebris, while the evil alliance gets nearer them, without even saying a word, being shocked. "But I can do something else."

Tenebris' magic attracts lots of boulders and crashes them against Discord's hands. The draconequus doesn't shout but growls while looking at the evil dark ram smiling at him. Seconds later, both hands are trapped inside two big boulders, which doesn't let Discord snap his fingers. He has also a fragile chain made of stones. "If I can't use your magic, then you won't too," he says while stomping on Discord's tail.

"And how are we going to do what we were waiting for this whole time?" interrupts Sombra, looking at Tenebris. "Clearly, although he was going to trick us, Discord's magic can be useful for what we need."

Tenebris chuckles for the first time after hearing Sombra's words. "Looks like nowadays Equestria is talented at not answering questions," he adds. "I asked you if you were the ones who try to confront the Princesses. If you actually are, you are the weakest I've ever seen. You won't last even a minute."

Now, the four of them get offended and show their magic with their glowing horns. "Dare to say that again, fool!" shouts Tirek. "You dare to say I wouldn't last a minute against some stupid ponies?"

"You?" interrupts Chrysalis. "You fool, you got defeated by Princess Twilight Sparkle alone!"

"Hey!" shouts Cozy Glow, angrily. "Don't insult him! You were also clearly defeated by them!"

"Don't you dare to answer me, you pathetic filly," shouts Chrysalis. "You got defeated by six dorks which weren't even the princesses."

"I think this Tenebris' got a point," interrupts Sombra, taking a step forward. "The three of you were all defeated. That's why I'm the only one worth to defeat the princesses and obtain the bell."

"You?" shouts Chrysalis. "You got defeated by a baby dragon and your own citizens, stupid!"

"See?" interrupts Tenebris. "The four of you have been already defeated because you did the wrong things on your own. What you really need, rulers of the lands... is someone who can lead you in the proper direction."

"And who will be that leader?" shouts Chrysalis. "You? No, thanks."

"I think every one of us here has the same objective... you also want to get rid of the princesses?"

"Of course," says Tirek. "And originally, Discord said we were going to have the Bewitching Bell of Grogar in our hands..."

"I already have the powers of the Bewitching Bell that Grogar gave to me thousands of years ago in my body... but this necklace the princesses put me doesn't let me use it... that's why I'm trying to tell you peacefully, Discord, how can I get rid of this... because you always know everything."

"I told you I have no idea, Tenebris!"

"Shut up, I know when you are lying..." he says, and dares to look at the four villains one more time. "Truly everyone here has the same objective... even this filthy little pony next to me," he says, pointing at Stone Chisel. "And I already know Discord's lying, so... we can make a deal."

"We've already told you we don't want a leader," says Chrysalis.

"No," interrupts Sombra. "You said it because you are desperate for winning, but clearly we need a leader... and that leader will be me."

"Shut up, you fool," interrupts Tenebris, something that makes Sombra mad.

"How did you call me?" says the fallen king.

"If you help me to destroy this gem, get my tribe and my soulmate Rushkwa back to obtain the lands that were taken off me and my community... I promise I will help you to get the Bewitching Bell and destroy the Pony Equestria together, as a team. The only important thing we need to do is to get rid of this gem, who Discord does know how to... but I think we will have to do something to make him say it."

"I deny working along with you after what you called me," replies King Sombra, something that makes Tenebris laugh.

"Don't come to me after you get defeated by a dull rainbow beam."

"Like you, a time ago."

"Shut your mouth up."

Despite Sombra and Chrysalis being against Tenebris' offer, Tirek and Cozy Glow look at each other and come up with a conclusion. "I mean," says Cozy Glow. "He found out Discord was Grogar with just exhaling his breath. That was..."

"Great," says Tirek. "But do you think you are good enough to lead someone like me, Tenebris? Sure not."

"Tell me," adds Tenebris, approaching Tirek. "If you think you can be the leader, then tell me the best of your feats, my Little Centaur."

"My name is Tirek, firstly," replies the Lord. "And my best feat was consuming the magic of almost every pony of Equestria, trapping the princesses and locking up Discord."

"Until Twilight Sparkle kicked your butt," interrupts Chrysalis, something that makes Tirek angry.

"Shut up, you useless changeling!"

"Useless? You tell me I am useless? At least I can morph into others!"

"You are more useless than him," interrupts Sombra. "Nobody is better than me here, even you, Tirek."

"Don't you dare to say that!" shouts Cozy Glow.

"WOAH! WOAH!" shouts Stone Chisel. "Can we calm down, everyone? We can solve this like civilized creatures."

However, not only everyone looks at Chisel weirdly, but also all of them laugh at him, except for Discord and Tenebris, who are still waiting for the villains to stop. "Don't you dare to tell me what I should do, you pathetic," says Sombra. "You don't have the authority to even tell this pathetic filly your orders."

"Hey! What's wrong with me being weaker than you?" shouts Chisel. "That doesn't mean I can't tell you what's the best for you!"

"You are not going to tell us what's the best for us because you don't know anything, you earth dork!" shouts Chrysalis. "Get out of here!"

"I don't know anything, Miss Universe, Changeling Edition?" says Chisel, madly. "I'm a robber! A thief! I know how you act and why do you want to kick the princesses out!"

"You don't even have a horn to control magic," interrupts Chrysalis. "You clearly don't know how to handle our power, so shut up and leave us alone."

"Trust me," says Chisel, this time approaching Chrysalis. "I know how to handle magic better than all of you."

Chrysalis is about to attack Chisel, but everyone stops when Tenebris says something very shocking: "I killed Gusty the Great."

Now everyone looks at him, even Discord. The draconequus closes his eyes and sighs. "What?" asks Tirek. "What did you do?"

"I murdered Gusty the Great."

"The... the one who defeated Grogar?" whispers Cozy Glow.

"Yes. It was in a battle before the princesses trapped me with this necklace. I had all of my power and my Rushkwa with me. She was standing there, shooting magical, clear beams against me... and I didn't even find that out because they didn't hurt me. When I saw her... I only shot one beam. One beam... which went through her body and almost cut her in half. The last thing she saw was me looking at her bleeding out. She was afraid of how cold were my eyes while looking at her dying. Does that compare to any of your feats, you villains?"

Now everyone looks at each other, confused. They've done miserable things in their lives, but none of them was as cruel and ruthless as this one. Tirek is the first one to say something: "Wow... um... I've never killed someone in such a cruel way."

"And did you, you little filly?" Cozy Glow only shakes her head, so Tenebris now looks at Chrysalis. "And did you?"

"No," answers Chrysalis.

"Did you, red-eyed stallion?"

"No," says Sombra.

And finally, he turns his head to look at Chisel. "And did you?"

"Uh... no, I've never killed someone," he answers, something that makes Tenebris laugh.

"It looks like there's only one leader here, and its name is Tenebris and it's standing right here next to you. As I told you before, whether you help me to get this gem off, and help me to get my revenge, I promise you will obtain your bell and do what you want on these lands... just let me be with my community back and have my revenge, and then... you can do anything you want."

"But... do you want Equestria or not?" asks Tirek.

Tenebris sighs. "No. I've said I only want to get revenge for those who may have died out there. Everyone under the sun's loin will pay, and then... I'll leave with the survivors to my lands. The Kingdom will be yours."

Wow, everyone thinks. Not only do they have a powerful one who killed Gusty the Great on their side, but also he will give the Kingdom to all of them, without even complaining. Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, King Sombra and Stone Chisel. Five creatures will become the most powerful beings of Equestria. "So..." says Tirek, smiling. "You do the work... and the kingdom is ours?"

"You'll do the work with me, but you'll keep the Kingdom and the Bell. Just let me take charge of Celestia and Luna."

"Sure," says Tirek, smiling.

"But... Tirek!" shouts Cozy Glow. "Didn't you want to face the princesses?"

"Yes, but if Tenebris can give us the kingdom in an easier way... I won't complain about it."

"Me too," says Sombra. "If only I could control every filthy creature of the lands..."

"Me among everyone..." whispers Chrysalis.

"The dream of being a queen..." also whispers Cozy Glow, but Tenebris stops their dreams when he speaks one more time:

"Just one thing. You can rule everywhere you want... except for my community. You dare to touch me, my wife Rushkwa or anyone of my night rams, and I'll assure you... You'll want to apologize personally."

"No problem, if you don't get on our business after the battle," says Tirek. "I agree with this crazy night ram."

"If you agree..." says Cozy. "I agree too!"

Now Chrysalis and Sombra have to speak. "If I have my Crystal Empire back, I accept," replies Sombra.

"Sure," says Tirek. "And what about you?" he says, looking at Chrysalis. "It's 4 versus 1."

"Hey!" interrupts Stone Chisel. "Actually it's 4 versus 2. I haven't decided yet."

Once Chisel stops talking, everyone laughs at him, even Tenebris. "Who told you you were going to be here?"

"Exactly!" shouts Chrysalis. "You're not like us, you stupid!"

"You won't have anything because you don't need anything," replies Sombra. "Get out."

Cozy Glow also sticks out her tongue while looking at the robber, something that makes him mad: "I'm also a villain! Don't you know? I stole from others! People hate me and hey, listen... while all of you were defeated by Twilight Sparkle, I was free! All of you lasted less than me!"

The four villains chuckle, but then Cozy Glow and Sombra get mad at him and try to attack him, but Tenebris gets in the middle. "No. I need him alive."

"Why?" asks Chrysalis. "Are you literally defending a weak earth pony?"

"No, I need him because he hasn't answered my question yet... and Discord also didn't. Hey!" he says, looking at Discord. "I bet you tried to break the boulders with your magic, haven't you? I made them unbreakable for you because Discord's lent magic can do anything... isn't it?"

Discord now growls again. "Giving you part of my power to defeat the princesses was the worst thing I've ever done."

"Wrong. It was the best thing you did in your imbecile life, Discord. Admit it."

"Discord gave you part of your power?" asks Tirek. "I've heard you were a powerful guy... but not a Discord guy."

"It's called chaos magic, Tirek, and that's what makes me who I am. Long story I can tell you on the way... where is the exit? Do you know how to get out of here, Discord? Tell me. We're going to go outside, even you, grey pony... we need to find our connection."

Impromptu Interview

Arc I - Chapter IV - Impromptu Interview

There are lots of Manehattan journalists waiting for that train to arrive. One of the trains that get from Canterlot to Manehattan Train Station has Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern, parents of Stone Chisel, inside one of the train wagons. Meanwhile, behind the crowd filled with cameras and microphones, there are two stallions looking at everything. A young grey stallion with an inkpot as its cutie mark and an old, thin and trembling unicorn with white hair, a chin beard and big squared glasses with a newspaper as a cutie mark. Both journalists of the Manehattan Gazette are good old Tabloid, and his assistant and secretary Ink Pot.

"Are you sure you want to ask that, Mr Tabloid?" asks Ink Pot. "It's quite a heavy question."

"All questions are heavy, Ink Pot," answers Tabloid, getting nearer the crowd near the station. "The only difference is that some tend to show the truth, more than others."

"But that question of yours directly..."

"It's my question, and I have to ask it, Ink Pot. Now, help me. My hooves are trembling."

Ink Pot helps Tabloid to move nearer the train station, at the same time a train arrives and the first one to get out is a ticket holder. "Gentle stallions and ponies, please, take a step behind for all the passengers," asks the ticket holder while the doors are opened. Several stallions and ponies get out before Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern, covered in black tunics trying to hide their identity, get surrounded by dozens of journalists, trying to ask them what they think about their son's trial. The tunics, instead of hiding them, only gave them more attention...

"Please!" shouts the holder. "Let them get out!" but the journalists and cameras don't listen to him. Poofy Lantern desperately takes off her tunic, revealing her white skin and black mane, showing a golden necklace with a blue gem on it. Iron Pick, meanwhile, keeps using his tunic and even pushes stallions away while trying to get out of the train station. All of the journalists asking about their son are simply ignored by the couple... until they see Tabloid and Ink Pot. Tabloid, the legendary, respected and veteran journalist who has been writing articles even before Stone Chisel's birth, gets in front of the couple with his assistant, Ink Pot, just to ask them one question.

"In my case, it's only one question, Mr Iron Pick," exclaims Tabloid. "And I decided to come here personally, despite my old age."

"I won't answer any questions," replies Iron Pick while getting off his tunic, revealing his light grey skin and also a black mane. He has a silver necklace with a yellow gem. "Even yours, Tabloid."

"I have a bomb in my mouth, Mr Iron Pick," says Tabloid while the couple passes by him. "You wouldn't like to leave me here, alone, because the bomb it's going to explode in the media."

"Let it explode, then," answers Poofy Lantern, this time. "We don't care if everyone's sensationalism destroys our family's reputation."

The Burglar's parents go away, but Tabloid keeps being provocative. "You should listen to them," says Ink Pot. "Leave them alone, Mr Tabloid. They're not in a good day."

"No, little filly," he says. "These questions don't care about how good, bad or luxurious your day is," he adds, and he dares to exclaim loudly: "Actually, this is about a clandestine connection which calls my attention..." Then, he lets a laugh go. "Oh, what a nice rhyme."

Iron Pick turns around, angrily. "What do you mean with that, Tabloid? I can stand with anything except for this kind of blasphemies."

"Blasphemy?" says Tabloid. "No, no... actually, this is a theory, a hypothesis."

"Hypothesis?" says Iron Pick, while the journalists, Ink Pot and even the holder gather around them. "I don't want to hear conspiracies about my son coming out of your mouth."

"No, it's not about him... it's about you."

"Me?" asks Iron Pick. "What are you talking about?"

"It's something that I call..." he says while using his horn to read a paper. "Coincidences, that's what I want to believe."

Iron Pick sighs and turns around again. "Leave us alone, Mr Tabloid."

"Your son is the least important thing in my question. This is related to his partner, Stolen Bag."

"And why are you asking us for Stolen Bag?" interrupts Poofy Lantern. "We clearly don't know who he was."

"Are you sure?" says Tabloid, chuckling.

"More than sure!" shouts Iron Pick. "You're already pissing me off, Mr Tabloid."

The couple now goes away, further from the journalists, but Tabloid keeps talking: "It has been recently discovered that Stolen Bag worked undercover for several clothing companies of Manehattan, including Suri Polomare's, before turning himself into what everypony knows. Stone Chisel and him supposedly robbed important clothes and accessories to give them back to these companies to re-sell them at a bigger price, a more expensive one, where everyone won."

Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern stop while listening to that, all of the journalists, even Ink Pot, are in silence. Tabloid keeps speaking: "Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag got paid by these companies to do what they did, and the stupid victims bought their stuff at a bigger price, giving much more money to the companies. However, what made me think about this was the golden monocle of Fancy Pants, which, days after the Crystal Faire's robbery, another golden monocle magically appeared
at Polomare's, which had a tiny red gem attached to it, and obviously was more expensive. What calls my attention is... that tiny red gem came, according to what I've heard about Suri Polomare's interrogation which happened days ago, from you."

The couple now looks at each other and Iron Pick turns around, looking at Tabloid. "You say... my wife and I were involved in my son's robberies?"

"Well, it's just a theory..." says Tabloid. "From out of nowhere, not only the golden monocle of Fancy, but also lots of items who looked like those who Stone and Stolen robbed from Equestrian fests were released weeks later at clothing stores... with gems on it. It must be a coincidence, Mr Iron Pick, but... I'm a journalist, and a journalist always asks what he thinks. Even Ink Pot told me you did it because you needed sales!"

"NO!" shouts Ink Pot, nervously. "No, no, no... my apologies, Mr Iron Pick and Mrs Poofy Lantern," he says, while getting between Iron Pick and Tabloid. "My mentor Tabloid here is just raving and drooling... we had a long night due to we are preparing our interview on the Crystal Empire and we didn't sleep... he's just raving... just that..."

"What are you doing?" says Tabloid, angrily. "You are the one who has to prepare that interview, not me!"

"You have to do it too!" shouts Ink Pot. "You'll go with me!"

"Of course not!"

"Stop," says Iron Pick, and both journalists shut up. "Thank your butts I won't sue you due to public image defamation, Mr Tabloid and assistant Ink Pot, because what you've said is not only a nasty lie but also a grave and fake accusation that shows how stupid are you with your obnoxious sensationalism. I won't give anyone of you an impromptu interview and I'm glad to say, with my own tongue and mouth and throat, you can screw yourselves."

The journalists get in shock after Iron Pick starts around and starts talking. Everyone gets repelled because of his commentaries but no one dares to say anything to him. Ink Pot gets now angry at his mentor, Tabloid. "Why did you do that?"

"What?" says Tabloid, looking at how the couple goes away further from him.

"What?" says Ink Pot. "You say what? That was immoral, Mr Tabloid!"

"It's the journalist's job," adds Tabloid. "We have to ask what we think, as I told you before."

"But... that thought was ruthless! How can you accuse an affected couple of his son's robberies?"

"Everything is possible, Ink," he answers. "Everything is possible."

Rushkwa

Arc I - Chapter V - Rushkwa

The evil crew finally comes out of Grogar's Lair, being around a dry and catastrophic wasteland with no flora and fauna at all. "So, this is it. Nothing has changed in Grogar's home. I remember my lands were near this place."

"Hey!" says Cozy Glow. "At least... can we know who are you? I only know your name and you killed Gusty because you said it and that's it."

And that's the moment where Tenebris stopped walking. The blue-eyed night goat with a necklace turns around and looks at Cozy Glow. "My name is Tenebris and that is the only fact you need to know."

Cozy Glow gets a bit scared while having an intimidating night ram looking at her, but doesn't quit. "I know, Mr Tenebris... but there are loose ends about you that not only me but also Mr Tirek needs to tie..."

"I still don't believe you murdered Gusty the Great," interrupts Sombra. "And also... How did you end up being a Tartarus monster trapped in a stone prison?"

"And how Discord gave you powers?" asks Tirek.

Stone Chisel also asks: "And why you recognized Grogar?"

"Stop," exclaims Tenebris while looking around. "I'd like to tell you how I became the Princesses' nightmare because that's what leaders do, but I'm afraid I want someone else to tell it for me," and then he turns his back, laughing. "Discord, would you?"

The God of Chaos, whose hands are trapped inside two big boulders that he can't break with his magic, appears behind Stone Chisel, crawling on the ground. "If you are trying to humiliate me, I'm afraid you won't reach what you want."

"I know you know everything about me, Discord... and that's because you know I'm the only one who can kill you."

"You're not the only one who can kill me."

"Really?" says Tenebris. "Is there any other creature which also has our powers?" Discord tries to play with Tenebris, lying to him one more time... but suddenly gives up when he thinks about how worth it would that be. Nothing. Even if he plays with the night ram, he won't get out of the boulders. "I see. Interesting answer, Discord."

"Tell them, then. I don't want to waste my time remembering what you did."

"Please, Discord..." he says, smiling. "Think about this poor creature you left alone. I'd be glad for you if you do that for me. Besides, I may let you go."

Now Discord and Tenebris share one look again. The night ram laughs, expecting the God of Chaos to tell them his story. "You can't kill me... if I tell it. That's what I say."

Tenebris raises his hooves, smiling. "I never planned to kill you but... sure, it's good to make this kind of deal just in case, God of Chaos."

Discord literally trapped himself. His enemy never thought about killing him but now that he said it, he's on the edge. There's no other way because he knows that crazy night ram takes everything very seriously, something that Tenebris also understands, and that's why he is laughing aloud. "You..."

"Me? I'm your owner now."

The draconequus frowns but eventually takes a breath. He fell. "Tenebris was the leader of a species which lived on the Equestrian North named as the Night Rams, relatives of the rams, with darker fur and having the ability to exhale a magical cold mist from inside their body which helped them to live."

"Is," interrupts Tenebris. "I was, am and will be the leader of my community."

Discord sighs. "If you'll correct me every time I say something, just tell them with your own words, fool."

However, Tenebris has something else on his mind, something that he has already taken advantage of. "We have a deal, Discord."

"Damn you," he answers, only for the ram to laugh louder. He now knows that he likes this kind of humiliation. "Tenebris thought it was unfair for the other creatures of Equestria to have a kingdom in Canterlot which was only surrounded by ponies. He called that an unfair caste creature system and that's why he had the idea of creating a fair united kingdom for all the creatures, and due to that he travelled to Canterlot with his soulmate Rushkwa to talk with the princesses about this."

"But," he says, now turning around and looking at everyone. "They rejected my idea."

"Rejected it?" says Cozy Glow. "Why?"

"They told him it would be very chaotic for all of the creatures to administrate a united kingdom together."

"LIES!" shouts Tenebris, stomping one of his hooves against the ground, leaving a big hole in it. "Everything they said was a lie. Everything. They wanted all of the power for them... they didn't want anything else that wasn't a pony to touch it."

"Um..." interrupts Stone Chisel. "That would be too strange. I don't like the princesses but I think they would never have those thoughts. Besides, they have just recently opened a School of Friendship for all of the creatures."

"They may have changed their minds, but what it's done, it's done. Once they rejected my offer, I was so disappointed I asked for help from my relative Grogar, which gave me the powers of his bell... and at that moment, I met him," he says, looking at Discord. "I convinced him to create an alliance to kill the Princesses and rise a new Kingdom and that's why he gave me part of his powers. That fusion between the bell and Discord created a new kind of power..."

Everyone remains silent until Cozy Glow dares to speak: "And that new kind of power is..."

"Chaos magic," says Tirek. "So, along with having the powers of the Bewitching Bell, you are the first creature of all Equestrian History which had Discord's magic, without being Discord, in his veins."

"Booyah, that's right," says Discord. "And after I gave part of my power to you and Rushkwa, you decided to declare war. What an idiot."

"Uh-huh," says Tenebris. "I remember that the most because that was the moment you and Grogar left me alone."

"You know why I think it was a mistake to give you my power?" Discord says, and then he decides to stand up. "Because when you killed Gusty the Great and her warriors with just your presence, Grogar and I realized you were an insane, degenerate murderer, torturer and piece of filth who deserved to die... Grogar liked to be cruel, I liked to be cruel, but you... you were so evil you were even dangerous to ourselves."

It was like Discord exploded a bomb and everyone looked at it, but Tenebris doesn't even react to that. He just keeps a serious, straight face. "How strange. Firstly, you begged me not to die, and now... You are looking for me to kill you, don't you?"

Discord now chuckles. "I changed my mind when I thought I'd have to spend all day long with you."

"I would, Discord... but, you know... I also changed my mind... not only I won't know how can I get rid of this gem if I kill you now, but also... it would be too boring to keep going with my journey without you. I need someone to make fun of."

"I won't tell you how can you get rid of that."

Tenebris sighs and looks at Stone Chisel this time before turning around. "We'll work together with that later. Now that I have some free time before everyone in Tartarus gets crazy, I want to look for a soul."

"Rushkwa?" asks Stone Chisel, out of nowhere, and at that same moment, Tenebris turns around and his fur gets spiky. He feels he got goosebumps and a second later he finds something, nervously, and at that moment he starts prowling around. He starts looking everywhere but does find nothing.

"Hey!" shouts Chrysalis. "What is happening?"

"I feel her!" he shouts, getting nearer them again. "When he said that... I felt it! I felt her soul! She's near!"

"Who?" asks Tirek.

"Rushkwa, my soulmate!"

"What?" now asks Stone Chisel. "Is she here?"

"My wife, I feel her soul..." he says, getting nearer them, and from a second to another, he comes up with a weird, strange conclusion: "How weird... but... it can't be... is it... the gem?"

"What now?" says Sombra, angrily.

"The more I approach you... the more I feel her soul. This... this is impossible... this only means..."

Now, the night ram sticks his eyes on Stone Chisel's. He felt her soul at the same time the pony said her name, how suspicious, and for him, that only means one thing... "What... did you do to my wife?"

"What?" says Stone Chisel. "I don't know what are you ta---"

Crash. Tenebris now crashes Stone Chisel against the lair's entrance with his magic. "Now I understand how you set me free... the soul of my wife is with you!"

"I don't know what are you talking about! Just let me go!"

But no, it's too late. Tenebris has already figured it out. At first, he thought the pony was his wife's soul, but now he finds out there is something else inside. The pony is just a layer for that, and that's why he has to do what he has to do.

SHREEP!

It was such a characteristic sound it looked like an onomatopoeia from a comic book. A second later, Stone Chisel is bleeding and realizes he has a hole in his belly. A hole where a tiny black stone comes out. All of the villains get surprised at how cruel was Tenebris' decision to solve this problem. Now, the thief falls to the floor, bleeding while trying to take a breath before dying due to bleeding out. "What is this, you dull piece of litter?"

"Uh... uh... argh..."

"Come on! You don't have so much time before bleeding out! Tell me!"

"You son of a..." dares to say Stone Chisel. "I'm going to die!..."

"I know, you imbecile! Tell me why my wife's soul is inside this!"

"TENEBRIS!" Discord's shout stops Tenebris for a short time, but then, the Chaos throws his final offer on the table: "Listen... If you spare his life... I'll tell you how can you get rid of that gem."

Now Tenebris has the offer right there. How can he get rid of that gem? Only Discord knows. "You... you want me to save this? To spare a useless creature's life? Don't you see the ponies trapped you in a stone prison?"

"This stallion isn't guilty of that, Tenebris... It's not necessary to kill him, because it's just to satisfy for a short period of time your bloodthirst."

That only makes Tenebris angrier, and he decides to do something else. He immediately closes Stone Chisel's wound and all of the spilt blood on the ground goes inside him again. The stallion takes a long, long breath and thinks this is over... but no. This is not over. This has just started. Tenebris now gets Discord up with his magic and crashes him to the ground. "Both of you are not going to get out of this so easily. First of all, why my wife's soul... IS INSIDE THIS?!"

"Wait! WAIT!" shouts Stone Chisel, coughing and still gasping, trying to breathe normally again. "My mentor... had t-that amulet locked up in a box and that's the only thing I know!" shouts Stone Chisel. "And then, when I got out of his home, I robbed that amulet and I ate it because it has powers."

"Powers?"

"Powers. That is what that stone gave to me, magical powers that I can handle better than the cheese."

Everyone gets confused at hearing that, so Chrysalis asks. "Cheese? What are you talking about?"

"Ha! Finally, you admit your legs with holes look like they came out from a worn-out cheese!"

"Oh! You..." shouts Chrysalis with her glowing horn, but Tenebris interrupts everything getting in the middle.

"Wait. Which kind of powers?"

Stone Chisel now gets surprised at realizing how he has Tenebris' attention now. "Um... uh..." he says, intimidated by the night ram. "E-each one of my robberies were planned and also done thanks to that," he says, trying to be the most sincere possible, trying not to fall into his hooves again. "It gave me the ability to... um... turn me into a shadow and also... spit some kind of black mist that unicorn magic couldn't destroy. It was something temporary, though."

Tenebris gives the stallion a small smile. "Temporary... I see." After saying that, the tiny black stone explodes and a black mist comes from it, which only floats around the intimidating ram. "This is chaos magic, the one I can control."

"Yes," says Stone Chisel. "That's what I wanted to tell you before you interrupted me."

"What did you want to tell me?" asks Tenebris with a slight nonchalance, looking at the black mist around him.

"Um... my mentor told me you were the first Wizard of Chaos, a sect which hated creatures who could handle clear magic. Unicorns were the main enemies of the sect, so... when they found out your existence... they labelled you as the first Wizard of Chaos, and... just a fan fact but, ironically, a nomadic unicorn found a source of your powers... and then the sect was born."

Tenebris stays in silence and now, the chaos magic in pure form around him turns into a small ball on his loin. "A source."

"Yes."

"Which source?"

Stone Chisel, now desperate, doesn't know what to answer. "I have no idea."

"Wait," interrupts Sombra. "I think I have an idea."

Now everyone looks at Sombra. "What?" asks Tirek. "Wasn't it something related to your empire?"

"Yes," says Sombra. "Thousands of years ago, when I was king of my empire, Princess Celestia tried to put a night ram statue on my lands, but I denied the offer, and the only thing I know after that is her dull guards moved it to somewhere else... somewhere lonely. Maybe it was under the ocean, on Mt. Everhoof or somewhere else."

"Mt. Everhoof, maybe," now interrupts Tirek. "I was hiding from the Kingdom, near that mount, and then I found the ruins of a ram statue. What called my attention was... there was a bit of magic around it. I thought the ram escaped at first, but then I felt that was something the Wizards of Chaos should have done, but I never knew who did it..."

Now Stone Chisel opens his eyes, shocked. He has just found something. "Wait... no. No. Everything is connected."

"What?"

"My mentor told me this nomadic unicorn found its chaos magic source near Mt. Everhoof... and if it's a ram statue... that means..."

Tenebris now gasps. He has just found something else. "Rushkwa... my R-Rushkwa... was consumed by that unicorn."

"Um..." struggles Stone Chisel. "Yes."

And out of nowhere, the night ram stomps Stone Chisel against the lair, with fiery eyes. "WHO DID THIS? GIVE ME THE NAME OF THAT FILTH! OF THAT MURDERER!"

"SHADOW STAR! SHADOW STAR! HE'S ALREADY DEAD! HE'S ALREADY DEAD!"

Tenebris, at listening to that, throws Stone Chisel outside again. Tirek now opens his eyes, shocked. "I knew it. I knew Shadow Star was the one who did it."

But now, the most important thing in this scenario is Tenebris' reaction to Stone Chisel's answer. The night ram gets out of the lair, trembling and with his eyes closed while having the chaos magic around him, which eventually ends up in a cold mist flowering around the ram. A voice that everyone can hear speaks to the night ram:

"I'm trapped... he trapped me... help... help..."

"R-R-Rushkwa..."

"Accomplish your mission, my soulmate... do it for me... join my soul with yours... and you'll set me free..."

"RUSHKWA!"

Tenebris shouts one more time, but the cold mist eventually fades away and ends up in everyone looking at Tenebris. The first thing the ram does is look at Discord while turning the chaos mist around him into a ball, but instead of saying something, the night ram just growls, letting Discord understand what is he going to do. "Go ahead, do it."

The night ram chuckles again while having the chaos magic ball on his hoof. "It's what I have to do."

Discord now smiles while frowning. "Then do it, you fool."

Eventually, he does it. It's time to join his soul with Rushkwa's, and there's only one way to do it. The night ram opens his mouth and literally gobbles the chaos magic ball, swallowing it. Discord closes his eyes, while Tenebris' eyes turn from a blue colour to a lighter tone. The change is so drastic the red gem of his necklace starts trembling and fades its colour to black for only one second, just to return to its red again. Everyone gets shocked at how quickly his decision and also Discord's reaction. "Huh? What?" shouts Tenebris. "DISCORD! THIS FOOLISH GEM IS STILL HERE ON MY NECK!"

The God of Chaos, now with a sigh of relief, says: "No matter how much chaos magic you can eat and how many souls you can consume or join with... that gem will never break."

"YOU LIAR! YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO TELL ME HOW I CAN GET RID OF THIS!"

"That gem is unbreakable. There's no way to get rid of it."

Tenebris gets angry but decides not to do anything. He just gets near the God of Chaos, pushing Stone Chisel away. "Stop playing with me, you dull monster. I've said it would be boring to keep walking after putting you in a grave but I can change my mind in one second."

"I'm not playing with you, Ten. I know that gem is unbreakable because I know where that comes from, and even my powers can't destroy it," and then, he touches his head with the ram. "And go ahead, kill me. You will do me a favour."

"Okay!" says Stone Chisel, getting in the middle of them. "Can we calm d--?"

Tenebris dares to throw Chisel away, crashing him against a stone wall. Now the night ram has no mercy. "My wife was consumed by a pony... I heard her soul crying in me... and now someone has to pay. You."

"What?" says Chisel, shocked and hurt. "No! Hey! I saved you! I set you free! PLEASE! NO!"

Nobody moves, and even Tirek tries to cover Cozy Glow's eyes with his hoof. "If you shout, your death will be slower."

"WAIT, DUDE! IF IT WASN'T FOR ME YOU WOULD BE STILL TRAPPED IN YOUR PRISON! I SET YOU FREE! I AM YOUR KEY TO YOUR FREEDOM!"

And at that moment, when Chisel is about to get riddled by the ram, someone else starts speaking: "You can't break the gem but you can break the necklace which holds it."

Tenebris stops and turns around to look at Discord. "What?"

"Don't kill him. Not only did he set you free so he has a point to be spared, but also... someone has to carry me. I can't move with these boulders on my hands and this stupid chain you made." Tenebris now thinks a bit while looking at the scared pony in front of him, being crushed against a wall. "I can tell you how can you break the necklace if you spare his life." This only makes Tenebris laugh, and even the four villains behind him smile a bit, confused on the inside.

"Why do you suddenly want to save this fool's life? What did he do to you?"

"Because he doesn't deserve to die, not like you. Besides... if you want more points and also want me to be honest, he is another puppet you can make fun of."

"Ha," says Tenebris, smiling. "So... you do not want to be alone in the humiliated list. Well, you offer a deal... I grant it." And then, he throws Chisel to the ground, sparing his life one more time. "Tell me... how can I get rid of this necklace?"

"I had one of those necklaces a time ago... It is made of a magical material called postcrystalline. It is a strong material but you can easily break it into pieces with only one thing."

"Which?"

"The Crystal Heart."

Sombra now gets shocked at listening to that but doesn't say anything. "And where I can find that?"

"Crystal Empire. From here to the north."

The night ram gets shocked while listening to that. "But... from here to the north... that's... my lands were right there..."

"NO!" shouts Sombra, now approaching the three creatures. "Don't you dare to touch my territory which is not yours anymore!"

"Your territory?" says Tenebris, getting nearer the King. "You stole it from me."

"It's mine now," keeps saying Sombra, now with green, intimidating eyes while his horn starts glowing purple. "Don't you dare to take what belongs to the King."

"The King? You?" says Tenebris, also with fiery eyes with a pink tone. "You're anything but a king, shut up."

"Sombra, don't."

"Shut up, you!" shouts the King while controlling his dark magic. "I bet I can block this stupid ram's magic with one dark crystal."

"Hey," says Tirek, this time taking a step further from them. "Can I tell you a piece of advice? I'd be in the same way if someone wants to take what is mine, but... that ram has chaos magic on his veins and literally swallowed a chaos mist, which is powerful."

"I don't like this weakling but..." says Chrysalis. "This time I agree with him."

"Shut up, all of you! You are not worth enough to give me orders! I D----!"

And at that moment, something expells Sombra far away and throws him into a swamp. Everyone gets silent at the same time Tenebris calms down while having a pink ball of magic between his horns. "Stupid horse. Just like every pony." Now, Tenebris looks at the other five and exclaims: "If you dare to do that to me, only once... I won't care about you, and I'll be honest, you'll have the same fa--"

A purple beam explodes where Tenebris was standing, and Sombra rises from the swamp, this time with his eyes filled with some green smoke and a horn surrounded by a purple flame. "Piece of litter."

"SOMBRA! YOU IMBECILE!"

"Look at what I did, Discord! I destroyed the only living thing that could kill you... Although I never believed in him, I knew that fool was just a liar like everyone else..."

But no. Sombra was wrong and finds it out when something comes out of the dark violet smoke. A Tenebris filled with dark crystals is still standing. The Crystal King, instead of getting scared, only gets angrier. "I've got to admit you are not bad, but such a pity you are so imbecile..." and at that same moment, the dark crystals that were on his body get absorbed by the ram while shouting of pain because the trembling gem is trying its best to reject the crystals... but Tenebris doesn't care anyway. That only shocks every creature else around. "Thank you for giving me your magic... Sombra, right? You can turn into a shadow, don't you?"

"Wait!" shouts Tirek. "This stupid fight is now out of the question. Can we go back to where we were? As you said, Tenebris, Sombra's powers are not bad and can be usef--"

"I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE THIS FOOL MY LANDS!" interrupts Sombra. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, YOU SKINNY FILLY!"

The centaur didn't like that at all. That's why he dares to use his powers against him, trying to consume his magic, but then, a cold hoof touches his loin.

"Let me finish this, Tirek, because Sombra and I have to solve a serious problem here."

Tirek wants to keep talking but Cozy Glow gets next to him and starts pushing him behind. She is scared of what can Tenebris do to him. Sombra suddenly fires a dark beam from his horn but Tenebris doesn't even move. At the same time, while Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow are watching. Stone Chisel moves his hurt body and gets up while looking at Discord. "Why... why did you save me?" whispers to the draconequus, which only looks at him.

"You've got to solve this."

"What?" he whispers. "One step and he already killed me. How can I solve this?"

Discord doesn't even look at the robber now. "The robberies you made don't even compare to how grave was this mistake, Stone Chisel. If you did it, then you can solve it with me."

Stone doesn't even know what to say... did he? Did he just commit the worst mistake of his tactless life? Wait... once he says that, he gets a sigh of relief: "Wait... King Sombra is powerful. He can defeat him."

Discord, instead of answering Chisel's words, dares to exclaim aloud: "Sombra, if you keep fighting with him you are going to die. Leave this aside and give him his lands."

Stone gets surprised at that and takes cover when a purple beam comes straight at him, but Discord luckily blocks it with one of his boulder-hands. "I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE HIM MY LANDS!"

"Well... die, then."

"He can defeat him," whispers the robber, while thinking how cold were Discord's last phrases. "He must."

Discord, who is not even listening to Stone Chisel now, keeps watching Tenebris and Sombra's fight. They are still firing magical beams against each other, crashing against the ground or falling into the swamps. However, there is one crucial moment in the fight where Tenebris falls into a swamp but doesn't rise from the waters. He only gets his head to the surface, where he asks: "Sombra... you can turn into a shadow, don't you?"

Nevertheless, King Sombra fires one more magical beam at him, but this time the beam hits its necklace and throws Tenebris once again into the depths. While in the water, there is a voice that talks to Tenebris.

"Do it... for me... Look at you, my sweet soulmate..."

"Rushkwa..."

"Look at your necklace..."

Tenebris takes a look at the necklace and finds out there is a tiny crack where Sombra's magical beam hit him. It isn't broken yet, but it certainly has a crack. That's the moment where the evil ram smiles. "I've got to..."

"You've got to... the shadow in his veins..."

"I've got to... and then you'll be free, Rushkwa. For me, for you, for the community."

"Sombra..." says Chrysalis, while looking in the swamp. "He's not moving."

Now, the King laughs while taking a look at the body in the depths. "See?" he says. "I've told you I had to be the leader of this alliance. If you have me as your guide, I'll assure you everything will be ours."

"Shut up," interrupts Tirek. "I know you are lying."

"Lying? Me?" says Sombra. "I will never lie to those who don't want to steal my lands... not like the fool who is now dead."

Behind them, Stone Chisel and Discord are now together. "See?" whispers the robber. "I told you. He defeated him."

But that only makes Discord chuckle. "No, he didn't. He absolutely didn't."

"Wait," says Cozy Glow. "If he's dead, he has to be floating on the water... and he's not,, Sombra."

The three villains now look at Sombra, who gets surprised for a second but calms himself down with a chuckle. "If he's not dead, he will either drown or get killed by my dark magic," he exclaims while turning his eyes to a bright green again, chuckling louder.

"Come on... he hasn't got out of the waters yet."

"Just wait."

Once Sombra shoots his last magical beam underwater, the ram opens his mouth and the dark magic enters his body, shocking all of the villains. "He..." says Chrysalis. "Did he just... ate your magic?"

Tenebris shouts underwater and gets out of the swamp, showing everyone his necklace has now two cracks on the postcrystalline. "It hurt because of this stupid gem... but I finally consumed your magic, Sombra."

Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis take a step behind, while Sombra looks behind. "You cowards... I'll kill you after killing this fool!"

"I don't think so," says Tenebris. "Tell me... you can turn into a shadow, don't you?"

"And why do you want to know?" he shouts, angrily.

"Don't make me find that out on my own... you wouldn't like it."

"No," says Discord, with a certain slight of fear. "No. Please, no."

"What?"

"I know what he's thinking, he won't kill him but... Sombra, GIVE UP NOW! GIVE YOURSELF IN!"

"You would find it out when I kill you," he says while glowing his horn with a purple flame again. "You will nev---"

And then, out of nowhere, Tenebris opens his mouth and turns one of Sombra's feet into a shadow which he gobbles. He has just eaten one of Sombra's hooves. Everyone now gets scared of how Tenebris did that... even Sombra. Discord, who knew this was going to happen, shouts: "GIVE IN, SOMBRA!"

Sombra, instead of giving up, turns into a shadow... without knowing that would be easier for him to get defeated. "Oh. You made this easier."

"TENEBRIS! NOOOO!"

Even before Tenebris opens his mouth, the gem on his necklace starts trembling so much it even leaves the third crack on the postcrystalline. Sombra's shadow starts moving around the night ram, while everyone is listening to his shouts as he starts getting inside the night ram's mouth. The gem doesn't want Tenebris to swallow its power so it starts giving him pain but now, at this same moment, Tenebris doesn't care about that. He shouts once, trying to resist, but his cry is barely heard because it is completely covered by Sombra's shouts.

...

Tenebris has literally consumed King Sombra.

Just a couple of seconds later, the gem turns black for a couple of seconds but it luckily goes back to its normal red again. The gem hasn't broken yet, and the postcrystalline necklace either, although it has a couple of cracks on it. Cozy Glow, now hiding behind Tirek, takes a look while everyone gets shocked, observing the bright green eyes of Tenebris which slowly fade out to its normal, dark blue colour again. He takes a long breath while staying on the ground, and exclaims loudly to everyone around:

...

"Now... let's go to the north."

Tabloid's Articles, #2: Gems on Fire

GEMS ON FIRE

An article written by Tabloid, veteran journalist of the Manehattan Gazette.

You may wonder where are those gems from. Luxurious gems for us, delicious for the dragons... every creature of these lands may have a different opinion about gems, but I assure you each one of them will agree in only one thing: those gems are really beautiful. Shiny, with bright colours, and of course, visually attractive.

Now, going back to where we were, do you wanna know where are these pretty gems from? They were excavated by workers of Shiny Picks Gem Company, a Manehattan private business owned by a couple you may have heard of: Mr Iron Pick and Mrs Poofy Lantern, parents of the most infamous robber of recent times: Stone Chisel, the Royal Guards' roadrunner that nobody could catch... until now, and this is why Shiny Picks has had always problems with its credibility, due to Stone Chisel literally climbed the mountain only to watch his own parents falling to the ground, but everything fell apart some weeks ago, when somepony said Stone Chisel actually left his parents' home when he was a filly, confirmed by the Manehattan Gazette some days ago, and those words weren't from Iron Pick or Poofy Lantern, but from the family's maid. There is some kind of tension between the son, the papa and the mama which I'd prefer not to interfere with because it seems to be quite bad, so it's good for me to stop talking about this odd relationship.

However, that doesn't mean I can't ask my questions and express my thoughts on this article, which I've got to admit that sometimes those comments of mine can put me in trouble, such as what happened to me today, hours ago, at the Manehattan Train Station. Days before the trial there was the infamous Surigate, which revealed Stone Chisel and his partner Stolen Bag worked undercover for clothing companies in Manehattan. They robbed clothes, gave them to the companies and they resold them with gems on them (REMEMBER THIS), that is to say, more expensive... and the victims never thought about it! I've got to admit some of them are quite foolish, and I'm talking to you, Fancy Pants. "Why would you buy gold with gold?" said Stone Chisel on the trial, and I've got to admit he is right. Colts and ponies, Fancy Pants is an idiot.

Well... nevertheless, there is something confusing right here. Suri Polomare, the one who confessed everything, was sentenced to five years working in community labour and also she has to pay two million bits as a fine due to robbery, concealment and public manipulation. Hoity Toity, an intimate partner of Stolen Bag, was sentenced to ten years in community labour and also he was declared unable to work on clothing companies again... oh, and don't forget about those three million he has to pay... ouchie. Others, such as Prim Hemline, were just sentenced to pay a million and that's it, but then... there is one case, one hole I don't understand. Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern were not even named in this case, but surprisingly, almost all of the stolen clothes which have been verified by the local police and the royal guards... had gems on them. What is this? Coincidences? An illusion? It's me and my elder years? Or can it be... an illegal collaboration between these companies, Shiny Picks and Stone and Stolen to scam on ponies?

Shiny Picks' momentum is on a meltdown because of his son's trial, and I'm afraid my unconfirmed theory, my thoughts, instead of breaking it in pieces, may turn some gems on fire inside the company. I don't mean this as revenge for what you told me on the Station, Mr Iron Pick and Mrs Poofy Lantern (if you are reading this, which I don't think you are going to do... I think...), but I'm sharing it to the world because that's what journalists do, huh? If somebody tells me to write an article with my opinion, I won't write an essay about the Pillars of Equestria. I'll do what I say and what the people say, sir. I give my opinion to the world and they listen because that's who I am.

My name is Tabloid, and I'm a veteran journalist of the Manehattan Gazette, and this is the article I wrote with my opinion about the Surigate, Stone Chisel's trial and Shiny Picks.

I let the bomb explode, colts and ponies.

...

NOTE FOR ME:

Next Article -> Extended rumour inside the Kingdom, Brave Position, Ink Pot's contact on the Royal Kingdom has sent us a message about an escape on Tartarus. Not confirmed. Might write about this next time.

If the fugitives are those who I am thinking...

... we are doomed.

Fuck.

Prisoner's Mule

Arc II - Chapter I - Prisoner's Mule

No one dares to speak after what Tenebris did to Sombra, so he just stands there, slowly heading to the north until he finds out no one is following him. "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

"You..." says Tirek. "You killed him."

"I consumed him."

"And if that's not a murder I don't know what it is," says Chrysalis.

Now the night ram chuckles. "Ok, yes... I killed him, but don't worry... once I got rid of this necklace with that heart Discord told me, and I expect it to be true... I can resurrect him! Although it would be bad for me, and also it would be bad for you... from what I saw, you clearly didn't like him."

Everybody shuts up again, and Tenebris now turns around. "Talking about you... centaur. Tell me you are not that weak."

"Uh... no," says Tirek. "I need to consume magic to reach the real me. If only I had a source..."

The night ram chuckles again. "If only..." he says, only to approach the centaur and throw him the cold mist on his face, something that terrifies Cozy Glow.

"NO!" she shouts. "TIREK!"

She dares to attack, hitting his loin with her hooves while Chrysalis stays in her place, but stops when he finds out a bigger and less thin Tirek comes out of the cold mist. He's young again. "What... what?" says the centaur, while looking at his bright red again. "You..."

"I gave you power because your old appearance wasn't worthy of an ally of mine... Do you want to rule Equestria? So don't be weak and foolish, you have to be strong and clever... not like the bastard which I consumed minutes ago. Now, every one of you, let's go to the North, but before, I've got to do three things."

"Three?" says Chrysalis, and the first thing Tenebris is trapping Cozy Glow inside his magic, something that shocks everyone.

"You dare to attack me one more time, you little filly, and consider yourself out of this."

"Woah!" shouts Tirek, and then Tenebris lets her go. "I can understand she can be annoying and whimsical... but she's just a filly. She won't hurt you... maybe mentally." The ram didn't even hear that because he was now passing by the rejuvenated centaur and the angry filly, looking at Stone Chisel. Firstly, he gets him up from the ground and then he grabs some stones from the lair's entrance and creates a stone wire, which he attaches to Chisel's loin and one of Discord's feet.

"Secondly... You will be the prisoner's mule..." he says, laughing at the silent stallion which is slowly swallowing his resentment and embarrassment. "And if that's not humiliating, Discord, I have no idea what to do with him."

"Leave him just like this."

"Yeah... I'll do the same with you... leaving you like this. And thirdly... keep in mind I'm trusting you, Discord, I believe you are telling me the truth. If not... you know, I always have a doubt when I was younger and I had that foolish plan in mind."

"Really... what?"

Tenebris now makes contact with Discord's yellow eyes. "I always wondered if you bled."

Discord laughs and nods his head. "Why wouldn't I?"

Evil smile. "... And is it red?"

"... It would be a long thing to explain, Ten. Why don't you get out of this place before somepony finds out you are free with another three fugitives and a changeling queen?"

The night ram now smiles at the God of Chaos. "First time I agree with you. Let's go."

"Um... excuse me?"

Now everyone turns around and looks at the one who said that: Cozy Glow, with an innocent smile and blushing cheeks, trying to manipulate Tenebris. "You want to attack me again?"

Then, her blush fades away. "Um... no, sorry. I apologize for that, Tenebris, but... I'd like to have a horn to perform unicorn magic in case we get involved in a fig--"

"You want me to give you magic?"

"Of course," she says, in a challenging tone.

Everyone was in silence again. Tenebris turns around, not even looking at Cozy Glow. That's the moment when Stone Chisel turns around and looks at the prisoner he's carrying: Discord. "Another kill?" he whispers to the god, which only answers:

"I hope not."

Seconds of frightening suspense eat everyone's minds until Tenebris comes up to a conclusion: "Despite you are a pony and also didn't like what you did a minute ago... I liked that courage I heard in your words." Then, a horn suddenly grows up on Cozy Glow's forehead, which leads to a smile of hers and surprises everybody. "I thought you were going to be a coward, annoying little filly cared for by these others... but when you said that, you had an attitude that reminded me of Rushkwa. Now you are stronger and useful."

She blushes. "Thanks, Teneb--"

"However, you do something wrong with it... and I'll break it with my own hooves."

Cozy Glow now struggles for a second but keeps speaking: "Yes," the filly says, while the ram is looking at a big, dry and dark forest in front of them.

"Good. Now, let's go. We have some lands to take."

Meanwhile, next to the Tartarus' doors, a portal is opened at the entrance, where Flash Sentry and dozens and dozens of Royal Guards get out, along with the Mane 6, Spike, Starlight Glimmer and Princesses Luna and Celestia. Clearly, this is serious. "Damnit! Damnit!"

"Calm down, Flash," says Celestia. "It's no moment to complain about your own actions. We have to stop them now before something else happens."

"I'm so sorry, Ms Celestia..." whispers Flash Sentry. "I should have stayed on the Tartarus to keep an eye on them, especially Stone Chi-"

"Stone Chisel would never have done something like this," answers Princess Luna. "He may be a clever thief, but it's impossible for him to get out of Tartarus alone."

"But he could handle chaos magic..." says Twilight. "Maybe..."

"It was only a mist, though," says one of the Royal Guards. "I don't think he was able to control chaos magic like Discord or... um... who was that night ram everyone feared to?"

"Tenebris the Night Ram," replies Twilight Sparkle. "And he's trapped right there, on Tartarus."

Everyone gets silent, and Fluttershy, surprisingly, is the first one who speaks: "Anyway... did somebody... saw Discord?"

While the Royal Guards shake their head at Fluttershy's question, Luna looks at her sister. "Oh no," she whispers, with concerned eyes. "You think..."

"It can't be," answers her sister. "He's under the cliff. Nobody can save him from there..."

The Princess takes a long breath and looks everyone around. "What can we do, sister?"

Celestia speaks. "Princess Twilight, Spike and both of us will enter Tartarus and check if the fugitives are still there. If not, we will look for them in the south. We will need also the help of some guards... I need others to look for the west, east and north."

"How many pegasi are here?" asks Flash Sentry. "Please, raise your hooves."

Only twenty guards raise their hooves, which calms Flash down. "Ok. Not much but it's OK. We can divide it into... groups of 7..."

"But there is one group which won't have the seventh," replies Dash. "I can be that one."

"Yes, please," says Flash Sentry. "And we'll also need help from the Wonderbolts and Crystal Guards. What if we talk to Thorax, Ember and Thunderhooves?"

"Don't, by now," replies Luna. "If we spread the fact we have Tirek, Stone Chisel and Cozy Glow out of their cages to all of Equestria everyone will turn crazy. By now, we need to solve this with you, Twilight & her friends... and I've got to admit the Wonderbolts and the Crystal Empire was an excellent idea."

"Thanks," says Flash, with a small grin. "Now... there is that big dark forest on the west?"

"Yes," replies Starlight. "I've been there once when I was in my cutie mark experiment. I know it from the inside."

"Besides," says Brave Position, adding information. "There's Grogar's lair there, too."

"You're right. Ok," says Flash. "So Starlight and..." then he sees Rainbow Dash raises her hoof. "Okay, Dash... go to the West. Brave Position, I put you in leader position for West with your group of 5."

A green pony with golden armour raises his hoof. "Yes, Sir Sentry!"

"Unicorns, how many?" More than ten unicorns raise their hooves. "Ok... Groups of 5... Five each for three directions, and Big Stomp and I will stay on Tartarus and will be here. Earth guards, which are few for this, stay with me... Applejack? Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie?"

"Applejack and I can help on the north," says Rarity.

"And Fluttershy and I look on the east!" shouts Pinkie Pie, finishing the plan.

"Ok! Ok! Move on, move on!" shouts Flash Sentry. "Speedspear, you'll be the leader on East. Eagle Eye, on North. Brave Position, Speedspear, Eagle Eye, if something happens or you find something, we must communicate with each other through our magic. Remember, a red aura if it's bad, green if you found them."

"Sir, yes, sir!" shout the three leaders. While Celestia opens the Tartarus doors, unicorns start teleporting through their magic and pegasi start flying. Applejack touches Rarity's loin and gets teleported thanks to her friend's magic, and Pinkie Pie is being carried like a marionette to the east thanks to Fluttershy and another pegasus.

"Wait!" she shouts. "Not so strong!"

Meanwhile, in the West, heading to the North...

Inside the big, mysterious forest, everyone is heading to the Crystal Empire. Stone Chisel, trying to clear his mind from everything that has just happened, and his still not assumed responsibility of setting free the cruellest being he ever saw (cruel, and maybe, maybe a bit eviller than Manehattan's big corporations he saw when he was a filly), takes a look to the forest and remembers something: "How curious... this forest looks exactly like the one where I used to live."

"Which one?" asks Tirek.

"One that was on the east."

Tirek chuckles a bit while walking along with Cozy Glow and Chrysalis. "Yes. I think I've heard of someone who also lived there."

Now Stone Chisel is paying attention. "Really? Who?"

"A griffon named Galloway."

"Oh," he says, chuckling. "I know her... do you know her too? She was on Tartarus once but managed to escape... and what makes me laugh the most is that dork of Flash Sentry never realised it!"

Tenebris, who is listening to everything they are saying, it's just walking, without doing any commentaries. At the same time, Chrysalis starts walking slower and whispers something to Tirek. "Stop... I'll tell you why. Talk lowly."

"What?" whispers Tirek, something that calls Cozy and Chisel's attention. "Why?"

"I need to tell you something, to all of you... even you, earth pony, but don't tell the ram."

Now, if Chrysalis even puts Chisel there, it means this is serious. They stop, letting Tenebris walk a bit more until they start walking again, being the ram a bit further from them. "We need to do something."

"About what?" asks Cozy Glow.

"The ram... I think this Tenebris is a loose cannon."

Discord makes a small grin. "First time I agree with you, Chrysalis."

"Yes..." says Cozy Glow. "So? He gave me a horn! I don't hate him."

"But..." says Chrysalis. "I hardly agree with Discord nowadays... but this time he's right. If he consumed Sombra in that way... he may do that to us and end up dead."

"But Sombra provoked him, though," replies Tirek. "He hit him with his dark magic."

"I know Sombra provoked him, but... remember what Discord said? He said he was a piece of filth, a murderer, a torturer... So evil it could be menacing for us, and if he killed Gusty the Great with such cruelty... what will be our fate?"

Everyone stays in silence until Cozy speaks: "Golly! So? I think if we stay on his side, he won't harm us... and if he does, it's his fault," she says, pointing at Stone Chisel.

"Me?" he says. "Why?"

"You set him free."

Now Stone Chisel doesn't know how to defend himself. "Oh... yes. Sorry."

"I say..." adds the Changeling Queen. "What if we turn against him once we arrive at the Crystal Empire? We defeat him and everything will be ours without having to think there is a crazy night ram out there."

Tirek is the first one to react to that, shaking his head. "Firstly... working with you on that, in the first place? No, thanks, and secondly, he's good by now. He hasn't harmed anyone of us yet."

"Here is an exception," interrupts Stone Chisel, which makes the three villains look at him carrying Discord, who is getting dirty due to all of the dirt over his back and body.

"You don't count in this," replies Chrysalis. "If he gets crazy we will send you first, you are only our bait."

Chisel now gets mad. "Screw you, Cadence's stunt double. Besides, if you turn against him, all of us will be dead... and it won't be my fault."

"Hey." All of them get straight with shivers on their spines. "Get nearer. I almost lost you."

"Sorry," says Chrysalis, and then she passes by Stone Chisel and Discord with her allies. Stone Chisel, now being covered from Tenebris thanks to the villains, closes his eyes and takes a breath.

"Carrying you hurts, Discord."

"Uh-huh... it may suck being the Prisoner's Mule."

"Yes, but at least my back doesn't hit the ground like yours... Why in the hell did I free him... What an idiot... all of this because of that stupid symbol."

"The rune?"

"I don't know... it was a line and then a triangle came out of it."

"Yeah, the rune. Celestia wrote it for Cerberus."

Now Chisel stops and turns around. "Really? And how do you know that?"

"I know almost everything... Celestia used to write runes for Cerberus to help him at identifying crimes. A line was a robbery, a triangle was magic consumption... but then they stopped using it because Cerberus did whatever he wanted with the prisoners, so the Royal Guards decided to carry the cages for their own and erased the runes... except for that one."

"And what does that rune mean?"

Discord smiles while Chisel starts trotting again, trying not to lose the evil group. "Are you sure you want to know that?"

"I set him free. I deserve to know what it means."

Discord takes a long breath before saying it: "Dangerous prisoner. Absolute destruction."

Chisel sighs. "Well... it was something predictable."

"And the statue you broke had four crosses painted on it, which means he murdered."

"How curious... and shocking," says the robber while Discord turns his head. He looks like the villains are far from them both.

"Now, that we are far from them... we need to start developing our plan against Tenebris. Talk lowly."

"Are you kidding me?" whispers Stone Chisel. "How can I help you when you are trapped with some rocks you can't destroy and I was almost murdered with just a thought of him?"

"We need to look for the perfect moment to do it. Maybe when we arrive at the Crystal Empire before he breaks the necklace."

Chisel now makes a grin. "You... are you going to give me chaos magic?"

"Of course not. An earth pony like you has to take a long time to learn how my powers work, and that stupid amulet you had was nothing compared to my real power. Besides, no matter how much chaos magic you have... Tenebris is more powerful and even has the Bewitching Bell's abilities with him, so he can eat you without using his teeth."

Now, the robber gets disappointed. "Oh... what a pity... So, what do you want to do?"

"I know him. Once he arrives, he will start using his powers, we have to take advantage of them. One beam can destroy these rocks. We have to do it before he breaks his necklace with the Crystal Heart."

"What? You can't defeat him if he breaks the necklace?"

Discord sighs. "He can consume my magic if he breaks the necklace. If he does it and kills me... we are screwed... I mean, you are screwed, because I won't be alive at the time he killed me... duh."

Chisel chuckles. "You are not going to die, Discord. You can't. You are immortal."

"The only thing that can kill chaos is something worse than it. I call that madness... and Tenebris is the best creature which can represent it."

Everypony arrives at where they had to be. Starlight Glimmer, Brave Position and the Royal Guards dare to enter the dark forest at the same time Dash arrives. They decided to leave the lair for the end. "Sorry," says the pegasus. "I asked Spitfire for this. They are coming in ten minutes."

"Sure," says Brave Position. "Ms Dash... can you do us another favour?"

"Sure, what is it... Brave Position, isn't it?"

"Yes," he says with a smile. "We know you are one of the fastest ponies of all time... so I'd really like you to ask Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence for help... I'm sure you will come back with all of the Crystal Empire's Royal Guards behind you."

"Um..." says Dash, with a slight bit of disappointment because she wanted to stay. "Sure, no problem."

"Thanks, Rainbow. Tell the guards they will have to go and help in all of the four directions. Let them organise each other on the Empire.."

"Ok, no problem!" she says, preparing her wings. "Good luck!" and then she flies away, leaving a rainbow beam and emitting a deafening sound, which everypony hears...

...even the others.

"Did you hear that?" says Chrysalis. "It was..."

"Look!" shouts Cozy Glow. "A rainbow beam!"

"Did they find us?"

"Oh no! Oh no!"

"Damnit!"

"Wait." Everyone now looks at Tenebris. "Stay here. With me."

"What?" says Stone Chisel. "We should run!"

"I know... but let me have some fun before, beating some ponies up."

The first one to enter is Brave Position, while having behind other Royal Guards guided by Starlight Glimmer. Brave, on a desperate try to take care of the pony, turns his back. "Are you sure you don't want to be a bit further from me? It's too risky."

"It's OK," she answers. "Thanks for asking, though. Anyways, Brave, we have to watch out for these trees. Their branches are quite spiky and I've heard they were a bit toxic."

"Sure," says Brave. "Listen. I have an idea. I'll go a bit further from you in silence, just to check if I see something from far away. Once I come back, I'll say what I saw and in case I saw something, we attack. Prepare your spears, wings and horns."

"Are you sure you want to do that alone?" asks Starlight. "It's quite dangerous," she replies, but the green guard only smiles at them.

"It's my tactic, Starlight, and it has always worked," he says while trotting away from the guards and Starlight. Some guards, trying to calm others down, say Brave Position has done this several times and always worked. 100%.

"I hear something." Everyone turns around and look there is a green guard with his glowing horn on their right. The brave stallion hasn't found out, but he has literally the worst group of creatures on his left, something that makes Tenebris laugh. "Watch this."

A second later, Tenebris uses his magic and literally erases Brave Position's mouth while hiding. He can't speak now. He wants to laugh aloud, but doesn't do it just in case there is somepony else. He doesn't want to be interrupted at this moment. His funny moment. Brave Position turns to the left and looks at every creature looking at him. He even finds Discord, attached to the ground, with a chain on his feet and two big boulders on his hands, being carried by Stone Chisel. Brave Position can't run away because of how shocked he is, but he still glows a red aura on his horn, trying to communicate magically with his partners.

"What the...? Do you really want to fire your magic? Ha... look at this. I'll make the best sound in the world..."

Everyone around there thinks, for those three seconds, what does Tenebris mean with that, even Brave Position.

And then, a second later...

CRACK.

Brave Position's neck spins a bit before falling. Everyone heard that sound, and it was deafening and completely scary. Tenebris has just killed him by just using his magic, and that sound also calls the guards' attention who start shouting and running. "I think we have guests. Prepare yourselves."

No Strangers & Pupils

Author's Note

While I was writing this chapter, I decided to turn this into something more dramatic and graphic.

I'm thinking about rating this M instead of T, because this chapter has graphic violence and deaths. Tell me if it's better to change the rating or not in the comments.

Thank you.

No Strangers & Pupils

Arc II - Chapter II - No Strangers & Pupils

"No."

Everyone looks at Flash Sentry now, who has a red aura around his horn. Something bad has happened. "What? What happened?" says Spike.

"Brave Position..." says Flash Sentry. "I think he sent me a red aura... I'm trying to communicate with him... but doesn't answer... come on."

Everyone now, inside Tartarus, waits for Flash Sentry to say something while his horn is still glowing red. "We can go to the west," says Twilight.

"No," immediately answers Flash Sentry. "Stay here. You need to look at the South, Princess. Big Stomp, lead the team. I'm going to the west."

"But..." stutters Big Stomp. "Alone?"

"No... Kennedy, Shining Warrior... come with me. All of you, stay here and look for them on the South... and take care of the Princesses!"

Flash Sentry and two other unicorns, Kennedy and Shining Warrior, get mentally prepared for what it's happening in the west and they teleport themselves there, using their magic.

They clearly don't know what happened out there.

"There we go."

Golden shining armours can be seen far away, and Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow, despite they are still shocked at how Tenebris decided to end Brave Position's life, are still conscious they will fight anyways because they have to defend themselves. Stone Chisel and Discord, on the other hand, don't know what to do, and that's why Tenebris gets in the middle, protecting them from the guards. "What?" shouts Chisel. "You are going to take care of us?"

"Of course! If you die or get jailed, who I'll be laughing at?"

"Oh," replies the robber, a bit surprised. "Um... thank you... I guess?"

But now, all of the golden royal guards are there and looking at what's happening. "BRAVE POSITION!" shouts one of them. "JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL US FOR AVENGING YOU!"

The pegasi get their helmets off and start flying around, while Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy are defending themselves with their own magic. At that moment Cozy realizes something: "Wait! My magic... it's normal!"

"You said unicorn magic... and I gave you that. Besides, I would never give my power to fillies."

Now she has a puppy face, showing disappointment, looking at the ram. "But..."

"Defend yourself and stop whining if you wanna live."

Royal Pegasi also start hitting Stone Chisel from behind, but Tenebris gets them out of there by throwing them away with his magic. Meanwhile, Royal Unicorns and also Starlight are fighting against Tirek and Chrysalis, but the night ram gets in the middle and creates only worse tension between the two sides. "Hello." A unicorn shoots a beam at Tenebris, but surprisingly the ray turns around and hits him back, something that shocks every pony. "You wanted the big one? Here you..."

They didn't even let Tenebris finish his sentence at the moment they decided to attack. The unicorns and Starlight start fighting against the ram and his allies, while pegasi are still flying, only to hit them from behind... even against Stone Chisel.

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN, STONE CHISEL!" shouts a pegasus after hitting him, so the robber tries to take cover, moving his trembling hooves in the air every time a pegasus gets near him, but thinking no one can understand him at this moment.

"I'm a prisoner, don't hit me, help!" he shouts to various pegasi, trying to set both Discord and him free, but no one is listening to him. They know who Stone Chisel is and they know he's really good at lying. They won't fall on his game again. "NO! I SWEAR I'M NOT LYING! HELP!"

And at that moment, two pegasi crash him to the ground and start beating him up, so Stone Chisel, on his mind, thinks there is no other way. He has to stand up to defend himself. He doesn't want to hurt them, but at the same time, he has to get them off.

Tenebris is about to get the guards out of Stone Chisel, but there is something else that calls everybody's attention: a pegasus grabs Cozy Glow from behind and decides to take her away, out of the fight, something that makes the little alicorn mad, and that's the moment where everypony moves their eyes to that scene. Tirek and Chrysalis, who are still defending themselves from unicorn magic and pegasus' attacks, and also taking advantage of this to consume some love and magic for free, look at how the Pegasus is flying further and further, and that's the right moment where Tenebris starts what he has been waiting for all this time.

Firstly, he has to get rid of those who are trying to put him down. A pink unicorn with purple hair along with other guards, bam, he pushes them away so strongly Starlight Glimmer crashes into the ground, almost getting out of the forest. Now, secondly, he gets the pegasi out of Stone Chisel and finally, he has now... to focus on his victim. The gem is trembling faster and it hurts, but all he requires to stop this torture is a bit of concentration... he knows the finale of his decision will be gloriously evil. "TENEBRIS!" shouts Tirek. "Help us! They are everywhere and also took the filly away..."

He has to concentrate while looking at his target. His blue pupils dilate for a second while his body starts shaking because of the gem. The pegasus who is taking Cozy Glow, that filly which is now trying to get out, punching him and using her magic to hurt him, will be his first real victim in three...

...two...

...one...

"You're going back to Tartarus, you filly!" shouts the pegasus, laughing.

"What are you laughing at, you dork?" she shouts, trying to get off him. "YOU KNOW WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?"

"Yeah... Cozy Glow, the whining, cry-baby fi---"

POP!

And suddenly the pegasus stopped talking that second, only to get followed by silence and fear coming out from all the fighters. Cozy Glow is the first victim of this situation, realizing her whole body is covered in a red liquid, while the colt lets her go. She looks above her to look at what happened, just to identify who was the bad colt who did this...

...only to find out he has no head, but a bleeding amount of nothing.

She doesn't say anything and almost crashes onto the ground until she saves her own life by floating with her own magic. She even moves aside and looks at how the body falls into the dirt, making a sound she won't ever forget.

BUNK!

Then, Tirek and Chrysalis look at its leader, surprised at this, and decide to stay next to him in silence. Stone Chisel, on the other hand, is behind them, looking at Discord with a face full of concern. He can't even breathe well because of how graphic was that.

The Royal Guards turn around and look at their friend's body next to Cozy Glow, who is still floating in her own magic and hasn't moved from there since. She's in shock. Tenebris is the last ram standing, filled with sweat and finding out his neck is burning due to the gem, giving him an indescribable pain he can't ignore so much. "So..." says Tenebris, looking at his neck and hiding his wounds. "Ouch... so... who'll be the second?"

The royal guards, while looking at their friend's corpse, realize this won't be an easy battle... but that doesn't mean they will give up. They are fighting there for the Princesses... they won't give Celestia, Luna and Twilight to these bastards. "You are going to rot in Tartarus, you fool!" shouts one of the Royal Guards, and this time everybody starts attacking them all at the same time. Some unicorns even start running onto Cozy, but she flies back to the forest only to hide behind Chrysalis and Tenebris, who are trying their best to don't get hurt by the guards.

Tirek, Chrysalis and even a shocked Cozy Glow covered in red are sharing, at this right moment, only one thing: They have to get these guards off them before somepony hurts them. Stone Chisel, on the other hand, is trying to get the pegasi' attention to be saved, although he already knows nobody is believing in him, and Discord is just lying on the ground. Tenebris, the evil ram, is a special case, too. He decides to get behind his allies while looking at his neck, which is still burning. At that moment he hears something inside him.

"Do it... like you did with the warriors of Gusty..."

"Rushkwa... it hurt when I blew up that head. If I do it, I will..."

"My soul will keep you alive, dear... do it for me, for the community..."

"Please, Rushkwa... give me... your strength... do it with me..."

Stone Chisel dares to take a look at Tenebris, and realizes there is a sound which reminds him of something burning. Once he approaches the dark blue ram, he finds out there is steam coming out from inside the necklace. Discord also finds that out and the robber asks him. "What is he..."

"I have no idea." The gem is trembling so much it's even changing its colour from red to a clear brown. "But... the gem... TENEBRIS!"

The ram doesn't even listen to Discord by the time his neck starts bleeding because of the grave, deep burns the gem are occasionating on his neck, but he knows this much pain, so much sacrifice will end up in something good. He shouts so loud the trees around him shiver, getting out the cold mist inside his body with something else on it: A small, light blue orb that is surrounding the mist starts flying over the Royal Guards. "Feel... feel what you have done to me." it says.

"What the..." says Chrysalis, defending herself behind a tree and using her magic, while the flying orb starts creating a bubble, a shield around the guards. The defenders at first think this is just a stupid trick of Tenebris to make them waste time, but they eventually change their minds when they find out they can't get out of that bubble. All of the Royal Guards, pegasi and unicorns, start hitting, firing magic and even trying to break it with daggers and spears but it simply doesn't work. They are definitely locked up inside that bubble.

Tenebris, now realizing the gem's colour has changed from brown to red again, smiles while getting his sweat out of his face and looking at his almost carbonized neck, filled with burns and blood. "Rushkwa... you're so talented..."

The light blue orb flies back to Tenebris and gets inside his mouth, with a thick line of cold mist getting behind. The gem trembles again, changing its colour to brown one more time and burning, but doesn't break and turns into red again, while the postcrystalline necklace is still resisting the ram's anger. "You," says Tirek, now getting out from where he was fighting and taking cover. "You locked them up? They can't go out?"

"Yes... This is what I've done to Gusty's warriors a long time ago."

And with that phrase, both Stone Chisel and Discord feel shivers down their spines. "No!" shouts Chisel, desperately. "Don't kill them... that's unnecessary."

The ram laughs while hearing that, but this time something else makes everything feel completely different. The ones who laughed just minutes ago with the wicked Tenebris, such as Tirek, the Bug Queen Chrysalis and even the filly Cozy Glow... are now silent. Cozy Glow, who is still filled with red blood drops all over her pink body, doesn't even make a sound, while Tirek and Chrysalis only take a long, slow breath, realizing this won't be easy to put up with. "I'm just going to take them for a ride," says the intimidating animal before throwing away, to the skies, the big, light blue bubble filled with Royal Guards, only to approach the dirty, light grey stallion with a piercing on his ear seconds after. "You were saying?"

The robber doesn't even look in his eyes. He just looks at the clear sky. "Sweet Celestia," he whispers. "You murdered them."

"I didn't. I've only thrown them away to the sky. They may land on the top of a mountain... I hope."

"Discord was right..." he answers to the ram, and now trying to intimidate him back, making contact with his fiery, scary blue eyes. "You are insane."

"Insane? More like... vengeful, pony. Vengeful."

"Vengeful?" he exclaims. "You literally exploded some pegasus' head because you wanted to, and that's not vengeful, is genocidal... just look at the filly, she's covered in the blood you spilt, and she's still in shock, guy... her sight is so cold it can freeze a freaking volcano."

The ram smiles. "I've got to admit I like your jokes."

"And I've got to admit I don't like you," replies Chisel, something that makes Tenebris hold his breath for a second.

"That's because you don--."

Boom. Something hits Tenebris' back and alerts everyone. What the ram sees when he turns around is a bleeding pink pony, floating with her own magic. She takes a breath before speaking.

"What you did is unforgivable," she says. "And I'll get all of you back into where you belong... Stone Chisel," she says now, looking and pointing at the stallion. "Now that I'm seeing you, carrying Discord as a slave and staying with bad influences... you have no pardon. You lost your ticket to the Train of Friendship."

Chisel, feeling quite guilty, confesses. "Wait..." he says, trying to redeem himself. "Listen to me... please... you are Starlight Glimmer, right? I did a mistake and this crazy night ram is keeping me as his mul-"

"How curious... are you a pupil of Celestia or what?."

"HEY!" shouts Stone Chisel. "I'm talking, you son of a--"

"Shut up or the only thing that will remain of you is that stupid silver ring you have on your ear."

Now, with that phrase, Starlight changes her point of view. He now changes her main topic from Stone Chisel to that crazy night ram she's facing. "Who are you?" she asks.

"My name is Tenebris the Night Ram and you still haven't answered my question."

"Why would I answer the question of someone who even mistreats his own allies?"

"He?" says the night ram looking at Chisel. "He's not my ally. I'm only using him to carry my prisoner, Discord."

"And why are you keeping Discord away from his own liberty?"

Tenebris doesn't doubt his answer. "I need someone to be my personal punching bag," and immediately after answering that, he starts playing his game again. "I'll tell you something... from my own point of view, you look exactly like somepony who is waiting for her mentor Celestia to send another task just for you... tell me," he says, laughing. "Did you make any friends?"

Starlight gets a bit shocked at how blunt sounded Tenebris' words. She's confused and surprised by what's going on, so she does the first thing which comes to his mind: her horn starts glowing up. "I'm afraid it's no time for me to answer your questions."

"Oh, trust me... it will be."

"STARLIGHT!" shouts Stone Chisel and Discord at the same time, while Tirek and Chrysalis are looking at them. "GO AWAY!" he repeats, but Starlight, instead of doing the best for her, decides to fight all of the villains on her own. Sadly, once she approaches Tenebris to attack him, the night ram hits her with his horns and stomps her to the ground with his body. Now the unicorn is lying on the ground, bleeding and hurt.

"You silly... you feel so powerful with that horn... I can turn you into the weakest pony in just one second." And in that second, Tenebris raises one of his hooves and fastly steps on Starlight's horn two times, breaking it in pieces. The unicorn shouts because of pain and fear, something that makes Tirek and Cozy Glow look at each other. The centaur knows it's time to soften the waters because, for him, this is getting out of hand a bit. "Hey, why don't you let me consume her magic... After that, she'll be useless."

Chrysalis also adds sauce. "I'm hungry for love too. Could you lend me that pony?"

And last but not least, Cozy Glow stutters something while cleaning her hooves from the blood and smiling at the ram with a blush: "And I need... to exact my revenge."

The three of them are waiting for a yes, but sadly, Tenebris only answers:

"Stand back."

Cozy Glow gets behind, and now Tirek and Chrysalis look at each other, thinking about attacking him "But..."

"Stand. Back."

Tirek thinks about consuming the ram's power when he turns around and looks at both Cozy Glow and Chrysalis. The Bug Queen nods her head, trying to tell him he has to do something, but the centaur decides to take a step back when he takes a look at those fiery blue eyes, making him think it's not a good time to do it. Stone Chisel also tries to do something, getting near the ram and Starlight, looking for a way to stop this but he is pushed away so strongly gets crashed against a tree. "I'll tell you what I think about pupils."

A second later, Discord finds out the ram broke a big tree branch which he is handling perfectly, pointing it at Starlight, while the gem starts trembling again. The God of Chaos, desperate, jumps onto Tenebris and gets him away from the pony, taking a tied Stone Chisel with him, but that only worsens the situation, when he looks the branch is falling down... right where Starlight is staying.

Stone Chisel tries to do something to stop it, so he gets up and runs to save her, but once he passes by her broken horn, the branch crashes onto the ground and a grave sound is heard.

...

CRASH!

From one second to another, everyone has red on their skin and fur. Stone Chisel is the first one who takes a look at what has just happened and finds out the big branch is standing on the ground... with its bottom buried in Starlight's body. The robber, feeling so shocked, confused and guilty, only reacts in one way. He feels a flame inside his throat that comes out in only one word:

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!"

The scene is so shocking even the villains, Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, run to Starlight to verify if she is alive or dead. Stone Chisel touches her face with her hooves, figuring out if she can react to him or not. Discord, who turns around and doesn't say anything, looks at Tenebris with pure hatred. The ram, on the other hand, only stands up and looks at how the branch ended up impaling the innocent pony's body. "Thanks, Discord. You made my plan simpler."

Discord thinks about attacking him, but decides not to do anything... what can he do? He can't defeat him, he can't shut him up. He can't do anything with the boulders on his hands and tied to an earth pony. Chrysalis even approaches her ears to Starlight, just to verify if she can hear something from her. "She's..."

"She's alive," whispers Cozy Glow, still with her face and loin covered in pegasus blood. "She blinked... Sweet Celestia, she's still alive... we... we can cure her and use he-"

Crack. Tenebris has literally snapped her neck using his magic. "We won't use anybody, did you hear me? Everyone who dares to stop us is dead. Keep that in mind, all of you."

And at that moment the villains start discussing with the ram. "You really wanted to..." stutters Chrysalis. "...Im... Impale her with a tree branch?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you just snap her neck and that's it?" asks Tirek. "That would have been... much simpler."

And at that moment... two orbs come out of Starlight's body. A green one, which Tenebris gives to Chrysalis, and a pink one, which is given to Tirek. "I've seen you consuming love and magic, so eat them if you want. It's this pony's being. And please, let me enjoy the moment. Breaking necks turn into something repetitive over time. Let's go." He turns around and leaves everybody with a lump on their throats, such a big lump they can't even swallow Starlight's being. That wasn't a villain's behaviour... that was directly a psychopath, so cynical it makes Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow look at Discord for the first time trying to ask him, with no words, what are they going to do with him. Discord only nods his head, proving his point. "Hey, Discord... I'm afraid we will have to change the mule. Look at this fool's face."

Stone Chisel is the one that's having the worst of it. Taking charge of its guilt due to Tenebris' liberation, he is just lying on the floor in a defeated, Walter White-esque position, looking at nowhere, thinking about nothing, crying with no tears, dying with no death. He is starving on the inside while staying next to Starlight Glimmer's soulless, impaled corpse.

Cozy Glow hits him in the face with one of her hooves, but he doesn't react. He's lost. Lost and dead on the inside.

...

"Don't you ever go back to stealing, Stone Chisel. That's bad. That's wrong. Stay with me. Here you will be treated like a king..."

"Yes, Mr LaCrowley. I promise I won't ever steal anything again..."

"Stone Chisel... Stone Chisel... what have you done?"

...

At the same time, Flash Sentry, Kennedy and Shining Warrior arrive at the forest. "I've got to apologize," says the leader talking to his partners. "I thought they were going to be on old Grogar's lair."

"I mean, BP always starts for the smallest places..." answers Kennedy. "But don't worry, we understand why you started there. I'd also hide in Grogar's Lair if I was a fugitive. I mean, it's a really cool place."

Then, they hear a shout from nowhere which alerts them, and the first thing they look at when they arrive is that there is a pegasus lying on a lake of red, outside the forest. All of them, desperately and in silence, look at it. "Oh no..." says Kennedy. "Oh no. Oh no."

"Oh..." says Flash Sentry, wordless. "Shining, please, check him... we need to know if it's BP. Either he is or not, we must send him urgently to a hospital or another cureplace."

"Sure," says Shining Warrior, once he gets nearer the mysterious pegasus, but once he touches and gets the helmet off him, his blue skin fades to white. He's completely frozen.

"What?" shouts Flash. "What ha---"

All of them look at the pegasus's body and nobody says anything until Kennedy speaks. "He..."

"He has no head."

At the same time, something else stops near them. Once Kennedy turns around, he looks Rainbow Dash and a couple of pegasi arrived. "Sorry," she says, with her eyes closed. "We've got some delay because we sent others to the sou..."

And then she looks at the dead pegasus and remains silent. Flash Sentry is the only one who reacts to it after this: He shakes his head, looking to the Forest. "Whoever did this... is not a normal villain... but pure bloodthirst."

A Pegasus' Farewell

Arc II - Chapter III - A Pegasus' Farewell

"W-What... what..." Rainbow Dash whispers while looking at the decapitated pegasus, almost sweating because of her fear. "Who... who did this... where is his head?"

"There is blood everywhere, and look," says Shining Warrior, pointing with his eyes at a piece of meat floating on the blood lake. "If he was decapitated then his head would be somewhere in one piece. It looks like... someone blew up his head."

Now, all of them feel worse at hearing that. "Who?" asks Flash Sentry. "Tirek? Cozy Glow? Stone Chisel? You think they did..."

"Of course not," says Rainbow Dash. "Although I'm not 100% sure but... this is... this..."

"This is pure evil," answers Kennedy, at the time some pegasi with blue uniforms arrive. The Wonderbolts arrive at the fight, and the first thing they do is just looking at the corpse. Everypony is in silence.

Spitfire is the first Wonderbolt who says something. "Oh my..." she says, trying not to pass out. "Sweet Celestia. Sweet Luna. What has just happened here?"

Soarin also dares to make a comment. "This is... this is horrendous. Whoever did this shall..."

And then, more and more colts and ponies enter the scenario. Speedspear and Eagle Eye appear along with two unicorns each to know what happened with Brave Position. "NO!" shouts Speedspear at the time he sees the body. "BP! NO! NOOO!"

At the same time, the evil crew listens to the shout. Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow are looking at Stone Chisel, who is still lying in the same position as before. Discord is also lying on the ground, looking at Tenebris with much more hatred than ever. The ram dares to stand on Starlight's body to take a look at what's going on outside the forest. "Oh... we have more visitors."

"What?" says Chrysalis, turning around. "You want to commit a mass murder again, after the mess you did here with this pony?"

And with that, the ram turns his back and looks at Chrysalis, who is standing in front of him and challenging his behaviour. Tirek is also standing behind the queen, while Cozy Glow is hiding behind one of the centaur's hooves. Surprisingly, Discord also stands up, in favour of the villains. Stone Chisel is the only one who doesn't do anything. "You psychopath, piece of trash. You horribly killed someone who didn't deserve to die."

"Oh, shut up, you brainwashed mishmash. I'm looking at them, not you."

"You are looking at me while you are looking at them... because we all think the same. You are a piece of crap."

Tenebris chuckles. "Do you think that, my allies?"

Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis look at each other for a second. They know the ram is not an easy creature to handle with, and it may be harder to get what they want because of him. He promised to help them but... does his bloodthirst help them... or it just puts them in danger too?...

... What should they do? What should they say? Someone has to say something, quickly!

"No," says Cozy, being the first one to speak. After that, the centaur and the queen make sight contact one more time and agree on what they will say:

"No."

Tenebris, despite they took quite a long time to decide what to say, he decides to let them go. "Hmmm... see, Discord?"

The God of Chaos doesn't even answer and just stays there, in silence. Tenebris even taunts him, laughing at him and also cutting in half his deer horn with his magic, but he doesn't do anything. He is just staring at him, showing his pure anger.

At the same time, there's something blue in the sky.

"What is that?" asks Spitfire, staring at the sky. "Looks like a sphere."

Now everyone takes a look at it. It's a small ball which is slowly gaining size. It's increasing, turning bigger and bigger. "Is it... growing up?" says Kennedy.

"No..." says a surprised Dash, finding out what is happening. "It's not increasing its size... it's falling right down to us!"

Everyone moves away from there but stops when they look the ball doesn't crash onto the ground. He stops in the air, almost touching the dirt, and when everypony see what's on the inside... they begin to turn crazy.

The ball is the perfect definition of hell. The blue colour which seemed inoffensive at first sight turns to a dark orange on the inside. There are lots and lots of Royal Guards inside, shouting and begging for mercy while being burned alive. Literally, no pony can physically describe what is happening inside that bubble.

"Passion Fruit..." whispers Eagle Eye, looking at one of the Royal Guards crying on the inside. "PASSION FRUIT! PASSION FRUIT IS INSIDE! WE'VE GOT TO FREE THEM!"

Immediately Royal Guards from both Empires, Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash try to open the bubble but they simply can't. It's unbreakable, and even Flash Sentry with his magic can't break it. The Wonderbolts desperately start flying around the bubble but stop when Spitfire and Soarin decide to take a step away once they discover the bubble is turning red. The shouts are getting much louder and the ambience starts feeling way hotter.

At that moment, Flash Sentry knows something is about to happen, so he decides to walk away. "SPEEDSPEAR! EAGLE EYE!" he shouts while Rainbow Dash is also flying away, protected by guards. "GET AWAY FROM THE BALL!"

"NO!" shouts Eagle Eye, along with Speedspear and other Royal Guards while others still run from there. "WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM ALONE... WE ARE A TEA---"

Boom.

A huge explosion is heard from outside the forest that even wakes Stone Chisel up. The clear blue sky dyes into a dark red for a second and everything comes to normal again. "What the..." says Cozy Glow, almost closing her eyes. "What has just happened?"

Tenebris is the first one who looks outside. There is a big hole in the ground, surrounded by ashes and bones. "Hmmm... it clearly worked, Rushkwa... but did you kill them all?"

"W-what...?" whispers the centaur, taking a look at the horrifying scenario. "Your wife did this?"

"Helped me," he answers. "That light blue orb you saw, Tirek, was my wife's soul... and speaking of light blue..." he says, after looking at a hurt Rainbow Dash lying on the floor. Her whole body is complete but she still has some wounds and also a broken wing. "Here we have the next victim."

Everyone gets out of the forest now, Tenebris the first and Stone Chisel the last, carrying Discord. However, the robber stops walking and looks at the God of Chaos behind him. "We must do that plan now," he says. "We have to kill that son of a bitch before he kills us."

"Wait, Chisel... wait."

"But... didn't you see what he did to Starlight Glimmer? And now I don't even want to see what he will do to Rainbow Dash... son of a gun... fucking bastard..."

"I know, but if you do something now, we won't get anywhere... the two of us are weak and alone by now."

"No," whispers Chrysalis next to them, who hasn't got out of the forest yet. "You may be weak... but you are not alone. Since he killed Sombra I've been thinking the same, and despite these other two didn't say anything... I know they agree. We have to get rid of that ram before he ruins my conquest just because of his bloodthirst."

Discord takes advantage of Chrysalis' being at that moment to say something... "Now that you are here, Chrysalis... I've got to say... you and Tirek have to take care of the little filly, trust me..."

"Why?" asks the bug queen, raising an eyebrow.

"Tenebris hates ponies, but what he hates the most are little, annoying, rude and bossy fillies. Cozy Glow is the perfect example of that. Take care of her."

The queen chuckles as if this is something funny, despite being completely concerned about the whole situation on the inside. "If that's true... I bet she'll die before this grey pony."

"This is not a joke, Chrysalis... His revenge will not only be bad for the princesses, but also for you... he will either ruin your plan with Tirek and the filly or kill you in the way."

And at that moment Chrysalis turns around and looks at the God of Chaos. "You mean my plan, alone. I have nothing planned with them and I'm only here because you brought us here and he freed this psycho... I'm not working with them."

Discord laughs. "If you work together everything will be better. Trust me."

And then, Chrysalis arrives with no Stone Chisel on her side while Tenebris looks at his next victim: The pegasus Rainbow Dash. "Let's see... a thunder? A storm as a cutie mark?"

Rainbow only growls while looking at the ram and his allies. "You... who are... you?"

"What? You don't know me?" he says, smiling. "My name is Tenebris, leader of the Night Rams... and your murderer."

Dash feels something on her back. Something that she never experienced before. Has she ever felt pure anger, fear and desperation, all on her back at the same time? "You... you did that?"

The ram turns around, only to look at the hole. "You mean the ball? Yes. Did you like it?... Well, ha, ha... As if I cared about your answer..."

Once he is about to kill the fastest pegasus of all, something appears out of nowhere and hits him, and that's when he realizes there are still some Royal Guards alive. The first thing he does is throw Rainbow Dash away with his magic, so violently and strongly she even enters the forest. Then, the ram turns around, ignoring the Royal Guards coming at him, only looking for some stallion. "Where in the world is that foolish stallion?!"

The robber heard that. Now Stone Chisel feels he is in the spotlight. He's in the middle with the genocidal creature. "He's hiding in the forest with Discord," replies Chrysalis.

The ram snorts angrily, so strongly it moves Cozy's curly, light blue mane. "Coward... Tell him to go for the light blue pegasus. He has to bring her to me, alive. Some pony has to be my coup de grace."

However, once he saw Rainbow Dash getting into the forest, Stone Chisel turned around and started going for her. He certainly has a plan. He has just made something at that right moment, and when Chrysalis turns around, she finds out he is not there anymore. "I think he has started looking for her already," she says.

"What are you doing?"

"I have an idea."

"What kind of idea... ouch! Slow down, my back..."

Stone Chisel and Discord get deeper into the Forest, passing by Starlight's body while hearing a shout on the outside, and they see Rainbow Dash unconscious and lying on the ground. "Oh... I hope she's not..."

"What are you trying to do with Rainbow Dash? You haven't told me yet."

"Wait... Rainbow Dash? Hey! Rainbow..." Chisel thinks for a moment she's dead, but once he hears a sound coming out of her he sighs with relief. "Rainbow Dash... it's me... Stone Chisel."

Rainbow Dash is almost unconscious, so much she doesn't recognize the robber. "...W...Who?"

"Um..." struggles the robber, and then he chuckles. "My name is Stone Chisel and I like chameleons."

Discord now looks at him, confused. "What does the chameleon have to do with this?"

"Long story," he says and stops looking around when he observes there is a small ditch next to them, with water. That's the moment when Stone Chisel does his plan and eventually, he moves Rainbow and puts her into the ditch. "I'm saving you from that ram... please, don't say I am bad... I'm not even an ally of him... he has Discord kidnapped... please..."

And then, Stone Chisel puts a branch over her, trying to decorate (or simulate) her death, and runs away with Discord on his back. However, once he passes by Starlight, impaled with the branch, he stops. "What?" says the God of Chaos. "What are you doing?"

"I..." he says, so guilty he has a tear about to get out of his eye. "Discord... I... I can't see her like that. What if her friends found them in this horrifying scene..."

"And what are you going to do? You can't revive her... and I can't do anything either... I have these stupid boulders on my hands."

"Just..." he says. "I just want to... get that branch out of her..." and then he turns around, with concerned, shocked eyes. "Would you?"

Discord raises an eyebrow. "Would you what?"

"Would you help me to destroy the branch, please?"

Meanwhile, while Stone Chisel and Discord were looking for Rainbow Dash in the forest, Tirek, Tenebris, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow were fighting against a few Royal Guards. The centaur, taking advantage of this, starts grabbing some Royal Guards to consume their magic, while Chrysalis does the same with their love. The battle was normal at first until someone punches the ram in the face and makes him trip over, something that makes him really angry, so much he shouts to the skies: "FOOLS! BRING ME THE ONE WHO HIT MY FACE!"

"I did it, you dumb kitty!"

Tenebris heard it in the skies, so he looks above him to find out that imbecile's identity. Spitfire, just enlightened by the sun, is still alive and with her two wings. Behind her, Soarin, Thunderlane and Blaze appear, about to attack, but at the same time, while being distracted because of the Wonderbolts, a royal guard fires another magical beam to the ram, which ends up hitting the postcrystalline necklace.

The crazy creature decides to ignore it at first because it didn't even hurt him but changes his mind when he realizes the pain on his neck, filled with big, deep burns, stops. He decides to look at it and discovers the gem's colour has changed to a dark grey. He even waits for a second just in case it goes back to red... but nothing happens. He takes a look at the necklace, which is still standing, hooked on his neck, but has more cracks than the last time he checked it out. It looks like it has so many cracks the gem started getting off the necklace, although just a bit.

That Royal Guard freed him in a way, and that's the best news he's ever had in a while. "It doesn't hurt..." he says, smiling...

"What?" says Cozy Glow, next to him. "Your gem! Your gem!"

But he isn't even listening, he only laughs. "It doesn't hurt... the gem doesn't hurt.. NOT ANYMORE!" he shouts and at that same moment, he breaks the Royal Guards' neck, something that shocks the Wonderbolts, which don't even doubt attacking him at that same time... However, just because that didn't hurt, Tenebris dares to use his powers with the now dark grey gem one more time. He has something special in mind for those pegasi. Something special for the punch Spitfire gave him in the face.

He has just a chance. One. And he has to do it in only one second. They are getting nearer. They are fast. Really fast. He has to do that now, and what he has on his psychopathic, degenerate mind is something beautiful for him and only for him...

All of the Wonderbolts start flying to him. "WE GOT HIM!"

...

Not really...

SHRACKK!

"AAAAAAARGHHH!"

The first one who shouts is Soarin, who gets stamped onto the ground and doesn't react. Blaze doesn't know how to react, and ends up crashing against a tree, stabbing herself with a branch. Thunderlane, on the other hand, lands on the ground but can't do anything because of the pain. Then another one, and another one, everyone falls on the ground, and Spitfire, now alone in the skies, feels an undescribable pain on her back... and when she turns around...

... she finds out she has no wings.

Her blue uniform, now dyed red, gets ruined once she touches the ground. She wants to get that off but she can't because of the pain, and trying to clear her mind, she looks at her partners. Soarin, Thunderlane and Blaze, along with others... all of them have nothing on their back, just blood. Spitfire dares to take one last look at the sky, only to see all of its wings floating in the air. "So... you hit me in the face, don't you?"

Spitfire only laughs while sweating and gasping because of the pain. She gets her broken shades off with her trembling hooves and looks at Tenebris. "I'll send you... to Tartarus..." she says, something that makes Tenebris smile a bit.

"How curious... you will send me to Tartarus? Don't make me laugh, piece of litter..."

Spitfire, trying to hold her spirit, decides to give him a trembling, pale, bleeding smile while frowning. "You stupid ram..." she says, and her smile is gone. "My wings... you son of a... I won't ever fly again, I will b-beat you up, little p-p-piece of... argh... s-seabreeze..."

Cozy Glow now hides behind Tirek again, scared. The centaur and the queen make contact one more time, trying to figure out how can they get out of this. "You won't ever fly again? Stop lying... I can help you."

And in that second, Tenebris uses his magic to send Spitfire to the skies, throwing her away... making her fly. Not only the evil ram does that, but he also fires a purple beam, which comes out from the middle of his horns, and blows up the Wonderbolts' Captain in the air, killing her.

Soarin looks at how her boss blows up in the skies, and he even gets touched by some drops of blood on his face. "S... SPITFIRE! You mother..." whispers Soarin, who slowly gets up with now his red uniform and no wings, about to attack Tenebris. "I won't forgive... you... AAAARGH!"

Soarin jumps onto Tenebris, sacrificing his integrity and leaving his pain aside, but just a second later, he, along with all of his partners, gets turned into wooden spears, something that surprises the allies. The fallen spears touch the ground at the same time the wings do, and a quite scared Cozy Glow dares to ask. "....S-spears? How? Why?"

The ram smiles, inside his happiness. "The first thing that came into my mind..." and then he looks at his gem. "Well, it seems I feel... better. Despite it is still with me, looks like the gem lost a part of its power over me. It's now dark grey... and you know I need to turn it into dust. That means, at least... ha, ha... I can almost do whatever I want... chaos is mine already."

On the other hand, Stone Chisel along with Discord arrives at the place: "I've found her dead," says the thief, seriously, with no expression. "Impaled on a tree branch."

The ram laughs at the time Discord finds out his gem has changed its colour. He never felt so scared in his long, way looooong life. "Oh, finally the coward has appeared... and has found the pegasus in the right place, where she has to stay... Now... after so long having fun, I think it's time to g--"

"Stop."

Now everyone looks at the one who said that. Someone who Stone Chisel knows well.

Flash Sentry, with his broken horn and an ear, ripped off, is there... alive and standing. "You won't go anywhere until I die with honour," he says, taking his golden helmet off, revealing his blue mane. "You won't move until I stop moving."

The Sacrifice

Arc II - Chapter IV - The Sacrifice

The ram smiles at Flash Sentry, as if the guard was a baby filly. "How cute... what's your name?"

The leader of the Royal Guards, alone, with no one on his side and with his broken horn, only throws his helmet away, smiling. "My name is Flash Sentry, you son of a bitch."

Stone Chisel gets surprised at that. It's the first time Flash Sentry swears on his life, maybe. "Since when a Royal Guard curses somebody?"

"Since the time I looked at you murdering my partners," he says, and then he stretches one of his hooves, touching his forehead. "I'm waiting for you to shut up and do what you have to do since I arrived here, with no ear and horn... would you kill me or not?" The ram looks at his allies now, even Stone Chisel and Discord. Flash Sentry is still there, not doing anything, shouting: "DO IT!" meanwhile Tenebris prepares his show.

"No," says some pony, interrupting the fun and the tension of everyone. "You don't have to kill him, Tenebris," says the robber. "He doesn't deserve to die... kidnap him, do what you want but... don't kill him."

All of the creatures stay in silence and Stone Chisel expects something good from Flash Sentry, maybe he will give in and don't die, but the Royal Guard says something different that surprises him: "Fuck you, Stone Chisel."

The robber now is shocked, looking at the stallion he hated hours ago. "W-what? I'm literally saving your ass, you dumb."

"I don't want to get my ass saved by a piece of shit like you..." he says, now putting his stretched hoof on the ground. "You dare to call a genocidal ram who murdered creatures with the same flesh and bones as you... by his name?"

"I... I only wanted to be formal."

"Formal?" says Flash, this time furious. "You dare to disobey the princesses that gave you land... but you offer your kindness to an animal that only expresses death?"

Now the robber realizes he may have screwed it up. "No," now replies, getting nearer the guard. "He doesn't even consider me an ally, Flash. I'm just here carrying Discord because he told me to do that."

"And why are you following his orders?"

Now he gets nearer the guard, he whispers. "Because if I don't, I'll be his fucking food, Flash."

Flash stays in silence for a moment, looking at the ram who is also not saying anything. "How ironic," says Flash, not even looking at the robber. "The most infamous robber of recent times, the criminal who didn't even care about those who were at the Crystal Faire... he's just a frightened little pussy on the inside." That only breaks something on the robber's inside. He feels decayed, depressed, weak when he says that, and even makes Tenebris laugh while the other villains try to be serious, but can't hide their surprise. Discord is the only one that doesn't say anything. "I'll teach you how to handle those who deserve to die."

Now the ram smiles, now that his attention has been attracted by the guard. "Go ahead. Teach me, you loyalaholic."

Flash Sentry passes by the robber, pushing him away and facing the ram. "What are you waiting for? I'm getting tired of being alive, looking at your serial killer face. Send me to the other world so I can accomplish my sacrifice for the princesses' honour."

Tenebris intimidates the guard, showing him his newly green eyes he can control thanks to Sombra's dark magic, but from one second to another... he changes his mind. His eyes go back to normal. "No."

And at that moment, Flash Sentry felt insulted. "What did you say?"

The ram shakes his head. "I would kill you, but... that only will make me grant what you want, and I don't want you to die happily... I won't."

"But..." he says, gasping and even showing his anger through his bloodshot eyes. "I, then... I'll make you kill me."

"Not so fast, cretin," he whispers to the guard. "I already have an idea."

Sentry, with his bloodshot eyes, touches his nose with Tenebris' jaw. "...Go ahead. Do it."

Tenebris decides not to say anything, but to do. He gets the stone wire which connects Stone Chisel's loin with Discord's feet out of the robber's body and decides to chain it on one of his own hooves. Stone Chisel is free, but instead of running away, he just stays there, frozen and scared of everything around him... even himself. He doesn't know what is going to happen. "You hate him, isn't it?"

The robber knows is his time to answer. "Look, uh..."

"I'm not talking to you," he says, and then he proceeds to look at Flash. "I'm talking to him."

"I won't follow any one of your orders. Just kill me."

"If you don't follow them, you won't die."

"I only listen to the orders of Princesses Celestia and Luna, and no creature else."

Tenebris, surprised, looks around him. "Oh... I'm afraid I don't see them right here, right now. Do they even know what's going on here?"

"Yes," he answers. "And I'll protect them until my last breath, even here, sacrificing my life and not running away like a coward, spilling my honour with selfishness."

Everyone now gets shocked at how loyal is Flash Sentry to the princesses, while Stone Chisel gets more and more depressed. Even the ram is surprised. "Woah... That's what I call a warrior who gives his own life for the leader... sadly, the wrong leader."

"Flash..." whispers Stone Chisel, interrupting the conversation. "Don't."

The Royal Guard shakes his head again. "What do you want to do..." he says, looking at Tenebris. "To make me die?"

Now Tenebris has arrived at the moment he has been waiting for. "I freed him because I know you hate him more than me, and I would say I am 100% sure he hates you too... I've been waiting for a stallion fight for a long time..."

Stone Chisel shakes his head. "I deny the offer. I won't fight against him. Let him go."

However, Flash Sentry says something different: "I accept... only if you promise me, you'll kill me and I won't follow any order of you."

The ram smiles. "Sure... if you win, your sacrifice will be granted. If you lose, however... I'm afraid I'll let you go."

"But..." now says Stone Chisel, shocked. He wants Flash to live, not die under the hands of this maniac, despite he never liked him. He's sure he wants to... but now he has to beat him up to make him live... can he?

"Flash... please," he says. "I never liked you but... you don't deserve to die like this, dude. You've got to live, my colt. You've got a future awaiting you... just let you go... get kidnapped... I can carry you..."

However, Flash does the same as Tenebris. He doesn't say anything, but do: he jumps onto the robber and kicks him in his face, making him fall to the ground. "You coward..." he whispers. "You say you know about friendship and you don't know anything..."

"Argh..." he whispers. That hit in his face really hurt. "You're wrong, Flash, you're wrong!" he says, getting up. "I know about friendship."

"You don't," replies the guard. "If you knew about it, then we wouldn't be fighting right here, right now... as my deathwish, I'm going to teach you the magic of friendship."

"Uh," he replies. "I don't think the magic of friendship can be taught through a fight until death, Flash, so..." and then, the robber decides to execute his improvised plan. "I give up! There's no fight!"

"You can't give up."

"WHAT?" he shouts. "You motherfu---" CRASH! That's how Stone Chisel hears the punch Flash Sentry gives to him and trips him over again. Now, that was way worse than the previous one, especially when he touches his mouth with one of his hooves and discovers one of his lips is bleeding. "Oh... you son of a..."

"Get up," he says. "Or I'll do it for you... and you won't like it."

Now the thief gets up, furious. "I tried to do this the good way, Flash... but I'm afraid I'll have to beat you up to make you live."

"And what are you waiting for... COWARD?"

And now the robber has a cause to fight. He felt depressed when he told him that a minute ago, and now that he is taunting him... he wants to beat him up for real. "You son of a..." he says aloud, right before jumping onto Flash Sentry and punching his body. Flash Sentry does the same, trying to punch him in the face one more time. He has to let his hate go before going away. The fight calls everyone's attention around and clears their minds for a second. It even makes Cozy Glow smile a bit, after getting completely wet with pegasus blood. Discord is the only one that is not enjoying it.

However, inside the fight, Stone Chisel and Flash Sentry are fighting with no sense at all. Stone wants to save Flash's life, but Flash doesn't even care about the decision the robber took. He's just there to beat Chisel up because he hates him. A mutual resentment, like he said a time ago. A mutual resentment he wants to break in pieces, with this fight. In a critical moment, Stone Chisel punches Flash Sentry's face two times and pushes him away. He has a couple of bruises on his loin, and even a bite mark on his right ear. "Don't you understand, asshole?" shouts Chisel. "Or am I proving the point I knew all this time... that you are an idiotic virgin? You say I don't know what friendship means while I'm literally trying to save your life! Do you know why?... Because, despite you being an asshole, you don't deserve to die under the hands of him! I'm saving your ass because that's what a friend of yours would do! And I'm not even your Celestia-damn friend!"

Now Flash looks at the robber with his signature, bloodshot eyes. "Don't you dare... to say the name of Celestia in vain, you fool."

But Chisel is still lost in his thoughts. "Why... why do you want to die... you don't deserve this fate..."

"That's what I promised to the Princess..." answers Flash Sentry. "Loyalty, love and honour... even in death."

"You're literally putting in your life in the game..."

"Yes," says Flash Sentry, cleaning his face with blood. "But you know what, you are wrong..."

Stone Chisel now gets angrier. "And why do you say that?"

Flash Sentry prepares to jump, but before he says: "I'm sure I had my first time with a mare even before you left Daddy's home."

"Oh, you son of a gun..." and boom, both stallions start fighting again and this time is a bit more personal.

Cozy Glow turns around and looks at Tenebris, meanwhile. "Golly, I would really like to record this and share it in the gazettes... that would be the best thing I ever did..." and then she frowns and gives everybody an evil smile. "But thinking we still have a Kingdom to take and a quest for power to solve, I know that will be better than anything else..."

"Of course," says Tenebris, with a certain tone that shows he is hiding something else behind. A tone that calls Chrysalis' attention, which now looks at Discord. The God of Chaos looks at her back and nods his head.

"I told you, Chrysalis. Put her far from Tenebris."

"Well... stop, please, stop," says the ram, and Stone Chisel instantly stops going after Flash. The guard, however, disobeys that order and punches Chisel in his face. "I told you to stop!... Although it was funny."

"FLASH!" shouts the robber on the floor. "STOP!"

"I told Tenebris I wouldn't follow anyone of his orders after this one."

"Well, follow mine, then! Stop it! Do it for Celestia! For Twilight!"

At the same time Chisel says Twilight, Flash stops, but because of something specific. "Where is... where is..."

"Who?" asks Tirek. "Every pony around you is dead."

"Starlight Glimmer," he answers, looking at the four villains standing, except for Cozy Glow who is flying behind Tirek. "You... you killed her... you..."

"I did it... I think I did it. I don't know who she is."

"He impaled her with a tree branch and snapped her neck," says Stone Chisel, with a bruise on his face. "He did it."

Flash doesn't say anything for a moment, and only sighs. "You killer... you night ram, genocidal beast, monster..." he whispers. "Tenebris the Night Ram, I know you and I hate you. The Princesses still consider you a menace after all these years... that's what you want to hear?"

The ram smiles. "No... I want to hear them begging for their lives while looking at me, but I appreciate your effort by telling me that."

"You won't get the chance," he says. "Never... and whoever freed you, shall suffer with you."

"He did it," says Cozy Glow, pointing at the robber. Stone Chisel, now exposed. Flash knew that was something expectable but... how did he do it? Wait... he knows something.

"Chaos magic... isn't it?" says Flash. "And you escaped from Tartarus with that? That means..." Flash Sentry comes up to something that makes him even angrier. "Damnit... why... why."

The robber doesn't even know what to say. He has to defend himself. "It was a mistake... I didn't do it intentionally..."

"BUT YOU DID IT!" shouts, gasping. "You asshole... this is my fault... my stupid fault... if only we knew how to get rid of the chaos magic you handled... if only we tried to... you have an amulet which helps you to perform chaos magic, don't you? And you freed him unintentionally while using it, right? That means... you had another magic trick along with the magical mist."

Stone Chisel only nods his head. "I could turn myself into a shadow with a spell."

And now the guard turns around, with his bloodshot eyes, to observe the robber one last time. "Everypony ignored that... but I knew that gibberish you said on the Everfree Forest was a spell and with that... you may have freed him... intentionally."

"WHAT?" says Stone Chisel. "I told you I didn't do it intentionally!"

"Maybe you didn't, maybe yes..." says Flash Sentry. "But you freed him... you made a mistake. The worst."

"And I'm trying to solve this."

"How?" he says, approaching the thief.

"... Um, I said trying, Flash, not doing."

And sadly, Flash can't handle this. "You think this is a joke, you dumbass! I'll sacrifice my love for the Princesses... for you to tell me that?" Then, he turns around and looks at the ram. "You will be condemned, Stone Chisel. If you don't find the solution, you will be the first one who will die... and the only one who will get bit by both rams and ponies. Grow up."

"G-grow up?" he shouts. "You are the one who is willing to die just because of honour!"

"That's because you have no idea about what respect and loyalty mean." Now, Flash, turning around and although he is not even trying to, surrenders to the genocidal creature. "I've accomplished your deal. Now, do it."

But Stone Chisel keeps with his position. "No, Tenebris! Let him go!"

"Do it."

"Let him go!"

"DO IT!"

"LET. HIM. GO, TENEBRIS!"

"DO IT!"

And then a spear comes out of nowhere and gets stabbed right in Flash Sentry's heart. The guard trembles for a second before falling to the ground with the spear still in his heart. "NO!" shouts Chisel, getting near Flash's agonizing presence. "You asshole! Why? WHY?"

"You..." says Flash, bleeding through his mouth.

"You stupid cutie mark crusader!" shouts the robber. "Why did you have to do this?!"

Flash takes his last breath, accomplishing his last desire. "You burglar... traitor... The... the... the pillars will make you... pay..."

And then... head slowly tilted to the right, closing, soul-less eyes, a blue mane dyed to red. Flash Sentry was pronounced dead. "Flash... you stupid bitch," he whispers, shaking his head with bruises, and then he looks to Tenebris. "You killed him."

"No, I gave him food, you imbecile... Of course I killed him."

"You motherfucker..." he says. "He didn't, Rainbow Dash didn't, Starlight didn't have to..."

"Die? None of your business, filth, or do you want to be the fourth?"

Now somepony else has the bloodshot eyes. Flash Sentry gave his anger to somebody else before dying. "You are going to die..."

"Me? Not under your hands, I suppose."

And at that time, everything stops when the robber dares to jump onto the ram. He isn't even thinking about the consequences that can bring, but he doesn't even care about that now. He jumps with anger and energy, and he feels for a short period of time the dark blue fur touching his hooves, but everything changes drastically and fastly.

Suddenly, Stone Chisel feels something invisible is stretching him so much from both behind and in front of him that he can't even feel for a second the indescribable pain it makes. Then, he starts feeling so much pain he gets dizzy looking around at his hooves, which are turning red, with a certain blur on his eyes. He's about to pass out.

"WAIT!"

That's the last thing the robber hears before gaining conscience again. He starts looking around, trying to find out why he felt so much pain he couldn't even shout, and why at the moment he's not feeling everything. Once he opens his eyes, he finds out he doesn't feel anyone of his legs, and when he turns his head back, he looks like he doesn't have anyone of the four. He can't move. He can't turn around. He has just turned into a stump and doesn't even know how to react to that...

...suddenly he is nothing. And he can't die. All of his wounds have been already cured and closed. What is he going to do? Live all of his life... with no legs?

"Holy... mother of..."

"I thought about leaving you here, to die... but come on... I can't abandon a pony stump here... it's a good source for jokes."

Well, that hit him ironically. Tenebris literally told him he liked his jokes and now... he will become literally a dead weight? A deadweight playing as a clown? WHAT DID HE JUST TURN INTO? "Give me..." he whispers, gasping and sweating because of the shock. "Give me back my hooves."

And then the ram stomps his now stump chest and looks at him, smiling and with no frowning at all. "Why would I?"

He has something to prevail himself. "I... I have to carry Discord."

"You've already done that task, and I'm afraid someone else has to turn into your mule..." Now the stump and the ram look at each other until the crazy genocidal creature grabs a couple of bones, spears and rock to tie Stone Chisel to one of his hooves. He is now crawling in the dirt... actually almost, because he has no hooves, hehe. "Now thank me for being your carriage. It's time to go."

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for the princesses to come here?" asks Tirek, something that Chrysalis and Cozy Glow agree with.

"I mean..." says Chrysalis. "It's a good idea. We got rid of everyone, you can take your lands again and I can take over Equestria."

"And me too," says Tirek.

"And me too, golly!" shouts Cozy. "Although I would be pleased if I have to share lands with my Tartarus BFF... isn't it, Tirek?"

The centaur, looking now at the smiling, blushing filly, snorts. "First of all, I don't want to share lands with you... and secondly, I have no idea about what BFF means and I'm not that... if you ask."

"Clearly you haven't understood it yet. You have to work together to make your project live for real. I'll let you remember that you told me all of the times you failed... you worked alone."

"Yes," says Tirek. "But that doesn't mean..."

"Of course it does mean something. This is not taking over a toy... you want to take over a whole kingdom filled with lands and lands of creatures and communities. If you want to do what I called a coup in my young times... you can't do it alone."

"But..." says Cozy Glow, raising her hooves. "Groups can be risky too. Discord told us you tried to do it, not alone... and they left yo---" but Cozy couldn't finish what she was saying before something grabs her curly, twirly light blue hair and starts strangling her. That shocks everyone, especially because they already know who is doing this. Tenebris, on the other hand, only looks at the filly trying to breathe, with a certain satisfaction, something that scares the robber with no hooves and tied to the ram. He'll let no one talk about that battle, to laugh at him in that way... especially someone like her.

"OK! OK! WE WILL WORK TOGETHER!" shouts Tirek, messing between Tenebris and Cozy. "WE WILL WORK TOGETHER IF YOU LET THE FILLY GO!"

Suddenly, the ram just does what Tirek tells him to do, and calls his attention that Chrysalis actually goes to check on her once he leaves her on the ground and stops grabbing her hair. He approaches the centaur and whispers: "Why are you defending her?"

"I'm not defending her... I've seen enough tragic fates today, ram... and now that you don't have anybody to play with, you will end up killing us, you psychopathic animal?"

Tenebris laughs and smiles at this. "Look, I have some to play with... Discord, the pony which now has no hooves... but if you keep defending the filly... you'll be the next."

"And what is wrong with the filly? What is wrong with me, ram? Do I like you? Or you hate me because I'm half-horse?"

The tension between the two animals breaks in half when something light blue comes out of Tenebris' mouth and a feminine voice starts speaking. "Please... stop this non-sensical fight..."

"And who are you to tell me that?" shouts Tirek. "Huh?"

"Don't you dare to disrespect the soul of my wife."

And now Tirek's face changes. He's more serious and sarcastically says, chuckling: "Oh... I see."

"Please... we have to be united... as a whole... as a team... we have to be together to reach our personal dreams... we have to work together... don't make this end up in a stupid fight, Tenebris..."

And at that moment, the ram sighs. "Yes, Rushkwa. We have to be united to make this happen... but, but I've already told them..."

"They will have to learn on the way... they will learn what we were taught in the community... loyalty, respect, love, humbleness... friendship... the real friendship."

"WHAT?" shouts Chrysalis, aloud. "You are telling me we have to surrender under pony's friendship?"

And at that moment, Chrysalis starts levitating while the light blue orb of Rushkwa is flying above her. "Pony friendship and night ram friendship are two different things, my changeling bug... for them, friendship is magic... for us, friendship is real." And after that, Rushkwa's soul starts floating around the ram, leaving Chrysalis alone. "Now that the gem is getting off you... be patient, my kind... remember you may now turn invisible..."

And with that phrase, the ram's eyes start shining. "Can I?"

"Maybe, give it a try... the gem is loose... it's almost coming out... be patient." Then, the soul gets inside Tenebris again, which now gets prepared to do what he was waiting for all this time, and the first thing he does is laugh at Tirek, something that makes the centaur mad.

"Ok... you wanted me to stop with the tragic fates, centaur? Here I grant you... invisibility."

From one second to another, at the same time the gem trembles, while Tenebris gasps, trying to hold the pain, a light grey, magical aura surrounds all of the beings there, while their skins and bodies are literally becoming something transparent. "Wow!" shouts Cozy, almost whispering. "We are literally turning into..."

"Of course, sweet," he says, with such a depressing tone that enrages Discord and also confuses Tirek on the inside. Clearly, he doesn't know what is he going to say or do. That ram is so damn unpredictable... "Now that Rushkwa said what you had to hear... I'm afraid it's time to move, my allies, although there is someone between us who can't even trot or turn around." He finishes his sentence only to look at Stone Chisel, on the floor, with no hooves, tied to the ram. "Isn't it?" Stone Chisel doesn't even waste his time answering him, something that disappoints the creature. "How disappointing... I thought you were going to say something funny, now that you are my personal jester... and speaking of jesters... you clearly didn't say anything about the gem colour, Disky."

"I won't even make a comment related to you... anymore," he answers, something that makes the ram smile.

"What a pity... because by the day of tomorrow all of the comments will be about me."

Viscera

Arc II - Chapter V - Viscera

Hey Stonie!

What you doin', filly? It's me, Stolen Bag, writing to you from Las Pegasus. Do you like that small apartment I gave to you in Manehattan? I could have given a more luxurious place to you, you know, but you told me so many times you've never got on with luxury and wealth so I didn't know what to give you, boy.

About that... I simply don't understand, my filly. Sometimes you tell me you don't want to talk to anybody in this group and showbiz ever again, and the next day you try to help your parents to increase sales with this idea of the gems, which I've got to admit it's not bad, although the one who came up with it, your father, has a very punchable face. I had to say it. What I'm trying to say is that I think you've got to define your spot, Stone Chisel. Remember that time I told you the story about those fillies I saw a while ago on Ponyville? The Cutie Mark Crusaders, I mean? I told you they reminded me of you, not because they didn't have a cutie mark, which you have, but because they were still looking for their spot, for something to identify themselves with. That's why I consider you that, Stone Chisel. One day you told me you like robbing, and the next day you shout at me because you don't like robbing people. I wanted to talk to you in private about this, but you never wanted to tell me your story. I want you to think, Stonie, to talk to me so we can define your spot. I'm not doing this as a partner, but as a stallion who wants to help you, boy.

Anyways, I was writing this card for you as a partner, only to tell you that we'll get together for a meeting at Suri's next Saturday. We've got to talk to Suri and Prim about our next robbery on the Crystal Faire. Maybe, if we are lucky, maybe we can get a chance to rob the Crystal Heart, but, as I said, MAYBE. Get prepared for it, it's gonna be a big one. Use that mist you told me before, and remember, if everything comes out good, we will stay at Manehattan's apartment. If someone sees something of us, even one hoof... we will hide in the little house at the end of the river....

Remember this letter won't have any one of our names. It will be written by Mr Paper (me), and a postman may arrive this week and will call out for Mr Pen (you). Remember we can't write our names on the envelope, because that can be risky.

I hope you answer, especially about the spot. If you talk to me in private about that, things will change, Stonie. ;)

Stolen Bag.

...

...things will change, Stonie. ;)

The sun touches her magenta eyes in the middle of the forest. Rainbow Dash, with a broken wing and hurt, opens them, almost letting them come out of their orbits. She feels something next to her, something cold... and when she turns around, getting a branch that was over her off, she looks at her friend, Starlight Glimmer, with such a pale colour it makes her shiver. She dares to move, to get up, something which really hurts... only to find out there is a big hole on Starlight's body, where she can see the other side, the ground through it. Trying to find out who did this, she does remember familiar faces... Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, Stone Chisel and Discord tied to him... she remembers the name of the robber, being listened to by her while being moved by something... but the only thing she can't identify is that ram. Who was that ram?... He only remembers a name... Tenebris. It was his name... right? Tenebris was his name? Was it that? Who was he? Why is it suddenly here? Where did he come from?...

Why is he so evil?

"Why would they take so l---?" Twilight was saying something but gets interrupted when Celestia, Luna, Spike and all of the Royal Guards that were with her come out from a portal, only to look at the massive carnage around them. "Wh... wh-what? What? What? What the...?"

"FLASH!" shouts the winged dragon, looking at the Royal Guards' leader's body with a spear stabbed right into his heart. "NO! NO! RAINBOW DASH!"

And at that moment everypony starts realizing what may have happened here. Something not so nice. "RAINBOW!" shouts Twilight, while the Princesses are still in silence. "RAINBOW! STARLIGHT! RAINBOW! OH, CELESTIA!" she shouts, having tears in her eyes. "OH, MY! PLEASE!"

At the same time, two other portals open, where some Royal Guards get out, along with the remaining Mane 6. All of them listen to the shouts of Twilight, followed by looking at Spike, crying over their leader's corpse. Clearly, something happened here... and they don't even know what.

"LEADER!" shouts Big Stomp, the guard who replaced Sentry as the south's leader. "SIR SENTRY, SIR SENTRY!!!"

"TWIIIIILIGHT!"

"I HEARD IT!" shouts Rarity, trembling with shock and fear. "IT'S RAINBOW! COMING FROM INSIDE THE FOREST!"

"TWIIIIIIIILIGHT!"

And with that, all of the ponies get inside the forest to get her out, while Big Stomp is looking at his dead leader. "I TOLD HIM!" he shouts. "I told him... he was alone... I should have gone instead of him... I should have..." Then, he looks at the princesses and literally surrenders to them. "Expel me... expel me, princesses! I deserve it!"

But the princesses are in another mood now. "BIG STOMP!" shouts Luna, grabbing his face with her hooves. "PLEASE... we need to know what happened here... WE CAN'T, WON'T AND ALSO DON'T WANT TO EXPEL YOU... did you understand? Please, I need all of you to look around the forest! PLEASE! The monster who did this... must be out there..."

Big Stomp, who doesn't even hesitate, nods his head and calls for his partners... however, one of them comes out of the forest and tells everypony the terrible news:

"Starlight Glimmer is dead."

No. It can't be... but it is. Princesses don't believe it at first, but once they get into the forest and look at her body lying in a ditch with a hole on it... they know they've made a big mistake. "We..." whispers Celestia, letting a tear roll down her eye, looking at her pupil Twilight and her friends crying in silence while the Royal Guards are walking with long, concerned faces around the forest. "We should have stayed, sister."

"If only we knew..."

"If only we were here... oh..." she says, shivering. "Oh... no... I feel so guilty about this..."

Celestia lets another tear roll down her eyes again, while Luna hugs him. However, what they don't know is that they are not alone there... no pony there is alone. Just some metres away, hiding behind some trees, an invisible ram with his allies is looking at everything. Stone Chisel and Discord, however, can't see anything due to they are behind the ram and on the ground, and they also don't have any mouths. They can't talk. "You haven't changed anything," whispers Tenebris looking at the Princesses. "Just like the last day I was here as a young ram with dreams."

"Will you...?" says Tirek.

"Wait," interrupts Tenebris, looking at the stallion. "Didn't you tell me she was dead, you?" he asks, angrily, but calms down a second later, only to smile and chuckle. "Uh... well, you can't talk... nor walk. I think that's enough to compensate for what you've done. Besides... it's not bad to have a witness sometimes... what were you saying, centaur?"

Stone Chisel only looks at the ram with pure fury while Tirek, angrily, takes a breath. "Will you..."

"Talk lower, they may hear us, and no... I'm not going to kill them now... first, they need to feel what I felt, and how I feel now... lonely."

"Golly," whispers Cozy Glow, behind Tirek. "I've never seen Celestia or Twilight crying... this is... wow."

And the ram hears her. "I think the same, so shocking..." whispers Tenebris, only to turn his head back, looking at the centaur. "Don't you think the same, Tirek?"

The only thing the centaur can do right now is snort, and not even at the ram's face. He hates being dominated, but what he hates more is being taunted just like this. This stupid, foolish ram is playing with the centaur who almost consumed all of the magic of Equestria... he's treating him like a stupid toy, only because he defended Cozy... "I think the same..." he says, just to finish with a lower voice, grinding his teeth. "... Night Ram."

However, while talking, they find out the Princesses turn around and leave while one of the ponies there starts sobbing, almost shouting, while hugging Starlight. A white mare with a purple mane. "WHY? WHY?"

"DASH! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED?" shouts Pinkie, so shocked she has smooth hair. "PLEASE! PLEASE! HOW MANY HOOVES YOU SEE?"

The pegasus, however, can't even talk because of how tired and hurt she is. She can only whisper... "T... T... Te..."

"Te?" says Fluttershy, scared, hiding behind a shocked Applejack. "Te?"

"Tenebris."

The night ram smiles and even can't hide his laugh when the princesses turn around, once they hear that name. Rainbow Dash would never lie to them... she must be saying the truth. Celestia now gets in the middle, looking at Rainbow Dash lying next to Starlight. "What..." she says. "What did you say?"

"I love it when they say my name..." the ram whispers from behind.

"Tenebris," says Twilight, cleaning her face with tears. "But... it can't be... he was..."

"Tirek, Cozy Glow, Stone Chisel," says Luna, looking at her sister. "No... no..." she says, looking to the ground. "They must..."

Her sister now turns around. "You think..."

"But... how did he escape? And how did he get on with Tirek, Cozy Glow and especially Stone Chisel? I can't... I can't understand."

The Princess of the Sun shakes her head. "It's impossible," says Celestia, turning around. "Tenebris was jailed inside the stone and trapped in the cliff... it was impossible for him to get out of there..."

"Maybe..." says Twilight. "Maybe he got helped and freed by them."

"It sounds possible, but it can't be," whispers Celestia. "Tenebris was on the cliff of Tartarus, lying in the darkness. How could they go there, also with Cerberus behind them?"

"Tenebris," whispers Rainbow Dash, again, something that calls everybody's attention. "He... He..."

"He?" says Twilight, hugging Rainbow. "Please..."

The pegasus cries while talking: "He killed... Wonder...bolts... they... were here... and faded away..."

Everypony's eyes get wet again. "He did it?" asks Twilight. "Was there someone else, Rainbow...? Who was..." she says, with a lump on her throat. "Who was... the one who... who... killed Starlight?"

"T...Tenebris... and was with... Tirek, Cozy... Cozy Glow... Chrysalis..."

"Chrysalis?" says Applejack, shocked, cleaning her face with tears.

"And... Discord..."

Every pony around shouts in the unison. "DISCORD!? But..."

"Discord... is kidnapped..."

"What?" says Luna. "But... how could they kidnap Discord?"

He was carried by... S-S... S... Stone Chisel."

On the other side, the ram keeps laughing, while the allies have already turned around. "Clearly, you are the star here, pony," says Tenebris, looking at a Stone Chisel with no mouth and hooves, looking at the ram with his eyes full of hatred. "Such a pity you can't make any commentaries."

Celestia and Luna look at each other... in the first place, how did Tenebris get free? "Did the ram tell you how did he get free?" says the Princess of the Moon, but Rainbow Dash only shakes her head, which eventually makes Luna cry. "I shouldn't..." she says. "Sentry... Starlight... the Wonderbolts... the Guards... I shouldn't have told Sentry to remain silent... now we have to tell every creature, everybody what's been happening... and warn them about the ram, sister... I feel so guilty..."

"Don't feel like that," whispers Celestia, while grabbing a big, purple leaf from one of the trees of the forest. "We never thought that ram would be out of its prison... if it wasn't for him, this could have been something that could be solved with just Twilight.. but this..."

"This?" says Twilight. "You mean... Tenebris..."

While Celestia turns around and starts writing something on the leaf through her magic, Luna realizes there is a shard of something under one of her hooves. Once she touches and grabs it with her magic, her eyes shrink. "This..." she whispers. "This is postcrystalline."

"Postcrystalline?" says Rarity, still shocked. "But... isn't that material used for---?"

"Magical necklaces and chains," replies Celestia, still writing on the leaf. "And with that, we can confirm Tenebris was here. No other creature had postcrystalline over his body."

Everyone gets silent until a scared Twilight asks: "And how can we start solving this? If you say we need more than me and the girls..." And then, Celestia sends the leaf somewhere, something which calls Twilight's attention. "Princess..." she says.

The Sun Mare turns around with a serious gesture only to look at Starlight's body. She shakes her head and sighs, looking for a way to stop this. "Yes, Twilight?"

"Where did you send that leaf?"

Luna also thinks the same and looks at her sister with concern. "I ask the same thing, sister... who did you write to?"

The Princess while looking at the clear sky covered by big dark, purple trees.

"I sent it to Blister."

Meanwhile, inside a cozy apartment in Manehattan, a brown baby dragon with shiny orange eyes is looking through the window, observing all of the ponies trotting and trotting around the main streets of the town. "How curious..." he says. "I would say yesterday was a bit noisier than before... don't you think that, Ink?"

A black stallion comes out of a room filled with books and newspapers. He's in a rush. "Yes, Blister. I've got to admit it, although that's not my main problem right now... where's Tabloid?"

"In his room."

"Where? You know that room's anything but a room."

Blister, the baby dragon, turns around and looks at Ink Pot, raising his shoulders. "No idea, but he may be inside that mess of papers where he rests."

Ink Pot dares to open the door of Tabloid's room. The old journalist is sleeping on a pile of newspapers, while a couple of pens, papers and even a broken typewriter are lying next to him. All the room is filled with copies and copies of newspapers, tabloids and gazettes. "Tabloid!" he shouts. "You sleeping again on that pile? Don't you dare complain at me when your back hurts, huh?"

"Hmmm..." groans the unicorn. "Don't begin with... your shouts... Ink Pot. I was sleeping."

"Are you crazy?" shouts his secretary. "Tomorrow we have to go to the Crystal Empire for my exclusive interview with the princes! And I've been looking for the sheet of paper which has questions 7 to 12 since we arrived from the Station!"

"Ok," says Tabloid, getting off the pile, with the help of his secretary.

"Ok?" he shouts. "It's everything you have to say, Tabloid? Gosh! Remember you told me you were going to help me with this?"

"I know, I know," says Tabloid, putting his glasses on with his own magic. "But I prefer interviews to be impromptu, Ink Pot. I go there with just one or two questions..." he interrupts his sentence to yawn. "...and then I grab some wires to keep talking, like a normal conversation. You'd better do that."

"But I'm not you," he replies. "I don't have the tongue you have, Mr Tabloid."

"And that's your problem... I told Paper Pile, our boss, to put you as my secretary because of that, Ink Pot. You need to learn so many things about journalism... and I'm now your master."

"More like a crazy old man instead of a master..."

"Whatever..." says Tabloid, walking around and also caressing Blister. "Just one more thing and then go. Let me sleep after publishing those two articles from this afternoon."

"What?"

"Do you have any news?"

Ink Pot rolls his eyes. "About what?"

"Brave Position."

No one says anything because of how mysterious was BP's letter until Blister enters and dares to speak: "I haven't burped up anything since 4 PM."

"If the rumours he said were true... then..."

"Wait," says Ink Pot. "We don't know if there was an escape, at first... it's just a rumour, or it may be a joke because Brave and I are friends since school..."

"You can't play with this like if it was a joke, Ink Pot," says the journalist. "And less if you are a Royal Guard, who takes this very seriously."

And at that same moment, Blister burps up something which calls the journalists' attention: the orange fire rises but instead of turning into a letter, it gives everybody a big purple leaf filled with holes. Blister grabs it. "What... is that?" asks Ink Pot, confused. "A leaf?"

"I can't... understand anything, Blister..." says Tabloid. "Can you?"

"No... I don't even have an idea about why I just burp up a leaf..." says the dragon, until he puts the leaf on a table, trying to understand what is written on it, only to turn around, in silence, to look at the journalists.

"What?" asks Tabloid. "What is that?"

"This... this was written by Princess Celestia."

Now, the two journalists look at each other. "A leaf?" asks Ink Pot. "And you, knowing Celestia personally? This must be some kind of joke."

"No," replies Blister. "You see... a time ago I was an assistant of one of her pupils... a mare called Sunset Shimmer, which I never got on with, and a couple of months ago I wrote to her and Luna and told her..."

"What?" says Ink Pot, shocked. "Don't you dare to say you told them we had BP as our hidden source for news. If you did I will fire---"

"Of course not, Ink!" he shouts. "I wrote to them how I was feeling, and also that I was working with you as an assistant... maybe she sent that to me..."

"Because something happened," says the journalist Tabloid. "Read it, then."

"Sure... sure..."

Blister focuses on the letter and finally reads aloud:

Blister:

This is Celestia talking to you.

I don't have much time and I can't go back to the castle to write to you in a scroll, so I'll be fast.

Tell Tabloid and Ink Pot that Tenebris has returned. Beg them to write an article warning all of the inhabitants of Equestria to be safe, cautious and quiet.

I'll do my best to talk with other communities to stop him. Tell them that Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Stone Chisel are his allies.

Do it for me and Luna. This is a favour I could have only given to you.

Celestia.

Tabloid is the only one who fully understood that, so much he starts sweating. Blister, on the other hand, is confused. "Who is Tenebris?" he says. "Sounds... scary."

The veteran journalist looks at him for a second and immediately jumps over him, freezing. "THE NIGHT RAM! THE NIGHT RAM IS BACK! THE NIGHT RAM IS BACK!"

"TABLOID!" shouts Ink Pot, who gets between the two journalists and separates them. Tabloid opens the window and for a second, he comes up to a dangerous conclusion. He decides to stand up and climb the window, only to jump, but Ink Pot gets him out of there with the help of the secretary. "ARE YOU CRAZY?! WERE YOU GOING TO COMMIT SUICIDE?"

"We are doomed, Ink!" shouts the journalist, trying to be contained by his secretary. "The bloodthirst of the night ram who wanted revenge is now hungry again! He will eat us alive! ALIVE! EAT US ALIVE!"

"Would you calm down?" shouts Ink Pot, aloud. "There's no way he would eat us alive. Rams can't eat ponies and besides... we have Twilight Sparkle and the Elements, Celestia, Luna, Thorax, Ember... all of them will defend us and defeat Tenebris."

"NO! NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, INK!" he shouts. "The Night Ram who had Discord and Grogar's powers on his veins... the first Wizard of Chaos... the first living creature which controlled chaos without being a god... He's Tenebris, Madness Incarnate, Ink Pot. He will kill all of us... and suicide it's just to save time... to don't waste the last days of this life waiting for the ram to knock on my door, Ink Pot..."

And in that same moment, Blister burps up another leaf, which has a shorter letter. He puts it again on the table while the colts wait for what he has to say... however, they know something is wrong when Blister starts trembling while reading the letter. "What happened?" says Ink Pot, shocked, approaching the leaf. "WHAT HAPPE---" he shouts... until he reads the letter. "Oh, sweet Celestia. Oh, my Luna. Holy shit."

"What now?" says Tabloid. "Read it aloud."

"But..."

"READ IT ALOUD, INK!"

That's what he does, then. He fights the letter one more time, trying to say what he has just read without struggling or stuttering.

Blister:

Again I write to you, only to inform you of this.

Please, this second leaf must be confidential, between you, the journalists and me, only to understand how grave is this situation.

Rainbow Dash is hurt and has a broken wing, Discord (the God of Chaos) has been kidnapped, and Flash Sentry, Starlight Glimmer, the Wonderbolts and more than thirty-five Royal Guards from Canterlot and the Crystal Empire has died on a confrontation which ended minutes ago.

This is serious, Blister, please answer me once Tabloid publishes his article.

Celestia.

Tabloid's Articles, #3: Scoop - Tenebris is Back

SCOOP

TENEBRIS IS BACK

written by Tabloid

Originally I was going to write my name in a higher size, as my boss Paper Pile always wants to, but I feel this is not some kind of news where I can promote my figure. Serious journalism and scoops, in my times, weren't about the name, but the news.

This is not a joke. This is serious, this is a fact. Princess Celestia has just confirmed that Tenebris, the evil night ram which still resonates in my throat, in my sweat, in my bones, has returned. How? We still don't know. Nothing about how did he escape has been confirmed by the princesses, but we already know Tenebris' disappearance from Tartarus is real and it's happening. I repeat, THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

However, Tenebris was not the only one who managed to escape from there: Luna has confirmed Lord Tirek, the menacing filly Cozy Glow and, interestingly, the recently jailed robber Stone Chisel, whose partner Stolen Bag is still out there, maybe wondering how in the hell did his partner get on with these big villains with names, have also escaped with him and formed an alliance with former changeling queen Chrysalis and there are no confirmed facts to know why... maybe to dominate Equestria one more time.

I've got to say (and admit) there is a thing here. Almost all of the villains and evil-doers Twilight Sparkle, Mi Amore Cadenza and even Celestia and Luna have defeated, were all alone at the time they lost, and the legend which says Discord and Grogar left Tenebris and his community of now-extinct Night Rams a la deriva when they were defeated, only proves my point. This kind of alliance only worsens things and makes everything different... will this procrastinate the rumours of retirement from our princesses? I hope so... because I assure you they, along with the Elements of Harmony and the remaining communities' warriors, are the only ones who can protect us from them. And if they can't...

... nobody can.

Please, stay safe, cautious and be quiet. In case you see something suspicious don't hesitate and call the local police, sheriff and also the Kingdom's brand new numbers, which will be revealed night in all of the newspapers of Equestria, including on the back of this scoop.

Thank you for reading, and please, take care of yourselves. Thanks.

...

Ink Pot's notes:

Tabloid's scoop has just been released an hour ago, and everything is coming out of the pit. A sharp increase in the percentage of ponies who want the End Punishment back, which was actually cancelled and forbidden by orders of Princesses Celestia and Luna thousands of years ago. (Write something about this. Tomorrow?)

End Punishment, better known as Execution Punishment or the Fusillade, has been requested by Canterlot, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Vanhoover and Cloudsdale to be the punishment for Tenebris and his allies. A percentage has shown more than 80% of Canterlotians want the fusillade back and only once... only this time.

"We want it back because Tenebris can't be stopped so easily," said a demonstrator, out in the streets of Manehattan. "The Princesses' decision of locking up the ram in Tartarus was a bad one... and we need to let them know! We don't want that murderer, that genocidal beast alive and among us! We want to be free!"

On the other hand, due to Stone Chisel's mention on Tabloid's scoop as an ally of Tenebris, a protest has just begun in Manehattan, in front of the main building of Shiny Picks Gem Company, whose owners are Stone Chisel's parents, which may be involved (although not confirmed. Jeez, Tabloid! You've got to spit facts!) in the infamous Surigate that now every equestrian knows about. I've seen the protestants and they shout in the unison: "STONE CHISEL BROUGHT US DOWN, THE PICKS MADE US CRY...."

Tabloid's article, Gems on Fire, was released on this afternoon's gazette, along with his other article A Chiselled Cage and that only has worsened things.

Gosh, Tabloid.

Where are we?

Author's Note

In case you didn't understand...

A la deriva means adrift in Spanish.

Mi Amore Cadenza is Princess Cadence.

Crying Under the Moonlight

Arc II - Chapter VI - Crying Under the Moonlight

Now, getting out of the forest and entering a desert savanna, the sun is setting, and that means something to Tenebris. After a long, long time locked up inside the magical stone, he will finally take a look at the moon, after all these years. That's why he has to stop. He won't attack under the moonlight. "Stop," he tells his allies, looking at the setting sun. "We'll keep walking tomorrow."

"What?" says Tirek. "Why?" but the ram does not answer, he is only looking at the moon.

"I don't attack under moonlight," he finally answers. "Something from my tradition."

Tirek can't resist his laugh. "Looks like the creature has traditions," he says, taunting him back. Cozy gets scared, because she knows Tirek's intention, and this may not end up well. She looks at him with certain concern, but everything eventually calms down when the ram turns around, with a small grin as a smile.

"I'll act as if I didn't hear your commentary... I don't want to attack you under the moon." Tirek gets surprised at hearing that and Cozy thinks everything's over... until the ram approaches the centaur. " However, I don't attack under the moonlight... but that doesn't mean I can't defend myself from your attacks, centaur. You've been warned, and I won't repeat it."

The maniac centaur smiles. "I listened," affirms Tirek. Then, the ram opens his eyes, surprised, and sighs.

"Oh, what an idiot... I almost forgot." He passes by the centaur, completely ignoring him, and does what he has to do hours ago. He gives Discord and Stone Chisel their mouths again. The colt takes the longest breath he's ever taken and shouts for a second. Discord keeps his mouth shut but closes his eyes, angrily. "And let me walk in..."

A strange orange aura appears on Tenebris again while the gem keeps trembling and changing its colour to now black. Then, a black aura appears around Discord, which he finds out... but doesn't do anything to stop it, and that only makes the ram smile. However, a second later, the beast starts coughing and everything fades out, giving its grey colour to the gem. For the first time in the day, the God of Chaos laughs out loud. "How stupid... you thought some scratches on your necklace could help you to consume me?"

And that only makes the ram mad. The gem is about to come out... and he still can't consume the God of Chaos' powers? Argh! That only can end up in one thing.

SMASH!

A fist so strong in the draconequus' face something comes out from one of his cheeks. A transparent liquid which Tenebris observes with attention. He slowly touches it with one of his hooves and actually tastes it, giving him an absolute surprise. "Water?"

"You..."

"You bleed water?"

Discord now smiles. "I mean... I'm the God of Chaos, so... I can bleed everything."

And that only makes the ram laugh. "First being who made Discord bled, and also..." he says, chuckling while moving a big amount of dirt, creating a small hut with just a hole to enter. Then, his eyes turn green for a second, only to use Sombra's dark magic, and creates two dark crystals inside the dark house. Then, to finish his task, he puts the wire on his hoof all over the dark crystals, chaining both Discord and a stump Stone Chisel to Sombra's solidified dark magic. "The first one who gave all of you a real home. I know it's not the best one..." says Tenebris, laughing. "But it's what we have."

"Hey..." raises her hoof Cozy Glow, quite scared. Tenebris turns around, menacingly... and doesn't say anything. "You... um..."

"What?"

"You said you didn't attack under the moonlight."

Now the ram realizes what he has done... but doesn't care while looking at Discord's cheek. "One punch doesn't change anything."

The villains, still invisible under their aura, take a look inside the dark house. Tenebris gets a silent Discord inside with his magic and then he moves to Stone Chisel, the stump. The ram can't even look at him without laughing.

"Give me back my hooves, you bitch," says Stone Chisel. "Screw you... fuck you... FUCK Y--"

"Shut up."

A long day. Firstly, the trial. Secondly, the break and the escape, and then, the carnage. He can't do anything. He's just a fly around the ram... he can break him in half. Now, remembering the legacy of his enemy, his rival, he remembers how did he sacrifice and surrender to the ram only for the Princesses. He sacrificed himself to don't spill his loyalty with cowardness. A Royal Guard fights for the Princesses... and who does Stone Chisel fight for, then? Will he sacrifice his life to stop this? For himself? For what? He has to do only one thing... just shut up. The ram laughs while moving him with the magic, approaching him to the dark crystals where he is chained. With the few sunbeams that can enter the house, he looks at the dark crystals that went through the improvised hut's roof. He can't come out of there, either the God of Chaos. Meanwhile, Discord's cheek stopped leaking water, which was actually his blood. Then, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Tirek get in the hut, only to look at Tenebris outside, observing the moon rising. "Are you going to enter?" asks Chrysalis.

"Give me a second." And then, Tenebris walks away, staying far from the hut, looking at the moon. He lies on the ground, breathing the air he never breathed before, and looks at the full moon in front of him.

Now, in the middle of the night, the ram is looking at the shiny satellite illuminating him... "I haven't seen the moon for centuries."

And after saying that, a light blue orb comes out of his body. "Isn't it beautiful?"

The night ram only raises his eyebrows, not surprised. "Yes, but... it never changes."

"It's always the same... unless you want to change it."

"Yes... that's what I'm doing, dear."

A silent moment where Rushkwa as an orb starts touching softly the night ram's face and fur until she decides to stop. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Always."

The orb starts fooling around, spinning around Tenebris. "It may be quite foolish for you but..."

"Say it."

Now the orb gets in front of the beast. "Do you... do you still think the souklat unáe, our soul union, is still with us?"

The ram raises his eyebrows, surprised at that question. "Are you fooling me, Rushkwa? Of course, we are still united, we are soulmates!"

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I? And in the first place, why are you not sure about that?"

Now Rushkwa starts spinning around her soulmate again. "I'm still thinking about the involuntary union."

And that only makes Tenebris laugh, so loud the villains can hear him. "Why would you be paranoid about something that your father already verified was not true?"

"I never believed in my father and you know that, Tenebris."

"We saw him finding out that was not true, Rushkwa. Everyone in the community looked at what he did."

"Despite he did it, I still..."

"Besides... if it was something true, which is not... you were the one that got me out of my prison, not the stallion. Your soul was inside that amulet... and that amulet was inside him, and however, I want to change the topic of this conversation, Rushkwa... if that pony consumed you... how are you still alive?"

Rushkwa does not want to change the topic because she still feels there might be something with Tenebris and Stone Chisel there. Nevertheless, she answers. "Well... I've got to tell you the story."

"We have all the time in the world."

The soul sighs. "It all started when that piece of filth unicorn used the Bewitching Bell against me and broke the stone prison. The bell literally consumed me, Tenebris, and left me without my body... all because of ponies. That's why I'm just a foolish light blue orb floating around you. The Bell took my soul and destroyed my fur... my body... my strength..."

"I know... I know... Shadow Star, that was the name the colt gave me... and why are you alive if you were inside that pony who died?"

"He was the leader of a stupid sect and eventually became crazy because, like every kind of pony, he wanted all of the power for him. He even wanted to take the Kingdom, Tenebris, and his followers, who were against his decision of bringing the Princesses down, were so mad at him they literally took all of his power out of his body, turning me into that stupid stone, and then, at that right moment..."

"... What?"

"They killed that unicorn right there."

Tenebris nods his head. "Interesting. Ponies killing ponies. I've never heard anything like that."

"That sect was a bunch of that. All of them were crazy as nobody else, just like your allies."

Now the ram gets confused. "My allies? You mean..."

"The centaur, the changeling, the filly and we could say... the stallion. By the way, if you ever dare to tell one more time that little trash named Cozy Glow she has the same attitude as me... I was inside the stallion but I could hear your voice from far away, Tenebris..."

The beast smiles. "It was just a joke, you jealous. I needed to give her a horn, though, so we had something else with magic, and now that you are saying that... if it wasn't for our soul union you wouldn't be listening to me from inside that stallion, so consider this souklat unáe thing done, Rushkwa.."

The orb stops. "Leave the soul topic aside now."

He snorts. "You were the one that came with it."

"I know, but now that we are talking about your allies, we need to focus on the present. I recommend you, according to what I think, to put them off, Tenebris."

Surprise at that phrase. "Put them off? Don't you mean..."

"Kill them, Tenebris."

If something surprises the night ram, then it must be something very shocking then. "Woah... I thought I was the evil ram in our couple, Rushkwa..."

"No, I mean... didn't you listen to the centaur taunting you? Those looks they gave to you. I've even heard they were whispering something between them inside the forest, and I think they were talking about you. They may be planning to turn their backs on you."

Now the ram sighs. "Maybe, Rushkwa. I've heard them whispering about something... I even heard my name... but I don't know, Rushkwa."

"Don't you see? They were talking about you! And why didn't you kill them all right there?"

The beast shakes his head. "The gem was red, Rushkwa. It wouldn't have let me. Besides, I may be more powerful than all of them together, but it's not bad to have a crew on your back."

"A crew that wants to turn on you, Tenebris. What's going on with you? This is not the young night ram I met... the Warrior, son of Clamoris the Nightcrawler... with a crew that wants to turn his back on him?"

The ram has to take a decision now, but he decides to take a breath. "Rushkwa... you may be right, I may be right... but we still don't know it's true."

Now the orb's light flashes even more. "We still don't know?... I have an idea."

Now the ram raises an eyebrow. "Which idea?"

The orb flies to a dead, spiny bush. "Stay here."

"Behind that bush?"

"We should take a look at them. Right from here."

Tenebris lets a chuckle go. "They can see me."

"Come on, Tenebris. You can only see the bush because I'm emanating light. They can't see it. Despite this, you have dark blue fur. Even eagles won't see you on the night."

The ram sighs, with a smile though, and hides behind the bush while Tirek takes a look outside the hut. "I'm only doing this because I can't fight with you, Rushkwa. I hate it."

The orb gets inside Tenebris, while the ram lies on the savanna's ground, hiding in the darkness thanks to his dark blue fur. "I know, soulmate," she says. "I know."

During the recent night, the Castle of Friendship is almost alone, having the Great and Powerful Trixie messing around the castle, waiting for Twilight, Starlight and the others to come back. She looks at the Princesses coming nearer, something which catches her attention. The Princesses at this time? Almost midnight?

Then, she looks at their faces with concern and anger. Clearly, something has happened and finds that out when she looks at Twilight, Spike and the remaining Elements coming from a portal along with a Rainbow Dash with a broken wing, being helped by Applejack and Pinkie, and something covered in cloth. "Um..." she says, confused. "Trixie would like to know why are you here, and with those faces of concern, princesses... something happened? What happened to Rainbow Dash?"

Celestia and Luna don't say anything while Twilight leaves the cloth inside the Castle, on the throne room. "Trixie," whispers Rarity, with bloodshot eyes due to so many tears, to the magician. "I don't know how to tell you this, darling, but uh...."

"Let me talk to her," says Twilight, with a serious grin. Clearly, something has changed inside the Princess. Trixie knows something is wrong here, and she feels so awkward she can't even say anything.

"W... What happened, Twilight?"

Rarity, in silence, leaves the conversation and enters the Castle. Twilight sighs while looking at her. "I'm afraid we'll have to close the School of Friendship for a while. We'll suspend it."

"Suspend it?" says Trixie, shocked. "Why? Did you... did you tell Starlight, at least?"

Twilight is about to say the truth, holding her breath, but a shout suddenly interrupts her: "Ms Twilight!"

Both mares turn around and look that Gallus and Yona are there, and the young griffon is holding a sheet of paper in his hand. "Gallus?" says the princess. "Yona? What are you doing here, under the moonlight?"

"Please, you have to see this!" shouts Yona, tired of so much trotting. "It has just arrived in Ponyville... Ponies in Manehattan and Vanhoover are all crazy!"

Gallus gives the paper to Twilight, which she only reads the title:

SCOOP

TENEBRIS IS BACK

written by Tabloid

"It says that we have to stay safe, take care of ourselves," says Gallus. "Does this mean...?"

"Yes," says Twilight, while Trixie reads the article. "We'll have to suspend the School for a while. Please, tell everyone, Sandbar, Silverstream, Ocellus, Smolder... please, tell everyone this."

However, Yona focuses on something else. "Princess..."

"Yes, Yona?" she says, raising her eyebrow.

"Your eyes... you... you've been crying?"

Now Trixie focuses on the Princess' eyes, dyed with an almost invisible red. Her cheeks are also darker too. The Princess only looks at the two youngsters and talks to them. "Yona, Gallus... I'm OK. It's just... I feel a bit tired. Go home. Stay safe."

"But..." says Gallus. "Are you sure?"

"Go home. I don't want you outside, things can get serious out there at this point, Gallus. Please... do it for me."

Gallus and Yona feel a break within her voice but, just in case, they nod their heads. "Princess, please, take care of yourself," says Yona. "No one here wants to lose you. Tell Starlight, the Princesses and everypony we and all of the pupils support you."

Twilight lets a chuckle go of her. "Thanks."

Gallus and Yona look behind them, not before hugging both mares and going away. Trixie, still reading the article, gets surprised at everything. "Trixie... Trixie has just found out Tenebris has returned. Trixie did tasks on the School all day... what has just happened?"

Twilight and Trixie now look at the Castle in front of her. "You see, Trixie..." she whispers. "Originally I was going to give Starlight this castle, once I moved to Canterlot because of my work. But..."

".... But?"

The princess, with no changes on her face, starts trotting to the castle. Trixie eventually does the same. "He... he took her away from this world."

Trixie's body freezes while hearing that. "You... you say..."

"He killed our friend, Trixie. Tenebris."

"But... but..." she whispers, stutters, and struggles while covering her eyes with tears. "But... Trixie... Trixie's friend... I can't handle..."

"We are all in the same thing," whispers Twilight, letting another tear roll down her left eye. "And now... we need to focus on him and his allies for her."

Meanwhile, in the Throne Room, a crying, scared Spike opens the grey cloth, which reveals a pale, cold Starlight Glimmer with closed eyes lying on the throne room, only pronouncing pure silence. Outside, Trixie and Twilight are crying under the moonlight.

He has no words. The articles on his desk have been observing him since the first moment they gave them to him. In only one afternoon and now at midnight, Shiny Picks Gem Company has lost all of its credibility.

Iron Pick looks at the articles one more time. A Chiselled Cage and Gems on Fire, both written by Tabloid which only leaves darker, bigger stains behind his back. And last but not least, the scoop which informs Tenebris has returned and his son is next to that ram. At that right moment, Iron Pick lost his way to life. He has been hearing shouts, and curse words from outside. He can't even leave the room, to check out from the balcony of his office, because that would be suicidal. He has even heard there were pegasi surrounding his office, waiting for him to come out and hurt him as no one else did. He feels destroyed, but he doesn't cry. Businesscolts don't cry. Never.

His father taught him there's only one way to escape from this, and that way is right under his desk. He gets out a pile of papers and finds a small wooden box which he opens with his mouth. There he finds a small bottle his father gave to him before passing away. There is only one small letter which he grabs and reads:

"Son:

Analyse all of the situations before making this decision, but, in case you are in the worst meltdown of all and your empire is about to fall onto dirt, drink this hemlock poison my father gave to me. Businesscolts die in honour, along with his business.

Your father."

The father takes a breath and opens the small bottle of hemlock poison, but everything falls apart when Poofy Lantern opens the door. "Iron Pick, our shares are falling faster than we ever--- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Iron Pick instantly throws the opened poison bottle to the floor, where it crashes and breaks into pieces. "NOTHING!"

The white mare gets angrier than ever. "YOU TOLD ME YOU THREW AWAY THAT BOTTLE YOUR FATHER GAVE TO YOU!"

"No, it's not my father's bottle... it's not hemlock poison."

Now the pony, so angry he jumps onto the desk, looks at her husband with nonchalance. "And how did you know that was hemlock poison?" Iron Pick doesn't know how to answer that, and Poofy Lantern only shouts louder: "I KNEW IT!"

"No, this is not--"

"IT IS, IRON PICK! IT IS!" she shouts. "You were going to commit suicide and leave me alone... isn't it? You fucking ego-maniac."

"Ego-maniac!" he shouts. "What did you call me? I'm anything but a--"

"YES, YOU ARE, IRON PICK! YES, YOU ARE!" she shouts, disheveling her black mane. "You are more selfish than anypony else... but it's not your fault, honey, it is not. Your family is guilty of brainwashing you with all these businesscolts' behaviour and dignity BULLSHIT!"

"Don't you dare to talk about my family in that WAY!" he shouts. "My dignity! My honour! EVERYTHING, POOFY! EVERYTHING DESTROYED! MY COMPANY... IT'S JUST ASHES! ASHES OF WHAT IT WAS!"

"DON'T YOU SEE?" she shouts. "VICTIMIZING YOURSELF LIKE A STUPID 3-YEAR-OLD FILLY BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY THIS? Your selfishness, your quest for power and your family drove me crazy, Iron Pick, and that's why our son left us!"

"Don't you dare to talk about that colt!"

Now Poofy's face changes. "That colt?" she says, raising both eyebrows. "Now you are acting like Trustlight, don't you? You son of a bitch... now that he left you, he's doing the wrong... instead of looking for him to help him to find the right way, like I tried to do all of my life under your hooves... now you don't recognise him as your son. Stone Chisel was, is, and will be our firstborn, whether you like it or not."

"The black sheep," says Iron Pick, turning around. "If only he listened to me, listened to what I said, he'd have become the new generation of this company... but no."

"Again and again," she says, furiously. "You bring the company again. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT OUR SON, NOT THE COMPANY!"

"But if he only---!"

"HE NEVER WANTED TO WORK ON A GEM COMPANY! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE LIKE YOU!"

"LIKE ME?"

"LIKE YOU! AN EGO-MANIAC WHO FORCED HIS SON TO WORK IN SOMETHING HE NEVER LIKED!"

"Excuse me," he says, aloud. "If he listened to me, he would have saved himself. Firstly, he never had a job... All of his life, he spent it messing around empty streets, starving to death, and then... robbing purses like a freak, Poofy. If it wasn't for that time we saw each other, he came to me... and I helped him... he would have died as a cheap amulet dealer on Klugetown," and then, both get scared when a stone breaks one of the office glasses. At that moment, Iron Pick dares to say something. "And well, that clearly didn't work... I saved his life and look at what he did. He turned into Tenebris' minion."

Poofy Lantern knows he can destroy his husband with only one thing. "You bitch... you never talked to your son. You have no idea about who is he like, and I know. I know he didn't set Tenebris free, and I know he's not working for him. Our son is in danger, and if it wasn't for you and your stupid idea of putting gems in those clothes, nothing of this would have happened. You only opened your hooves to him because he and that asshole named Stolen Bag offered you a way of gaining money and power... not because he was your son, and I was so stupid I shut my mouth in the worst moment. You should have been on Tartarus instead of him."

Iron Pick now looks at his wife, with shocked eyes. "Apologize."

"What?"

"You shouldn't have said that."

The mare snorts. "What are you going to do, huh? You try to put one hoof over me and I'll throw your fucking ass through the broken window."

"I never hit you or touched you in that way in my whole life, dear. Apologize."

"Apologize to your son for being such a selfish asshole," she says. "He even told you he did the right thing because he never mentioned our name on that stupid trial and look at him now... you're in the top and he's almost dead, on the ground."

"In the top? Of course not, I'm about to fall to the ground... and you're going to fall with me. There's no way out."

"Actually, there is one."

Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern find out there is a big creature hiding in a tunic. It had a feminine voice. "Who in the hell are you?" shouts Iron Pick. "Don't you see we are in the middle of a conversation? And if you are one of the protest---"

"I'm not a protester, Mr Iron Pick, and please, apologize to your wife for being such a moron."

Now the colt gets mad. "What did you say, you mother---?"

"Wash your freaking mouth before talking to me, because you can't curse this bitch standing right here, talking to you."

"Really?" says Iron Pick. "And who are you to tell me that... bitch?"

The creature takes his hood off, revealing she is a female griffon with dark brown feet and dark green feathers, showing her intimidating light green eyes. Both ponies get shocked while looking at the mysterious griffon. "Mr Iron Pick, Mrs Poofy Lantern, parents of Stone Chisel.... my name is Galloway, and I'm here because Mr LaCrowley needs you."

Bleeding Hut

Arc II - Chapter VII - Bleeding Hut

"My name is Galloway, and I'm here because Mr LaCrowley needs you."

...

MINUTES AGO

The griffon, with a bag tied to her loin, looks in front of her from the top of a skyscraper to the building surrounded by protestants who want Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern to be sentenced to obligatory compensation for those who were robbed. Besides, because of Tabloid's article relating them to the Surigate, all of the protestants are now calling this public case the Shinygate.

Next to Galloway, there is a dark yellow, male bat pony with a dark mane and red eyes hiding on a tunic, looking at the moon. "And where are those that Mr LaCrowley wanted to talk to?" asks the bat. "There are lots of ponies on the streets."

"They have to be inside the building," replies Galloway. "Cheesecake gave me a gazette with a photo of them both," and then she gets out of the bag a cut photo, surrounded by a black aura of magic. "Yes," she says, looking at a pegasus carrying a photo of Iron Pick. "Yes, they must be there, Light Eater."

Then, both of them look at how a pegasus throws a boulder into a window, crashing it into pieces, and then he flies behind. "Maybe that floor..." says the bat pony. "What about the window?"

"We should enter slowly and from above. You know what I mean, Eater."

"Yeah, yeah... you enter and grab them both?"

"Yes."

Light Eater raises his eyebrows. "Are you sure you can do it alone...?"

And now Galloway rolls his eyes, looking at him angrily. "You don't trust me?"

And at that moment the bat pony feels in a rush. He knows she's tough, too tough for anybody. "I do."

"Uh. I thought you didn't."

"It's OK, I do trust you... it's OK... um... we do it now?"

And then, without answering, Galloway turns herself into a shadow and starts flying to the broken window, with no one looking at her. Light Eater sighs and does the same thing.

Tirek takes a look outside the hut but there's no one there. He even turns his back and walks around the landscape which looks at the hut's back but doesn't find him. He says his name aloud one, two, three times. Nobody answers. He's gone. "He's not here," says Tirek while entering the house. "Neither in front of us nor in the back... he is gone..."

"He said he was going to walk, no idea," adds Cozy Glow, raising her hooves. "He may come back."

Discord takes a breath, a longer one than ever. "Ok... now that he's out, we can make the plan before he arrives."

Everyone inside the hut looks at each other through a small campfire Cozy Glow created with her magic, in the middle of an awkward moment. Everyone wants to plan something against Tenebris but no one dares to set this off. "We had one chance on the forest," says Chrysalis. "I told Tirek to consume his magic, and then I could take advantage of taking his love... if he has something of that inside him," she says and then looks to the centaur. "But no. He didn't, such a coward."

"Hey!" he shouts. "Why don't you go and attack him, then? Try it if you are so tough, you bug!"

"Wait," interrupts Cozy Glow. "Are you actually trying to turn on him?"

"Of course!" shouts Chrysalis, angrily. "What were you thinking all this time?"

"But... um..." she replies, but the filly doesn't know what to say. "I don't know," she whispers with a puppy face. "He gave me a horn and helped us to escape but... that time he strangled me... I... I..."

"He almost killed you, Cozy Glow, and I assure you he will kill you soon."

Now the filly raises an eyebrow, confused and also scared. "But why? What did I do to him?"

The God of Chaos only rolls his eyes. "Sadly, nothing, but unfortunately you are a bossy, villainous filly and that's something he hates. We've got to do something against Tenebris and also the soul of Rushkwa inside him before everything gets worse."

"He had the chance!" shouts Chrysalis, pointing at Tirek with a hoof. "He had it and he didn't do it! You coward!"

"Why didn't you attack him, if you are so tough?" shouts Cozy, defending Tirek. "And well, golly, why didn't he attack him?" she says, pointing at Stone Chisel. "He's the one that started it all!"

"HEY!" shouts Chisel, tied to a dark crystal as a stump without hooves. "Firstly, I tried, don't you see?" he says. "I have no fucking legs... and secondly, don't put me in the centaur's decision, you filly! I have nothing to do with him!"

"Oh, come on!" she shouts. "Clearly you are the centre of this whole situation, you started it all! You are the one who set him free! You are the indirect killer of Starlight Glimmer and Flash Sentry!"

Shivers get inside the whole body of Chisel because she can be right about that, and he shouts: "Would you shut up? Don't... don't remind me that again!"

"But it's the truth!" she shouts, with her eyes wide open..

"SHUT UP, I SAID!" shouts Stone Chisel. "You are so freaking annoying I bet your parents left you because they couldn't put up with you!" And with that, he expects Cozy Glow to answer him in a worse way, but something calls his attention when he finds out he actually shut Cozy Glow's mouth. She freezes in her position, flying inside the dark hut, while everyone is looking at her. Then, out of nowhere, a sob is heard from somewhere, and the filly starts crying, sobbing lowly while tears are rolling down her eyes. Everyone gets surprised at how the evil, manipulative filly starts sobbing, and Stone Chisel feels bad for that. "Um... I didn't mean to hurt you, sorry..."

"You... you meant it!" she whines while crying. "You... don't you ever talk about my parents again!" then, she stops flying with her wings, cleaning her tears while everyone looks at her in silence. "I had enough with my daddy forcing me to do things..." she whispers something that makes her cry again. Stone Chisel doesn't know what to say, and he nods his head trying to calm the whole thing down. He knows what to say.

"Hey, um... to be honest, my father also forced me to do things," he says, rolling his eyes, remembering past times.... "You know, when I was born, he was obsessed with making me the new owner of his company and took me to these boring dinners with the worst kind of ponies just to introduce me to that society. He knew I didn't want to do what he did... but he still forced me to enter, and that's why I left my house..." he says, and then he sighs, trying not to fall into his tears. "I only wanted to be some kind of... photographer."

Cozy Glow, surprisingly, stops crying and approaches the stallion with no hooves. "Wait, the..." she whispers to him. "The business colts?"

And at that moment Stone Chisel's eyes almost get out of their orbits. "Business colts of Manehattan?!"

She feels a lump in her throat. "Yes."

"Oh, shit..." whispers Stone Chisel, rolling his eyes. "Jet Set, Upper Crust, the Oranges, Gladmane, Hoity Toity, Prim, Suri... I know almost all of them and they are a-holes, but the cherry on the top is and will be my father."

"Your father?" thinks Cozy. "And who's him?"

"Iron Pick, owner of Shiny Picks Gem Company and the most selfish stallion I ever met."

And the filly gets surprised. "My father... my dad was a friend of him... um... after my mommy left..." she says, holding her tears. "He forced me to go with him to Iron Pick's dinners... until, well, I left home and went to Ponyville."

"And your father never cared for you, isn't it?" says Stone Chisel, looking at her. "You know, Cozy Glow, I reencountered with my father only once, and it was only because I felt guilty about leaving him and my mother and I decided to include him in a partner's project, but that... fucker didn't even say my name or recognized me. He completely erased me from his life, so.... you are not alone in this... at least somepony else went through your hell..."

Cozy Glow stops crying but doesn't do anything else. She still feels overwhelmed. "As my father did with me," says Cozy Glow. "Golly... he completely forgot about me..."

"So..." says Discord, turning around. "You have just admitted your parents were involved in the Surigate."

Stone Chisel remembers when he told his parents he did the right thing on the trial. He didn't even mention his parents during interrogations and even inside that court, but now... what can he lose... he has nothing to lose. Nobody's gonna change if he says the truth. "Yes," he says. "Stolen Bag and I came across him and my father had the idea of the gems," he says, and then he snorts, furiously. "He only did it because it gave him money..."

The God of Chaos gives him a smile. "Finally you admit it, Stone Chisel. I knew, my crazy mind told me they were just right behind you on all of this... but now, you know... can we go to the main thing, please?"

"Please," says Chrysalis, nervously. "What can we do?"

"We should wait and remain calm and silent... until we arrive at the Crystal Empire."

"Are you crazy?" says Tirek. "Why don't we do it now?"

"Look who's talking!" shouts Chrysalis. "The one who didn't try to."

"OK! OK! Don't go back to that, would you? If we keep fighting, we're gonna lose time. Tirek, if we do it now, he'll break us. We have to do it on the Crystal Empire because he's going to get distracted while looking at how everything has changed."

"And how are we going to attack him?" asks Chrysalis.

Discord looks at his hands, trapped within the boulders. "He may destroy everything once we arrive, but the gem is still on his body so he can't use all of his power and destroy everything in seconds. He may blow up crystal ponies with magical beams, and we have to make him blow up these boulders I have on my hands so I can get free and, in that right moment, we can start attacking him... the only problem is... we need a crystal bait, and also... we have to do it before he breaks that necklace..."

"The necklace..." says Tirek. "You mean.."

"If he breaks the necklace the gem will get off him... and we can't do anything after that. He has my powers and the Bewitching Bell's. Even I can't do anything against him, so we have to hurry up."

Everyone gets scared at how honest sounded Discord. If he breaks the necklace, all of them can't do anything to him, even the God of Chaos. However, there's something else that hasn't been clarified there. "And what if we defeated him?" says Chrysalis. "What are you going to do to us after that, Discord? Huh?"

Now all of the villains start hesitating because of that. "Yes," replies Tirek. "You need our help but once we get rid of him you will call your pony friends... isn't it, you brainwashed?"

The God of Chaos only sighs and rolls his eyes. "That's something we can't care about now. Villains or not, we have to be united to bring Tenebris down before he breaks the necklace."

"Sure, but," says Cozy Glow, cleaning her face. "That doesn't mean we'll get those boulders out of you so easily."

"You have to destroy them to make Tenebris lose." No one says anything, and Discord speaks again: "Look. If there's something more powerful than all of us, and even Tenebris, is destiny. No one knows what's going to happen after we defeat Tenebris and what's going to happen between you and me. Only destiny knows. The only thing we need to care about and do now is to stop Tenebris on the Crystal Empire before he does something else, and after that... destiny will drive us. I know you want to bring the ram down and I want it too. Done?"

Pure silence again while the Legion of Doom takes a look at each other. From the desperation of Tirek and Chrysalis, to Cozy Glow's shocking tears and Stone Chisel's loneliness, everyone agrees on something...

"Done."

"Ok... the only thing I need is a crystal pony bait, to put it between Tenebris and me, and I know who will be."

Another awkward silence in between until everyone finds out who Discord is talking about. "OH NO!" shouts Chrysalis. "I won't!"

"Please, you are the only one who can--."

"NO! I WON'T PLAY THE MEAT FOR YOU!" she shouts. "Me? As a bait for the ram?"

"You are the only one who can turn into other creatures, Chrysalis. You are a changeling."

"Yeah," interrupts Stone Chisel. "You turned into Cadence and almost ruined a freaking wedding... I bet you can distract him like a crystal pony."

"SHUT UP, YOU!" she shouts. "Don't you even say one word to me!"

"I agree with him," says the God of Chaos. "He doesn't have to attack you. You will only have to be in front of me... just a simple distraction. He fires his beam, you take a step aside and the beam goes to my boulders... and then they crash and we can fight him."

The queen rolls his eyes and starts shaking her head. "I don't know," says Chrysalis. "I don't know, Discord."

"You don't know what?"

Everyone jumps because of the shock while Tenebris gets inside the hut, getting illuminated by the small campfire Cozy Glow did. No one says anything and doesn't attack anyone. Cozy Glow hides behind Tirek and doesn't even look at the ram, while Chrysalis takes a step behind. Discord and Stone Chisel only close their eyes, waiting for their fate. However, Tenebris only chuckles and says something else: "My apologies for taking so much time. I was walking with Rushkwa in the forest... what were you talking about?" he says, lying on the entrance with a wide smile, looking at the campfire.

"Nothing," says Chrysalis, jumping. "We were talking about... uh... talking about how we were going to attack the Empire the next day."

"Well," says Tenebris, raising his hooves. "That's something we should work with once the sun rises. I only want to look at the moon now, in silence. Would you?"

"Sure," says Tirek, at the same moment Tenebris stops talking. Pure silence appears in the middle again, while everyone is looking at each other and then at Tenebris looking at the moon. Did he hear something of what they talked about? Will he attack them now? No, he clearly said he didn't attack by the moonlight... Would he attack them by the sunrise? They have to do something...

"Cozy Glow," says Stone Chisel in the most awkward moment, something that calls everybody's attention, even Tenebris. The filly gets out of Tirek's back and raises her hooves while flying, confused. "What's the name of your father?"

Now she gets surprised. "My father?"

"Your father."

"Um... Trustlight."

Stone Chisel only chuckles while looking at her. "I knew him on a meeting... what an asshole."

However, Tenebris is not only looking at the moon but also listening to a voice from his inside. "You've heard them, Tenebris. Wait until you take a step on our lands. Make them fall on their illusion... and then kill them all. No remorse, no mercy. For me. For you. For the lands. For our community.

Tenebris, listening to this, only nods his head, slowly. He will kill them all tomorrow.

"Who?" asks Iron Pick, angrily.

Galloway only rolls her eyes. "Mr LaCrowley wants to talk to you about Stone Chisel."

Now Iron Pick raises the roof. "Tell Mr LaCocky I'm busy right now in the middle of a company meltdown, and if he wants to talk about that colt... tell him to come to me, not me to go for him... did you listen, you bitch?"

Poofy Lantern now pushes her husband away. "You say that colt one more time instead of saying his name, and I will personally fire you from the company..."

"You..." he shouts. "Don't you dare to put me away from the empire I rose... you stupid---"

Iron Pick, about to jump onto his wife, gets thrown away by something while getting surrounded by a black aura. He crashes against his own desk, breaking it in half. Galloway, on the other hand, enters the office and spits Iron Pick in the face. "I told you, moron," she says. "Don't curse me. You won't like it, I said..." she chuckles. "And look at you now, lying in the dead empire you rose, which has been recently destroyed by yourself. Next time you open your mouth I will get that tail of yours straight up your butthole."

Poofy Lantern checks out her husband, lying on the broken desk. "You mother..." whispers Iron Pick. "You..."

"Um... excuse me?" someone says from outside. Iron Pick, Poofy Lantern and Galloway look at the one who said it. A blue earth colt with curly light blue hair, which looks like Cozy Glow's, and purple eyes demonstrate selfishness. "What's going on here? Iron Pick, who in the world is this griffon and why did you let her enter? Is she a protester?"

"No, I'm not," says Galloway. "And you dare to take a step, you will be a brand-new pegasus flying out from the window."

However, the colt doesn't care. He just raises his hooves. "I don't care... do whatever you want to him. I've been waiting to grab his shares from Shiny Picks and take the company for a long time."

"Fuck you, Trustlight!" shouts Iron Pick, with a certain tone of pain, not even moving. "Fuck you!"

He only chuckles. "Thanks, Iron P---"

"Fuck you and your daughter too!"

Now Trustlight shuts his mouth, something that calls Galloway's attention. "I don't know what are you talking about," says Trustlight. "I don't have any daughters, Iron Pick... not like you and your son."

"Woah," dares to interrupt Galloway with a smile, laughing and looking now at Poofy Lantern. "Another colt who doesn't want to recognize his sons?"

Poofy Lantern, despite being in shock, still answers: "He's Cozy Glow's father."

Now Galloway, surprised, opens her pick. "WOAH! That's what I call a plot twist!"

"POOFY!" shouts now, Trustlight, while Iron Pick slowly gets up with some bruises on his loin. "Why are you relating me to that criminal?"

"The criminal you raised," answers Poofy. "The criminal you brainwashed."

"Don't dare to talk to me about criminals," he says. "Your son suffered the same destiny."

"But at least I tried to help him..." she says, with a lump in her throat. "But he left... all because of colts like you!"

But then, out of nowhere, Iron Pick jumps onto Cozy Glow's father and starts punching him, so Poofy Lantern tries desperately to separate them. Galloway, on the other hand, is only looking at the fight, chuckling. "WOULD YOU HELP ME?" shouts angrily the pony, trying to separate her husband and her partner.

"Wait!" shouts Galloway. "I wanna see who wins."

"COME ON!"

A sigh after rolling her eyes. "Damnit... Ok," she says, and a second later both stallions get inside a magical tornado and get inside Galloway's bag. It was so fast that Poofy Lantern didn't even take a second to guess what has just happened.

"What the..." she whispers. "You... you killed them."

"No," she replies. "Relax. I only put them inside the bag with my magic."

"YOU KILLED THEM!"

She sighs. "Uh, come on... I've already told you!"

"YOU KILLED---"

And then Poofy Lantern is the third one who gets inside the bag, being interrupted by a magical tornado which absorbs her while the black mist is entering the bag. Just a second after doing that, the griffon turns into a shadow, with the bag inside, and goes away from the office, entering a hall inside the building. Light Eater is there, as a shadow. "Your vigilante work is done, Light," she says. "We've got to go."

"And where are they?" asks the bat pony, confused. The griffon sighs while flying away, passing through the walls with no problem with her partner.

"You know, Light Eater, despite I didn't like it at first... your idea of the bag wasn't so bad."

And when she said that, Light Eater laughed aloud...

Surigate

Arc II - Chapter VIII - Surigate

MANEHATTAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
Interrogation File. Name - SuriGate
Date - XX-XXX-XXXX (12 HOURS BEFORE STONE CHISEL'S TRIAL)
Subject: Suri Polomare

Q: How did you meet Stolen Bag and Stone Chisel?

A: I've heard Stolen Bag's name even before he came to me with this project. He was a good friend of Hoity Toity and others in the showbiz, and then one day he appeared in my store. He asked for me and when I appeared, we had a conversation in private. He knew I was in trouble because of sales, so he told me he wanted to earn money and create a new business, and he offered me this project, which I eventually accepted because I didn't know what to do to get the sales back. I strongly regret my decision, but at that moment I was so desperate my mind couldn't let me see how bad was that situation. Then, the other stallion, Stone Chisel, came one day. Stolen Bag told me he found him trying to rob a purse in Baltimare, near Urushiol Forest. He would make some jokes but aside from that, he didn't talk too much. When we finished the first robbery in the Gala he started talking a bit more, but Stolen Bag was always the boss tongue of that group.

Q: Do you know how Hoity Toity and Stolen Bag knew each other?

I don't know. I've heard Stolen's father was Stolen Steel, a big stallion from the Equestrian underworld who had lots of contacts, and I mean, some strange contacts and his son ended up earning all of his businesses once he passed away, but I'm not sure. Maybe Hoity Toity was one of those contacts.

Q: Who worked on the project?

A: I thought at first it was only me, but then I found out there were others involved, such as Hoity Toity, Prim Hemline and Photo Finish. Stolen Bag and Stone Chisel were the ones who robbed, while the others, including me, paid them for what they did and then we resold the robbed stuff at higher prices.

Q: Did Coco Pommel, your assistant, know about the Surigate?

A: No, she didn't. She found out there were clothes that appeared in the store out of nowhere which she said looked like some she sold to clients, but didn't say anything else after that.

Q: Is there any explanation for Stone Chisel's dark mist?

A: I have no idea. Maybe it's chaos magic, but I'm not sure.

Q: Is there any relationship between the gems on the robbed clothes and Stone Chisel's parents' company, Shiny Picks?

A: No.

Q: And what about the red gem on Fancy Pants' monocle? It's a ruby, gem that Shiny Picks' workers exclusively mine.

A: (Long pause) I... Uh... I think it's from them, it could be... but from what I know, mister, the company was never mentioned on this project.

Q: Never?

A: Never.

Q: And is there any name related to the gems? Do you know who came up with it?

A: (nods her head)

Q: Who, then?

A: Stolen Bag. He may be.

Q: May? So you are not sure?

A: Uh... Not so sure, but I bet it's him, officer. He's the one who made this project. (nods her head. Not 100% sure)

Now all of Equestria knows about the ram. He has returned, and it has turned, from one day to another, to something completely serious. Celestia has been sending pegasi to other communities to inform them about it. The few, remaining royal pegasi. It's something risky to do and she knows that, but it's the only way to tell other communities what's happening on the lands. Everything to do to keep everybody safe. Thorax, Ember, Thunderhooves, Skystar, everyone. Everyone has to know.

Meanwhile, an orange, red-haired stallion enters the Castle of Friendship, which is now filled with Royal Guards. He knows something bad has happened, and he's there to know what, along with his mother Stellar Flare. Sunburst's there, and he comes across several guards, running and trying to find Twilight or Starlight or somepony else to tell him what happened, to offer his help to them... until a guard stops him when he is about to enter a door. "You can't enter."

"Please," he says, desperately. "I'm a friend of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer who's just read the scoop of Tabloid about Tenebris. I want to know if I can help."

Sunburst then looks at the guard. It's a crystal pony. If the Crystal Guards are here that means this is something much worse. Then, the crystal guard looks at one of his partners, this time a dark brown crystal unicorn dressed in silver armour and a helmet with a light blue gem on it. According to his attitude and clothing, Sunburst thinks he's some kind of leader. "Shiny Mercury," says the guard who stopped Sunburst. "Leader Shiny Mercury."

He hears his name. Leader Shiny Mercury. The dark brown unicorn passes by Stellar Flare and Sunburst and looks at the guard. "Tell me."

The rookie guard, in front of his leader, turns around and looks at both orange ponies, covered in confusion. Then he approaches the leader's ear and starts whispering: "He said he knew Starlight Glimmer... What should I do?"

Sunburst knows something bad has happened. "Did something come out wrong?" asks Stellar Flare, but neither of the two guards answers her. They keep talking and Sunburst wants to talk again, until the guard trots away, leaving Shiny Mercury alone with a lump in his throat.

He takes a breath and looks at Sunburst just to say: "Yes," he says.

"What? says Sunburst, approaching the guard. "What happened?"

He closes his eyes, taking a long breath. "Starlight Glimmer..."

Sunburst's eyes open widely while he starts trembling. "She... she what?"

"She has passed away. Her body is resting on the Throne Room in silence and with respect." Then, the leader raises his hoof to the friend. "My apologies." Both of them, mother and son, stay in silence. Sunburst looks around him, trembling, trying to process what Leader Shiny Mercury has just said.

Meanwhile, inside the Throne Room, the Elements, Spike, Trixie, the Princesses and Canterlot's Royal Guards' new leader, Big Stomp, are trying to relax, not looking at Starlight's body, resting on the Throne Table. Twilight is the only one that is looking at her until Rarity and Spike come across the princess. "I've already sent a letter to Firelight," whispers Spike. "But he hasn't answered yet. I don't even know if he's going to read it..."

"I don't think so," replies Twilight, coldly. "Firelight is going to take a long time to arrive here, firstly, he will have to make himself understand it... outlive your parents has to hurt... but outlive your own children..."

"That's..." says Rarity, crying. "That's... terrifying."

"Firelight will never be the same after this," says the dragon, cleaning his eyes, but Twilight dares to correct:

"Nopony will ever be the same after this, Spike."

On the other hand, Celestia and Luna, while waiting for those pegasi to arrive, are talking to Big Stomp, which has to do his next mission: "Ok," says Luna to the new leader. "Now that you are the new leader, I want you to take all of your crew to the Crystal Empire, along with Crystal Guards' leader, Shiny Mercury. You must protect the prince, princess and Flurry Heart the firstborn."

Big Stomp tries not to at first, but he has to. He feels that inside him. He knows that's unfair. Too unfair for him and especially the princesses: "But... princess," he says, almost angrily. "I have to protect you too."

But the Princesses don't say anything. Celestia only shakes her head, making Big Stomp nervous: "Don't," eventually ends up saying the Princess of the Sun. "If there's something that needs more protection than us is Shining Armor, Cadence and their daughter. The forest where Starlight Glimmer lost her life was near the Crystal Empire. You shou---"

"NO!" shouts a stallion who enters the Throne Room's door. An orange stallion along with his mother, looking at a Starlight with closed eyes and his loin covered with a white cloth with small pieces of gold, lying on the Throne Room. Her face, with closed eyes and blank skin, is soul-less, with no gestures. "NO! NO!" he shouts, looking at his childhood best friend in that state. "STARLIGHT!"

"SUNBURST!" shouts Twilight, getting between the body and the friend, but Sunburst tries to get her off, something that only worsens Twilight's mood. "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!"

"LOOK AT ME?" says Sunburst, hugging Twilight, in shock. "I... I can't... I can't... No... NO!"

"Take a breath..." says the princess, while everypony gathers around them both, trying to calm both Sunburst and his mother down. "I know this is bad... I know you want to avenge her..." she says, looking to the roof, holding her tears. Holding her inner anger. "But you've got to... you've got to take care of yourself, Sunburst... an enemy is out there... A big... one."

"I know," he answers, stuttering and trembling. "I've read... I've read it... The article... I remember reading about... the ram in my childhood and... and I know... he's crazy..." he says, crying and breathing without control, with a broken voice. "I came here to help you and Starlight... but now..."

"No!" shouts Spike. "Sunburst, Stellar Flare... you need to be safe, to keep quiet..." he whispers, about to cry. "We need to take care of ourselves..."

"Sunburst," whispers his mother. "Spike is telling you the same thing I told you before... I know this is not something we can swallow so easily but... we need to be--"

But, from out of nowhere, the pony turns around so quickly his glasses fall to the floor, almost breaking in half, while he looks at her. "MOTHER!" he shouts, trying to hold his tears. "She's dead! She passed away! She was MURDERED, isn't it? Tenebris killed her... as he did with Gusty the Great?... My friend's life was taken away from her, and I've got to avenge her! PRINCESS!"

The Princesses, who were only paying attention to what was happening with no commentaries from them, try to approach the traumatized stallion, trying to calm him down. "Sun--"

He's not even listening to them, though, due to he being lost in her own anger and resentment. "I'll join the crew that will defend you from the one who murdered my friend!"

The mother shouts "SUNBURST!" with a broken voice, and voices and shouts begin to spread in the room. Everyone wants to calm Sunburst down, who begins to shout, begging to be inside Shiny Mercury and Big Stomp's crew. Big Stomp thinks he can be a good warrior due to his magic, but then, the dark brown crystal unicorn with silver armour, that same guard who told the news to him, opens the door with a hoof kick.

"I'm afraid I won't follow your orders, Mr Sunburst," affirms Shiny Mercury, who everyone is looking at. "You must be safe, not risking your life in the battle."

"NO!" he shouts, trying not to process that information. "PLEASE! I NEED-"

However, the guard interrupts him, raising a hoof. "You don't need it. You need to be safe."

"NO!"

"SUNBURST!" shouts his mother, hugging him from behind, while her son crawls to the guard. "HE HAS ALREADY SAID IT! YOU CAN'T!"

"I CAN! I MUST!"

The situation is getting much worse inside the room, while everyone is gathering around Sunburst and Shiny Mercury, trying to soften the waters.

Everything has gotten out of control. The Harmony, right now, is flying away.

*TOC* TOC*

Somebody knocks on Ink Pot's apartment door. "Who is it?" shouts the journalist while calming Tabloid down, who is drinking a cup of tea and looking at Blister, who is waiting for a card or something to burp up, holding those leaves.

"Royal Guards of Canterlot Kingdom. You must open this door right now. If not, I'm afraid---"

Oh. Something serious, he has to open quickly.

The door is opened by Ink Pot and reveals the presence of two pegasi, both covered with golden armour. "Good evening," one of them says. "My name is Lieutenant Hoops," says a clear brown pegasus next to his partner, a grey one. "And next to me is Sergeant Score. We came here from Celestia to tell you the Crystal Empire's interview has been suspended."

"Um..." says Ink Pot, now with Tabloid and Blister behind him. "Well... I knew this was going to happen so..."

"And," says Score, raising his hoof. "We also came for something else."

Ink Pot, confused, stays frozen. "What?"

Now the two guards look at each other and begin to whisper. "Um..." says Tabloid. "What are you whispering, misters?"

"Um..." says Hoops, confused. "You know, uh... you knew Brave Position, right?"

"Of course, they knew him," replies Score, madly. "If they didn't... why would Brave Position be doing what he did?"

"Wait," says Ink Pot, in shock now. "You... you knew?"

And both guards nod their heads. "Yes," replies Hoops. "Celestia knew all this time Brave Position talked to you about everything that happened inside the Kingdom but..."

"No," says Ink Pot, frozen. "Look, um..." he starts sweating. "We did it because Brave Position wanted to, right? In any case---"

"We are not here because of that," interrupts Score. "We are here to tell you something happened to Brave Position."

Pure silence in the whole place, and at that time, Hoops and Score enter the apartment, without saying anything, while Blister closes the door. "What... do you mean with that?" says Ink Pot, looking at the guards passing by him. "He... was expelled? He..."

Score turns around and touches his loin with one of his hooves. "He has died."

Ink Pot's eyes almost come out of their orbits after listening to that. He shakes his head twice, sighs and turns around, looking at Tabloid and Blister, who are also in silence. "Excuse me..." he says. "I... I need to take a breath."

"Sure," says Hoops, in the middle of the silence. "My condolences, Mr Ink Pot."

Ink Pot turns around and enters his room, only to close the door after. Tabloid whispers something to Blister and then the baby dragon enters Ink Pot's room. At that right time, Tabloid looks at both pegasi standing in front of him:

"Such a horrifying piece of news."

"Yes, Mr Tabloid," affirms Score, nodding his head. "Absolutely horrifying..."

"Besides," says Hoops, looking at the floor, destroyed on his inside. "He was a great dude. Kind, a humble stallion."

"He died in that Tenebris' fight?" asks Tabloid. "Right?"

Score nods his head. "We only confirm it to you because Celestia wrote to you about this."

"No problem," says Tabloid, nodding his head. "And... now that you suspended our interview on the Crystal Empire... what would you do to protect it?"

Both guards look at each other. The game is about to start. "I'm afraid we can't tell you that," says Hoops. "It's confidential."

Tabloid rolls his eyes. He wants to know. His hypothesis wants to know. "Uh..." says the old unicorn, raising his eyebrows. "I won't say anything. I won't ever publish it in the media. I promise."

"No."

The journalist keeps talking. "I won't say anything..."

"No."

Tabloid then turns around and takes a breath. "OK, so..."

"So what?"

"I wanted to show you something before..." he says, turning around and shaking his head. "That's why I asked you this to make things simpler but... I'm afraid you will have to listen to what I have to say."

Score rolls his eyes. "And what do you have to say?"

"My hypothesis."

"Your theory about this?"

"Yes," answers the journalist, looking at both guards with a puppy face. The guards don't want to hear him, but at the same time they feel quite bad for that old unicorn. "Come on..." he adds. "I've been literally thinking this for about an hour and a half. Let me at least say it once."

Hoops sighs, looking at his partner, and nods his head while rolling his eyes. Tabloid's face starts to shine because of a grin he makes. "Don't you think we'll answer you after this," adds Score, the Royal Guard. "We won't share any confidential information."

"I don't care about that," says Tabloid, preparing his speech. "Just let me talk."

"Do it," says Score. "And fastly."

The journalist takes, maybe, the longest breath of the day and starts speaking, while holding a leaf with his magic: "Celestia wrote on this leaf he sent to my assistant Blister... that Tenebris had a battle where Starlight Glimmer, Flash Sentry, Spitfire and her Wonderbolts, along with, according to her, more than thirty-five Royal Guards, tragically passed away. Now, you come here telling me the interview of the Crystal Empire has been suspended. Firstly, why Celestia wrote to Blister on a leaf? That was the first thing that called my attention, so I began to investigate. A long, dark purple leaf which has a sour smell, to be honest. Do you want to smell it?"

"No," says Score, while Hoops is shaking his head..

"OK. So... we have this leaf with this colour, with this smell... and then, out of nowhere, I remembered I have a book in my room filled with papers and papers that was something a partner of the past gave to me. I'm not a big fan of gifts so I often forget them, but this time... thanks Celestia I found this. A book about Equestrian Geography that talked about this forest..."

Tabloid turns around again, looking at his room, but Hoops stops him: "Don't you dare to look for that book."

The journalist chuckles. "Sure, no problem, because I already remember the name of that forest... Beetroot Dark Forest, which has trees with long stumps, wide branches and their heads covered with big, dark purple leaves with a sour smell. Isn't that a coincidence?"

"No," says Hoops.

"It was a rhetoric question, mister."

Score chuckles a bit and now Tabloid raises a hoof. "Now, imagine I have a map here... Beetroot is the centre of my hoof. I saw the map of Equestria I had from my uncle, which is in my room, and I found out that if I slowly go to the left... to the left side of my hoof... I find a familiar place on the paper... a familiar place called... Crystal Empire."

Now everything is silent while Hoops and Score look at each other, trying to say something about what has just happened. Blister opens the door and looks at the old journalist. "You didn't talk about that in their faces... did you?" says the baby dragon.

"I had to say it," answers Tabloid. "I'm a journalist... so, any commentaries?"

"Bravo," says Hoops, sarcastically smiling. "We can't tell you anything, but the only thing we are authorized to say is... we can confirm..." then he stops smiling and sighs. He misses them. "We can confirm the place where my leader and my partners fought and sacrificed their lives... was in a dark forest."

Tabloid's eyes shine. "Beetroot?"

"No other questions will be answered," exclaims Score. "And don't ask us anything again about this, because we are in mourning because of Starlight Glimmer, Flash Sentry and my partners."

Tabloid takes a breath and nods his head. "My condolences."

"They have been accepted," whispers Score while passing by the journalist. "Remember the article you wrote, Tabloid. If you see something, call the Manehattan Police or send us a letter."

"Sure," he answers. "But I have to say something else..."

"Tabloid!" shouts the baby dragon. "They want to go, they are in mourning... Ink Pot's in mourning too! Don't you know? Calm down a bit!"

"I know, I know," says the journalist. "But it's something very important."

Score turns around and shakes his head. "We don't care, Tabloid. Good night."

"I won't ask you anything about the Crystal Empire, because, of what you told me and what I found out, I already know the Kingdom is protecting the Empire from Tenebris... but, I have a question..."

Hoops stops and rolls his eyes, tired of listening to him. "Every crystal pony, including the emperors and the baby, will be OK, Tabloid... and I won't say anything else. It's not your business due to it being confidential."

"I know, you said the emperors and their daughter will be OK... the crystal ponies will be protected but..."

Blister rolls his eyes, looking at the guards and dares to open the door for them. "Goodbye, Tabloid. Send my condolences to Ink Pot," adds Hoops.

Tabloid, however, puts his final card on the table: "What about the Crystal Heart?"

Hoops gets out of the apartment but Score stops right there, looking at Tabloid. "What?"

The journalist raises an eyebrow. "What what?"

"What did you say?"

"The Crystal Heart... it has to be protected too."

"Um... yeah," he says, nodding his head with seriousness. "It will be OK too, Tabloid. Goodbye."

Score gets out of the apartment and Blister closes the door right after he starts walking in the building's aisle. Hoops is waiting for him on the stairs. "What were you doing?" he asks.

"I have a question, Hoops."

"What?"

"Did Shiny Mercury...?"

"Shiny Mercury?" interrupts Hoops. "The leader of the Crystal Guards? I haven't even talked to him."

"I know, you fool," says Score. "But... did he tell Big Stomp what was he going to do with the Crystal Heart?"

Hoops, at this right moment, shakes his head. "No... why do you say that?"

Score gets downstairs with his partner, also shaking his head with a helmet. "Oh, snap."

At the Castle of Friendship, everything has calmed a bit. Sunburst decided to take a breath outside, and that's why his mother and Trixie are outside the Castle with him, also being along with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy, while Twilight and Spike are taking care of a hurt Rainbow Dash in the Throne Room, next to Starlight's cold presence. "Can you walk...?"

"Of course, I can walk, Spike," the pegasus says. "I'm... I'm a bit better but I can't..."

"You can't what?"

She only shakes her head. "I can't be... I can't be my old self anymore."

"No one," says Twilight, turning around and looking at Starlight. "No one can be their old self after this, Dash."

Rainbow Dash nods her head and suddenly she closes her eyes, holding her head. Spike asks: "Are you OK with your head?" he almost shouts while asking that, and tries to hold Rainbow's head, but the pegasus nods.

"Yes, I'm OK," she says. "It's only, uh... I think," she says, closing her eyes, trying to remember something. "I remember somepony... somepony told me something."

"What?" asks Spike, approaching her. "When? Where?"

"When I was in the forest... I... I swear I've heard it."

"Are you sure you are not raving, Dash?" asks Twilight, turning around. "You were almost unconscious..."

"No..." she says, looking at the Princess. "I've heard something... Someone talked to me. I think it was..."

"...Someone of them?" asks Spike. "T... Tenebris?"

"No," she adds, shaking her head. "It was a young voice... it didn't sound like Tirek, or Chrysalis or..."

"Young voice?" says Spike, aloud. "Cozy Glow."

"No, it was not a girly voice... it was..."

Spike then grabs his card: "Stone Chisel."

Silence in the Throne Room, between the three of them, until Rainbow Dash, after deviating her sight to everywhere, exclaims: "I listened to him."

"And he said what?"

But then, the pegasus shakes her head. "I've heard he was talking about a kidnapping... but... I don't know if he said something else."

"Discord," says Twilight Sparkle. "Maybe it was because Discord was actually kidnapped by them... and we need to know how, because if they could bring Discord down..."

Rainbow Dash moves her head at the same time Twilight looks at her eyes. She shakes it, twice, only to look at the Princess' bloodshot eyes. "What is up to us, then?" she whispers.

At the midnight, two flying creatures, hiding under a shadow, land inside a dark, scary forest. They think they landed in the wrong place, due to there being only darkness around them, until they see, from far, far away, a small light that comes from a spark of fire. Both creatures stop hiding under shadows, revealing to be Galloway and Light Eater. Once they get nearer the light, they come across a small wooden hut, illuminated by a campfire outside. Several creatures of all kinds, griffons, kirins, ponies, dragons, yaks and also changelings are sleeping around the campfire, revealing everything to be a community.

"Be silent," whispers Galloway to the bat pony, who rolls his eyes.

"I'm not a kid, Galloway," he says, and then opens the wooden hut's door, where a beige pony with red hair and purple eyes is waiting for them, illuminated by a lantern. She has a lovely cheesecake as a cutie mark. "Galloway," whispers the female pony to the griffon. "Where are they?"

Galloway closes the door in Light Eater's nose, something that makes the bat pony mad, so he opens the door again, angrily. "I'm here too, you know?" he whispers.

Galloway smiles while rubbing her hair with one of her claws. "Sorry, my mistake," she says, and then she points at the pony. "I've got them in my bag," she tells the pony. "Where's LaCrowley, Cheesecake?"

Cheesecake nods her head, smiling, and goes to a room behind the hut. "They are here," whispers to someone, and a light is turned on from the inside right after she leaves the room. The light reveals the shadow of an old, thin stallion which covers the whole hut's wall and roof. Galloway sighs while looking at the shadow, while the bat pony observes how it becomes bigger and bigger. "Release them, Galloway."

Galloway does what Cheesecake told her and lets the three ponies go out of the bag. Iron Pick, Poofy Lantern and Trustlight open their eyes. The two male ponies are still fighting until they realize they are in a different place. Poofy Lantern also thinks the same. "Wha..." stutters Iron Pick getting up, and recognizing Galloway. "Where in the hell are we, scumbag?"

"I've told you," says Galloway. "Don't you dare to curse me, and please, talk lowly. We have partners sleeping."

"Partners?" says Iron Pick. "Where are we? What's this place...? What... what... what kind of sect is this?"

"Sect?" shouts Cheesecake. "What are you talking about? This is not a sect."

Poofy Lantern opens the hut's door and finds all of the creatures sleeping out there, only to close it again. "There are... there are ponies, kirins, griffons... all are sleeping... out there..." she says, surprised, looking at her husband.

"Sleeping creatures?" says Trustlight. "Wooden hut? Campfire? I've got to agree with you, Iron Pick, this is a sect, and I don't like this."

"I've already told you it's not a sect!" shouts Cheesecake, this time louder, although having a really soft voice. "And, by the way, who's this, Galloway? Mr LaCrowley only wanted Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern."

"I didn't want to put him in the bag," replies Galloway, rolling her eyes. "But he was fighting with Iron Pick so I had to. He's Trustlight, which is also Cozy Glow's father."

Trustlight, after listening to that, looks at the griffon with pure hatred, who only winks an eye at him, smiling. "What?" now exclaims Cheesecake. "Wow... that's particularly interesting..."

"Screw this!" now shouts Iron Pick. "Screw this sect, screw you, griffon, screw that bat pony, screw you, pony and... and..." the father looks at the shadow on the wall. "What's that?" he shouts. "Is it you, Mr LaCocky?"

"LaCocky?!" now shouts Cheesecake, crazily. "What did you say? How dare you disrespect someone in that way!"

"Mr LaCrowley."

A low voice resonates everywhere in the hut. So low it makes the small light from the room shiver, something that calls everyone's attention. Cheesecake intentionally gets next to the door where LaCrowley is staying, to stop everyone who dares to enter that room. The father nods his head, laughing, and looks at his wife. "Is it you, Mr LaCrowley?"

The shadow nods its head. "Yes."

"And tell me... what's your emergency, for you to get me out of my beloved building with my wife and my partner?"

The shadow moves his head, rising it. "Beloved?"

Iron Pick looks at Trustlight with nonchalance. "Yes," pronounces the owner. "Beloved."

"If it wasn't for me you would have already died on your beloved building, Iron Pick."

Poofy Lantern raises her eyebrows, knowing the shadow's right, but if there's somepony that can't agree with that, it's the same Iron Pick. "Screw you, shadow!" he shouts. "Coward! COWARD! Show yourself! Why did you want me to come here?"

The father finds out there's light coming out of a room Cheesecake is trying to hide. She now covers the door, letting the light not come out, fading LaCrowley's shadow. "Get out of here, you," he exclaims, but then, while running onto her, he trips over and falls to the ground. His wife and also the bat pony come to check over him, letting Cheesecake come out of her spot and revealing the shadow of LaCrowley one more time, only to find out that Iron Pick has all of his hooves tied with a rope. "A rope?" says Poofy Lantern, confused. "How did you trip over with a rope?"

"My rope," answers LaCrowley from the room. "Now... will you let me talk, Poofy Lantern?"

Poofy Lantern knows that rope didn't come out of anywhere. LaCrowley may have created it with some strange magic she doesn't know about, and she knows, right inside her, that stallion with a low voice, hiding in a room and getting illuminated with light, showing his shadow on a wall... can be dangerous. "What do you want to talk about..." asks Poofy Lantern, only to end up with a: "... Sir?"

"Sir?" whispers her husband from the ground. "You called him sir?"

Iron Pick dares to shout, but Galloway gets nearer to him and uses one of her claws to cover his mouth. Poofy Lantern doesn't even react to that, while Trustlight chuckles. Mr LaCrowley moves his head, again, and this time the shadow looks like it is straightly looking at the mother, who's trembling a bit, waiting for the answer.

"I wanted you... to talk about Stone Chisel."

Black Magic

Arc II - Chapter IX - Black Magic

Goosebumps.

She feels goosebumps while hearing her son's name coming out of such a grave voice, but doesn't surrender. She's still standing. "Yes," she answers the shadow. "He's my son. What do you want to talk about him?"

An evil chuckle is heard. "So you finally admit he's your son."

"I always recognized him!" she shouts, while his eyes start to get shiny because of tears. "Not like him... not like my husband, not like any other partner of him, the one with a rope tying all of his hooves together... I ALWAYS WANTED TO LOOK FOR HIM!"

Everyone gets surprised at the mother's reaction, even Trustlight, who is as senseless as her husband. "And why you didn't?" exclaims LaCrowley. "And why you didn't look for him?"

"I tried!" she shouts, this time furiously. "Believe me, I tried... but nopony, no one helped me to... my husband completely ignored me and I... I gave up at the worst moment... my son is now out there, as a minion of an evil monster... while," tears start rolling down her eyes. "While we are just talking about him... instead of rescuing him."

Silence everywhere, and at that moment the shadow gets up, making the light tremble. He stands right there, showing to everyone, through their shadow, his trembling, bony hooves. Cheesecake takes a look at the room, desperately. "Are you going to come out, Mr LaCrowley?" she asks.

Poofy Lantern takes a breath, waiting for the stallion to come out while listening to her husband's shouts covered by Galloway's claw, but then, the grave voice says: "No. There are some who don't deserve me looking into their eyes... and I'm not talking about Ms Poofy Lantern, but somepony else. I won't come out."

The mother looks at her husband while Trustlight is from behind laughing at his boss being humiliated and trapped in such a way. "How can I trust you if you don't even want to come out?"

"I was waiting for that question," answers LaCrowley, taking a long breath. "While you were at work, worrying, showing false concern, in Iron Pick's case, about your son's disappearance and abandonment, leaving you... An old friend of mine named Grapefruit Slice found your son in the middle of nowhere, asking for food near Klugetown, and took him to this place, with me... While you were at work, Mrs Lantern, I was taking care of your son. Do you know what was the first thing he told to me when he arrived with Grapefruit Slice?"

Galloway speaks after so long: "My name is Stone Chisel and I like chameleons."

Cheesecake and Light Eater chuckle after hearing that, but no one else reacts. "Besides that, Galloway."

"Oh," says Cheesecake, now getting sadder. "He said... um..."

"You remember, Cheese?"

"Uh..." she stutters. "He told Mr LaCrowley it was the first time somepony treated him kindly...."

"That's right," says LaCrowley, nodding his head. "If it wasn't for me, your son would have died in Klugetown. Maybe, as a cheap amulet dealer if one of the big stallions of the city grabbed him. The son of a company CEO would have died in complete misery. I saved his life, and no one claimed for him."

The mother interrupts: "I did."

"And what did you do?"

Poofy's jaw trembles while having a lump in her throat. He wants to make a comment but doesn't know how to start, and at that right moment, LaCrowley keeps talking.

"I can't blame you, though," says LaCrowley. "I've felt regret on your words, Poofy Lantern. Sadness in your voice... I know what it feels when you want to do something and no one else supports you. I felt it in the past, a long, long time ago."

"And wait..." whispers the mother. "If you took care of him... where were you when he returned to Manehattan... along with that foolish Stolen Bag?"

All of LaCrowley's friends now look at each other with concern. They clearly know LaCrowley doesn't like to remember that, but they don't make any comments at all. Poofy Lantern knows something is wrong, especially when she looks at Cheesecake, Light Eater and Galloway with concern. The griffon, still covering the husband's mouth, shakes her head. "Here we go..." he whispers to Stone Chisel's mother.

Trustlight, on the other hand, tries to get out of the hut, but a massive dirt wall rises from the ground, destroying the wooden floor and covering the door. "You're not going anywhere, father of Cozy Glow."

"But I'm not the father of that rascal!"

"He is," shouts Galloway. "The mare Lantern has confirmed that to me."

Trustlight now decides to let his anger go. "You mother---!" shouts the stallion, but suddenly he gets thrown away and gets crushed onto the roof.

"Next time you lie to me you will fly further," says the old stallion, only to push him back onto the ground, crashing himself on the wooden floor. LaCrowley has shown his incredible power, and that even makes Iron Pick shut up, who stops shouting while looking at his partner, almost unconscious, on the floor. "I've got to admit that, despite I love your son as if was mine, he stabbed me in the back and left me for a Manehattan scammer who wanted to dream big on clothes companies. He robbed me of money and an old amulet I preserved for a long time... he betrayed me."

"And if he betrayed you... why do you want to save him?" the mother speaks.

"I'll give you the same answer you'd give me if I asked you that... I want to save him because I know I don't want him there. I want him safe. I made a mistake and I have to solve it."

"Which kind of mistake..." she whispers. "Which one, huh?" She raises her voice. "And you dare to complain about me because I didn't go out there to look for my son because no one supported me... but you did the absolutely same thing and from what I see... everyone here supports you." The pupils get surprised at the mother's words. "Why didn't you look for him if he escaped from you, then? If you loved him so much..."

"Miss!" shouts Cheesecake. "I believe Mr LaCrowley won't be able to make that kind of allegation..."

"As I said, I made a mistake. Don't defend me, Cheesecake."

Cheesecake remains silent while listening to her master talking like that, admitting he made a mistake. LaCrowley? Is the wise Black Magic LaCrowley making a mistake? "But..." says the assistant pony. "Which kind of mistake?"

The shadow of LaCrowley gets his head down. "Firstly, Mrs Lantern, I've got to say this place is not a sect, but a community whose objective is to help those who have lost their family, home and will to live, teaching them the magic of friendship. Stone Chisel lived in this community for a couple of years, and I had a fight with him days before he robbed me. He told me he wasn't sure about living in this place... he wanted to look for the outside, to investigate cities further, but I knew there was something else from behind... and then I found out he escaped to Baltimare, which is near this forest, and met somepony there named Stolen Bag. After a long time arguing about his fate, I angrily told him to do whatever he wanted because he would eventually come back here to beg me for a second chance."

"But he never came back," replies her mother. "He stayed with that stallion named Stolen Bag."

"And then he broke the friendship. He robbed me, he disappeared... and I never looked for him because that was the decision he took, and I learned that sometimes you have to let some things go, so eventually I started ignoring him. The problem was..."

Poofy Lantern opens her jaw, shocked. "You," she says.. "You let the wrong thing go, Mr LaCrowley. You could have saved him."

Iron Pick, on the floor, and trapped with a rope comments after a long time: "Or you could have saved him."

"Or you could have saved him!" shouts Poofy Lantern to her husband. "You piece of trash. You turned your back on me!"

"Please," exclaims LaCrowley. "As I was saying, the problem was I realized I let the wrong thing go when it was too late. I should have fought for him... and now we have to stop arguing between us and start thinking about how can we get Stone Chisel back. I brought you here because you will have to be with me. You, along with me, will have to apologize for everything your son went through because of your fault, and this doesn't get you out of the bubble, Poofy Lantern. We've got to get him back, along with the amulets he robbed."

But in that right moment, something changes inside Black Magic LaCrowley. He fastly raises his head and his shadow turns around, calling Cheesecake's attention. "Mr LaCrowley," she says. "Something happened?"

"I think I found something I don't like so much, Cheesecake..."

The couple, Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern, gets silent while hearing that. "What is it?" asks Cheesecake but the stallion shakes his head.

"I've got to verify it. Go with Galloway and Light Eater to the library in the south part of the forest. Bring me every book related to the souklat unáe creatures."

Cheesecake raises an eyebrow. "Souklat Unáe? What are you trying to do?"

"Just bring them."

Hoops and Score, the guards sent by Canterlot's leader, Big Stomp, to talk to Tabloid have just returned to the Castle of Friendship. However, Score is looking for somepony who may find an answer to his problem. At that right moment, he comes across several Crystal Guards at the Castle's entrance. "Hey," he says. "Have you seen your leader?"

One of the Crystal Guards points above all of them with a hoof. "He's in the Throne Room."

Score nods his head. "Thank you," he says, and then he trots to where he is staying. Hoops, however, is confused.

"What are you doing?" he asks his partner.

"I have to ask Shiny Mercury a question."

"Which question?"

"You know," he says, now getting nearer the room, passing by countless guards. "Tabloid may be freaking annoying but... he actually asked me something that worried me a bit."

Now his partner raises his eyebrows. "What?"

Score, however, doesn't answer at the time he opens the door, entering the Throne Room. Lots of Crystal Guards are there talking to Twilight Sparkle and her assistant, Spike, while Rainbow Dash is being helped by her friends Rarity and Applejack to move. Princesses Celestia and Luna are also there, behind Starlight's body covered in the white cloth, almost hiding it from everyone. "Shiny Mercury?" says Score, trying to find him, until one crystal guard turns his back and looks at him.

The Crystal Guards' leader's attention is called, listening to the words of Score. "I'm here, soldier," says Shiny Mercury, next to Score's new leader, Big Stomp.

Score nods his head. "We've told Tabloid about the suspension, sir Shiny Mercury, and this journalist left me with one doubt due to a question he asked me."

Both Royal Leaders look at each other, and then Mercury frowns at the guard while Celestia and Luna observe in silence. "Firstly," says Shiny Mercury. "I didn't give you that order, soldier, but your leader Big Stomp did. You should inform your accomplished mission to your leader, soldier."

"Yes, I know," he immediately says. Hoops, from behind, remain in silence. "But..."

"Let me finish," says the crystal unicorn, and then he keeps speaking... "secondly," he says. "I don't care about what that journalist wants to ask. He clearly doesn't know the real scenario of the problem..." then, the guard approaches the stallion, angrily. "Unless..."

Hoops jumps from behind his partner, defending Score. "Neither my partner nor I gave confidential information to neither Mr Tabloid nor Mr Ink Pot. Their baby dragon assistant also doesn't know the real situation, sir."

Mercury, the leader, approaches his face to Hoops. "Promised?"

"Promised," says Hoops. "I promised not to lie, never in front of the princesses."

Shiny Mercury now looks at Score. "And you?"

"Promised," replies the guard, raising a hoof. Shiny Mercury takes a breath and turns around with no commentaries at all. "But I..." he adds. "It's a question that may help you, sir Shiny Mercury."

He turns around. "I don't want to listen to anything about those questions."

"It's only one."

"One, two or a hundred, I don't care."

"But..."

"Soldier Score!" shouts Big Stomp, now calling everypony's attention. "You shall respect the major authorities and not persuade them. This is clearly a show of disrespect, and even worse in presence of three Princesses and Starlight Glimmer's temporary sepulchre. Don't make me descend you to a lower rank, soldier. Flash Sentry would not have liked that behaviour."

And everything feels something, especially Big Stomp, when Flash Sentry is mentioned. A feeling of hopelessness and loneliness. Of fear. Score wants to keep asking but decides to shut up. Clearly, nopony wants to get descended... however, this is not going to end so abruptly. He has one final card. He sighs, raises his hoof for respect to the princesses and his leader, and turns around, leaving the Throne Room. He opens the doors, while being invaded and surrounded by the silence, and says something else: "It was about the Crystal Heart."

"SOLDIER!" shouts Big Stomp, but Twilight Sparkle decides to defend him. "YOU SHALL BE---"

But the alicorn princess comes to the rescue. "I won't authorize you to descend him, Big Stomp," she exclaims, interrupting the leader. "We are in a state of absolute emergence, and nobody has to change ranks or anything else now. Score, despite this act of persuading Mr Mercury insistently, is a good soldier and deserves his rank for this battle."

Big Stomp even looks at the Princesses Celestia and Luna, who also comment: "I've got to agree with Princess Twilight this time," pronounces Miss Celestia, making this decision undisputable. Score won't be descended.

Silence in the room again, until... "Actually," interrupts now Shiny Mercury, turning around and looking at Score, who has not even moved from where he is standing since. "I want to hear that question now."

"But..." stutters Spike, looking at the guard. "A minute ago..."

"Anybody who dares to talk about the Crystal Heart deserves my attention. The Heart is sacred and shall be respected."

"Uh..." stutters Score, blinking and mentally processing the radical change in the situation. "Um..."

"Come on, soldier. Now you have all of my attention."

"He..." he stutters now having what he wanted in front of him. "He asked me if you were going to take care of the Crystal Heart."

The leader raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean with that, soldier? We always take care of the Crystal Heart."

"He said... he wanted to say the Heart had to be protected."

"It's always protected, soldier!" shouts the crystal leader. "I don't understand the meaning or direction of that question."

"But I think... I think I know what he tried to say, and that's what calls my attention."

"What, then?" he shouts aloud. "Say it, soldier!"

Hoops looks at his partner with confusion. Even though he doesn't know what is he doing at this stage, he can't refuse those orders now. "Um..."

"Go on!"

"Well, from what I think," he adds. "I think he wanted to secure the Crystal Heart, along with the emperors and the firstborn, Flurry Heart, getting out of where it is staying. It called my attention because you didn't tell anything to my leader about the Heart, and in my opinion, keeping it locked would be something safer."

Shiny Mercury's eyes almost come out of their orbits after hearing that. Even some crystal guards who were in the room opened their mouths, shocked. "You clearly don't know anything about the heart, soldier," says Mercury with resentment. "The Heart is light, love, power... it gives us strength, it gives us magic... we have to protect him from the enemies... but we can't hide it far away from our hearts, soldier Score! The Heart is our will, our love, our source of blood, soldier!"

"And what if the enemy grabs it?" asks Hoops from behind, worsening the room's tension. Big Stomp doesn't even know where to hide while the others just observe in silence. "What if the enemy uses your source for something that can benefit them?"

"That will never happen," he replies. "The Heart will be always protected and will be never at the front. We sacrifice our will to live in the battle while the Heart observes us from the back, shining us with its light and love. Nobody will ever touch the Heart."

"Nobody?" asks Big Stomp, this time, confused about Mercury's response, while trying not to pour salt on this open wound. The Crystal leader only looks at him with anger.

"Nobody."

Now there is no campfire inside the hut. Just frightened eyes looking at each other. However, Stone Chisel is a special case. He's just looking at Tenebris, who's still looking at the moon with her blue eyes filled with bloodthirst. The robber wants to get rid of him... but doesn't know how to. He's an ant next to him... well, not even an ant, just a piece of dirt that the ram can step in with no problem at all. He feels a certain fire inside his head, along with anxiety due to having no hooves. He's still thinking this is not real in a way.

"You can look at me with all the resentment you want," says Tenebris. "But you'll still be that stump and nothing will change it... ugh, I don't remember your name."

The stump snorts. "Stone Chisel."

He didn't listen. "What?"

"Stone. Fucking. Chisel."

"Stone...?"

"Chisel, you horned piece of crap."

"Stone Chisel," says Tenebris, standing up and jokingly touching the robber's face with one of his hooves. "Look at you. Feel what I felt all of my life, pony. Darkness. Not able to move. Sadness. Loneliness. It's the first time you feel it... right?"

The robber spits at the ram's hoof, which the beast cleans while rubbing it on Discord's chest. "You want to talk about loneliness?" says Stone Chisel. "My whole life story is about loneliness."

The ram raises his eyebrows while hearing that. "Oh, how surprising," he says. "A lonely pony lost in the tempest? A lonely animal surviving for itself? How interesting..." then, he approaches his face to Chisel's, touching his nose with his. "Would you tell me about it?"

"And why would I tell you the story of my whole life?"

The ram only raises his hooves. "I'm quite bored. Impatient to arrive at my lands in the morning. I need something to laugh at... my personal jester."

"Of course not."

"Are you sure?" he asks him and then he turns around. "Stone Chisel, let's see... maybe it was born in a miner family? A stone-related family, sure... um..."

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to find out the roots of your blood."

He sighs. "The name doesn't mean the family, you bastard."

That completely calls Tenebris' attention. "Of course, it does mean something... if it wasn't for your family you wouldn't have a name."

Stone Chisel's sight gets lost for a second until he comes back to reality: "I know."

Everyone, even Discord, raises an eyebrow. "So?" says Tenebris. "Make a decision. At first you say no, and then you exclaim yes... you know name and family go together... unless..."

Cozy Glow appears in the middle: "His father is the owner of a mining company."

Stone Chisel feels the filly stabbed a knife on his back, completely disappointed in her. He frowns at her, with his eyes fully opened, and shouts: "What the fuck, Cozy Glow?"

Cozy Glow rubs her hair. "We talked about that when you were walking outside."

The ram nods his head, looking at the filly, and surprisingly he caresses her light blue curly hair, calling every creature's attention. "So... a mining company? And where are your parents... shouldn't they be looking for you?"

"No."

The ram chuckles. "Why?"

"Because they don't care about me," he says, now trying to let go of his chain. "You wanted me to say that, huh? Bitch? I left my parents' home when I was a filly because they forced me to do things that I didn't want to and I almost starve to death, messing around Equestria on my own, sleeping under trees, completely alone... until my life was saved by somepony else... are you happy now?"

Tenebris moves his head, thinking about what the robber told to him...... "I would say yes. You could say your parents were completely crazy at that time, don't you?"

"They were, are and will be," he answers. "My father is a selfish beast who only cares about money and his own power, and my mother never says anything. She just stays there, observing you, helping my father to destroy your life. They will never change."

Tenebris raises an eyebrow and smiles. "So you are not the only one who thinks his parents were crazier than everyone..."]

Stone Chisel gets confused at how strange sounded that. That tone. The smile. "What... what... what do you mean?"

He turns around and looks at the moon again, only to take a long, long breath and then say: "Finally both of us have something in common, Stone Chisel."

On the other hand, the Royal Guards are preparing to leave the Castle and go to the Crystal Empire, where they will have to stay and protect the citizens, the princes and their daughter. Few guards were left by the Princess to stay, to protect them from anything. Celestia wants the Crystal Empire to be fully protected at all costs. Shiny Mercury, leader of the Crystal Guards, decides to do something before leaving, swallowing the anger that Score gave to him, and showing disrespect to the Heart. The sacred heart... Crystal... He approaches Sunburst, who is feeling completely lonely. After losing his best friend Starlight Glimmer, the only thing he's focusing on right now is to avenge her, fighting Tenebris, whether the Royal Guards want him or not. "Stallion Sunburst," says Shiny Mercury, which makes the orange stallion turn around and shake his head, in front of his mother and some of the Mane 6.

"I'll avenge my friend anyways," he replies. "Whether you want me or not."

"I was thinking about that," says the leader. "I'd recommend you not to. I think she wouldn't have liked you risking your life in that way."

"Uh..." Sunburst wants to say something and wants to counter Shiny Mercury about that. How will he know about her? How dare he, discuss something with the late mare's best friend forever? But no. He's not in the mood. He doesn't want to shout. He has more than one idea to avenge her best friend... Starlight Glimmer. "Bye."

Shiny Mercury moves her head. "Bye," he says, and then he salutes Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. One by one, kneeling to them. He also greets Stellar Flare and goes away, being taken to the Empire he has to protect through a carriage driven by royal pegasi. Stellar also looks at how Big Stomp, along with those soldiers, Hoops and Score, get in another carriage and fly away. Then, she looks at her poor son, destroyed from the inside and the outside, but finds out he's not crying anymore. His face is completely straight, serious, soulless... she has to break the ice when he stops crying and stands up, looking at the moon. Stellar Flare knows something has changed in his son while looking at the shiny satellite in the midnight sky and wants to talk to him. "You calmed down," she says.

"Yes," he replies, also calling everyone else's attention. "I think... because... I think I've got an idea."

"No, darling," says Rarity, getting in the middle. "Don't risk your life like this. Leader Shiny Mercury told you not to... let us and the Royal Guards take charge of this."

Sunburst, however, shakes his head. "I'm not thinking about that."

Applejack raises an eyebrow. "Then... what are you thinking, buddy?"

"I think Princess Celestia will end up calling them, so... I don't think I will have to write to them for help..."

Now his mother wants to know. "And who you are talking about, son? Who can help us right now?"

Sunburst keeps looking at the moon, and ends up saying: "As I said, I think I won't have to... because by the time I finished writing my letter, Celestia would have already taken them to Canterlot."

"But who?" asks Pinkie Pie. "Who?"

He chuckles. "It's them or nothing... The Pillars will make Tenebris pay."

Clamoris, the Nightcrawler

Arc II - Chapter X - Clamoris, ther Nightcrawler

"Open your eyes."

Stone Chisel does that and finds out he has fallen asleep when he gets fulminated by sunlight. There's no more hut, no more campfire, but he and Discord are still chained to the dark crystals which have become bigger and bigger. He looks at everyone, still with their auras which make them invisible. Tirek is waking up Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis is looking right at him, tied. Discord has also woken up by the time he starts moving his body with no hooves. "You know what, Stone Chisel?"

The robber looks at the ram with hatred. "What?"

"While you were sleeping, I was thinking about you."

Everyone gets surprised at that phrase. The ram? Thinking about the pony? What? "Really?" says the pony, chuckling.

"Yes," he answers, now looking at the pony blinded by sunlight. "You made me remind of my father, now that we have something in common. How curious, isn't it?"

Stone Chisel raises his eyebrows. "I would raise my hooves if I had them."

"That's what made me think too," he says. "Today's a different day for me. If we arrive at my lands on time... it won't be a day to be a mule... that's why I want someone else to be it."

Stone Chisel now opens his eyes widely, waiting for a conclusion, and at that right moment... he feels pain inside him and starts coughing while feeling that something is coming out from his insides. A second later, four bumps start getting out of his body. The pain and the shock make Stone Chisel feel so bad he almost passes out while sweating and engulfed in a wave of nausea. Everyone looks at how four new hooves come out of his body, and how he slowly moves them once the pain ends. He slowly stands up, trying to remember how he used to move and starts jumping while being chained. The real Stone Chisel is back.

"I decided to swap Stump Chisel with Discord's mule again," he says. " However, if you dare to run away from me and your whole body will be consumed by a dark magic crystal." And in that right moment, the dark crystals where Discord and Stone Chisel were chained bury themselves on the ground... except for a small piece which Tenebris uses to chain both prisoners. The chain is now magical... darkly magical.

Stone Chisel looks at Discord behind him and raises his eyebrows, pointing with his eyes to his left. Discord knows he's planning to run away, so he, without commenting anything, shakes his head. "Now, follow me. I have some lands to take and you need a bell to use."

Stone Chisel's new hooves start shaking a bit but he still goes on, carrying Discord on his back, this time with a dark crystal chain which feels heavy and really cold. While trotting, following Tenebris in silence, Cozy Glow appears next to him. Stone Chisel looks at her and tries to get her off, but Cozy whispers:

"Sorry."

He shakes his head, furiously. "Why in the hell did you have to tell him about my father?"

"It was my alibi," she answers. "To let him know we talked about only that while he was out... isn't it a good idea?"

The thief sighs while listening to the filly Cozy Glow, and takes a breath to say: "It's not bad... but... you shouldn't have said that."

"That's why I came here to apologize."

He smiles. "Since when do you apologize for something?"

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on... I'm not that bad. Thank me I'm doing this for you, at least."

"Twilight Sparkle doesn't say the same."

"Stone Chisel," says the beast with a low voice. "Come here."

Cozy Glow looks at him with fear and confusion and he does the same before trotting away. While getting nearer the ram, Discord passes by Chrysalis, who nods her head while looking at the draconequus. The God of Chaos smiles while looking at that and stops grinning when his mule stands next to Tenebris. She has accepted, maybe. Will she be that bait soon? Both the pony and the ram are now walking behind the centaur, the changeling and the filly. "Yes?" asks the robber.

"I called you to tell you a story."

"A story?" He raises an eyebrow. "About what?"

"My father."

He opens his eyes. "Your father?"

"Yes."

He chuckles. "Was he as d-bag as you?"

The ram looks at him, confused. "I don't know what you mean with that word, but I could say he was a really crazy night ram... who I eventually agreed with."

Stone Chisel's attention specifically focuses on the final part... agreed with what? Or whom? "Agreed?"

"Let me tell you about him."

He sighs, closing his eyes, trying not to listen. "Why?"

"I want you to know about what I've got through to become who I am."

"A genocidal monster?"

"...who looks for revenge. Who saw his community die. Who knew his father was right..." answers, almost sarcastically. "Father... his name was Clamoris."

"Clamoris?" says Tirek from behind. "The Night---"

"The Nightcrawler."

"Really?" says the centaur, raising his eyebrows. "Was he a night ram?"

Tenebris gets mad. "Of course, you imbecile. What did you think he was?"

"Hey," he snorts. "Don't you dare to call me imbecile. I thought he was just a normal ram, not a foolish frog. I wasn't so wrong, after all."

The ram just chuckles. "I won't make any commentaries."

Tirek stops, feeling his eyes burning with anger. He clenches his fists, almost shaking them, showing his strength, but Cozy Glow from behind calms him down, whispering in his ear: "Calm down," she says. "Wait until we arrive."

Meanwhile, Tenebris starts speaking about his father...

Clamoris, the Nightcrawler.

"I was born on the edge of a river, surrounded by trees, thousands of years ago. I've been counting each day inside that statue for a long time... so I may have an idea for how long I stayed locked up with no freedom, with no love and strength... but I'm not sure. I've lost track of it.

We were a community of ten or fifteen night rams, and the only things we knew about were the river and the trees. We were scared of the outside. We saw flying creatures in the sky, such as griffons, falcons or foolish pegasi and we felt attacked. We had to defend ourselves.

That was our real problem. We were a very closed community. We didn't even talk the same language as the other creatures. The only things we ate were fish or algae from the river. We didn't know how to reap, how to cook and how to build. We had a more-than-basic knowledge of magic too. We are souklat unáe creatures, I mean, we are creatures whose magic increase and improve when they unite with another soul, another being. Two becomes one, but after that... we didn't know anything else. We didn't even use our magic so much, we just used it for fishing. It was just fish, algae, the moon which we loved... and the souklat unáe which was almost useless at that moment.

Until my father decided to reach further.

He got tired of just living on the edge of the river, surrounded by trees, feeling scared or attacked when looking at flying creatures from the sky. He wanted to expand our lands. He wanted our species to become bigger, but no one believed in him, or I could say... no one wanted to believe in him. He wanted to talk to the creatures from the sky. He wanted to make friends with all of them... but no one, especially my mother, Lacrimam, believed in him.

I eventually became the middle spot between my mother and my father's arguments. Both of them tried to convince me about their opinions, and I felt so confused and sad I thought they were out of their minds. Every day was arguments and torture... until one day, my father left the river. Left the trees. Left the community."

"... And that's it?" interrupts Chrysalis, something that angers Tenebris.

"No," he says. "And let me keep talking, you."

"At first I thought he died because he never appeared again and that only made the community much more scared of the outside. Nobody wanted to leave the edge of the river. My mother didn't even let me look at the trees.

Until one day, he returned. He came back alone, with a small papyrus that talked about the other creatures' language, so I could say he learned something basic... and with the most shocking, disappointed face I had ever seen. I'll never, never forget that face. That gesture... I swear it could be the only thing which can give me goosebumps nowadays."

"Golly," says Cozy Glow. "And why was he with that face?"

"We asked him why, and he answered that he met another species, a much bigger community, which was much better organized and had more tools and food than us... the ponies. He came across somepony whose name I will never forget... Flash Magnus."

"That's a pillar of Equestria," says Stone Chisel. "One of the six."

Now Tenebris looks at the pony. "Whoever he is... firstly, he is not a pillar of Equestria but from the pony world, and secondly... I bet he is now dead, but if he was alive... almighty moon... I'd love to destroy him, piece by piece."

That phrase was so shocking it left everyone with no words, and Tenebris takes advantage of this to keep telling everyone the story...

"Flash Magnus told him the ponies had a Kingdom which controlled everything of Equestria, and my father asked him for help with all the words he learned about the ponies' language. He wanted his community to expand, to know the new world he has just discovered, he told him who he was, what he was, where he was... but, this damned Flash Magnus told him everypony of the Kingdom already knew who we were, what we were and where we were. Every one of us. They knew about us all this time... but never came to us. Never talked to us. Never were there. My father Clamoris even asked him for help, despite Flash Magnus never granted it all of that time... but..."

"But?" says Chrysalis. Tenebris shakes his head, with a lump in his throat.

"He told my father it was not the right moment to ask for help... and he left Clamoris alone. My father, with that face, returned to the edge of the river with that phrase, that answer, right on his head."

"It is not the right moment to help you."

"We felt so closed, so apart... and at that moment, when Clamoris told everyone what Flash Magnus told him... we felt insulted. We felt we were treated like nothing... litter... waste of flesh and bones... he decided not to leave the river again, despite he wanted to. He was right... he knew he was right, we had to talk to other creatures... but felt so disappointed he decided not to do it again.

We became more closed than ever before. All of us were absolute hermits, and our lack of communication, of knowledge about other communities, ended up killing us."

Everyone is now walking on some small meadows, leaving the savanna behind. "Why?" asks Cozy Glow.

"One day the rams appeared. Not the night rams, I mean, the common rams. The ones whose fur is not dark blue. The ones who are not souklat unáe creatures. It was a great chance to start socializing, increasing our community... but our lack of communication with other creatures made us feel we were attacked, and, at the same time... the rams casually thought the same. It ended up in a war. A war for nothing... just for fear, for lack of communication. It turned into a massacre, a carnage. Few creatures survived, including me... but then I found out my parents tragically died there. I found my father agonizing, and that's when he told me his final words... which every day rumble in every part of my body. Every single day."

"And what did he say?" asks Chrysalis. Tenebris turns around, to look at everyone.

"He said..."

"Talk to other creatures."

"And that's the story of Clamoris, the Nightcrawler," he says, and then he looks at Stone Chisel, the thief, right in his eyes. "Did you like it? I didn't hear any commentaries from you... and from Discord... but well, Discord's commentaries don't have any value."

Discord growls at it, without saying anything, and Stone Chisel only shakes his head. "I mean..." he says. "Flash Magnus may have sounded really rude when he said that... but I don't think that was intentional."

The ram raises his eyebrows. "You think so?"

"Yes."

"Well..." he says, laughing. "What's done, it's done... isn't it? And then I started talking to Rushkwa, decided to learn the ponies' language and teach it to my community, to ask Celestia for the United Kingdom thanks to my father's ideas, and blah, blah... you know what happened."

"And there's something which confuses me right there," says Stone Chisel, almost interrupting him. "You said Celestia answered you that she didn't want to make the United Creature Kingdom because that would be something too hard to control... and you immediately said it was a lie and you declared war..."

"Yes," he answers. "I did what I have to do. What does confuse you?"

Now the pony looks at the ram, angrily. "What if she wasn't lying?"

The ram laughs loudly this time. "Of course, she was lying."

"And how do you know that? Huh?"

"They left us alone, always. She wouldn't want to share her power with a stupid, lonely community."

"You were the ones that wanted to be alone!" shouts the pony. "If all of you were like your father Clamoris, I bet you everything would have been 100% different."

"I disagree," he says aloud. "Ponies didn't and still don't care about us. They want all of the power for them and just for them."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he shouts, stopping his trot, and pointing at Cozy Glow in front of them. "That filly came out of a School for All Creatures, don't you know? They are helping other communities to turn Equestria into a united kingdom, just like YOU wanted to... you fucking stupid!"

The ram angrily snorts at the robber. "Too sad that's not my main objective right now. I have something else in my mind... and you know what I mean."

"Hey!" interrupts Cozy Glow, looking to something from the top of a meadow. "Look over there!"

Everyone takes a look and finds a really attractive city, filled with shiny blue and purple buildings. Further away, near the small buildings, there is an enormous, shiny castle of crystal. "It's," whispers Chrysalis. "It's the Crystal Empire."

Tenebris finds out that, much further from the castle, there is a small river surrounded by a couple of trees. He chuckles while looking at it. "Oh, lands," he adds. "I missed you... but first...

... let me take those repulsive beasts off you..."

Crystal Tears

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, I've been busy these last two weeks, and I have some news that I want to say.

This chapter is very important (you may see it because of how long it is, though) because it is the transition from the first half of the story to the second half. Everything will change in these 8000/9000 words.

Christmas and New Year's Eve are coming, and I'll be on hiatus for a while, maybe until mid-January, and the second half will start getting published on that month. This is the last chapter that will be published on this year.

I hope you are enjoying this story.

Thank you for reading, and wish you Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!

Crystal Tears

Arc II - Chapter XI - Crystal Tears

After a long night, arriving at the Empire he has to protect just a couple of hours ago, Shiny Mercury finally kneels to his lord, Prince Shining Armor, in the castle. "My lord," he says. "Before introducing you to our new reinforcements, I want to ask you for your opinion about the thirty Royal Guards I left on the Empire to take care of you, your wife and your daughter last night. Did they do their job well, according to your words?"

Shining Armor appears in front of him, approaching the guard with his wife and his sleeping daughter from behind. "Of course," he says. "Why wouldn't they do their job well, Shiny Mercury?"

The guard sighs, tilting his head down. "Sorry," he says, "but the menace of Tenebris and his acolytes is making me paranoid. I want everything to be completely, responsibly protected."

"Every pony here is doing their job responsibly and perfectly, Shiny," replies Cadence, looking after her daughter. "We recognize it's a very dangerous menace, but you have to be focused on what you are doing, Shiny Mercury. Being paranoid will only deconcentrate you."

Shiny only nods his head. "You're right, princess... I have to be focused on what I am doing," he says, and then he turns around and introduces a guard to his emperors: Big Stomp, leader of the Canterlot Royal Guards. "Going back to where we were talking about, Celestia has ordered to bring a big part of the Canterlot Kingdom Guards with us to protect the empire, and that's why I'm introducing you to the second leader. Big Stomp has replaced Flash Sentry after his painful fate."

Big Stomp raises his hoof to the emperors. "Shining Armor. Princess Cadence. It will be an honour to protect you from these monsters," he exclaims.

"The honour is granted," replies Cadence, raising her hoof to the leader. Then, Big Stomp gives a wrapped piece of parchment to Shining Armor, surprising him.

"Um..." he says while grabbing it. "Is this a letter?"

"Yes, Sir Armor," replies Big Stomp.

He slowly opens it with his magic.. "From whom?"

"Your sister Twilight Sparkle."

Shining Armor takes a breath, feeling his back freezing while opening the letter. Once he starts reading it, tears start falling down his eyes.

"Brother:

I've also sent a letter to Mom and Dad because of this. Starlight was violently murdered and that only makes me think this menace will be more bloody than ever. Take care of yourself. Don't risk your life..."

The letter goes on and on, which makes the emperor cry while reading, at the same time Cadence and Shiny Mercury enter Flurry Heart's bedroom. The mother lets the baby sleep on her bed, not without kissing her forehead before... Shiny Mercury, the guard, only asks the princess: "Would you?"

Cadence raises her eyebrows, surprised, and leaves the room with the guard. She knows what is he talking about. They pass by the thrones, where Shining Armor is cleaning his face after reading her sister's card, and both the princess and the guard enter a small room with a gigantic window inside the castle where a shiny, heart-shaped crystal is floating over a glass platform. Shiny Mercury closes his eyes, feeling goosebumps in all of his shiny, crystal body. "The Crystal shall show you the way, Shiny Mercury," says the Princess, once she slowly touches the Crystal Heart. Shiny Mercury, with his trembling hooves, also does the same, whispering something to the heart.

".... and the Empire shall rise... over the menaces around... fed by the love and the sacrifice."

Cadence nods at Mercury's action, while the guard slowly trots away from the heart, only to stand at the door and raise a hoof to the sacred crystal shape. "Let your light shine us," he says, before coming out of the room and getting observed by Big Stomp, the Canterlot's Leader. He wants to say something...

"I mean," says Big Stomp, at the same time Mercury comes out and looks at him. "I know that I almost descended Sergeant Score because of what he said yesterday... but..."

The Guard raises an eyebrow while Cadence leaves the entrance. "But?"

"I think he's..." he says, rolling his eyes. "I think he's got a point. From my perspective, the Crystal Heart is quite unprotected inside that room."

But Shiny Mercury doesn't agree with him. "It's where it has to be. The window in the room reflects its light to the whole empire," he says furiously. "We can't move it. We can't hide it. It's the power of our love, all joined together in it. If we keep him out of the window, our hopes..."

"But... what if an acolyte, or also... the same Tenebris, finds out the Crystal Heart is there?"

Shiny Mercury shakes his head, madly. "The Heart has to be there and only there, Big Stomp. And their main objective is to get rid of the emperors, not the heart. The Heart will stay there."

Big Stomp, however, wants to keep arguing because the Heart just feels unprotected in that room... but now, at this moment, he doesn't want to fight with a partner. A partner who is against his menace too. A menace which killed his leader. Killed him with bloodthirst.

The villains, still under their invisible aura, pass by the Empire's entrance, getting nearer the town. Stone Chisel only thinks about throwing up because of how nervous he is now. He knows what's going to happen. He knows how is this going to end while looking at the crystal ponies casually entering their homes, with friends, relatives or their children. Not even the big amount of guards trotting and flying around the town, either from inside or outside, can calm him down. Tenebris is the first one who takes a look at everything. It just seems so different. There are not many trees like before... maybe this empire cut almost all of them? Arrgh!

"Don't speak," he says. "And be behind me." Then, a blue orb comes out of his mouth: Rushkwa. She only spins around him, looking at his almost broken necklace once, and ends up staying on her soulmate's loin, waiting for the plan to come true. Her plan.

Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis look at Discord now, under Tenebris' noses. Stone Chisel also does the same, and that's the moment when Cozy Glow points out at the ram, without him finding out about it. Discord only shakes his head, until all of them hear a voice.

"What are you pointing at, filly?"

Rushkwa gets out of where she was and starts spinning around Cozy Glow, making her nervous. Everyone gets frozen except for Tirek, who tries to get the orb out of the filly, but Rushkwa gets off her on time and goes back to Tenebris' loin. The ram is just there, smiling. "Calm down, Rushkwa," he says. "It's not the moment."

"I saw her pointing at something."

"She may have pointed at the castle, calm down." Everyone thinks he actually doesn't know what is happening for real, but no. Tenebris already knows what's going on here. She was pointing at him, and he has now something else to make them pay. He has just to wait. Just wait.

Rushkwa calms down but doesn't shut up. She gets out of her soulmate's loin again but stands there. "Next time I see you pointing at something and I'll rip you off that tiny tower mark you have on your loin."

Cozy gets mad at what Rushkwa told her. "HEY!" she shouts, and that only alerts everyone with her. Four Royal Guards who were walking around heard that too. Everyone remains silent and Cozy blushes, realizing what she has done. The ram looks at her with anger but doesn't do anything. Then, he looks at how the four guards are getting nearer the place.

"Did you hear that?" says one of them.

Tenebris' attention gets specifically attracted to the ponies' bodies. He saw them before...but never focused on how they looked like. They are shiny and almost transparent. They are not normal at all. Despite he is completely surprised at how are, he doesn't say anything. Is this a way to show him how things have changed? One of the guards looks behind him, while the others, without knowing, are directly looking at the ram who is looking for his lands, along with the villains who want the kingdom on its whole. "Shall I call Shiny Mercury for this?"

"What?" says another guard. "Of course not. He will get mad if we call him out just because of a sound."

"I want to investigate further."

"Really, Gallops?" says another immediately after hearing that. "It was just a stupid sound. Maybe it was something out of our mind... let's go back to work."

However, Gallops decides to investigate anyway. Tenebris closes his eyes, trying his best to not kill this guard who starts messing around the place. "Gallops!" shouts one of the guards. "Get out of there, you dumb! Shiny Mercury will get mad if he finds out!"

Meanwhile, Gallops is not hearing them. He felt something near him. A certain warmth. A certain smell. A couple of whispers and strange sounds. He knows something is there, but he can't just see it. On the other side, Stone Chisel is literally next to Gallops. If it wasn't for just a couple of centimetres, Gallops and Stone Chisel would have already touched their heads. "Hey!" shouts the guard who's investigating. "There's something here but..."

"Something?" says one guard, almost laughing. "Stop imagining things, you stupid. Come here."

But no. There's someone else who has an opinion about all of this. Stone Chisel turns his head to his left, where Gallops is staying, about to crash their heads. He slowly moves his hoof, trying to push him away, despite being this a risky decision. However, once he is about to push him away, Tenebris turns around and looks at him. He thinks he is about to smash him, to break him in pieces for what he is trying to do... He feels goosebumps when the ram nods his head. Everyone, even Discord, feels it. He wants to. He wants him to do it. That's the moment where he looks again at the guard, at now, having that fucker's consent... he can do it with no trouble.

"Gallops! Come the b---"

But Gallops suddenly trips over, and a second later, a wall rises from the ground. Then another one. And another one. Finally, four walls of dirt rise from the ground, blocking something. Something they can't see. "Holy sh---!" shouts one of the guards. "LEADER! LEADER!"

Pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies, crystal or not, approach the recently raised dirt walls. Some pegasi guards even find out a roof has been also made, so they plan to attack until Shiny Mercury and Big Stomp appear. "STOP! STOP!" shouts Shiny Mercury. "DON'T OPEN FIRE! DON'T OPEN FIRE!"

Now everyone, almost in silence, looks at the dirt cube. Big Stomp is the first one who dares to shout: "WHO ARE YOU, STRANGER?"

However, inside the cube, everything is different. All of them are almost squashed because of how small is the cube and the only light that can illuminate them is Rushkwa. Discord has the worst part, being squashed and bent like a snake all over the ground, stepped on by everyone. Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow are stuck to each other while Stone Chisel is in another corner with Tenebris. "Why did you close us?" asks Tirek, angrily. "At least... can this be not seen? I hope your answer is yes, you moron."

"He started it!" shouts Chrysalis, pointing at Stone Chisel. "He pushed away that crystal pony."

"I told him to," he answers, defending the colt. "And I rose this because I need to ask something before, just to don't be misinformed."

"What?" asks Cozy Glow.

"Discord..." Rushkwa's orb is now flying around Discord's face, illuminating him. "I forgot to ask you something... In which building stays that Crystal Heart?"

The God of Chaos just smiles while his whole face is light blue because of the orb's flash. "You said my comments didn't have any value at all."

Tenebris laughs, and says while chuckling: "You don't want me to look it for myself."

Discord laughs back. "Because you would destroy anything, like always."

Tenebris smiles, but this time doesn't laugh, and just a second later, he has something in mind. Suddenly, all of those white auras everyone had just disappeared. They are not invisible. Not anymore...

CRASH!

Discord's face comes out from one of the walls and bleeding, this time, some kind of fruit juice. Everyone recognizes who is, and a second later, the walls suddenly bury in the ground again. The roof disappears. That's when everybody can see them. All of them.

Tirek, the wicked lord.
Cozy Glow, the manipulative filly.
Chrysalis, the evil queen.
Stone Chisel, the robber.
Discord, the God of Chaos.
A strange light blue orb.

And most importantly...
Tenebris, the Night Ram.

Everyone gets in silence, even the villains. It's a tense, awkward duel of sights. A horde of dozens of guards looking at villains. Villains looking at guards. Shiny Mercury and Big Stomp look at Tenebris, while others look at Discord and Stone Chisel, linked together with a dark crystal chain, where the God of Chaos is lying on the ground, bleeding fruit juice. "Good morning," says Tenebris. "I've been thinking about what I should do with you, land takers... uh... but I'll try to talk to you peacefully for the first time."

"You," interrupts Shiny Mercury, putting his helmet on. "You genocidal, psychopathic, sadistic... bloody monster, beast, murderer... why would I want to talk peacefully with you?"

The ram raises his hooves. "It's the best way for all of us... You give me back my lands, and I'll give you a chance to live."

Shouts are heard everywhere from the Guards. Clearly, they are furious. Tenebris sighs and turns around, looking at everyone, while all of the guards are insulting the villains' crew. Then, he looks at Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow and nods his head. They nod their head too. "I'm afraid we'll have to do it in a bad way."

"BUCK YOU!" shouts Big Stomp, putting his helmet on and preparing to attack. "BUCK ALL OF YOU, MONSTERS!"

"GUARDS!" shouts Shiny Mercury, preparing his magic. "OPEN FI---"

BOOM.

But he couldn't even finish that sentence.

Suddenly, Shiny Mercury is not there anymore, and, instead, there are shards of crystal on the ground. He literally blew up in front of everyone. All of the guards stop and get silent... nobody attacks, even Big Stomp, even the villains. Some of the crystal shards are cut or buried inside the Guards' bodies, but they are so shocked they don't care. "You have one last chance to go back to a good way."

But no. They don't want to go in a good way. Their leader is dead now. He killed their leader. He did it. He killed Flash Sentry. And now he has to pay. For everything he does. For everything he did. For everything, he will do. All of the guards start looking at each other, nodding their heads. No matter how powerful the enemy is, they will attack anyways because that's who they are: Royal Guards. They are there to protect their beloved emperors and kings. They will sacrifice everything they have for the emperors. From the magic to their hooves.

A swarm of Crystal Guards, Canterlot Guards, everything they imagined of... go for them. Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow start to defend themselves, this time fighting together, because of how many are the guards. Tenebris, along with Rushkwa, starts fighting on their own, only using his magic, although still being limited by the necklace. However, there is another case which is different. Stone Chisel runs away, this time going inside the town, to take cover, and Discord gets mad at Stone's behaviour...

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he shouts. "WE'VE GOT TO GO BACK!"

"Are you kidding me?" he shouts. "They'd freaking kill me!"

"WE HAVE TO GO BACK!" he shouts. "TENEBRIS IS FIRING HIS BEAMS! WE CAN DESTROY THESE BOULDERS!"

And now he realized he has done it wrong. "But... but... but..."

"GO! GO! GO NOW! GO! GO! GO!"

"AARGGGHH!" shouts Stone Chisel, smashing his head against the ground, while crystal civilians are running away or hiding in their homes. "FUCK THIS!"

Stone Chisel runs faster than nobody ever could. He runs and runs, looking straight at the ram. At Tenebris. Nevertheless, he feels something. He hears something flying near him on his back, and a second later, a hoof punches him in his head and buries him into the ground.

"TAKE THIS!" shouts someone who is certainly familiar. Sergeant Score with his royal armour, along with his guard partner Hoops, start beating him up. "YOU MOTHERBUCKER!"

"Wai..." tries to shout Chisel, but Hoops kicks him on his mouth, making it bleed.

Discord tries to do something. "WAIT! STOP! HE'S GOOD! HE'S GOOD!"

But they didn't understand what he tried to say. "Calm down, Discord!" shouts Hoops. "We'll get you out of this chain!"

"NO! I MEANT---"

No. No time for answers. No time for words. For Tenebris, there's no time for those two guards. He jumps onto them, not even caring about those who are actually following him... to kill him, to hurt him... He jumps onto them and smashes their heads so fast they can't even say their last words. A second later, Stone Chisel rises from the ground, with his bleeding mouth and a purple eye, and with the silver ring on his ear, broken. His silver ring is no longer with him. Then, he looks at Tenebris, standing on those poor smashed heads, while looking, above him, at a horde of pegasi coming at him. The ram doesn't care, though. He keeps looking at Stone Chisel. "RUSHKWA!" he shouts. "HELP!"

The light blue orb quickly appears over the ram's loin and starts spinning around the pegasi while the beast's necklace starts trembling again, creating a sphere which ends up locking them on its inside. Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis are still fighting, defending themselves and together while getting nearer Tenebris. They have to act now.

Luckily, the sphere Rushkwa made spares the three of their lives in a way. Quickly it starts bouncing on the ground, smashing all of the pegasi and guards who were fighting against them. Big Stomp, while observing this, tries to run to the ram, but trembles while realizing the shadow under him suddenly becomes bigger and bigger. He looks at how the light blue sphere, filled with a fiery red colour on the inside, with shouts and cries... comes to him. He swallows saliva, takes a breath and jumps to get out.

Sadly,

SMASH!

he didn't make it. Few drops of his blood land on Chrysalis' legs, while she is looking, along with her allies, at the few guard survivors. A part of them are just trying to save their friends from inside that sphere of hell Rushkwa likes to create, while others try to attack Tenebris. However, Stone Chisel observes there is steam coming out of the necklace again. The ram closes his eyes, concentrating on what he has to do. He growls, turning around, looking with his dilated pupils at those who want to attack him... and a second later...

One falls. Another one falls to the ground. And another. Another. Another. And every time someone falls, a deafening sound is heard on the sky. CRACK, CRACK, CRACK. A couple of broken necks on the ground.

And suddenly...

there is no opponent to fight.

Villains are right behind the bubble of hell where pegasi are begging for their lives. Cries and shouts are heard everywhere, Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow are behind the ram and its soulmate, the flying orb, while the stallion and the God of Chaos are in front of him. The three villains, the so-called Legion of Doom observes Stone Chisel with shock and anger, who knows he ruined a chance to stop Tenebris. If he hadn't run away, Discord's boulders may have been broken, and he could have set himself free. However, the ram turns around, getting his hooves out of the two guards' smashed heads, and looks at the three villains observing him. Chrysalis knows something is happening while Rushkwa, the orb, starts slowly flying around Cozy Glow. "What's..." she says. "What's wrong?"

Tenebris, however, remains silent, while Stone Chisel and Discord, from behind, look at how his long dark horns are getting covered by an almost invisible purple aura. Stone Chisel slowly stands up, with his face bleeding, and tries to tackle the ram from behind, but once he touches him, a purple, magical beam gets fired at Chrysalis. The Changeling Queen finds that out at that moment and dodges it on time. Tirek and Cozy Glow, instead of doing something, remain frozen, along with Stone Chisel, who falls to the ground again. "HEY!" shouts the queen, angrily. "IT WAS ME!"

The ram only growls and answers: "I know."

And in that right moment, her horn starts glowing green: "YEEEEARGH!" she shouts, about to jump onto the ram, but the orb of Rushkwa appears to the rescue and locks up the queen in a bubble. A bubble of hell. Cozy Glow opens her mouth, shocked, while Tirek looks at the ram and the orb, furiously. Discord and Stone Chisel get up, but this time it won't be to take a look.

"YOU BUCKER!" shouts Chrysalis from inside the bubble. "DAMN YOU! MONSTER, FOOLISH, STUPID, DAMN YOU, IDIOTIC RAM! I'M GONNA KILL YOU! BUCKING BUCKER!"

Tenebris and Rushkwa find out they have enemies from one side and the other. Tirek and Cozy Glow run to them, just for the attack, while Discord and Stone Chisel jump at the same time, trying not to trip over, to do the same. Tenebris saves himself and his soulmate from the centaur and the filly, hitting them with the bubble that has Chrysalis locked up... but he ends up being hit by Discord on his face. The god of Chaos crushes one of the boulders against the ram with so much strength it can be heard like an explosion. The beast crashes onto the ground, opening his eyes a second later, and finding out he is bleeding. His nose is cut, being wet because of a light blue liquid which is his blood, while almost all of his teeth are broken. "You... nand'i'é saffar... I'm gonna cut you in half, you IMBECILE DRACONEQUUS!"

Stone Chisel tries to bite the ram's ear but gets expelled by a light blue beam that came out of Rushkwa's orb, and if he gets thrown away, Discord too. Both creatures fly away, getting inside a crystal house, and now the ram and the orb's main attention gets driven to Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis locked up in a bubble. The centaur and the filly are trying to get the changeling out of it, but everything stops when both Tenebris and Rushkwa levitate the bubble and send it to the skies, making Tirek and Cozy Glow turn around and look at them. The monster, cleaning up his bleeding, broken nose, winks an eye at the orb, which makes her spin around both villains. Cozy Glow wants to attack her while Tirek tries not to get distracted by the light blue light which comes out of Rushkwa...

... but everything stops when an explosion is heard in the sky. A deafening shout is heard inside a ball of green fumes which evaporate in heaven, and at that right moment Cozy Glow shouts that name for the first time:

"CHRYSALIS!"

"You motherbucker..." shouts Tirek, looking at the ram. "I was right! I WAS RIGHT!"

"Shut your mouth up, you centaur," says Tenebris with a low voice, trying to breathe from his mouth and not from his now broken nose. "You think I was oligophrenic enough to let you turn your back on me?"

Cozy Glow gets quite shocked after hearing that but doesn't say anything. "So you knew it all this time..." says Tirek. "You damned genocidal monster... I told you and I was right... I told you you were so crazy you would eventually start killing all of us... as you did with the changeling..."

"And with all of you."

"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID ORB!" he shouts, angrily. "YOU THINK I'M GOING TO BE YOUR VICTIM? FOR THE HORNS OF GROGAR I'LL NEVER BE! NOT EVEN THE FIRST, NOT EVEN THE LAST! I'LL CONSUME YOU LIKE TRASH, GARBAGE!"

And something starts shining red. Everyone was so closed in their own mind and angry, all of them forgot there was actually a bubble of burning pegasi right next to them. Tenebris and Rushkwa look at the bubble and then look at the city. Only one destination. Only one chance. Tirek also shares the same looks as them... while Cozy Glow hides behind the centaur. "You..." whispers the filly. "You will..."

"Wait, prince Shining Armor," says one of the few guards who are staying in the castle, looking at everything through a window. "They are..."

"They are what?"

"Fighting each other."

Shining Armor now looks at the window. Lots of crystal ponies, civilians, running away or hiding in their homes, while at the entrance there is a crew of villains fighting each other with a big blue bubble in the background, where nothing on the inside can be seen from that view, and another one, much smaller, where they can see the shadow of something. Cadence also dares to look for a few seconds and then she grabs her husband's face. "Please," she says. "We need to go."

"Go!" he answers loudly. "Flurry Heart and you have to be safe now. I've already prepared a Royal Carriage with two pegasi waiting for you."

"But..." she says, crying. "Where is the big one, Shining Armor? Only one adult pony can get inside that carriage. It's too small. I---"

"I'll stay."

"Stay?" she shouts, crazily. "STAY? SHINING ARMOR, PLEASE!"

"I can't leave the place I built with my love, Cadence," he replies. "I will fight against Tenebris."

"Sir!" shouts the guard. "You can't do that. You know that ram's power---"

BOOM. An explosion is heard, which makes Flurry Heart cry in her room. The small bubble is not there, anymore. Now there is a strange green smoke on the skies... and Shining Armor finds out something: "Chrysalis... Chrysalis is not there anymore... she's..."

"Dead?" shouts Cadence. "Shining! SHINING! WE HAVE TO GO! WE HAVE TO GO AWAY! WE HAVE TO KEEP FLURRY SAFE!"

"WE CAN'T LEAVE!" he shouts. "All of the civilians, our people, still trapped in their homes! I have to get them out of there with the guards... and then we will fight the one who dared to kill us!"

"NO!" shouts the guard. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS, EMPEROR! YOU HAVE TO GO AWAY SO WE WILL DO IT FOR YOU!"

"NO!" he shouts, and then he turns back at Cadence. "PLEASE, THE CARRIAGE IS ON THE BACK BALCONY! GRAB FLURRY HEART AND GO!"

"I WON'T GO WITHOUT YOU!"

"BUT YOU HAVE TO BE SAFE!"

"AND YOU TOO!"

"AND FLURRY HEART HAS TO!"

While the discussion gets louder and louder, the two pegasi with the small carriage enter Flurry Heart's room and get her in the carriage, trying to calm her down. Cadence finds out they are doing this and runs to them. "WAIT!" she shouts. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" says one of the pegasi. "COME ON, MI AMORE CADENZA, MAJESTY, GET IN!"

Shining Armor turns around, listening to his, but, from one second to the other he finds out the whole room now is dyeing red. His skin is red. His mane too. "What is ha---"

And then he sees it. A red, burning bubble filled with crying pegasi is on fire, about to crash on his beloved town. The town he brought up. The town he saved. The town he loved so much. He closes his eyes, with a lump in his throat and whispers:

"Celestia... save me..."

💥BOOM💥

"Aaargh..."

He is the first one who opens his eyes and finds out his whole body is filled with crystal shards. Stone Chisel slowly gets up in shock, looking at the sky being surrounded by a strange red smoke with a really strong smell. He tries to look around.... to realize that there's nothing around him. Just shards, and shards and shards of crystal. However, the Empire's Castle is still standing, although its dome doesn't exist anymore. It's now broken into pieces on the ground.

He slowly gets up, without saying a word, and finds a piece of his own ear on the ground, bleeding. Then, he finds Discord behind him, lying against a broken house of crystal, also filled with shards over his whole body. He ignores what happened and also his severed ear, and tries to help Discord. Wait, he thinks... there's something else gone.

There's no chain. Both of them are free, and furthermore, both Discord's boulders are broken in half and the chain on his feet is now dust. He's free. "Discord..." he whispers, finding out he has a piece of crystal on his tongue while talking. He spits it with blood. "Discord..."

The God of Chaos slowly opens his eyes, but when he looks at the whole place, he opens them for complete and very, very widely... He looks everywhere and then, he finds the castle, whose dome is completely broken, but the entrance and the first store are still there. He realizes he's free, so the first thing he does is get off both Chisel and all of the shards in their bodies, with just a finger snap. Then, with no commentaries at all, decides to fly over the destroyed city, looking for the enemy he has to destroy. Stone Chisel, meanwhile, takes a look at the city's entrance and finds something. Tirek is hiding behind a broken house, still standing. Chisel runs to him and finds one of his horns is broken and he has several cuts and injuries over his loin, arms and hooves. "Tirek," he whispers, touching him. "Tirek, come on..."

"That... ram... is a..."

"I know... I know..."

And then the centaur, in the middle of the silence, looks at the stallion. "And you too."

He raises his eyebrows. "What?"

The centaur pushes him away. "You fool... you did this... you set him free..."

"I... I..." He doesn't know what to say. "Uh... look, uh..."

Tirek covers the stallion's mouth. "Don't... say... shut the... buck up... would you."

And then, at this right moment, Discord appears, holding Cozy Glow in his arms. She's not hurt, but very shocked. She can't even move. "I... I can't find him..." he says, with a shocking gesture. "Neither him nor the orb..."

"Me... neither," whispers Tirek. "I tried to but..."

"He's..." whispers Cozy Glow, getting off Discord's arms and falling to the ground filled with shards. "at... nowhere."

Actually not. He's not at nowhere. He exactly knows where he is. The ram, with his almost broken necklace, still standing, and the orb is messing around the broken castle in silence, while Rushkwa keeps spinning around him. "I've got to thank you for that."

"I protected you. That's what soulmates do."

"It was not a bad idea," he says, while the orb stops.

"Of course it wasn't. If it wasn't for that shield you made, we could have become a deadweight with that explosion."

Tenebris nods his head."Yes," he says while passing by a guard's corpse.

"Um..."

"What?"

"I just wanted to ask you if you are still OK... you know, because of your nose. Discord hit you really bad... it's broken..."

Tenebris raises an eyebrow, surprised. "Yes... um, it hurts but... I can fix it once I destroy this stupid necklace. You know I have more important things than this."

She sighs. "Oh, yeah... putting up with pain, such a Tenebris thing... and your neck? I've heard it burning while you were making that shield. Does it hurt? Are you OK?"

The ram just smiles. "Nice from you... to care about me."

"Uh... You know I always care about you."

"Yes, I know, but... It's the first time someone tells me that in... like a thousand and a bit more years."

She laughs. "By the day of tomorrow a whole community will care about you."

However, Tenebris doesn't answer her. He looks at a piece of something made of crystal. Everything around is just shards of crystal but this... this looks different. He looks around, trying to find something that may look like this particular piece and finds something special... there's a living pony, trapped under a broken column. A still-living pony with a blue mane, white skin and a broken horn. He has been trying to shout but he can only gargle with his mouth full of blood... Shining Armor is suffering.

Rushkwa also looks at him. "How stupid..." she says. "How couldn't I see him? Did you see him before while walking?"

"No."

Shining Armor looks at the ram and the orb, with fiery eyes, not being able to move or use his magic. He only gargles the blood inside his mouth while saying:

"You are going to die... you are going to die..."

Tenebris turns around and finds a small room, also broken in pieces. However, then he finds another shard of crystal which looks like the strange piece he found seconds ago. He turns his head back again and looks at the fallen prince. "You're confused, dear pony... we're not going to die today..."

A hoof slowly moves and starts flying around the prince's head, slowly... and slowly... and slowly... and slowly... and...

SMASH!

And slowly... and...

SMASH!

And...

CRASH!

And then... the final one...

CRACK!

Broken neck. Smashed head. Shining Armor is dead. "... you are."

Tenebris, finally, enters the room where he found that second piece and finds something which calls his attention. Despite all of the floor being covered with crystal, there's something big that is still on a piece... well, almost. Half of it is completely broken, but he swears, he knows... he realizes it has the shape of a heart. His eyes dilate once he sees that. "The..."

"Crystal Heart?"

"Maybe..."

"It's broken...... but... it looks like a heart."

The ram softly touches it with one of his hooves, and at that same time, his necklace starts vibrating. The gem's colour, which was dark grey at the moment he entered the castle in the middle of a crystal mess, is now turning to a lighter grey. "But... uh... what do I have to do?"

"Pass it over the necklace, maybe?"

The ram snorts while levitating the heart with his magic. "If only I asked that stupid draconequus..." he says, and starts rubbing the broken heart on his necklace...

... Nothing happens. The necklace is still vibrating. The gem is still in that grey. What does he have to do? "Come on!" he shouts, furiously. "You are going to show me," he says while throwing the heart on the floor, breaking a small part of it in pieces. "I'm going to find your key, stupid thing!"

"What if you stepped on it?"

Now, Tenebris looks at his soulmate, surprised. He looks at the orb, then at the Heart. Orb. Heart. Orb. Heart. Orb. Heart. He slowly moves his hoof again, as if it was Shining Armor's head, and smashes the heart in pieces with just one step.

The Crystal Heart is broken, and at that time, something blue starts climbing Tenebris' hooves. The necklace around him starts trembling again, but this time small shards of postcrystalline start getting out of it. The blue thing, however, turns into a ball and gets inside Tenebris' mouth. "NO!"

The ram feels drowned by the time the blue ball gets into his body, but then he feels from his insides, how that power, how those strange, mysterious, blue flumes start getting on with his strength, his being, his mist. His essence. His eyes change their colour to a clearer blue, while his broken nose automatically, at the same time, stops bleeding and goes back to normal. All of his broken teeth are reborn again, once the necklace breaks into pieces. The mysterious gem which was on his necklace falls to the floor and stays there, now with a dark, completely black colour. It's off.

So long without feeling something like this. So much time without feeling that indescribable chaos in his intestines. It's like a knife. The sharpest knife on his back helps him to go on. Which helps him to breathe. He's back. He's back now. And he feels it. Oh, damn... he never felt it that good. So long without feeling this kind of power... this divine representation...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!"

Rushkwa, however, gets desperate at hearing that shout. "TENEBRIS!"

"AAAARGH! SO LOOOONG, RUSHKWA! It feels... so good after such a long TIIIIME!"

Sadly, unfortunately, at that same time Tenebris feels his real being in his heart... somebody realizes it while entering the castle. Stone Chisel is the first one which observes the inside, looking at Shining Armor swimming in his own death. "NO!" he shouts, once he looks at the poor stallion. "NO! SHINING ARMOR!"

He wants to check him out. He wants to check if he's alive or not. He wants to save him. Save him? After laughing at his booty on the trial? Hell yeah. He wants to save him because that's what he has to do now. However, once he starts running to him, a strong hand grabs him in time. "Not so fast!" shouts Tirek. "TENEBRIS! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU MOTHERBUCKER? WE'VE HEARD YOU!"

And at that right moment where Tirek asks that question, Rushkwa appears. The orb starts flying around Shining Armor's corpse, without making any commentaries. Discord, however, takes advantage of his freedom and decides to trap Rushkwa with two magical chains. "Where is him, Rushkwa?"

She's acting different this time.... "I won't tell you."

The God of Chaos rises his eyebrows. "You won't tell me?"

"No... why don't..."

Discord's anger is now visible. "Why don't what?"

And in that same moment, the orb starts increasing its size, breaking the two magical chains with her strength. She slowly turns from a light blue orb with no eyes, no mouth and just light to a light blue night ram with small white horns and red eyes. A real Night Ram. A real appearance. In that right moment, Discord and everyone knew something was really, really wrong. "Why don't you ask the REAL Rushkwa?"

Discord doesn't breathe for a second trying to think about how Rushkwa turned into her older self, but his thoughts get interrupted when he gets surrounded by a black aura. Black Aura, he thinks. Black Aura. No. It can't be. He takes a look at the room where the Crystal Heart has to be... only to find out there's no Heart. There's no Crystal. There's no hope. Tenebris is Chaos again, and he is now under his magic.

The draconequus feels his air coming out of his throat for just one second. From one second to the other, he becomes the weakest creature in the world, at the same time Tenebris appears right above him.

Tirek wants to attack. Cozy too. Stone Chisel also wants to, but no one of them can do anything right now. The centaur tries to move his hooves, his human arms, his face, his mouth... but he can't. He just can't. He feels how he has just turned into a statue. Cozy wants to move her wings and Chisel wants to trot the faster he can, but no one can move anything. They only can look. Look at Tenebris and Rushkwa stepping on Discord.

The God of Chaos tries to snap, to do something, but nothing happens. All of his air, his power, his essence... drained in one second. "Too late," now says Tenebris, with a new tone. A new identity. "I am you now."

Discord, with shivers down his spine, for the first time in his life, feels he can't control chaos anymore. This has gotten out of his hands, and the only thing he can do is to pray... For whom? He doesn't know... but he has to pray. He looks behind him. To Tirek, to Cozy Glow and to Stone Chisel, especially. "Stone..." he says, almost whispering. "Stone Chisel, you've got to solve what you started---"

But sadly, Tenebris is not the kind of creature who doesn't want to let you finish your sentence. Suddenly, Discord stops talking and his whole face turns blank. With no expression at all. Just a few seconds later, a strange sound is heard, and everybody can look at how Discord's long, stretchy body... has turned into dices of every kind of colour. Red, blue, yellow, white, black... Discord suddenly is nothing. Has become nothing else than a couple of dices. "Dice-cord," says Tenebris, stepping on the dices. "Such a stupid wordplay I came up with last night... Isn't it, Rushkwa?"

The now real Rushkwa nods her head. "Yes, my love."

"Good, my soulmate... just something else and I get my lands back."

Suddenly, the three statues are getting moved and...

VROOOOOOOOOOOOMCRASH!

The three statues now can move... while staying outside the castle after getting expelled by the ram's new almighty powers of chaos. He is not only a chaos magic user but literally, he has just turned into...

THE GOD OF CHAOS...

The three survivors get up and find out they are from the other side of the castle, where they can clearly look at the river where Tenebris used to live, according to him. At that right time Cozy Glow finds out something which is happening on her forehead:

"MY HORN!" she shouts. "IT'S... IT'S LITERALLY TURNING INTO..."

Yes... Stone and Tirek look at how the little filly's horn turns into dust, fading in the air, at the same time Tenebris and Rushkwa appear in front of them, literally rising from the ground filled with crystals. Both night rams think they will attack together, but Tirek, however, has something else in mind. He wants to take charge of this. To show the rams what he is made of. Cozy Glow now, for the first time, feels completely scared of the night rams and hides behind the centaur. At that right time, the centaur clenches his fists and looks at Stone Chisel, who is still standing with his bleeding face and severed ear. "You," says Tirek, looking at Stone Chisel. "Run."

Now the stallion is shocked. "What?" he says.

"You, stallion. You, filly. Run."

"TIREK!" she shouts, hugging her friend's leg. "NO! NO!"

But the centaur gets mad and shouts at her: "RUN! RUN! I'LL SHOW THESE WHAT I'M MADE OF."

"You are doing wrong, Tirek," exclaims this time the ram, seriously. "Alone? Against me?"

Stone Chisel turns around and looks at the river... can they run? He may have one chance, so he decides to grab Cozy Glow from her back hooves and start to run... but she doesn't want to leave her friend. "COZY!" he shouts. "COME ON!"

"NO!" she shouts, now crying. "TIREK!"

But now Tirek is in another world, another reality. For the first time in his long life, the wicked lord needs to show the world what's his real face. He slowly opens his mouth, frowning and observing widely the rams. At the same time, Tenebris' horns start glowing orange. Someone's trying to consume his magic. "Oh no... you won't do it, you damned centaur!"

Rushkwa tackles Tirek and covers his mouth, not letting him consume her soulmate's magic. and Cozy Glow dares to attack the creature who threatened her a while ago, but Tenebris easily throws both her and Stone Chisel away. Tirek, trying to resist, grabs Rushkwa from her neck and throws her away, making her crash against the weakened castle's walls. The centaur knows Tenebris didn't like that, so he tries to go for him the faster he can. The ram is just standing there, not moving, so Tirek, trying not to get too close, decides to fire a magical beam at him. In the background, Cozy Glow and Stone Chisel are fighting each other.

"You can't!" shouts Chisel. "We have to go away!"

"NO!"

"But we can't do anything to them!" he shouts, holding her back hooves. "Please!"

But she doesn't want to listen. She only cares about her friend. "TIREK!"

Tirek looks at how the magical beam is slowly flying, walking to the ram's eyes, but from out of nowhere, the beam turns around, not even touching the ram. The centaur, with no words, tries to dodge the beam, but it hits him on his chest, throwing him away, near Cozy Glow and Stone Chisel. "TIREK!" she shouts, looking at her friend on the ground, crying. "TIREK!"

The centaur opens his eyes, this time really furious. "FILLY! YOU HAVE TO RUN!"

"I DON'T WANNA LEAVE YOU ALONE!"

"RUN!" he shouts, madly. "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? RUN, FILLY!"

"But..." she says, looking at her friend standing up, while Stone Chisel touches her from the back. "No..."

The centaur, out of his attitude, oddly starts rubbing the filly's hair with his hand. "Would you run?" he says, angrily. "Would you?"

"But... we have to be to---"

"We don't have to," he interrupts. "We don't have to be together, filly. Go away! I'll show them who am I, this is not for you!"

"But..."

"He said it!" shouts Stone Chisel, something that makes her mad, so she punches him with a hoof. "HEY!"

Tirek turns his head to look at the ram, only to find out the face of the beast is literally touching his face. At that right moment, he feels the world falling apart. A strange pain in his chest calls his attention, which ends up in something cold entering his body. All in less than a second, a hoof of Tenebris has made a hole in the centaur's chest. The world now is white and black for the centaur, which only spits blood while trying, without knowing why, to defend the filly and the stallion. He is just there, however, to show the ram who's messing with.

Tenebris gets down while having Rushkwa on his back, waiting for the centaur to fall dead on the ground. Cozy Glow knows something's wrong right now, and she dares to attack. She gets off Stone Chisel and jumps onto the ram, but fastly the beast throws her away, crashing her against the stallion on the ground covered with crystals. At that same time, something cold grabs his neck, something that sends shivers down Rushkwa's spine. The centaur's arms, fading from a red tone to a grey with no soul at all, start strangling the ram. "Not the first... not the last..." he says, whispering.

Tenebris, however, can say something while being strangled. "You... YOU!" he shouts, and then Tirek's sight, Tirek's point of view of life, suddenly fades out. Another cold, hard object suddenly gets on his chest, this time getting through his heart, the one who makes him keep living. He throws up his blood all over the ground and this time, trying to think properly for the last time, knows he won't stand up after this. The hoof of Tenebris is as red as his chest, while he is getting much and much weaker, shrinking his size and turning his skin grey. The ram looks at the lost sight of the centaur, trembling and stuttering. "You were right," says the ram. "Not the first, not the last. You are the second on the list."

"Buck... you..." whispers the trembling, weakened centaur with a hole on his chest, lying on the ground. He grabs the hoof which got through his heart and tries to break it in half, as he would do it in his ultimate form, but, after a couple of seconds, the hand slowly gets weaker... and weaker... and weaker... until he stops moving. The black eyes with not even yellow pupils, but a dark grey, blank sight, are looking to nowhere. The centaur's life suddenly doesn't exist anymore.

Cozy Glow opens her eyes and looks, from far away, at his centaur friend suddenly becoming into a dark grey sack of bones. She opens her mouth in shock, while tears start rolling down her eyes. Stone Chisel also gets up and looks at what's happening, so he tries to grab Cozy Glow and run away with her, but no. She doesn't want to. She has something else in mind.

"NO!" she shouts, now flying to the killer rams. "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"COZY GLOW!" shouts the stallion. "WE HAVE TO GO!"

But the little filly with all of her hair messed up and dishevelled, and having a few cuts on her body because of the crystals in the ground tries not to hear him. He pushes him away and shouts: "YOU TOO! I WILL DESTROY YOU TOO! YOU ARE GUILTY OF EVERYTHING!" and then she starts crying louder. "YOU ARE GUILTY OF MY ONLY FRIEND'S DEATH!"

And Stone Chisel feels quite guilty thinking about that. Cozy Glow starts flying to the ram but no, he can't let her go so easily. She has to live. Nobody else has to die because of this. Starlight, Flash, Shining Armor, Chrysalis, Tirek... no one else. No one. He doesn't want to cry any other crystal tears no more. "COZY GLOW!" he shouts, chasing her, the faster he can and could. "COME BACK!"

Nevertheless, it's now too late. The rams always knew they were running onto them. Always. That's when, while observing how the two ponies are getting nearer and nearer, one chasing the other, the female ram fires her last magical beam. The strongest one, and suddenly it's all a blackout. An explosion comes out of it.

A Stone Chisel, filled with dust and shards of crystals gets sent to the skies because of the explosion, not being able to hear Cozy Glow's sobs anymore. She doesn't hear her anymore. Where is she? Is she? Is she not? She has to be! She has to be alive! Nobody else has to die.

"COZY GGG---" he can't shout anymore. He gets inside cold waters, while a current starts taking him to nowhere. Once he opens his eyes, covered with dust, crystals and blood, he finds out the river is taking him to nowhere. That river. The same river where Tenebris lived his childhood, was a part of his life. "COZ... CO... COZY GLOW!" he shouts, but no one can hear him. No one can help him now. He's not dead, but he will be soon. If it's not the ram, then it would be the river. If it's not the river, then it would be something else. He tries to get to the surface, to the ground, but the current doesn't let him. That's why he decides to give up and lets the current let him go, just because he's done. His life has stopped, suddenly, from one minute to another, from one day to another one...

... Stone Chisel has no salvation.

Aftermath

Arc III - Chapter I - Aftermath

In the morning, Black Magic LaCrowley opened his eyes. He felt a roar. A shout coming from somewhere. His bony loin starts trembling while feeling it. So much chaos. So much. He gets out of his room, showing his dark and thin appearance, only being seen by his assistant, Cheesecake. Poofy Lantern and Iron Pick, still with their hooves tied to each other with a rope. are also there but sleeping. Trustlight... well, he has to be somewhere outside.

"What happened?" whispers Cheesecake. "It's 5 in the morning, I think... you always wake up at..."

"I've heard something," replies LaCrowley, while going outside the hut where he was staying. Poofy Lantern opens her eyes while the wizard comes out, along with his assistant, and looks at the sky.

"I didn't hear anything," replies Cheesecake, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I've got to..."

Poofy Lantern comes out of the hut, rubbing her eyes. "Something happened? What's the matter?"

"I've got to know..."

"What, sir?" asks Poofy Lantern, but Black Magic LaCrowley passes by her, desperate. He felt something changed.

Something in chaos has changed for eternity.

Lonely. Lonely landscape in the middle of blood, crystals and dice.

Tenebris has finally reached what he wanted. Well, the first part of it. His lands are now part of his community. Rushkwa, his soulmate, has now her body. The body she had when he met her thousands of years ago. Light blue fur, white horns and red eyes. He remembers her in that way.

"We did it," exclaims Tenebris. "And I also did what I never believed I could do."

"You killed Discord."

"I consumed Discord."

Silence, until Rushkwa dares to speak while walking around, looking at Tirek's dead body. "If you consumed Discord, that means..."

Silence, and the ram laughs. "I'm Tenebris, God of Chaos."

The female ram turns around and smiles at him. "So you can do..."

"Everything, Rushkwa... everything, but firstly, let me take a breath... I need to... think."

Rushkwa takes a look at something dyed black, but something can be still seen on it. Its hair, curly blue hair lying on the ground. Cold... that filly is dead. "Think what?"

Tenebris takes a look around, and the first thing he does is literally lie on the floor, burying the shards of crystal under him, in the ground. "Everything... has changed so much, Rushkwa."

"Lots of trees have been cut off."

"And lots of souls of our community lost in the darkness."

"But you can bring them back to life, don't you?"

Tenebris gets silent and looks at her soulmate, who is lying next to Cozy Glow. "Maybe I could."

"All of them?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"No? Why?"

"Not all of the night rams were in favour of me, and you know that, Rushkwa."

Rushkwa gets surprised at listening to that. "And you are going to bring back to life those who were only in favour of you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Tenebris turns around, looking at the trees and then at the sky. "Because I can."

Now everybody knows the mystery. Poofy Lantern, Iron Pick and also Trustlight disappeared out of nowhere last night, after hours and hours of protest, the police arrived at the building to rescue them... and found out there weren't any signs of them anymore. Could this be related to Tenebris? Nobody knows. Nobody knows how to deal with this.

Celestia and Luna look at each other, confused and sad. They strongly regret not telling other communities that the ram was there, stomping their hooves when they arrived at the Dark Forest. They strongly regret not telling everyone what really happened there. It was too late at the moment they realized.

They tried not to bring everyone together and decided to send cards to their friends and leaders, using the few, remaining pegasi that are still alive. However, some creatures wanted to be there anyway. Ember, Thunderhooves and Thorax decided to enter and crash into the castle, no matter what. Royal Guards asked for respect and tried to get them off, but gently, the Princesses let them stay... to discuss what they have to do in the next days.

"So... how did he get free?" asks Ember looking at the Princesses.

"It's impossible," replies Thunderhooves, the yak. "It's just... I don't understand. Wasn't he trapped in some kind of stone prison... under Tartarus... under Cerberus' eyes and breath?"

"Don't forget the fact that Tirek, Cozy Glow, Stone Chisel and even Queen Chrysalis escaped with him," interrupts Luna, sitting on her throne next to her sister. "They must have helped him to escape."

"But do they really know who was him, didn't they?" asks Thorax. "And also... how did they get there... down under Tartarus?"

"We don't know yet," replies Luna. "But we'll find the answer... together."

Suddenly, six ponies and a dragon crash into the castle too. Rainbow Dash, still with her broken wings, is looking at the ground. Twilight Sparkle is the first one who enters, with her sight completely lost somewhere. "Sorry for arriving late," says Spike.

"Yes, Princess," says Twilight. "I just... I just felt... you know, overwhelmed by this whole situation."

"Everyone here is overwhelmed by this, Twilight," replies Ember, crossing her arms. "We still... can't believe everything that has just happened in only one day."

"If only you told us earlier," suddenly exclaims Thunderhooves. "Who knows what could have happened?"

"Nothing would have changed," replies Luna. "We couldn't find Tenebris at that moment and we still haven't found him nor any one of his acolytes..."

"But..." interrupts Rarity. "There's something that... it doesn't make sense to me. Firstly, Stone Chisel? As an acolyte of Tenebris? He's a pretty annoying thief... but is he villainous enough to be on Tenebris' side?"

"Yes..." says Rainbow Dash, still with his head down, "and also... what about Discord? How did he get caught?"

Celestia closes her eyes while thinking about that. Ember, Thunderhooves and Thorax look at the Princesses, shocked. "What..." says Thorax, with his eyes about to come out of their orbits. "What is she talking about?"

"Did Discord really got caught by the ram?" shouts Thunderhooves, this time angrier. Celestia and Luna take a breath. "You should have started from there! That's a tragedy! That's... that's..."

"We were about to tell you that. Sorry," says Luna. "It's just... our mind has got so stressed that..."

"If they caught Discord," whispers Ember. "That means... we... we are all screwed. Everyone's in danger."

And in that right moment, somepony else crashes into the castle, but this time is not alone. A completely different Sunburst, with no blue cape and sunglasses, enters the room with six ponies behind him. Six familiar ponies everyone knows. However, there is one of them which shines over the rest. The stallion with the long white beard and his blue tunic takes a step and passes by Sunburst.

The Pillars of Equestria are here.

"From now on, all of my promises will be granted," exclaims Sunburst. "I told Twilight and her friends I would bring the Pillars and beg them for help... and here we are. For Starlight."

"But..." says Rainbow Dash. "How did..."

"It doesn't matter now," interrupts Star Swirl the Bearded, looking around. "The only thing that matters now is that I've heard everyone was in danger."

"We are in danger, Star Swirl," replies Twilight. "Tenebris has risen and the last thing we want now is him gaining much more control and power. We need to work now."

"And I'm afraid we know which one will be his next objective," replies Somnambula.

Everyone looks at each other now, confused. "Then..." says Thunderhooves. "Who will be?"

Star Swirl looks around. "We are not sure whether he would attack now, tomorrow or maybe never, who knows, but we must stay alert..."

"But who will be his next objective?" insists the yak.

The Bearded only dares to answer: "Night Rams, such as Tenebris, tend to see the Moon as a way to live. We could say the Moon is like a Goddess for them, a path for them to follow. There is an old tradition of their culture which considers fighting under the moon something impolite, not something respectful. They consider the night as the time to reflect, to think. That's why they don't attack under the moon, unless something else attacks them and they have to defend their lives, such as the old battle between you and him, Celestia." Princess Celestia nods her head in silence. On the other side, Luna begins to understand where this will go.

"So?" says Ember.

"I remember this Tenebris event happened before the Pony of Shadows' tragedy, and I remembered that time the ram and his soulmate presented their kingdom idea to you, Princesses."

"Yes," says Luna.

"And that means... Tenebris may, or I could say, must know Luna is the one who is responsible for raising the Moon every single night."

Silence. Star Swirl knows everyone's listening, but nobody dares to make a comment. "I see where this is going, Star Swirl," says Luna. Twilight now has the biggest lump she ever had on her throat. She doesn't want her to say that... but if Star Swirl is right, then... Luna takes a breath. "I'm his next target."

"Maybe, we are not sure," replies Flash Magnus. "But I'm sure he does know you are the one who handles the Moon..."

"And no," says Star Swirl, chuckling. "A pony controlling his Goddess, the Moon. Of course not. He wouldn't like that... that's what makes me sick of that crazy night ram."

"But wait..." says Rarity. "He has that necklace which I think drains his powers. He can't be able to defeat Luna."

"He caught Discord," says Mage Meadowbrook, one of the Pillars. "Who knows if he is actually capable of destroying that thing?"

"Postcrystalline, isn't it?" says Rockhoof. "I think the Crystal Heart is the only thing that can destroy it."

"We know," replies Celestia. "And that's why the Crystal Empire is completely secured from the inside and the outside right now."

"And how weird," whispers Twilight, lost again in her own thoughts, on her inside, thinking. "I told Shine to answer me back... if he could... and he didn't send me anything..."

Actually, the Crystal Empire is not so secure now but destroyed in several pieces. Tenebris has been laying on the ground for several minutes, with his eyes closed, trying to find something. A soul of his community. His beloved community. Rushkwa, on the other hand, is looking straight at both Tirek and Cozy Glow, lying cold on the ground, soul-less and dead. Then, she turns around, looking at her soulmate.

"You found someone?" Tenebris only shakes his head, not saying anything, something that makes her shiver a bit. "Or you found someone that wasn't in favour with you?"

At that moment, the ram laughs a bit. "We could say yeah. I found some souls I didn't like... but what really calls my attention is that..."

Silence. Tenebris stops talking. "W.... what?"

"Wait... I... I..."

"What happened?"

Suddenly, Tenebris opens his eyes, revealing a change in them. His dark blue irises are suddenly changing their tone to a bright yellow. A roar is heard on his inside while a cloud starts surrounding them both. Only seconds later, a small night ram with dark blue fur and short white horns comes out of it. He has red eyes. Rushkwa opens her mouth, completely shocked.

"Oh my... oh my... oh... my... MAIOR! It's Maior! You did it!"

Maior the Night Ram suddenly looks around, completely shocked and frightened. "What... what?" he says. "What in the... WHAT? T... Rushkwa!"

"MAIOR!" Rushkwa and Maior hug each other after thousands of years without seeing their cold faces, but then, the strange cloud keeps working... suddenly, two smaller night rams with blue fur come out at the same time, along with a female one, bigger than these two, with white fur and short black horns... At that right moment, Tenebris' eyes go back to their normal blue again and the fantasy cloud suddenly disappears. Rushkwa and Maior also look at the three other rams, who are completely in silence. At that right moment, Tenebris gets up and looks at the three of them.

"Children... welcome back."

"Sir Tenebris?" says the small female night ram, while being hugged by Rushkwa. "What... but we were..."

"We were, Risu, we were... but now we are back... to claim what's ours... and to claim justice... isn't it, my acolytes Mors, Sanguis?"

The two small ram twins nod their heads. "Justice! Justice!" shout both of them.

"But..." says Maior, looking around. "What happened here? What are all those crystals on the ground?"

Risu, the small ram, also starts trotting around, ignoring the shards of crystal, and in that time, she passes by the bodies of both Tirek and Cozy Glow. "Woah... what happened here?" she asks.

"Woah!" shout Mors and Sanguis, looking at Tirek. "You actually killed him, Mr Tenebris?"

"I did."

"Woooahhh..."

"And... who's this?" says Risu, looking at Cozy Glow.

"Oh... I hated that filly. She was so annoying... I can't believe just one blast finished her so quickly..."

Now Mors, Sanguis and Maior gather to see what is happening right there, with Rushkwa in the background. However, once the adult female ram walks near them, he hears a strange sound coming from something made of wood. Something like a baby.

"Did you hear that?"

"I did," replies Risu, getting next to Rushkwa. "I did, Miss Rushkwa."

"I think it came out of that," also exclaims Mors, looking at his partner Sanguis, pointing at a broken carriage that Tenebris saw before but passed by. The Night Ram, without making any comments, decides to take a look at the broken carriage.

"Uh-huh." The ram slowly gets out a big piece of wood from the carriage, revealing what's inside. A petrified, hurt Cadence, protecting her child, her baby Flurry Heart. The daughter of Shining Armor and Cadence, despite small moistures and very tiny cuts, is completely safe and sound.. However, Cadence didn't have the same destiny. Her whole loin is hurt and covered by wooden splinters. She tries to fake it at first, but the ram quickly finds that out.

"Don't play dead."

Cadence, who had her eyes closed, slowly open them. They are dyed red. "You... you will... pay hard..."

"Yes, you too."

And in a way to show his cruelty powered by chaos, suddenly the Princess stops breathing. She can't breathe. She feels something crushing her throat, despite there being no hoof stomping on it. She tries to speak but her skin tone suddenly fades out while Flurry Heart's sobs quickly get louder and louder.

Seconds later, she can't breathe. She doesn't even try to and slowly closes her big bloodshot eyes and her soul fades away... for eternity. Tenebris grabs her, using his magic and only looks at her for a second.

"See you." And seconds later, Cadence's dead body is thrown away to the skies, fading away in the distance and covered by tiny clouds.

Silence is the place. The only thing that makes sounds now is Flurry Heart. Tenebris closes his eyes, trying to cover his ears, but firstly, he takes a breath while looking at Rushkwa.

"Tenebris," says her soulmate. "It's a baby..."

"Are you kidding?" says Tenebris. "That Cozy Glow was a bit older than this baby and you wanted her dead."

"But this is different, Tenebris... that filly was evil and wanted us dead... this is just a baby..."

"You think there is another way?" asks Maior. "Just... don't make her suffer... we should let her go to the afterworld..."

And in that right moment, Risu hits Maior in the face. "Are you crazy, you stupid?" shouts Risu. "It's a baby..."

"Are you sure it's a baby?" suddenly says Sanguis. Mors nods his head.

"Shut your mouths up," he says. "Let me think."

The ram looks at the baby, who's still crying, and this, surprisingly, makes Rushkwa mad. "Tenebris... are you kidding me? Are you really thinking about doing this?" Tenebris doesn't answer. "Tenebris... for the Moon's light, please... what are you thinking?"

The ram sighs. "Yes," he whispers and then he grabs a piece of wood. "Rushkwa, grab the baby."

The female ram, without saying anything, grabs the baby, who's still crying and trying to escape from the goat's hoof, but suddenly she puts her on her loin and calms down a bit. The fur is chill but feels warm. Nobody's saying anything.

Maior and the others follow Rushkwa while Tenebris grabs the piece of wood and creates a rope with his powers, something that calls the small creatures' attention. Rushkwa knows what he's trying to do, so she slowly grabs the baby again with the help of Risu. However, once Risu gives her back... she stands straight.

"What?" he says. "What are you waiting for?"

"What are you trying to do?"

Tenebris breathes heavily. "You told me she was a baby... and I'm letting her go. That's what I am doing. I am not lying, Rushkwa, and you know because you can feel it."

And yes, she can feel it, their souls are connected... although those seconds where she didn't feel so sure about what was he doing felt really bad. Tenebris grabs Flurry with his own magic and ties her to the piece of wood with a rope while walking to the river. The river that started it all.

Every ram follows Tenebris and looks at how he leaves her floating on the water, completely adrift and being carried by the currents somewhere. At the same time, the ram thinks about something. "How weird... I still haven't found that stupid stallion's body."

Rushkwa raises an eyebrow. "Stone Chisel was his name?"

Tenebris nods his head and looks at the baby, still crying, being taken away by the water. "Maybe his body got underwater..." replies Mors. Tenebris chuckles while nodding his head.

"Maybe..."

"And wait... wait..." says Risu, looking at Maior. "Could you explain to us what happened here? The crystals? The bodies? We need..."

"Yes, we need to know," interrupts Maior. Mors and Sanguis also agree, nodding their heads. Tenebris only takes a look at the sky, taking a long, long breath.

"Well... I can tell you... but I've been thinking about something we can do together..."

Rushkwa raises an eyebrow one more time. "What are you talking about?"

"Well... I've been trying to get the Bewitching Bell, and now, with my powers, I can do whatever I want. We all go to Mt. Everhoof, grab the bell and use it for our own benefit, not letting any creature else use it... and we take advantage of that moment to tell funny stories and everything that happened," says Tenebris, smiling. "Isn't that funny, children?"

The rams nod their heads, and Rushkwa speaks: "And what about this place, Tenebris? Shall we clean it or not?"

The ram smiles. "Of course not, Rushkwa. I threw away the Princess... which now turned into a dead, rotten eagle. Ponies will be here soon once they find her... if they find her... and they will cry forever... Gosh, just thinking about it..." He smiles, this time a bigger one, closing his eyes. "Joy. Oh, almighty happiness."

However, there is someone who is not under the effects of happiness. A lost stallion floating in the water, alone. He doesn't even want or try, to swim and get to the edge, trying to take a breath. No. He doesn't care about that anymore. He just wants everything to end.

Stone Chisel suddenly gets stuck by something. He finds out there is something blocking the water's flow, so he slowly decides to get his head out of the water. Bloodshot eyes. Not being able to even speak or whisper. He just feels so decayed, so low, so...

The river suddenly ended its course and stopped on some kind of savanna with small hills. He gets out of the water, with his ear still bleeding, and looks around.

No one is watching him. NO ONE. He has one chance to get it all out. To get rid of all of those undescribable mixes of feelings... let them out.

He opens his mouth, raises his hooves and takes a look at the sky.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!"

So long trotting. Lonely. Lost. On the absolute nowhere land. No cities, no world around. Just him. Him and his mental death. He's thinking about how can he end all of this. Shall he drown underwater? No, he's too afraid for that, but...

... wait...

... there's a...

At first, he thought it was just an illusion, but the more he approached it the more real it became. There was a house. A small wooden hut, right there. In the middle of nowhere. Why? He doesn't know, but it is there. Right there. Waiting for him. He slowly trots trying to figure out why a wooden hut in the middle of nowhere is something actually real... or just an illusion in all of this absolute confusion... How funny, it makes him remember that stupid card Stolen Bag wrote to him... but...

but wait...

He remembers something. Of course...

... that freaking card...

Hey Stonie!

What you doin', filly? It's me, Stolen Bag, writing to you from Las Pegasus...

...if everything comes out good, we will stay at Manehattan's apartment. If someone sees something of us, even one hoof... we will hide in the little house at the end of the river....

...things will change, Stonie. ;)

Stolen Bag.

Oh yeah, Stolen. Things changed... but there's something that made some noise right there. That's why his mind remembered that card so soon...

...

The little house at the end of the river....

Could it be? Is it real...?

Fucking Stolen Bag is right there? Inside the house...

Suddenly, a strange shadow can be seen from inside the house. He can see it from far away, like an eagle... a shadow coming out of the window.

There's only just one way to find out who's there...

Manehattan Blues

Arc III - Chapter III - Manehattan Blues

The day has completely changed from one second to another. The Stone Chisel who tried to drown in the water is now next to his partner looking at the baby of Royalty, Flurry Heart, crying while being tied to a piece of wood. His whole perspective, thinking about ending his life, has passed into something much less important, now that he found that baby crying in the water.

"Turns out..." says Stolen Bag. "Turns out you are not the only survivor on this."

"The baby..." whispers Chisel. "But... they... it's..."

"They let her go."

"You say?" he asks, this time getting calmer. "That ram hardly lets somepony go..."

"I mean..." replies Stolen Bag. "It's a baby... she wouldn't harm him."

"But she has magic," he says. "Maybe he didn't think that on time... who knows?"

Stolen Bag and Stone Chisel are now much calmer than they were some minutes ago. Flurry Heart's presence relaxed their minds and let them think about all of this, and despite the robber hasn't recovered his hope, he's still trying, at least, to find a way to put Flurry Heart in a safer place, while planning, or well, trying to plan, something against the ram. Stolen Bag, on the other hand, wants to get into the house and never come outside again, but feels a bit worried about the baby. Everypony may be looking for her, and this is not the perfect place to let her stay and be.

"And what do we do now?" asks Stolen Bag. "With her?"

Chisel finally stands up, with his hooves trembling, and raises his eyebrows. "No idea... her mother may be dead too... she hasn't appeared yet and I didn't see her on the Empire... and also I don't have a carriage or something to take her to somewhere... neither you."

Bag, on the other hand, bites his lips, not trying to look at Stone Chisel. "Yeah, yeah..." he says. "You're right. We don't have any carriages to take her to somewhere... yes... but we need to put her in somewhere..."

The pegasus closes his eyes and snorts. Chisel, nevertheless, knows there's something wrong he can't pass by. "Uh... er... What's the matter?"

Stolen Bag raises his eyebrows, opening his eyes to look at Stone Chisel. "What?"

"What's the matter?" he says. "You're biting your lips... not looking at me... something strange from a pegasus like you, Bag."

"No..." replies the pegasus, laughing. "I don't know what are you--"

"I don't forget," he says, stomping a hoof against the ground. "Both of us learned things from each other... you taught me how to lie and how to play, and I taught you how to make fun of everypony. I know when you are lying, you stupid, I'm not a moron... I've been working with you for years!"

Stolen Bag's eyebrows frown at hearing that. "Me... lying to you? What the hell are you saying, horsie? I swear I'm not lying..."

"If you swear you're not lying, that means you are lying, asshole!" he shouts. "I never heard you saying you swore for something..." Chisel chuckles, trying to calm down. "Gosh, Stolen Bag! I know you more than you know yourself! You can't lie to me, stupid!"

"Ok! Ok!" shouts the partner, and suddenly he gets silent. "Done? Are you done? Yes. I was lying."

Chisel laughs, despite not being happy. "So...? What were you hiding from me? A carriage?"

Bag turns around, only to look at the big amount of cloth and dirt covering the mysterious object. "That."

"Yeah," replies the thief, sarcastically. "Fucking genius... you hid it so well I can see it from here."

"Don't start with your stupid jokes... do you want to know where's inside that?"

"Yes."

And then, Bag angrily walks away. "So help me."

Chisel, surprised and in silence by hearing that reply, raises a hoof. "Are you kidding me?"

"No."

"Why don't you just tell me what's inside and stop acting like a whiny filly? Is there some kind of carriage or what?"

Stolen Bag enters his house while Chisel follows him, not before carrying the piece of wood which has Flurry Heart, softly kicking it with his hooves, sliding it through the plain ground. Flurry Heart, who was silent this whole time, opens her eyes and starts crying again. "Ma... M... Mama!" she whines, and the tantrum only makes both colts much more nervous.

Once the robber and the sobbing baby get to the door, the thief finds out his partner is getting out a couple of shovels from the house. He grabs a shovel with his mouth and leaves Chisel, not before turning around.

"What are you waiting for?" he mumbles while carrying the shovel.

Chisel, trying to attack his partner, decides to swallow his anger with saliva and only shout: "FUCK!" Then, he grabs a shovel with his teeth and goes to the mysterious hidden thing.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern

written by Tabloid

No, it doesn't convince him. A bad title. He wants something much more... he doesn't know how to describe it while looking at the empty noon of Manehattan. The time goes on and there are fewer ponies on the streets. They are filled with fear. The closed, almost abandoned building he observed minutes ago is now surrounded by police ponies, trying to investigate what happened last night.

"No, I can't," he whispers to Blister, who is next to him. Ink Pot is trying to tidy the room, but it's so messy he doesn't know where to start.

"I don't know," says the dragon. "I can't come up with another title... Why don't you like that one? It's good for me."

"I tend to be..." he says. "To be more poetic."

"Are you sure you want to be poetic with this?" asks Ink Pot, from behind. "I mean... it's a disappearance."

Tabloid keeps thinking about it... but there's something else he's been talking about in his mind, which is making him feel stuck at the moment... that thing Ink Pot told him... it really left him a lump on his throat, the biggest one he ever felt, and if it was a joke, something he actually thinks, he will do everything possible to kick that stallion's booty. He turns around and asks: "Hey, Ink Pot... any news about Wheat Stack?"

Ink Pot sadly shakes his head. "No. Nothing."

The old journalist sighs. "I told you, Ink... I told you. That was some kind of evil joke."

"I don't know," replies his partner. "It's impossible. Wheat Stack would never dare to make these jokes. I know him as I know myself, Tabloid. Besides, you didn't see his face while he was talking."

He turns around. "Did he cry?"

Ink Pot gets silent. "Uh... no."

Tabloid, then, shakes his head. "I don't believe in him, then."

"What?" says the journalist, angrily. "Just because he didn't cry... you don't believe in him? That's the most stupid thing I've heard in a while, Tabloid."

"I mean," says Blister, looking at the old journalist. "Everyone has a different way to react to several things, Tabloid, whether he cried or not, doesn't mean what he said it's a lie... who knows?"

Tabloid now takes a look at that building where Stone Chisel's parents disappeared, one more time. "I don't know."

Ink Pot, confused, gets nearer to him. "So?"

"Uh... let me think."

Blister turns around and looks at the window. "Thinking? Really? Just by looking at the window one more... mo... m...?"

Suddenly, Blister feels something coming out of his throat. Ink Pot and Tabloid turn around to see what happens and realize the dragon is trying to say something. "What?" asks Ink Pot, trying to hold him. "What's going on?"

"It's... it is... it... coming out..."

A big burp is heard in the whole room and a letter gets out of Blister's mouth, surrounded by a huge wave of orange smoke. Blister is the one that grabs the letter in silence, looking at both colts with a shocking sight. "A letter," says Ink Pot. "From who?"

Blister opens it and his eyes widen. "Princess..."

And at that right moment, the three of them quickly get into the letter and start reading it...

"Dear Blister...

the situation is getting much worse.

And turns out it was true. The first ones to come out of that portal, only to look at the crystal shards of what was the Empire of Crystal, are the Mane Six along with their loyal dragon and friend Spike. Gasps and small, tiny sobs are heard around, while Twilight, in silence, just looks around.

... and I still feel Equestria haven't understood it yet. I've heard there are still ponies and colts walking around the streets of Manehattan, and I'm afraid I must let them know, to let them understand how grave is what we are dealing with...

Celestia and Luna also come out of the portal and close their eyes once they see the terrible scenario, but what they call their attention to is that the ram and his acolytes are nowhere to be seen.

... Let them know the Crystal Empire is now nothing but dust and shards...

Twilight's ears can't even hear anything now. She is in another dimension, plane. She doesn't even know where is she walking, due to her legs and hooves moving by themselves and no direction. Shining, Cadence... Flurry... if she only could turn back time...

... Royal Leaders Shiny Mercury and Big Stomp, Shining Armor and Cadence have sadly passed away, while the baby, Flurry Heart, is nowhere to be found. The Crystal Heart is also completely broken in pieces... and there are still those who don't care and don't know about how grave this is. Let them know. Please, for the safety of every pony and living creature in Manehattan...

And what they weren't expecting suddenly came true. Celestia and Luna found Tirek and Cozy Glow's bodies, along with a strange black goo which had Chrysalis' broken horn on the inside. However, Stone Chisel can't be found... maybe, they think, maybe he is just pure dust... and Discord?

Discord?

Suddenly Spike finds lots of broken, smashed, destroyed dices inside of the Castle's scraps, at the same time Twilight found his dead brother.

Her hooves tremble but she doesn't even realize what's in front of her, and suddenly, out of nowhere, the world turns around and around... everything feels cold... and...

"TWILIGHT!" shouts Pinkie Pie, running like a cheetah, to hold her friend who has just passed out.

...Besides, not only this unforgettable tragedy did happen, but also... turns out there has been a fight between the villains. We've found Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis in the Empire. All of them are dead. We couldn't find Stone Chisel, but we think he is now scraps of what it was... who knows what has happened right here. If only we could go back in time..."

By the time Blister has finished reading the letter, Tabloid is on a corner, lying on the ground in silence.

Ink Pot is gone.

Blister wants to ask where is, but he can't even speak.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Stone Chisel was right this whole time. Not only it was a carriage, but it was a small, grey royal carriage, decorated with glitters of gold. "This is a royal carriage... how in the hell did you---?"

"I won it on a bet some weeks ago and decided to hide it here," replies Stolen Bag. "Where it will never be found."

"But..." he says, stuttering. "It's... quite... small, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he replies. "It looks like it was an old model or something like that. Normal carriages are much bigger than this."

"Uh," says Chisel. "And was this necessary?"

"To what?"

"I already knew it was a carriage... was that tantrum of yours, of not trying to tell me what's inside and me and you having to dig this whole thing down, necessary?"

Stolen Bag sighs and frowns. "Uh... er..."

He snorts. "Was it because I discovered you were lying... isn't it?"

"Please leave this behind, Stonie... we have to---"

"No shit!" he shouts. "You whiny baby... Flurry Heart is less immature than you!"

Stolen Bag now snorts. "OK, OK... maybe I was a bit frustrated..."

"Oh, come on... you stupid... you know I'm freaking desperate because of everything that has just happened and you are still playing games with your tantrums!"

"Really?" he shouts, angrily. "And what about you and your jokes, then?"

"What do you mean...?" he shouts. "I didn't make any jokes."

"Yeah, yeah... and what about the one that it was... it's so hidden and I can see it from--?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" he says, approaching his partner. "That was not a joke, but a complain!"

"Stop lying!"

"Oh, come on! I'm not lying, like you, asshole!"

"Momma! Mama!" Flurry Heart keeps crying while trying to move something with her magic, still being tied to that piece of wood. That's what makes Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag calm down a bit and look at each other.

"About that baby... You have to know... uh, gosh... this is suicide but..." says Stolen Bag. "I can't leave her right here and you know that. It'll be good for me and for her to take it to another place... and also for you."

"And where are you going to take her with that carriage you won in a bet, which was obviously illegal, I guess?"

"I don't know... someplace far away from the Kingdom... I thought about leaving her with you, at first---"

"Oh, thank you, Mr Friend!" he shouts with a smile. "You leave me alone with the baby while you sit on your little hidden carriage eating apples and drinking cider like a fucking donkey? Fuck you!"

"Woah! Let me finish, at least!" he shouts, clenching his teeth. "Let me finish... can I? Or will you interrupt me again, son of a gun?"

"Come on, come on..." he says, snorting again and frowning angrily.

Bag just sighs. "I thought about that at first but now I know we need the carriage to take her to a place... somewhere... a place which has to be far, far away from the Kingdom... but it has to be surrounded by creatures who can take her to the Princesses. Luna and Celestia may be crazy now, looking for her and we are not so far away from the Crystal Empire... we have to be quick."

"What about..." the robber just stutters. "Uh... you... you said there was a small town near here?"

"No," immediately replies. "I can't leave her there. I've shown my face to them and they will recognize me."

Chisel chuckles. "Really?" he says. "You really did that? The one who always came up with a plan to hide his face?"

"Well... everyone was desperate for the piece of news I've told you... logically they will get more shocked by that rather than me... and that's good if you think... because media is forgetting about me..."

"But not about me..." says Chisel. "If the Tenebris news came out, I may be on that list... fuck..."

"And that's why I want you to stay here until I come back... then we can talk about someplace you can stay... but not here."

An awkward silence gets in the middle until Chisel speaks: "What?"

Stolen Bag turns around and looks at him. "What what?"

"You're literally dumping me."

And the pegasus sighs. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are..."

"I'm not dumping you... I'm trying to talk to you after this to find a perfect place to stay for you..."

"Maybe you are right about that but... what about the baby, huh? You will take her to where the hell you know... by your hooves? Alone? I can't do it alone, and you can't do it alone too---"

"Stone," he shouts, interrupting his robber partner. "Your face may be in every single newspaper around town and everyone is waiting for the Princesses to cut you in half... you think I'm going to take you somewhere?" Suddenly, both of them get silent. Even Flurry Heart is not making a sound. "I don't even know where I'll go to leave her safe and far away from us... and I think there's no place where you can feel completely safe."

"There must be..." he whispers, frowning and stomping his hooves against the ground. "I think... uh... there may be one place for me but... no idea, do you remember the forest where I stayed with Black Magic..."

And then... Silence.

From out of nowhere, Stone Chisel's face drastically changes. He looks at Stolen Bag, who is now getting scared of his unexpected change of mood. "Shit."

"What?" he asks, shocked. "What happened?"

He looks at how Stone Chisel's fur gets spiky. "God."

"What? What happened, horsie?"

"Gosh... but... I can't..." he is whispering to himself, something that makes Stolen Bag madder.

"What?"

"I need an intermediate..." and then he looks at Stolen Bag. "And... and... and I... I think I found it."

"What?" he asks. "What are you talking about?"

Stone Chisel nods his head and approaches his partner again, this time much nearer. "Stolen."

"Yes?"

He bites his lips, looking at his partner, then at Flurry Heart, still tied to the wood, then at the carriage. "i... I..."

"You... you what?"

"I... I found a way! I found a way."

"A way?" he says. "For what? To find a place?"

He shakes his head. "To stop Tenebris."

Stolen's eyes widen. "What are you talking about? You clearly said there was no----"

"I mean... it's not the best way... maybe nothing can kill him but... this way can, at least, counter him if we do it on time."

"Do what?"

Stone Chisel shakes his head. "But I've..."

"You've got to do what?"

The robber closes his eyes. "I've got to sacrifice my freedom, Stolen Bag."

"Your freedom? What are you talking about?"

"You see..." he says. "I think Black Magic can do something against the ram... but... I can't go to that forest, they will kick my booty all the way... I need someone to convince him to talk to me... and I know who will be."

"Who?"

"No, you don't know her..." he says. "But... it will be risky. She lives in a certain place which can be bad for me. I've got to sacrifice my liberty."

"Everywhere you move, you will sacrifice your freedom because every creature can see you and recognize you..." Then, he approaches him, almost whispering to his ear: "Which place are you talking about? Manehattan? Baltimare? Fillydelphia?"

He shakes his head, and Stolen Bag feels nervous now. "No... Canterlot."

"Canterlot?" he shouts. "Are you crazy? We have to hide from the Kingdom... and you want to go to the freaking place where the Princesses live? Are you out of your mind, shit?" then, he turns around, stomping the ground. "I won't go with you."

"I never said I wanted you to go with me."

He turns around again. "Now you are the one who is dumping?"

"Uh-huh... and you know, honestly... your decision of dumping me made me realize I had another good idea floating on my mind."

"I don't know what you mean with good, honestly... you're scaring me."

"I think... I found the key."

"Of what?"

He looks at him. "You're gonna laugh your ass at this."

"What?" he says, now chuckling.

"You know... there are only two creatures, apart from you and the baby, on this world that, maybe, don't want me to see me hanging dead. I said maybe because I'm not sure whether they would answer me or---"

"... Your parents?" interrupts Stolen Bag. Stone Chisel looks at him and softly, slowly nods his head.

"I have to talk to them... think about it, Stolen, my father would do anything for money, especially right now, that his company may be falling to its death..."

"And where will you get that money?"

Stone Chisel raises his hooves. "I lied to the Princesses by covering them from the Surigate... I can lie to him."

"And how are you going to go to Manehattan to talk to your parents?"

"I know how."

An awkward silence gets in the middle until the pegasus understands what he's trying to tell him and strongly shakes his head. "No."

"... It's the only---"

"I won't take you to Manehattan!"

"Hey," he says. "I'm not saying you have to help me with this. Just take me to the top of the building. No one can see you from there."

Stolen Bag shakes his head. "The top? I can't fly on that height."

"Oh, come on," he whines. "You can't lie to me, I told you. I remember that time you escaped the Guards on Baltimare by overflying a freaking hill. Don't be an asshole to me."

Stolen Bag bites his lips and is still shaking his head. "I won't. I have to take this baby to..."

"STOLEN!" he shouts. "Wait... wait... I had an idea. I mean, I have one... I was waiting for you to say that!"

"Now what?"

Chisel's eyes get much wider. "Don't you see? I know Manehattan is a pretty big city but... we are going to the top of my parents' building. It's a pretty great height so no pony on the ground can see us so clearly..."

"So? What are you planning to do, huh? Leave a baby at the top of a building? What if she falls from there? No!""

"You don't understand."

"I understand, the problem is you are an assho---"

"No, no," he interrupts. "The problem here is that you are not listening to me. You see, there is a staircase which goes to the building's roof. My father likes to look at the city when the sun sets, so he goes upstairs and enters right there, and he has this kind of magical alarm on the roof in case he needs something. Don't you remember that time when we visited him? He told me this."

"No."

Stone Chisel snorts. "Really? I think you were there when he tol--"

"I said no."

"Damn... look, we can leave her on the staircase and we escape on my dad's floor, leaving her alone. A worker will find her. They always use those stairs... and if we use that alarm... somepony may get her."

"Are you fucking crazy?" he says, chuckling. "Of course not. We are in the eye of the tiger."

"I am in the eye of the tiger, not you." Silence. "Look... I know they may be still looking for you, but this whole Tenebris thing has everyone blind. Nobody may care about you now."

"Wow," he says, almost chuckling. "Thanks for the flattery."

"You're welcome." He approaches his pegasus partner. "You're in?"

Stolen Bag bites his lips. "Uh, look..."

"And remember you owe me one. You left me alone in the Everfree Forest and got caught by Flash Sentry, who I have to say, he may rest in peace, while you were spending your time in this little house at the end of the river."

Stolen Bag's jaw opens. "Flash Sentry... died?"

"Murdered by Tenebris," he replies, almost coldly. "Long story. He could have had the opportunity to live... but decided to die. I still can't believe he did it."

Stolen Bag smiles. "How curious... isn't it?"

He raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're doing the same thing as him, right now."

He snorts, almost getting angry. "I'm not travelling to Manehattan to die, a-hole. I want you to take me there to live... and to let everyone else live before that freaking ram kills us all as if we were flies."

Silence again... not even Flurry Heart is crying. "So..."

"Do me this one favour, Stolen," he says. "You don't have to follow me after it. We just land there, put the baby on the stairs... and you fly away. That's it."

Stolen Bag, trying to think, closes his eyes and snorts. "And what about... your parents? Will you give them the money?"

"Maybe not," he answers. "Money is the less important thing right now."

Bag laughs. "Did you realize what did you just say?"

"Yes, even I can't believe it, as a robber and the son of greed incarnate. Are you in or not?"

Stolen Bag turns around and looks at the baby, who's not crying but has a really strange face. She's making gestures, as she's about to cry again, begging for her mother to appear. "I..." he says, almost stuttering. "Manehattan is quite unsafe... but... but I don't know any other place where we can leave her."

"So?"

Stolen Bag bites his lips and groans, frowning. Stone Chisel chuckles at this because he knows what he's going to say. "I owe you one, isn't it?"

"Yeah. You left me alone and rotting in the freaking forest, dud--"

"Fuck! Uh... shit," he says, before taking a long breath. "Fuck this. Get in the carriage."

"You see?" says the robber. "Now you are turning into Savior Bag."

"That's what I was talking about, Chisel," he says. "You dare to say another joke and I swear--"

"Ok, ok," he answers, looking at Flurry Heart still tied to the piece of wood. "Ok... I stop... now, would you help me to untie the baby?"

But at that same moment, the baby alicorn's horn starts glowing, and the piece of wood slowly rises up. However, it can be barely moved by her magic, due to her being very young to understand her power's potential. Stolen Bag, who turns around, passes by them both. "Hey," he says. "Where are you going?"

"Wait."

"For what?"

Then, Stolen Bag gets in the house and comes outside several seconds later, with masks, tunics and a knife in his mouth. He slowly cuts the rope with the knife and lets Flurry Heart move, he starts crying again. Then, he leaves the knife on the floor and points at the tunics. "Put that on."

"The masks? The tunics? But..."

"My way."

"Hey!" he shouts. "Don't you see that if we wear masks and tunics we may get more attention?"

Stolen Bag immediately answers: "You said no one was going to look at us on the top. Besides, your face is everywhere and if someone, even a stupid worm, looks at you, he will recognize your face, Chis... and you know I'm right."

Chisel, nevertheless, tries to answer that... but he can't, and he knows he can't. He doesn't say anything and tries to calm the baby down, by trying to wrap her with one of the clothes which covered the old carriage. "You alone can manage with the carriage?" he asks.

"Yes," he replies. "But hold on straight and don't let the baby down, just in case. It's not a heavy carriage, but doesn't mean it can be stable."

Chisel nods his head and finds out Flurry Heart is actually calming down while touching the cloth he gave to her. He sighs and looks at the carriage one more time. They are ready.

Ready for that way...

The Stone Chisel Way.

Ink Pot is trying to take a breath outside, looking at the enormous building of Shiny Picks Gem Company surrounded by cops and cops. They are trying to find out what happened last night, when Stone Chisel's parents, Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern, along with their partner Trustlight have disappeared.

A few seconds pass until one of the cops, a pony, finds out there's somepony else there. Somepony who should not be. "Hey," she says, approaching Ink Pot. "We are investigating this place, sir. I have to tell you this is something private by now and we want civilians to don't break into our investigation."

"I know, I know," he says. "It's just..."

Ink Pot gets silent and doesn't look at the cop, something that calls the other two police colts' attention. "Um..." stutters the pony. "Are you OK?"

Ink Pot shakes his head. "You see..." he replies, almost in a whisper... "I... I am a journalist."

One of the cops shakes his head. "We don't want any interviews right now."

"No, it's not that..." he says. "I won't interview you. It's that... um..."

"What?"

Ink Pot closes his eyes and turns around, leaving the cops alone while walking away. "Hey! Wait!" shouts a cop. "You can't just leave us like this. Would you explain to us what's the matter?"

The journalist just sighs and the mare cop looks at his partner. "It's OK. If he doesn't want to tell us it's OK..."

"Wait... uh..." stutters Ink Pot, now catching other cops' attention. The journalist looks at them one more time... but doesn't have the guts to actually tell them what's going on. He's scared. "Um... no. No. It's just... something personal."

Ink Pot, then, walks away and leaves everypony in silence. Some cops even look at each other, confused.

Meanwhile, Tabloid is already writing the last paragraph of an impromptu article. Writing it while having countless lumps on his throat, tears on his eyes, a trembling writing machine and the sun, right at its zenith in the noon. How ironic, he thinks. The sun. The happy sun. Blister, on the other hand, is just sitting next to him, covering his face. "Shall I look for Ink Pot?" asks Blister.

"He'll come back."

The dragon raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's not the first time he does this."

He raises his shoulders. "Ok, if you say..."

Silence again, until the journalist whispers: "This is..."

"Tragic."

The journalist shakes his head after hearing what the dragon said. "... Stupid."

Blister raises an eyebrow, shocked. "Stupid?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I mean... I finished writing this article but... the Princess told you we have to warn everypony about the evil monster that is the ram..."

"Yes... and that's what you're actually doing right now," says Blister, standing up. "Shall I send it to Paper Pile now? To see if he can make several copies of it..."

"It doesn't make any sense."

"What?" he says, approaching the journalist, who is still looking at the building.

Tabloid looks at Blister now. "It's useless. No matter what we do, the ram will attack Equestria anyways. We're all gonna die."

"Don't you dare to say that," he says, almost shouting, while clenching his fists. "If we do things on time, and we attack in the right time, we can beat him up... the Princesses and the Elements of Harmony are on our side."

"But the ram killed Cadence and Shining Armor... who knows what did he do with the baby, Flurry Heart... I just... uh... I don't know."

"What I don't understand is..." says the dragon. "Why did he kill his allies?"

"Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, Stone Chisel..."

"Stone Chisel hasn't been found yet."

"He may be just drips of blood and mincemeat, Blister," replies the journalist. "He was the weakest of the four. It's hard to admit but... come on, Blister, he was just an earth pony with a mind to rob... nothing else."

"And what about that mysterious smoke thing he used on the robberies?" asks Blister. "Was it magic?"

Tabloid gets silent at that moment but takes a breath and replies only seconds later: "Chaos Magic... that was stupid magic. Tenebris can't be hurt by that."

"But it was magic..." interrupts the dragon. "... handled by an earth pony."

"No matter how powerful was that magic... Tenebris can't be hurt by anything."

"Wait..." Blister hesitates now. "Wasn't there an old legion of some weird chaos magic like... centuries ago?"

Tabloid raises an eyebrow looking at the dragon. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean... there was some group of earth ponies who could manage magic, as Stone Chisel did... what was the name of that... uh... Wizards?"

"Wizards of Chaos?" he asks, shaking his head. "They don't exist anymore, Blist. They had some weird magic that died with them."

"Then... if that magic died with them... why did Stone Chisel have that magic?"

Tabloid shakes his head, again. "No, we don't know if it's the same kind of chaos magic... or if it's some new, weird magic from the black market... Flash Sentry said that on the trial but... we don't know if that's completely true..."

"And if it is?"

The journalist sighs and looks at the building trying to relax, but this time he finds something different.

There's something on the roof. He can't see it so well due to being on a great height but knows it's a carriage. Two strange colts, seen as ants from Tabloid's point of view, take something out of the carriage, cautiously. Trying to find out what's happening, he finds out that the carriage is quite small compared to others... it reminds him of an old model of a royal one he used to look at when he was a young, rookie journalist... but why would they be using an antique carriage? That would make no sense... but... and besides... two colts with a carriage, taking something? What is that? "Blister," he says. "Did the Princess tell you there were Royal Guards coming to the Shiny Picks building?"

"Uh... no," he replies, now getting nearer the window. "She didn't say anything about that. You read the card with me." Both the dragon and the journalist look at the two mysterious figures leaving something on the roof and leaving the carriage up there too, not before pressing something which is near a staircase. "Are you sure those are Royal Guards?"

Tabloid shakes his head, and then, seconds later, they look at how one of the creatures flies away while the other straight runs down something and disappears. Looks like it entered the building. Blister, at that right moment, shouts:

"Shit!"

"No, no," Tabloid says. "Those may not be real Guards. Call the police right now."

By the time Tabloid finished his phrase, Blister has already opened the door and got out of the apartment.

Meanwhile, some cops realize there is a light being switched on in every staircase. That may mean something...

... and on the other hand, Chisel is in a hall, confused and disoriented, because of something. "How strange," he whispers. "It's silent, and he always talks as if he was using a megaphone..."

The hall feels different... no. In fact, everything feels different. He thought about how to hide from several workers who were authorized to walk by the CEO's store with no problems at all. Only authorized employees could see him, that's only one sign of how crazy his father is... but this time he feels there is actually no one there. No sounds. No voices. Nothing. Silence... and it's making him nervous.

Suddenly, Chisel, looking around, finds the door he wanted to find.

IRON PICK
CEO

But nothing comes out of it. Not even a sound, a voice. Looks like it is empty... maybe he is in silence, reading something, who knows? And now he's there to break that peace... the son gets prepared, and suddenly...

SMASH!

Chisel kicks the door and runs straight like a bullet. "FATHER!" he shouts, until he finds out... there's no father. No one is there. In fact, the office is almost empty, with his desk broken in half and surrounded by a strange yellow tape. "What the...?"

The office doesn't have a soul in it. The desk is broken and surrounded by this mysterious tape, everything is quite dirty and also finds a broken window in front of him. "What has happened here?" he asks himself. "Where are... where are them?"

He trots around the office until he finds there is a name on one side of the mysterious yellow tape. Once he approaches it and reads it, he says the name aloud.

"MPD."

... It sounds familiar. That name sounds familiar... and he doesn't like it. "No," he whispers. "Tell me this is not..."

At that right moment, trots can be heard outside the room and he takes off his mask. "Tell me... it's not the MPD I'm thinking about," he says, while slowly opening the door. "You motherfuc--"

SMASH. The door is kicked again and he falls. From the hall comes out lots of cops who run into Stone Chisel. "FREEZE!" shouts one of the cops, who starts trotting to the robber. "MPD! MANEHATTAN POLICE DEPARTMENT! FREEZE NOW!"

"Wait! Wait!" he shouts. "Where are my pare---?"

He couldn't even finish the place before getting punched in the face by a cop. Seconds later, another police colt grabs him and punches him on his loin, beating him up.

He got busted.

Tabloid's Articles, #4: Names

Author's Note

There are photos of characters in this article.

Stone Chisel, Big Stomp and Shiny Mercury don't have any pictures.

Tabloid's Articles, #4: Names

Names
written by Tabloid

His name was Shining Armor. Beloved ruler of the Crystal Empire, brother of Element Twilight Sparkle. A humble stallion who wanted to change a lost empire controlled by a tyrant, for the better.

Her name was Cadence. She was the wife of Shining Armor and Princess of the Crystal Empire, loved by many and claimed to be the kindest one to ever step into the Empire's control.

His name was Lord Tirek. An evil centaur feared and hated by many. Brother of late Scorpan, who turned his back on him and took away his strength and power, only to come back one more time and get defeated by Twilight Sparkle.

Her name was Cozy Glow. The Tower of Evil, that's the name I put on her when the School of Friendship's problems happened. An evil filly who would anything for power.

Her name was Chrysalis. Bug queen, feared changeling, remembered because of what she did on the old Royal Wedding of aforementioned Cadence and Shining Armor.

His name was Stone Chisel. The earth pony robber, considered to be a showbiz character of Equestria, turned out to be an acolyte of an evil monster.

His name was Shiny Mercury. Leader of the Crystal Guards of the Royal Empire.

His name was Big Stomp. Captain of the Kingdom's Royal Guards.

His name was Flash Sentry. Leader of Kingdom's Royal Guards.

You may wonder why am I naming all of them, and you may ask me why am I writing was instead of is.

All of these mentioned names, no matter how humble or villainous they were, have died during the return of Tenebris the Night Ram. All of them were murdered by his bloodthirst, and don't forget I'm not naming all of his victims, because if I did it, I would never have finished writing and writing names on that bloody list of injustice.

The Ram is one of the most dangerous monsters we have faced, and please, I beg all of you to stay safe in your houses and be cautious, because it turns out my scoop wasn't enough shocking to let everyone know what they had to do. I've seen some still walking, trotting and laughing while I was revising the most shocking scoop I wrote in all of my life. The scariest one, I'd say.

Please, listen to me. Stay home. Stay safe. This is serious.

Please.

You don't know what this monster can do.

A Ticket to the Gallows

Arc III - Chapter IV - A Ticket to the Gallows

They were right.

Suddenly, Tabloid gets out of his apartment, helped by Blister, the orange dragon, and looks at a huge amount of police colts and mares throwing out of the building's entrance door a grey colt with a ripped-off tunic filled with bruises. He also has a cut ear. "Woah, woah!" he shouts. "Wait... wait!"

But no. They don't want to hear his words, they are angry because they have already recognized who is.

Stone Chisel.

Oh, yeah. Stone Chisel. They can't believe he actually did it. Why is he here? Where are his parents? Where are the others? Are they in danger?

And most importantly... where is Tenebris?

At that right moment, Ink Pot appears in the scene, running like a bullet to his partners. "What the...?"

"Where were you?" asks Blister once he sees him. Tabloid, on the other side, does not say something, he looks, right above in the sky, at a couple of pegasi with someone else. That carriage he saw minutes ago... turns out he was right. It was actually one of those royal carriages he saw in his youth. The smallest ones...

"I... I tried to take a breath... what happened here?"

"We saw two mysterious colts on the building and I called the police," replies the dragon. "And... look, there's the other one!"

The pegasi cops stomp the other tunic colt against the ground and start attacking him, taking off his mask.

It's Stolen Bag. "ARRGHHH--- ARRGHH!" he shouts. "STONE CHISEL... I'M GOING TO... KICK YOUR ASS!"

"WAIT! WAIT!" Chisel keeps begging for some time to talk, but one of the colts grabs him and crashes him against a wall.

But one of the cops keeps punching him in the face. "YOU PRICK!" he says. "Tell me... tell me! Where did you get the freaking carriage, huh? HUH? I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"STOP!" shouts another cop, getting him out of the scene. "If you keep punching him, you will become the bad colt!"

"The bad colt?" he asks. "For punching this piece of crap? Who helped the ram?"

"No!" replies the robber, trying to hide his face with the frayed tunic. "I didn't help the ram!"

"Yes, you did! YES, YOU DID!" shouts the angry cop.

"I swear, dude!" he says. "He went crazy! Killed everyone in the Crystal Empire!"

"I won't fall in your game, piece of filth!" says another cop. "Nopony of us will!"

"He killed Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis!"

Tabloid, Ink Pot and Blister look at each other. Everything he's saying it's actually true... and at that right moment the old journalist nudges the dragon's tail with one of his hooves. "Go..." he whispers. "Go and grab the card."

"What?"

"Just do it."

"But..."

"Do it," he says. "Ink Pot and I will take charge of this."

Ink Pot looks now at Tabloid. "What did you just say?"

He raises an eyebrow. "I said we are going to take charge of this."

His gesture changes suddenly. "Hell no!" he whispers. "Of course, I'm not doing that."

"You will."

"No."

"Yeah."

On the other hand, while Tabloid and Ink Pot start arguing with each other and Blister gets in the apartment to look for the card, the police are in another plane, letting Stone Chisel know who are the ones who rule over the city. "Shut the hell up!" shouts one of the angry cops. "Tirek? Cozy Glow? Chrysalis? Dead? Do you think we will fall in your stupid lies, whiny, stupid filly? Tell us the truth! Where are those monsters, huh? Are you sure you want to get a ticket to the gallows?"

"Actually he's right."

"Tabloid! You stupid sack of potatoes!"

All of the cops turn around and look at Tabloid trying to get nearer the situation. One of the cops, a light-blue-skinned mare with cyan hair, recognizes Ink Pot and frowns. "What are you doing here?" she asks. "We told you this was private!"

"We've received a letter from Princess Celestia regarding this situation," replies Tabloid. "What he is saying is true and has happened. Sadly..."

"No, no, no, no!" interrupts a cop. "If you want to defend this one... If you want to defend this beast... I swear... !"

"I'm not defending him," he says, while Blister gets out of the apartment with a scroll in hand. "I'm only saying the truth."

"There it is! There it is!" Blister the Dragon unfolds the letter and shows it to several cops, who start reading it in silence. Stolen Bag, on the other hand, still trapped on the ground, turns his head back and looks at Stone Chisel with pure anger. He tried to hide... and his partner literally took him in. To the gallows. The robber, being grabbed and trapped by pony cops only bites his lips and raises his eyebrows looking at him.

The cops stop reading the card, but one of them shakes his head: "This can't be. This can't be. We don't know if you are lying or not."

"It looks like the Princess' handwriting," replies another cop.

"But..." says another. "If this is true... then this means... they are...?"

And in the middle of the awkwardness, three cops pass by the building's entrance door holding that mysterious object Tabloid and Blister could see. Turns out there was something... someone. All of the cops' mouths open widely once they find out what was inside the cloth. "We found her on the roof," says one of the cops. "They left her alone."

"NO!" shouts one of the police colts, looking at Flurry Heart sobbing and crying while the cloth is magically folded and taken out of her. "NO... YOU...!"

"I saved her," replies Stone Chisel, about to get crushed by another cop.

"Saved her?" shouts a pony. "From what?"

"Tenebris the Night Ram."

"BULLSHIT!" shouts a cop and directly punches him straight in the face. Other cops look at Stolen Bag and begin to attack him on the ground, while others try to calm down the whole situation. Tabloid, Ink Pot and Blister are right in the middle of the chaos. Everything goes straight downhill and so out of control Stolen Bag manages to escape, but this time to attack Stone Chisel.

"NO! NO!" shouts Blister. "WAIT! WAI... wai..." The dragon kneels on the street, feeling a lump on his throat one more time, touching his chest. Ink Pot tries to help him, but suddenly... "Arrgh... aaahh..."

BURP!

The burp is heard on the street, surrounded by a wave of fire, giving a card to the world. Stolen Bag and Stone Chisel, who are still fighting, get quickly separated from each other. The letter falls to the ground and everyone looks at it. Blister grabs it, raising one hand in silence. "What's it, Blister?" asks Ink Pot. "Is it...?"

He opens the letter while his hands are trembling and reads the card's first paragraph: "Yes. It is."

He flips the card over and shows who is writing to him to the cops:

"Blister:

I'm writing this to tell you we decided to stay in Canterlot. Our city needs to be protected. We still haven't found either Flurry Heart or Discord or Stone Chisel and decided to bury Shining Armor and Cadence in a special ceremony. We still don't know what we are going to do with Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis' bodies.

I remind you and beg Mr Tabloid and Mr Ink Pot to let Manehattan know what is happening regarding Tenebris, who also hasn't appeared yet. We're scared of what he may do after.

Just in case you need to write a letter back, we'll take our time to answer, due to being very busy in the Kingdom right now.

Princess Celestia."

Stone Chisel tries to say something but a cop interrupts him: "And is this true? Is there a way to verify it?"

"I'm telling you," says a pony. "It is Celestia's handwriting. I... I remember reading a letter from her a time ago."

Another cop raises his eyebrows and looks at the pony. "Really, Golden Badge? When?"

"I had to interrogate a student of hers... don't you remember?"

The stallion who asked that question simply shakes his head: "No..."

Flurry Heart is now the main subject of this. The letter says Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis' bodies, so that means they are actually dead. Shining Armor and Cadence have also passed away... and Tenebris is just gone. Golden Badge, the mare who recognized Celestia's handwriting starts reading the letter and gasps while analyzing the first paragraph, about to fall into tears. "Oh my..." she whispers. "Is this...?"

Tabloid is some pony apart, though. He approaches Stone Chisel, being secured and escorted by police colts, and whispers something without even looking at him.

"How did you survive?"

"No, no," says a cop, getting in the middle. "No."

The journalist bites his lips. "Just a minute."

"No minutes."

However, despite the cops doesn't want Tabloid to talk to him, Stone Chisel shakes his head and opens his mouth anyway. "He tried to kill me," he says before the cops turn around and look at him. "He pushed me with his powers... and I landed in a river and the waters drove me to my partner..."

Tabloid turns around and looks at Stolen Bag. "Him?" he asks. "Stolen Bag?"

"Stop," says a cop again. Stolen Bag, still squashed and trapped by other police ponies, now has his attention on what is happening right there.

"Hey, you," shouts Golden Badge, turning around and looking at Stone Chisel. "You... Stone Chisel... how did you survive?"

Tabloid decides to speak: "He has just said he---"

"I'm not talking to you."

Awkward silence again, and Stone Chisel gets some space to breathe, with all the cops around him suddenly trotting away, but not looking at another thing rather than just him.. "Um..." he says. "He tried to kill me and... uh... pushed me away with his powers... with some kind of beam... and I landed on water... a river... and that river drove me to..."

"Don't you dare to say it," says Stolen Bag. "You bitch. Don't you dare--"

A cop punches Bag in the face, and Badge shouts: "Say it, Stone!"

However, the robber, biting his lips, looks at his partner. "Stolen..."

"Don't talk to your partner! I'm interrogating you, not him!"

Chisel gets dizzy while looking at both Stolen and the cop, and finally lets it go: "Drove me to a place with hills... where my partner Stolen Bag was staying and hiding from the Kingdom."

"You son of a gun!" he shouts. "That was the only place we had to hide after this!"

"You think you were going to hide after this?" asks Tabloid. "Of course not, you stupid. We're condemned, you too... there's no place to hide."

"Yes!" shouts Stolen Bag. "I agree... now there's no place because he has just said where is the only secure pla---"

"Really?" asks Stone Chisel. "You think we were going to get out of this?"

Silence. Stolen Bag closes his eyes and takes a breath. "Screw you."

"Screw you back."

"Ok, Ok!" interrupts Badge. "Stop, please!" Stolen Bag swallows his anger. "And what happened to your allies? Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis?"

He shakes his head. "Those weren't my allies."

"Whatever, answer the question..." she says. "What happened to them?"

He shakes his head. "Dead," he replies, and that only makes the police colts feel much more shocked. "He killed them, along with his soulmate, another night ram called Rushkwa."

"Another night ram?" asks another cop. "Are you sure what you are saying it's true?"

"It is," he says, standing up and facing the cops. "And look... believe it or not... I may have a way... it's not the best one, and I don't know if it may work, but if we do it on time... there's a slight possibility this way can help us to face Tenebris."

He expects the cops to shut him up, but no one says anything. The cops look at each other, then at the journalists, until Blister the Dragon, who grabs the letter from the pony cop, innocently raises his hand: "Which way?"

"I have to talk to somepony."

"Who?" asks a cop.

"Somepony who lives in Canterlot."

"Canterlot?" Badge asks, while her partners start shaking their heads.

"No," says another. "No to Canterlot. The Princesses are there."

"No, no, no..." says Chisel. "We have to go to Canterlot and talk to this mare."

"Mare?" asks Golden Badge. "Why don't you tell us who are you talking about? We can talk to this mare for help---"

"No!" he shouts. "If you talk to her everything's going downhill then. I have to be the one who has to talk to her..."

"And are you sure you don't want to do something else in Canterlot?"

"What?" he says, raising a hoof. "Of course not! I won't do anything else! For what?"

"For what, you say?" exclaims a cop. "Are you sure you don't have anything under your nose, jackass? With that magical fog, you had?"

"What? Hell no, I can't use that fog anymore, jackass!"

"Ok, ok," interrupts Badge, looking at the angry police colt. "Just before this leads into another stupid, chaotic battle... we are going to do something."

"What?" asks another police colt. "Let them go?"

"No," she says. "Both of them are going to get hoof shackles."

"Hoof shackles?" shouts Stolen Bag, the robber's partner. "Is this some kind of joke or what? Don't make me laugh."

"No, it's not a joke," she says. "Whether you like it or not, you'll have to get arrested and escorted..." then, she deviates her sight to Chisel. "And you... are you sure you have a way to stop the monster?"

"I do." Golden Badge approaches him and snorts.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Um..." he stutters. "Yeah."

She nods her head and whispers: "I know... I recognize when colts like you lie, huh? I'm not a moron."

"And you think I've been lying to you all of this time?"

"Uh..." she shuts her mouth, coldly looking at the robber's eyes. She bites her lips, looking at her partners, trying to answer.

"Looks like I shut your mouth," he says, with a tiny grin that tries not to shine.

"Shut up," she says. "Or I'll put a gag on your mouth."

"But tell me... do you think I am lying to all of you?" he asks, this time angrily. "I've been telling you the truth since you attacked me and pushed me right down the entrance door. See the baby, huh?" now he points at Flurry Heart. "Think about it... if it wasn't for my partner and me, who knows what could have happened to her... did you think about that? I mean..."

"No."

"No what?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think you're lying."

The cops around her feel surprised at hearing that. "Really, Badge?" asks a police colt. "You said that?"

"He is not, partner," she says. "I listened to every word he said. Every one of them, and look... he sounds scared, worried... I've been interrogating and recognizing gestures and sounds for almost ten years, partner... you can't deny what I say."

The cops look at each other, and then at Badge. "And what are we going to do, huh? With these? We can't leave them alone with those shackles."

"I know, I know..." she says. "And I know what could we do, guys... uh... but I think we have to talk with the Commissioner about this..."

Another police mare gets in the middle. "And what's in your head, Golden Badge?"

The police mare looks at both robbers still getting escorted by a stampede of Manehattan cops. "Somepony's in my head."

Cold. It's cold outside, and the wind only worsens the feeling.

However, for Tenebris and its community, this is not something bad. Their fur is keeping them from freezing on the mount.

The Mount of Nowhere. The Mount of Death.

They didn't even have to deal with climbing the most extreme mountain on the lands, due to the ram's new powerful abilities. He can play with reality now.

He has already won.

However, in that small cave where the Bewitching Bell stays, there is still something they've got to get rid of.

It's cold... but it's not perfect, Tenebris thinks about it when he doesn't even say a word while holding, touching the bell with his hooves. The first one to acknowledge this is Maior, the young night ram. "Something wrong?" he asks to the beast.

Tenebris shakes his head, carrying the bell. "No," he says. "I've been thinking about something during the whole trip."

"Really?" asks his soulmate Rushkwa, from behind. "What? Were you thinking about our lands...?"

"No, no, no... uh... I was thinking about something that never came into my mind..."

"What?" asks Maior, while all of the other young rams stay next to him.

"I remember thinking about this a long time ago... but never had the power to do that... and now... now... we could say... I can do it."

"But what, Tenebris?" says Risu. The elder night ram turns his head around and eventually chuckles.

"Come with me."

"Where?" asks the young night ram. Maior looks at her and Tenebris, without answering, starts slowly trotting to the mount's mouth. He's about to get in the freezing blizzard. "Wait! Don't leave us here!"

"Don't worry," he says. "I won't leave you here. I just want you to look to the sky."

Once he says that, the young rams get out of the cave where the Bell was kept and look at the blue sky. However, they don't want to look at the sun due to being very bright. "Ouch," innocently says Sanguis. "The sun is brighter than I thought."

"No problem, Sanguis," he says. "We can fix it after my plan."

Rushkwa then comes by and approaches her soulmate, confused. "Which plan?"

The ram chuckles. "The one I've been thinking since we got into this mount... and I've been keeping it on my mind."

"And why are you keeping it?" she asks.

"I don't know..." he replies. "Maybe I was... I was just fooling around trying to think about something better... but you know, Rushkwa... I realized it's foolish to think about something better when you can control everything as you want..."

"So?" she says. "What are you waiting for?"

"Yes, say it!" shouts Mors, chuckling. Sanguis also does the same, while Risu and Maior stay in silence.

"Children..." he says. "It's time to... it's time to think about what is above us."

"Above us?" she asks. "Which thing is above us?"

The ram turns his head and looks at her, raising an eyebrow. "The moon, Rushkwa... it's obvious."

"And what do you want to do with it?

"You see..." he whispers, approaching the children which are trying to get closer due to the cold winds. "Both of us know, Rushkwa, the Moon is controlled by something else... it can't be controlled by itself."

She raises her eyebrows and looks to the sky. "Yes."

Tenebris gets next to the young rams, and suddenly they stop feeling that annoying cold they had seconds ago. The ram is protecting them from the blizzard. "Now... that we know how to deal with everything that's around us..."

"What if...?"

"Yes... you said it."

She turns her head. "I said it?"

"You did say it."

"What?" asks Maior. "What did she say?"

"Is it related to the Moon?" also asks Risu, something that makes Rushkwa release a small chuckle.

"I know what you are trying to say, Tenebris..." she says aloud, so the ram blinks before taking a breath and looking right at her eyes.

"Then say it."

She smiles. "You're trying to get the Moon... I mean, our Moon."

"Of course... because she... he... it... whatever the Moon is... it's in the wrong hooves, Rushkwa."

"And why?" asks Risu. "Why?"

"Think about it, you child... we are trying to get rid of those who banished us from where we were and what we were... and suddenly, one day, you find out the God you were worshipping all this time it's just... controlled by a pony."

"Filthy ponies," answers Maior, stomping his hooves against the snowy ground.

"Filthy pony! Filthy pony! Filthy pony!" shouts both Mors and Sanguis. "Filthy pony! Filthy pony! Give us our Moon!"

Everyone laughs at Mors and Sanguis' reaction, except for Tenebris. His eyes, his pupils widen while thinking about it.

His God. What can he do to control his God? To look at the sky and think he can be able to control his God, the Moon, any time he wants? Can he cover the Sun with it?

...

Can he kill the Sun with it?

To Give In

Arc III - Chapter V - To Give In

"Okay. We got it." Golden Badge received the order. She's authorized to do it, according to what the pegasi who visited the Commissioner told her. "We are going to her."

"To whom?" asks Stone Chisel, quite confused. "Hey... I've already told you... this mare I was talking about won't want to---"

"I wasn't talking about that mare," replies Badge, looking at him. "I'm talking about somepony else."

Confused, he raises an eyebrow. "Who?"

The police mare approaches the robber, still escorted by her partners. "You said you have a way, right?"

"Yeah," he replies, nodding his head. "I do have a way."

"Well..." she says. "I think there's one mare who has to listen to what you have to say..." but then she corrects herself. "I mean... two."

"Two?" he asks. "Which two? I... I don't know what you are talking about."

"Either we," says a partner of Golden Badge. "You've told your plan to the pegasi and the Commissioner, but not to us... Are you really going to Canterlot? To what?"

One of the pegasi is about to raise a hoof to talk, but Golden Badge stops them. "Let me explain," she says, and at that moment, Blister understands what she's meaning.

"Wait, two mares... two mares?"

Golden Badge turns around. "Yes."

The Dragon widens his eyes. "Two mares... you mean... two mares in Canterlot?"

She nods her head while giving a small smile to him, and the colts and ponies around begin to understand what she's meaning. "No," says one of the police colts. "Don't you dare to carry them to Celestia and Luna... don't you?"

Stone Chisel feels goosebumps after hearing that. "Hell no," he says.

She snorts while looking everywhere. "Why not?" asks the mare. "If he has a way... then he has to talk with the only ones that can help him to do the way."

"What if he is just pretending to have a way?" shouts another cop. "And he is covering Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and that monster ram from us?"

Tabloid, however, comes to the rescue. "Remember that the centaur, the filly and the changeling have been murdered by the ram and that Rushkwa, according to what Stone Chisel told us."

"And what if that Rushkwa is just part of the game he is playing?"

"It isn't," replies the robber. "It is Tenebris' soulmate. I can easily describe her if you want."

"Soulmate?" asks Ink Pot, the journalist. "You said soulmate?"

Tabloid laughs. "Of course, he said that Ink Pot... why would he say?"

The partner angrily snorts. "I was just asking..."

Meanwhile, Golden Badge approaches Stone Chisel again. "Then... describe her," she says.

"A light blue fur, short white horns and big red eyes... which counters to Tenebris' dark blue fur and irises."

"And you say she and her soulmate Tenebris killed them?"

"Yes."

Golden Badge bites her lips. "Including Cadence and Shining Armor?"

Chisel closes his eyes and looks at his partner for a second, then at the mare. "Tenebris killed Shining Armor. I don't know what happened to Cadence... but they may have killed her too."

"And why you don't know what happened to her, huh?"

"I didn't see her... when they found her, I was already gone at that time."

Badge nods her head. "Because they threw you away with their powers, as you said before... isn't it?"

"Yes."

Blister reads the letter again and exclaims: "Um... and what about Discord?"

Boom.

Everyone almost forgot about him and turns out he's the biggest enigma of them all... The God of Chaos is now disappeared? Chaos Incarnate? "Yeah," replies Golden Badge. "What about him?"

Stone Chisel doesn't know what to say, and the first thing he does is to look at Stolen Bag. Both colts bite their lips while trying to figure out a possible answer that may cause not so much trouble.

If they say Discord's actually dead, everyone will explode right now. They have to say something. Different. Something else.

Goosebumps. He feels goosebumps when he says it. "He's still kidnapped," exclaims Stone Chisel, looking at Golden Badge right in her eyes, the best he can. If he deviates his sight, she may not fall in it. However, the mare slowly approaches him, getting next to his right, so near their ears touch each other.

She whispers like a devil, something that makes Stone Chisel shiver. "Are you sure you are not hiding something else?"

He shakes his head. "No."

Badge raises an eyebrow and Bag closes his eyes. Chisel, confused, realizes what he has just said. How stupid. "What?" she says.

"No, I meant... uh... I don't have anything to hide."

She trots away but doesn't unstick her sight from him. "And why are you hiding it, then?"

Now every pony has heard it. "What?" says the robber. "I... I didn't."

"You can't confront me," she interrupts. "You may have the reputation of a good liar... but I have the reputation of a good observer... I know when you lie, Stone Chisel--"

"Discord's dead," said the robber at that moment.

That hit straight like a bullet. Badge, who was preparing her speech, suddenly breaks in half. The cops' jaws open widely, and some of them even get dizzy. They are about to pass out. Tabloid, the old journalist, feels the goosebumps in all of his fur. Ink Pot and Blister look at each other with fear, while Stolen Bag clenches his teeth, looking to the ground. "What..." she whispers. "Did you really say that?"

"He was turned into dices by Tenebris," he replies. "I think..." Stone Chisel closes his eyes and takes a breath in the silence, then he keeps talking. "I think the ram had already destroyed the Crystal Heart when he turned him into dice. He told me... uh... he told me." He feels a lump in his throat. "He told me I had to solve this."

"..." Golden Badge doesn't comment anything, until: "... Discord told you that?"

Chisel, only blinking, nods his head in silence. Golden Badge stutters at that moment: "No, no, no... don't blink."

He, confused, raises his eyebrows. "What?"

She looks right into his eyes, only to feel his pure sadness and melancholy. He's saying it... for real. It looks like that happened. "It..." she whispers. "It did happen."

"I'm saying the truth."

Golden Badge clenches her teeth, almost crushing them against each other. "We have to..." she whispers. "We have to do it."

"Take him to Canterlot?" says one of the cops. "Are you sure about that? Don't you know how grave that sounds?"

"Yeah," also says Stone Chisel. "I mean... take me, but... don't put me in front of the Princesses, you know? They will..."

"If what you say is true, then the Princesses won't touch you," says Golden Badge. "And, according to what I saw, thought and felt... you're saying the truth."

"But..." stutters the robber. "Why? Just take me to this mare and..."

"No."

He snorts. "No?"

"My way."

"Your way?" he shouts. "But... I've already told you! If you don't do things in my way...!"

"We'll do things on your way, calm down," she replies. "The thing is... you still need to explain your way to those who need an explanation..." then, she turns around with a smile on her face. "... Trust me."

At that right moment, several cops appear from behind the robbers and trap them with hoof shackles. "Hey!" shouts the robber once he finds out and can't move freely, due to how fast they trapped them. "But I'm telling the truth!"

"Just in case," she says, raising a hoof. Stone Chisel bites his lips and frowns at her, while Stolen Bag tries to resist but he is easily defeated, he can't move so wildly with the shackles tied to his hooves. "We are not saying you are guilty but... you are, in fact."

"Guilty?" says Stolen Bag, angrily. "For what, huh? He told you the truth and we saved the baby!"

"Well," she exclaims. "Basically your partner escaped from Tartarus and we don't forget you were also wanted alive by the Kingdom, Stolen Bag... clearly you are, in spite of what you just did... guilty of something else."

"Uh, come on," he angrily shouts while looking at the mare cop. Then, he fulminates the robber with his sight. "If it wasn't for you..."

"Go on, please," she says. "Pegasi... do me a favour and look for the carriages..."

The pegasi nod their heads and they fly away, while Tabloid takes advantage of the moment to say: "Sure..." then he looks at Ink Pot. "Ink Pot, prepare the bags."

The journalist and the dragon look at him, confused. "What?" asks Blister.

"We are going to Canterlot."

"What?" shouts Ink Pot. "Why?"

Tabloid nods his head. "We may need to escort Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag too."

"For what?" he asks, surprised. "Of course not! We are not police colts!"

The old unicorn shakes his head and looks at him. "But we are journalists."

Stone Chisel and Golden Badge hear this and the mare turns around. "What do you think you are doing?" she asks him. "You can't go with us. We need you to stay here."

"No, wait," exclaims Ink Pot, getting between the journalist and the cop. "He always has these fantasies... he's used to getting into---"

"But this is something private, don't you know?"

Tabloid bites his lips. "Maybe we could help with something."

"No, we don't need your help," she exclaims, shaking her head. "We need you to stay safe."

"Yeah, she's right," says Blister. "Besides, Tabloid... Princess Celestia said everyone had to be safe."

"Yes!" shouts Ink Pot, almost at his face. "You said that... I know you want to take your point of view to this like you always do but... not this time... the Princess said we had to stay safe..."

Tabloid looks at his partner, also friend, Ink Pot, and tries to say something, but suddenly he closes his eyes. "Uh..." he says, shaking his head, and then sighs. "Damn... I... I want to help, to bring..."

"Sorry," she says. "But we can't let you do this. You need to stay sa--"

"Wait."

The cops turn around to look at the one who said that. Stone Chisel, trying to move with the shackles, approaches the journalists. "Before we leave..." he says, clenching his teeth. "Damnit... these... freaking shackles."

"I won't take them off you," replies Golden Badge, but Chisel ignores her while looking at the journalists in silence.

"Before we leave," he says. "Can I ask you something?"

The journalists look at each other until Ink Pot drives his sight to the robber. "Sure."

"Why... uh..." he says, almost stuttering. "Why is the building of my parents... so bleak and empty?" Then, he stops and also asks. "Where are my parents?"

"Uh..." is the first thing that comes out of Ink Pot's mouth. "Look, it may be hard to understand but... er... uh... it looks like something happened..."

"Something?" he asks, while Golden Badge approaches him. "Something like---?"

"They are gone."

Chisel stops talking when she says that. He feels an uncountable amount of anvils fall over him, although being much more confused than shocked. "What?" he says, with his eyes almost coming out of their orbits.

"They have disappeared..." she says. "We don't even know if they are... dead or alive, at least."

Chisel turns around, looking at his partner, Stolen Bag, who has the same face as his. Both of them are in shock.

HALF AN HOUR LATER

Celestia and Luna are in the Kingdom again, without saying anything. Sunburst, along with the Pillars of Equestria, hasn't moved from their places. The only one who is saying something is him, whispering: "Revenge."

Twilight Sparkle is in the middle of the situation, right under the Princesses' thrones, not even looking at anyone. She's just laying her head on the floor, sticking her eyes to the cold crystal, while Spike and her friends are just surrounding her presence.

Nobody says anything. The Room is complete silence... until a guard slowly opens the entrance door, with an ashamed gesture. "Um..." he says. "Princess Celestia..."

The Pillars and Sunburst turn around, while the Princess slowly opens her eyes to look at the guard from far, far away. "Yes?"

"We have... um... visitors."

"We are not in the mood to receive visitors," softly exclaims the Princess. "Sorry..."

"I know... I know, but..." now the Elements, except for Twilight, look at the Guard. "It looks like these visitors want to tell you something very important... and it's urgent."

She raises an eyebrow, showing her eyebags. "Which kind of visitors?"

"Why do I have to be masked?" he whines. "You didn't even let me get off the carriage without it."

Stone Chisel is now covered by his ripped-off tunic and masked, waiting in a small hall to enter the Throne Room, still digesting what happened to his parents... if something happened to them because nobody knows anything. Golden Badge, accompanied by several cops who are surrounding both robbers tied to their shackles, turns around and looks at him while waiting for the Guard's order. One of them, from right behind, is holding Flurry Heart on a cloth, trying to calm her down. "Trust me," she says. "If you enter unmasked, all of the creatures who may be inside that room will end up killing you by the time you finished saying hello."

"I have to talk to them," he says. "And I have to take off my mask to let them understand how grave this is..."

"I know," she says. "That's what I want you to let me talk about first. Only introduce you... just to let them know you are not lying and end up trapped in Tartarus for eternity."

"Uh, come on..."

"Would you?"

Chisel looks at his partner, Stolen Bag, who, unlike him, is neither robbed nor masked. He doesn't look him back, though, and that makes Chisel snort at him. Bag doesn't answer. "Uh..." he stutters. "OK. Only because I know they would have destroyed me if I talked first."

"Hey," says Badge looking at Stolen Bag, after Chisel accepted her request. "Would you do the same for me?"

Bag closes his eyes. "Why?"

"The same reason as your partner."

He sighs and shakes his head. "I don't have the same reputation as him right now... at least they don't want me dead."

"Screw you," says the robber. "I'll repeat it one more time... screw you!"

"Screw you back."

"Ok, ok, don't you dare to start with this again," says Golden Badge, angrily. "I know you are not on the same level now... but you are still a fugitive robber that the Kingdom is looking for, Stolen Bag. Would you trust me as your partner is doing right now?"

"I never said I was trusting you," says Stone Chisel.

"Oh, come on..." she whines. "I want you to do it because that's we need to do in order to let ourselves be heard all around the room and also to spread the facts of what actually happened on the Empi---"

"If I put the mask on, you will shut up?" Stolen Bag interrupts her and that leads to several cops looking at him in a really bad way. "I say..."

She approaches him and snorts. "You dare to say that again and I'll put that mask into Celestia knows where..."

"The name of the Princess shall not be said in vain."

The mare cop turns around to look at a Royal Guard standing. She blushes for a second because of how ashamed she felt and directly asks: "So?"

"She decided to accept your request," answers the guard. "But she's not alone... the Elements of Harmony and also the Pillars of Old Equestria are in the Room waiting for what you have to say."

The cops, and even the robbers, get frozen for a second. "What?" she asks.

"They also decided to stay," answers the guard. "You said your speech was Tenebris-related... and Her Majesties Celestia and Luna along with the Elements and Pillars want to know everything about the ram to confront him."

"Oh," only pronounces the mare cop, until she nods her head. "Sure. Perfect."

The guard also nods but says: "May I ask you a question?"

She nods her head. "Yes."

"Why is he here?" he asks, pointing at Stolen Bag. "Does he have to do anything with this?"

Bag doesn't say anything to him, so Badge answers for the robber: "Yes, he has."

"Is he related to something good... or bad?"

"Good," replies the same Stolen Bag.

"And the last question... may I know who's the masked pony who hasn't talked yet?"

"That's what I wanted to talk about," replies Badge. "By now his identity is hidden... but he will be the one who will talk to Her Majesties."

But, however, the Guard bites his lips. "I don't know... I can't... be so sure about a pony who does not speak."

"He'll speak," replies Badge. "I assure you... but now I want him to be silent. He is the reason why we came here."

"He?" asks the guard. "The reason?" Then he looks at how the mysterious masked pony nods his head behind Badge. He's still not so sure about this but gets calm when he sees the masked pony actually has hoof shackles under him, not letting him move freely. Stolen Bag also has the same. "Why?"

"We'll tell our Majesties first."

The guard turns around, closing his eyes... "And are you sure this is something really important?"

"It is," she says. "He has a way to stop Tenebris."

Stone Chisel closes his eyes. As he said before, he's not sure it's a way to stop Tenebris, but to counter him or confront him, maybe. Nopony knows if it's gonna work... it's just a...

... possibility...

"Well," he says. "Come with me, then."

"Wait," says Badge, turning around again and passing by the robbers and his partners. "Blake..."

"Yes?" is heard right behind the cops. The police colt with some kind of bag holding a cloth comes nearer.

"You'll enter first," she says. "You know why."

"Yes," he says, and stays next to the Guard, who looks at what's inside the cloth. Flurry Heart is right there, with her closed eyes and breathing slowly. The eyes of the warrior widen and feels goosebumps while he opens his mouth.

"Why didn't you start from this?" he asks while gasping. "You had her all this time? How?"

"That's only one of the things," she says. "Let the masked pony explain it when we arrive."

Blake is the first one to enter the Room along with the Guard, and when everyone finds out what is carrying, their attention completely goes to him... even Twilight's.

An awkward silence appears in the middle when the colt Blake approaches the Elements, passing by the Pillars and Sunburst, only to give the baby to Rarity, who can't even speak.

From behind, Golden Badge, the robbers, now with a masked Stolen Bag, and the cops arrive from behind. Everyone in the room looks at them in silence, especially at the two masked colts in the middle, with hoof shackles. Celestia raises an eyebrow and lets a sigh of relief when she looks at Flurry Heart safe and sound, inside that cloth.

"How..." whispers Luna. "How did you manage to...?"

"We can explain it," says Badge. "But first... I'd like to clarify, your majesties, that we are only the ones who managed to carry those who saw the recent events... Besides, we are not only here for the baby, Flurry Heart, daughter of Shining Armor and Cadence who may rest in peace."

Twilight, despite listening to the cop, hasn't opened her eyes yet. She's still lying on the floor, being helped by Spike. "So..." says Mage Meadowbrook, one of the Pillars. "You know what happened there."

"Uh-huh," she replies. "I've learned about the tragedy that did happen and I'm still shocked and awed for that... that's why I decided to help and to bring you the colts we've caught in Manehattan... because they know, and I know... they have a plan to stop Tenebris."

And Chisel rolls his eyes again. It's not a perfect plan, he thinks. It's just a slight possibility... "What?" asks Spike, confused, while taking care of Twilight. "How? You just caught two colts in Manehattan and brought them here?"

"He's right," says Star Swirl. "What is your basis to justify your actions, pony?"

Celestia and Luna nod their heads at that question while whispers begin to be heard, even from the cops. Golden Badge is being questioned, but she only turns around and looks at both masked ponies. "I'll let them answer that question for me, Mr Star Swirl."

"Great," whispers Stolen Bag next to Stone Chisel. "Now I officially consider this pony a bitch." However, the robber who went through everything, only raises a hoof and slowly takes his mask off.

"OH!"

A shout from somepony is heard once everyone looks at his face. The Elements and Sunburst immediately prepare for battle... Rarity's horn starts glowing, then Sunburst's... Rainbow Dash starts flapping her wings, about to fly... and, last but not least, Twilight opens her eyes, showing her bloodshot sight. She clenches her teeth and her horn starts glowing...

... but Stone Chisel doesn't do anything. He's there. He's still. And everyone, seconds later, begins to understand what's going on. They slowly stop being so menacing after all... Then, Stolen Bag takes off his mask and looks at everyone.

"Who is this?" asks Star Swirl, confused, looking at his partners, the Pillars. Then, he looks at the Elements. "Stone Chisel was his name?"

"Stone Chisel," replies Rarity. "He was with Tenebris... but... why isn't he attacking? He is just..."

"... standing..." also exclaims Pinkie Pie, confused.

Chisel sighs and looks at Bag, then at Badge, then at the Princesses...

Yesterday, he mocked them both at the trial.

Now, his face is cold, straight. He knows he committed a mistake... and has to solve it. He slowly opens his mouth and says:

"I think you deserve an explanation."

"Of course we deserve it," exclaims Sunburst. "Of course!" he shouts, approaching him. "Of course, we deserve it, you fool! Don't you think everypony else who has died also deserved it? Starlight Glimmer, Shining Armor, Cadence, huh?"

Stone Chisel doesn't answer him, he just takes a look aside... "I'll explain you from the beginning of it."

"We don't need no explanations," keeps saying Sunburst. "I thought you were just a pathetic robber but... we know what you are... I know what you are."

"No."

"Yes, I know... Yes, I know... if you think I am lying... why are you not looking at me?"

And at that time Chisel's eyes get linked with Sunburst's. "I'm not what you think you are."

"And how can you show me that, huh?" he says, clenching his teeth. Badge tries to separate them but can't. "Can Starlight Glimmer show it? Or Shining Armor? Or Flash Sentry? Can they?"

"Sunburst," exclaims Celestia, calling everyone's attention, but the colt doesn't say anything to her.

"Can they show me if I am wrong? No."

"I'm not what you think you are."

"And you keep repeating the same... damn..."

"Would you let me tell the story, then?"

"But are we sure---?"

"SUNBURST!" the shout is heard all over the room. The colt turns around and looks at the Princess, while slowly walking away, not without letting his sight go of Chisel's eyes. "Stone Chisel."

"Yes."

She blinks for a moment. "You said we needed an explanation."

"Yes."

"So..." she whispers. "Explain."

He sighs and looks around. Those who tried to attack him are still observing him with a bit of anger and a bit of confusion. "Firstly," he says. "I'd like to say... um... Tenebris thinks I'm dead."

"How did you survive?" asks Luna, with a really cold gesture.

"He threw a beam to me and I landed on water." Stolen Bag looks at him, trying to beg him without saying or telling him anything not to reveal the little house at the end of the river... but the partner only says what he said... "Then I found my partner, Stolen Bag, who is here with us... and we found Flurry Heart, the baby, and took her to Manehattan. I was trying to look for my parents because of an idea I had, the idea Golden Badge mentioned before... but I was caught along with my partner."

After saying that, the waters start getting calm. The Elements look at each other, then at him. "You..." stutters Rainbow Dash. "You saved Flurry Heart?"

"We found her on the river," says Stone Chisel. "We don't know if this is true but... it looks like they let her go."

"What about the...?" Celestia stutters. "... slaughter at the Crystal Empire?"

"Tenebris wanted to get there because Discord told him the Crystal Heart was the only thing that could destroy the necklace and the gem---"

"And he did," says Rockhoof, interrupting him. "Oh my... I was right..."

"What about the other villains?" asks Star Swirl. "And what about you?"

"Um..." he says. "Let me... let me tell the story from the beginning." Then, he closes his eyes and takes a breath. "I... unintentionally... accidentally, with no intention at all--"

"You freed him," interrupts Celestia, something that makes him tremble.

He closes his eyes, letting a sigh of pure hopelessness, giving in. "I did," he says. "Unintentionally."

"How?" asks Rarity.

"I had something... an amulet which I used to make the infamous fog I used to blow during my robberies. That amulet belonged to the infamous, now deceased, Wizard of Chaos Shadow Star..." and at the moment he says that Celestia sighs. "Which I also robbed... I also had another power the amulet gave to me, and it was turning me into a shadow who could pass through walls and solid surfaces. I accidentally passed through Tenebris' statue while... um... trying to escape from Tartarus..."

"And how did you break it?" now asks Somnambula.

Chisel takes a breath. "According to what he told me, he felt something in me... a soul, which turned out to be his soulmate Rushkwa, who was inside the amulet as an orb which was her essence as a being. Once the two souls connected with each other, their union was reborn and he could come out... Tirek and Cozy Glow appeared later, along with Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra... and... uh..." he stutters. "This is going to sound confusing and weird but... there was Grogar... which turned out to be Discord."

"What?" shouts Sunburst. "That's impossible. That's absolutely impossible and stupid! Why would he do something like that? Tell us the truth!"

"I'm telling you the truth!"

"No, you're not!"

"I am!"

"Please," interrupts Celestia, making the whole place silent. "By now, everything you said sounded... veridical, in my opinion. That bit of Discord disguised as Grogar is quite bizarre, but from what I saw from him, I could say it's true... what happened, then? With him? With King Sombra?"

"It looks like he disguised as Grogar to play a joke on them because Tenebris revealed his true form and presence and immediately decided not to help him on his mission... killing you, basically. Then, the ram trapped Discord and didn't let him use his power... and got out of Tartarus through Grogar's Lair."

"And what about you?" asks Flash Magnus, flapping his wings. "You haven't said anything about yourself yet."

"He... basically kidnapped me," he replies. "He knew there was something inside me and didn't let me go until he found out what was that... and when he did, he let Rushkwa go of her prison, the amulet, and trapped me along with Discord, against my liberty... I was a mule, at first, then, when I tried to hit him because of what he did to Flash Sentry he cut my hooves and tied me to him, then gave them back to me thanks to magic... he tortured everyone of us, including the other three villains that were with me."

"Three?" asks Star Swirl. "You named four."

"Sombra was the first who died. Tenebris consumed him because he didn't want him to take over his lands. Then, at the Crystal Empire, he fought us, maybe because he easily found out all of us were planning to turn his back on him because of how brutal he was. He killed the three of them too... Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow... all along with her ramfriend, Rushkwa."

Celestia and Luna look at each other. "Yes," says the sun. "I do remember that name, Rushkwa. I fought her thousands of years ago..."

"Wait," asks Fluttershy, almost whispering. "What about... what about Discord?"

The cops and the two robbers look at each other, scared. They saved that fact for last. "He... uh..." says Stone Chisel. "He was turned into dices by Tenebris."

"What?" shouts Spike, leading to everyone's shock. "I... I... I passed by lots of dice."

"And that means..." says Twilight, standing up and speaking after so long. "He is..."

"The God of Chaos," replies Stone Chisel. "You dethrone the King, you become the King."

Whispers begin again until Celestia raises a hoof to shut everypony up. "You know..." she says. "You know what you did is absolutely tragic. A monstrosity of bad actions. We could say... you've committed the worst mistake Equestria has seen in these years."

"I recognize it," he says. "That's why I came here, along with the cops, to tell you I have... a way. The Stone Chisel Way, but.. it's more like a possibility rather than a plan."

"It does not matter," he replies. "What is it?"

He sighs. "There is... a mare I know in Canterlot, who has a connection with, maybe, the last Wizard of Chaos which is living on Equestrian land. He and Tenebris share the same kind of magic, provided by chaos itself, who was Discord before and now is Tenebris. However, this does not mean he can't use the magic... the source changed, not the magic. Besides, he has a community who also uses this chaotic magic... they are plenty of mini-Tenebris."

"And this mare is the only one who knows where is this Wizard of Chaos?"

Stone Chisel thinks about his answer for a second and ends up saying something which is not true... "Yes," he says. He knows it too... but doesn't say anything.

"And where we can find her?"

"Well," he says. "She's in..."

BOOOM

A really loud explosion was heard far away from the Throne Room and everyone starts getting desperate. Spike, trying to find out what's happening, takes a look through the broken window that dragon came in and came out...

... only to look at a huge cloud, with the shape of a giant mushroom, rising in the sky of Canterlot.

Turns out they have arrived.

Author's Note

Ok, Ok...

Next Chapter is going to get salty! :twilightoops:

It's going to be quite long (maybe as long as Crystal Tears), so I don't know if it'll take me one or two weeks, but it will be published by the end of February and the beginning of March.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned!!

The Stone Chisel Way (Part 1)

Author's Note

Sorry guys, but these weeks I've been really busy with personal stuff and also academical... I'm gonna start my school term in less than a week and that will take me a lot of my time too, that's why I decided to separate this long chapter in two parts.

I hope you understand. Next chapter will be published soon.

The Stone Chisel Way (Part 1)

Arc III - Chapter VI - The Stone Chisel Way (Part 1)

They heard it. Now they feel it.

No one says anything after hearing that explosion. It was massive, a sound they never heard before. Luckily, it did happen a few miles away from the city and all of the ponies and colts who were there wanted to get nearer... but suddenly the Princesses said no. No one moved from their places. The Princesses knew approaching that cloud would be something suicidal. Meanwhile, Sunburst...

"You... you did it." he points now at Stone Chisel, who is trying to figure out what was that sound for real. "You did it!"

Chisel gasps and feels his fur getting spiky. He's doubting. He still can't believe it. "What are you talking about?" now angrily shouts the stallion, desperately looking around at everyone in the castle trying to take a breath.

However, Sunburst is about to do something. His horn is glowing with power. "You brought them here! The explosions! The ram! The monster!"

"NO!" he angrily shouts while trying to jump onto him with the shackles. He can't say that. He cannot say that. "Of course not! I didn't! I never!"

Suddenly he realizes that while talking... the explosion, the desperation... they are here. How stupid of him. Why would he doubt that? No. No. They have to escape. There's no way they can fight him.

Everyone has to go to the mare's house. Now.

NOW.

"You remain silent," whispers Sunburst, while everyone looks now at Chisel, Bag and the cops in silence. "AND YOU REMAIN SILENT!"

"WAIT!" shouts Golden Badge, trying to calm down the waters. The princesses have already moved from their throne, and the Mane 6 and the Pillars have just turned into the judges of the situation. "I know he's not lying..."

"It's a trap!"

"It isn't a trap, you dumb!" shouts Stone Chisel, clenching his teeth. "I almost die! I saved the baby, Flurry Heart! I told you everything I know about that monster!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course, I'm sure about that!"

"Then, why did you remain silent, huh?"

"What? Only because I remained silent you are trying to bring me down?"

"Yes."

He clenches his teeth, looking at his partner Stolen Bag, who is not making any comments. "Really?" he angrily asks.

Sunburst shakes his head. "I don't want to debate all of the time we have left with someone who has been with the one who killed my best friend."

"BEEN WITH?!" suddenly Chisel's eyes go bloodshot. His anger is literally coming out of his eyes and mouth. "But I've already said... I'm gonna---"

Stop. Suddenly everything stops when a magical aura surrounds both Chisel and Sunburst. The Princesses' horns start glowing while Celestia, escorted by Twilight Sparkle and her friends in desperate silence, starts approaching slowly to Stone Chisel. "It is no time for fights and discussions, please," she whines. "Stone Chisel... where is the house?"

Chisel is blind now, because of his anger which eventually starts getting drained while having the Princess on his front. However, he only says, this while being observed by every living form of that room. "What?"

Twilight suddenly jumps into him, trembling. "The house!" she shouts.

Rainbow Dash also shouts from the back. "Where is this mare living?"

"THE HOUSE! THE HOUSE!"

It echoes non-stop on his inside. Chisel surprisingly swallows saliva while looking at everyone and suddenly shakes his head, desperately. Twilight grabs his face with one of her hooves. "No?" she says. "NO?"

"It's near the train rails," he immediately answers, observing Twilight with some isolated eyes. "It's near the train rails... um... it's a purple house. Small... purple house."

"Train rails?" exclaims Applejack with her eyes wide. "Train rails on the mountainside?"

Chisel softly nods and just echoes: "Train rails on the mountainside."

Rarity drops her jaw. "But... that's far away from the castle!"

"How far?" suddenly asks Spike, looking to the Princesses, who now look at each other. Luna's ears suddenly get down due to her sadness, and that only makes Pinkie Pie, who has remained silent this whole time, get her hair smoother.

"It's on the other side of Canterlot," replies Luna. "We have to pass by all of the city to get there."

Celestia starts looking around, biting her lips. "You..." she whispers. "You shouldn't."

"Shouldn't?" says Stone Chisel, nervously. He's about to pass out. "But we have to go there! It's the only one who can talk to this Wizard, Princess! You have to trust me!"

But the Princess shakes her head and looks at him. Even he is in silence, waiting for her words. "I don't mean that," she suddenly says. "I mean... you shouldn't confront the ram... and just run to the house..."

"But..." says Twilight, surprised at that conclusion. "Princess Celestia!"

"Her Majesty!" pronounces the guard which was there all this time. "Are you sure about what you said? We are not going to leave you alone!"

The Princess, however, looks at her sister who nods her head by observing her eyes. "It's..." says the Sun Princess. "It's different. It won't be easy to confront him. This is not Discord... Discord can..." then, she corrects herself. "... could... be easily distracted and confronted but... we can't handle the power and the bloodthirst that describes Tenebris the Night Ram."

"But we have to confront him!" shouts Sunburst. "Someone has to!"

"If you do it, you'll die," replies Luna, now impatiently. "Your magic can't harm him, Sunburst."

"And what about our magic?" asks Pinkie Pie, with her smooth hair. "Can we counter him back?"

"No, no, no," interrupts Celestia. "I'm afraid we can't match him right now, despite our power together. We can confront Chaos, as we did with Discord... but his... bloodthirst... is what makes him a different monster."

"What if...?" suddenly says someone from behind. "What if we act together?"

The Princesses turn around, along with her protégés, Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends, to take a look at the Old Pillars of Equestria standing next to each other. Mistmane is the first one to take a step forward, blinking and taking a breath. "We say..." she whispers while looking at her partners who are not making any commentaries. "Me... my long-time, eternal allies and partners... we fought and defeated the menacing Pony of Shadows..."

Celestia and Luna look at each other one more time. They don't have much time left to plan this, so it may not be a bad idea but... they are not so sure about it yet. They feel... they still feel they have to do something. "No," suddenly replies the Moon Princess. "We, as the sisters of rulers of our Kingdom, have to confront hi---"

"NO!" suddenly shouts Stone Chisel, which leads to lots of whispers, shouts and chaos inside that room.

"Princesses!" shouts Twilight. "You already said it was impossible to confront Tenebris' bloodthirst!"

"But someone has to sacrifice its integrity to let the Princesses escape," suddenly exclaims Star Swirl, closing his eyes, and leading the whole room to shut up. "They have to get out of here. He may want Luna, and maybe Celestia too. And I fear the one who may sacrifice it's going to be..."

"Who?" asks Stone Chisel. "You have to know, also you, Princesses... that you need to be alive... the cops are just pegasi and earth colts and ponies... I am just a stupid robber as my partner..."

"Stupid?" suddenly interrupts Stolen Bag, angrily, but Chisel counters him back. "You dare to call me stupid now?"

"It's not the moment, a-hole," he exclaims and goes back to his speech: "Besides, not only I'm a stupid robber but also... I am the only one who can take you to this house... The Elements, maybe? Him?" he suddenly points at Sunburst with his hoof, something that offends the colt.

"Me?" he shouts. "I'm not going to follow orders of you."

"Uh, come on!" he shouts back. "It was just a saying!"

"But, wait..." The colt with glasses interrupts back, then looks at the Princesses. "I think... I think I'm going to stay."

"SUNBURST!" suddenly shouts Spike. "No... wait... are you sure of that?"

"If there's someone I have to confront for my late best friend Starlight Glimmer, it's that... monster."

"But..." then whispers Rarity. "Your mother!" she approaches him. "Your mother, Stellar Flare... she---"

"Then tell her I love her," he interrupts. "With all of my heart."

"But..." also whines Twilight, but at that same time, she said that...

BOOM

... another explosion is heard...

VROOOOM

... this time nearer...

CRACK!

... and makes the whole castle shiver.

Twilight grabs Flurry Heart and holds her. It's the only thing she doesn't want to see fading... along with her friends and the Princess... she will never hold it.

Never.

She can't even hold her tears while thinking about her brother and his wife.

If something happened to her...

The windows break into pieces by the time they observe two mysterious things breaking into the room and sitting on the throne.

Two small rams with dark blue fur.

Two small rams with dark blue fur... Stone Chisel doesn't recognize.

Mors and Sanguis are the first ones who entered the castle, and immediately Stone Chisel exclaims what he knows: "THOSE... THOSE DON'T LOOK LIKE TENEBRIS AND RUSHKWA!"

"Because we aren't!"

Celestia recognizes those yellow pupils both night rams have on their eyes. Infested with chaos... with bloodthirst... with the darkest wish of them all.

"We are---!"

BOOM. Suddenly Celestia's horn started glowing and fired a beam against the two tiny rams. Then, she turns around, letting both Stolen Bag and Stone Chisel free from their hoof shackles, shocking everyone there. "Now," she says, turning around to look at Stone Chisel, who is feeling like a stupid small ant. "Take us to where that mare lives."

And a second after the shackles hit the floor, other rams end up entering the broken Kingdom, in the middle of the pink smoke Celestia caused. Star Swirl, shocked and desperate, look at his old partners, the Pillars of Old Equestria for a second and all of them nod their heads while making eye contact with him. He takes a deep breath and looks at the shadows coming out of the celestial smoke.

However, Celestia fires another beam along with Luna, Twilight Sparkle and Sunburst, while Stone Chisel runs away with Stolen Bag. Golden Badge and her crew follow them from behind.

"RUN!"

someone shouts. Nopony knows who, but that shout makes everyone run. The Elements of Harmony look at each other and doubt, question themselves if they have to run away but then a second shout is heard:

"RUN!"

shouts Celestia one more time, while firing another beam from her horn one more time.

"GO TO THE HOUSE!"

An explosion is heard from inside the Throne Room which makes Twilight and her friends fly away from there, not before the sister of late Shining Armor saves Flurry Heart's life, by taking her away on her loin. They also see Celestia and Luna doing the same while listening to somepony else shouting from far away:

"GO!"

An old voice... maybe Star Swirl, nobody knows.

... Is he still there?

... Star Swirl the Bearded?

... Is he sacrificing himself?

STAR SWIRL

Inside the huge wave of smoke and sounds of broken crystals, Star Swirl identifies his partners inside the raided place. He barely sees the Princess' throne, being occupied by those little rams... they don't have any scratches at all. Celestia's magic didn't harm them...

they must be invincible now. Immortal.

A minute later, he can see the whole scenario. The roof of the castle doesn't exist anymore. Behind him, his partners, Pillars of Old Equestria, are still standing, not even showing a grin of fear.

However, there is someone else by their side.

Right behind big Rockhoof, an orange colt with dark red hair looks at his broken glasses on the floor. He can't see so well now, but can easily identify who is he with and who is he against.

"What are you doing?" suddenly asks Mage Meadowbrook, angrily. "You have to go! You have to run!"

Sunburst blinks, trying to see something... and then they come in.

The enormous, menacing ram along with his soulmate and its children... all of them standing with their cynical gestures, conscious of being able of destroying all of them in a matter of seconds but no...

... they like to play games.

Somnambula is the first one who dares to speak to those: "Are you conscious, monsters, that you won't be able to touch even one hoof of our Princesses if you don't step on us?"

"And it will be hard to make us fall," says Rockhoof. "We will fight until death."

The smaller rams start laughing but stop when they find out both adults Tenebris and Rushkwa don't. They tend to take things seriously. "Well," pronounces Tenebris. "Now that you are talking... it's my turn... are you conscious, ponies, that you won't be able to touch even one hoof of us because we can manipulate reality the way we want... because we have chaos by your side?"

Flash Magnus angrily shouts, hitting his helmet while raising a hoof: "YOU WON'T TOUCH THE PRINCESSES!"

They jump onto the rams with all of their strength, preparing their magic, force and power...

... but they don't hit anything.

Star Swirl was the only one who didn't jump. Instead, he stayed right there, in front of the rams, who also didn't move. Unexplainably, nopony touched the rams and simply went through them, as if they were just fresh air.

Tenebris, right now, finds out there's a shine in the Bearded's eyes. A shine... of confusion.

"Did you understand?" asks Tenebris to the Wizard. "It is impossible for you to fight us, colt. We can control you."

And at that moment, that characteristic blue hat of his suddenly vanishes in the air, turning into dust. The ram didn't even touch him to perform that tragic trick...

... but Star Swirl...

He doesn't give up. He will never, nor his partners.

He doesn't let him go.

He still stands there. "Rockhoof!" he shouts. "Flash Magnus!"

Tenebris' body freezes at the time he hears that name...

Flash Magnus?

What is he talking about?

Is it... the one...

... his father came across with?

The one who told him they knew they were there?

And said they were just busy?

He tries to turn around but...

He boils when he hears that name. His inside burns with anger.

CRASH!

Suddenly a huge amount of muscle crashes against the strongest ram of them all and makes him fall to the floor for a second. Rockhoof did it. He freakin' did it.

He hit Tenebris, at least.

However, nopony of them could enjoy the moment for more than a second. Suddenly Rockhoof gets thrown away by the magic of the female adult ram, and a horde of small, horned children with fur run to him until he is defended by both Mistmane and Somnambula...

... but no.

"Children," suddenly says a rising monster. "Go outside."

They didn't even finish nodding their heads by the time Tenebris took them out of the castle with his power. On the other hand... about Mistmane and Somnambula...

...They can't defend him. Tenebris is back, completely sane and with no damages at all after being crushed by a muscle beast and thrown to the floor and looks at both ponies doing their best to defend their friend, and in a couple of seconds, the ram takes charge of the problem and literally turns both of them into dust.

Silence in the room after that. Rockhoof, Flash Magnus, Mage Meadowbrook and Star Swirl are straight like a statue. Rockhoof can't even move because of its shock and is easily attacked by Tenebris, throwing him away against the skies. Sunburst, who was a step aside all of this time, decides to get inside that spotlight and fire a magical beam to Tenebris, but Rushkwa sees that on time and literally controls the beam to make it return to its owner as if it was a boomerang. Sunburst gets hit and is thrown to a wall, passing out in the process.

Mage Meadowbrook tries to stop Tenebris but suddenly Rushkwa saves the day for him, getting in the middle. Her yellowish eyes freeze the pony's body, not letting her be able to move... . She feels all of his body turning into a rock while Flash Magnus is trying to save his friend in the skies...

... but sadly, Rockhoof goes down, with his eyes wide, and feels his body getting cold. "ROCKHOOF!" shouts Magnus while trying to save him. "YOU... Oh, my... YOU ARE TURNING INTO A..."

The big colt looks at his hooves changing from a cyan colour to a shiny, light grey. He looks at them getting sharper... and sharper... and then looks at his body turning into grey... and grey... and sharp... and grey...

... and it goes right to Mage Meadowbrook. Star Swirl, who did nothing but stand up in shock and in silence, tries to do something to get Mage out of there, trying to pass by Tenebris, Rushkwa, and the small rams... but it's too late. He feels heavier than he ever felt before, not being able to move... and looks at how Rockhoof is literally turning into a big, sharp blade.

And...

SHRICKK!

"NO!" shouts Flash Magnus when finds out what happened. Star Swirl only swallows saliva... or at least tries to because of that gigantic lump he has on his throat.

The blade that was Rockhoof seconds ago has completely impaled Mage Meadowbrook. She instantly died and didn't have at least one second to beg for mercy. The loyal pegasus with a helmet fastly goes down to attack the ram, but something else stops him.

An indescribable pain appears on his back that doesn't let him move again, but what calls his attention for a second is that it's only on one side of his back. He suddenly can't fly or recover his height because he feels one of his wings doesn't respond.

He falls and falls, and someone has to save him. Star Swirl growls and levitates with his magic, breaking that weight that was stopping him, only to fly like a rocket to rescue Flash Magnus from the skies. He suddenly looks at that wing of his floating in the sky, while the almost wingless pegasus is falling while closing his eyes due to the pain, but when he's about to grab him on time...

... he can't move. Again. Something, this time much stronger than him, stops his hooves and he can't move them. He tries to reach his own limit by fighting, and confronting that force but simply can't. He looks at his friend Flash Magnus falling faster than he ever thought and only is able to shout:

"HOLD!"

But luckily, as if it was a miracle, Flash Magnus stops when he is about to crash on the destroyed floor. He floats in the air for a few seconds, not being able to move and about to pass out, and suddenly gets crashed onto a wall by that same force that is dragging Star Swirl's hooves. Then, the bearded magician gets thrown to the floor while being observed by the rams.

He only turns around, getting up faster than ever, and glows his horn against the community of horns... but nobody harms him... or touches him. He slowly approaches his injured partner, Flash Magnus, and stands right there, with a smile on his face, not showing concern while his horn is glowing. "You dare to step on him and I'll step on all of you..." then, he chuckles, although he tries to hide it, visible confusion and shock. "... I bet you heard of me during your long trip to Equestria, Tenebris the Night Ram..."

Rushkwa looks at her soulmate, then the children. Confused, the ram raises an eyebrow. "No, I don't... but who I do remember is the living litter you have behind you," he swallows saliva trying to hold his anger. "He told my father he wouldn't help us. I recognize his name every day."

"He never said he didn't want to help you," replies the magician. "We were fighting against a menace, and by the time you arrived at the castle after your long trip, we were facing the Pony of Shadows, saving your world from the villain while you were trying to show the world your dark plans."

"You clearly didn't see me today if you say that," he laughs. "You still feel the United Kingdom is my darkest plan? The plan I made not only for me but for all of the creatures who are living in this world... you are just like me, whoever you are, the cheap magician..."

"I'm not like you... I'll never be like you... I saved the world, I turned bad into good... you only turn the good to bad..."

"Well..." he thinks, with some fire in his eyes. "... I thought that twice, and I have to agree with you... we are not the same."

"We will never be the same."

"But you know why?"

"Because you are a monster."

"No," he says with a smile, disarming Star Swirl. "It's because you still don't understand how I feel."

"Being isolated? I do understand that, Tenebris."

"No, you don't." Then, a mysterious hole is opened between the magician and the ram, which shocks both colts. "But I can teach you how..."

"You're not going to teach me anything."

"I will."

From the hole, something strange comes out. Something which looks like a bell... which makes Star Swirl's mouth to open widely.

The Bewitching Bell is back in Canterlot.

It slowly rises and stays above both creatures. Star Swirl tries to touch it at first but can't. It's almost invisible and untouchable to his weak hooves.

"Go ahead, Tenebris," dares to say Star Swirl, shaking his head. "You can kill me... but this is your only opportunity to stop what you started... you can bring everyone back to life and your wishes will be granted."

"Granted?" he shouts angrily. "You are only telling me you are now lost in my shadow... and you need to understand what I've been dealing with. I won't surrender to those who ruined me."

"I understand what you dealt with..."

"No, you don't, of course, you do not understand it," suddenly interrupts Rushkwa. "Why are you trying to discuss something you don't know? You clearly don't have enough empathy to understand what we dealt with all of these centuries... closed and lost in nowhere while you were enjoying your powers."

"I've been also closed in another dimension for decades along with my partners, who you have killed with your bloodthirst and your futile wishes of death..." suddenly, the magician without a hat grabs Tenebris' face. The ram doesn't even say anything. "Violence only leads to violence. Death only leads to death, Tenebris... What you are doing will only lead to your defeat, ram..."

The beast only snorts at Star Swirl's face which makes him close his eyes. "Do you want to know why I haven't killed you yet?"

Silence. Flash Magnus tries to move but the pain doesn't let him. "No..." he whispers. "Star Swirl... don't."

"Shut up!"

Star Swirl, however, shakes his head. "No," he says. "I don't have any idea about why you haven't---"

He doesn't even finish talking when he fires a magical beam from his horn right to Tenebris...

... but nothing happens.

Nothing.

The beam stops right in the ram's face and suddenly fades out when Tenebris takes a breath and blows fresh, chill air from his throat. His air, his breath literally vanished the powers. "And that's why I haven't killed you yet."

The magician clenches his teeth. "Huh?"

"I saw you levitating yourself with your magic. From what I know not any kind of unicorn can do that... your power seems... kind of appealing to me... attractive."

... attractive? What does he mean by that? He takes a look above the ram and finds out the Bell is pointing right at him. "No," he says, frowning his eyebrows. "No, you won't... YOU WON'T---!"

A light flash comes out of the Bell and covers the magician in a black aura. The injured pegasus tries to raise a hoof to help his friend but just looks at some blue light getting out of the Bearded. An echoed shout is heard right on his inside and just seconds later, he falls to the floor.

Defeated. Powerless. No matter what, he is still standing, and won't die kneeling. He slowly stands up in silence, hearing Flash Magnus' desperate, whispering shouts, begging him to don't do it... but he is there, he is still standing. He is still Star Swirl.

"Go ahead." He only says that to taunt him. "Do it... but when you finish, then there's no way back. You'll die with me, Tenebris the Night Ram."

The ram only rolls his eyes while looking at Rushkwa and sighs. "Shut up."

CRACK

"NOOOOO!" shouts Flash Magnus with all of his strength, which wakes somepony else up.

SUNBURST

He slowly opens his eyes until he looks at a soul-less, eyeless creature impaled with a gigantic blade. He can't see it on its whole, but when he relates that with the presence of Mage Meadowbrook, it only gets his fur spiky and opens his mouth widely while standing up and getting off the wall.

"Flash Magnus."

The voice makes him tremble. A lump on his throat. A hole in his stomach while also looking at a grey figure lying dead on the floor, right under the rams' hooves. "Don't!" The rams suddenly turn around and look at that lost colt without glasses and its characteristic cape. It almost looks like he's naked. "You monsters," he shouts, grinding his teeth. "YOU MONSTERS! YOU KILLED STARLIGHT! YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!"

The shouts echo and resonate in all of the destroyed room. However, Tenebris and Rushkwa don't get intimidated. The rams turn around but don't move. "Who?"

"Starlight Glimmer was her name. You killed her like nothing... and I know I won't win this battle... but I'll do everything to avenge her and beg, shout for justice... you will die."

Rushkwa chuckles. "Die?" she says. "And who are you to say that, pony?"

The colt takes the longest breath he took in his life. My Name is Sunburst.

"Sunburst?" she says. "Don't you see what's around you, pony? All of your friends are dead."

"But I'm not."

Tenebris snorts while looking at Flash Magnus, still lying on the floor and trying to move. "Sunburst... don't you see it?"

"No," he chuckles. "I don't have my glasses to look at it in detail..." and then he goes back. "Monsters, that's what you are... that's what you were... that's what you will be... you and your community."

"Don't you dare to say something about my community."

"After what you did? To me? To everyone? To Starlight?"

"And you bring the Starlight thing again... you have your sensitive root. I also have one. Don't you dare to talk about my community if you don't want to die first."

"And you talk about her as if it was a thing... just... a memory? An event? A success? How could you? You ruthless monster, you will rot in the fire, both of you, forever when you die..."

"We'll never die..." she raises an eyebrow. "But you... well... I'm afraid I can't give you the answer you want to hear."

"Oh, trust me... it is the answer I want to hear... go ahead," he says, taunting. "Call your children... maybe your community of banished souls would like to see this execution."

A noise is heard from Flash Magnus. His eyes go bloodshot while he starts vomiting blood. Looks like something... exploded right inside him. He's now another dead colt.

All of the Pillars are dead.

Tenebris snorts again. "Great," he says, grinding his teeth and stomping his hoof against Star Swirl's body. "You made me kill the one I wanted to suffer because of my anger... is that what you want, you imbecile? Be my coup de grace?"

"I want to punish you... show you what I've been..."

"Been what, piece of filth?"

"Don't you dare to call me by that name!" he shouts and fires an orange beam, maybe the last one, through his horn...

... but the beam never hits them. As a matter of facts, it didn't make its way... it suddenly, literally vanished in the air.

"No."

CRACK

Suddenly, Sunburst's horn doesn't exist anymore... but he doesn't care. Of course, he ignores it. He only prepares his hooves, stomping against the broken floor...

and as if it was in slow motion, the colt takes his... last... breath and runs.

Without glasses, without magic...

...he is running.

SHRICKKK!!!

"AAAARGHHH!" a shout is heard like an explosion. One of Sunburst's hooves is cut in half and he trips over, crushing against the ram's hooves, with his face crushing against his own blood. "AAAARGHHHH!" but he is now shouting because of anger, grinding his teeth, breathing heavily and now, right under Tenebris' cold, bloody dark-blue fur, he tries to, at least, bite him.

"Wait."

Rushkwa is about to say something... not good.

"Give him a little bit of time."

Tenebris, surprised, raises an eyebrow. "Look at you..." he says, looking at her. "Want him to suffer like I want him to do?"

"ARRRGH! I'M GONNA... I'M GONNA... I'm gonna..."

As time goes by, Sunburst's voice gets much lower. His skin is getting much paler... he's slowly dying, but the rams would like to see something else on the show. "Could I?"

He chuckles. "Let's see..."

"Arrrgh... arrrgh... arrrrgh..."

SHRIIIPP!!

"AAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHH!"

SHRAAACKK!!

"AAGHHHHHHH!"

Two hooves... three, if you want to count that other one... Rushkwa bites his lips while her eyes are getting fulfilled by that scary, yellowish tone... he has one hoof left while dying on a lake of blood...

... drowning in his own blood...

"Wait." Rushkwa turns around and looks at her soulmate passing by, stepping on the lake and getting stained with pony blood. "How foolish... how immature from you... Sunbather was your name?

His pale skin can't stop fading out while his whole body is feeling cold and trembling. "It's... it's... Sunburst... you... mother---"

CRACK.

The Smoke

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

The Stone Chisel Way (Part 2)

Author's Note

Ok, this note is to explain something.

I apologise for taking so long to continue this. The last chapters I wrote for this felt soul-less and out of focus for me. I've been on a block with The Stone Chisel Way for almost two years, thinking about how could I keep on writing this.

Now that I may have an idea, a way, I start again. Most of this chapter had been written in 2021 except for the ending and I don't have any other drafts, so I'll try to organise the remaining stuff of the plot so I can finish this fastly.

The Stone Chisel Way (Part 2)

Arc III - Chapter VII - The Stone Chisel Way (Part 2)

STONE CHISEL

A massive horde of running colts got out of the castle, only to find out the whole ground was invaded by some strange, annoying smoke that could not let them see.

However, that was the less important thing happening at that moment. Chisel and Bag, who didn't separate from each other since the moment they were released, know there's something else hiding somewhere.

And the one who has to run faster than ever, the one guide who has to show everyone the way...

... is not moving.

Suddenly he stops running when he feels something near. He doesn't know what but felt it. Some kind of breath, maybe? Some kind of whisper? It was cold. It felt a cold wave of air invading him in the distance.

He bites his lips while looking at Bag, who suddenly stops before he completely fades out in the smoke. He can be barely seen when he shouts: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Didn't you...?"

"NO!" he shouts. "COME ON! WHERE IS THIS MARE YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT?"

"WAIT!"

They hear something from behind. Both of them.

It feels... like a stampede coming onto them. Right about to crash them and break their shapes into pieces.

Bag turns around and tries to run, but a shout stops them both. "WAIT!" shouts a feminine voice. They don't recognize her at first until they see a couple of colts and a pony with blue caps right in front of them. "Wait," she, Golden Badge, says while looking around. Nopony can breathe well now due to the annoying smoke. "You thought we would let you go so easily?"

"And are you still on your game?" suddenly shouts Stolen Bag. "Hey, hello! We can't even see the city of Canterlot because of this smoke! Don't play the cop right now, you lil' mare---!"

"I'm not playing the cop with anyone, mister!" she shouts. "And don't you dare to play the bad colt on me. What I want now is to be together, and I'm especially talking to him!" she points to Stone Chisel, who squints his eyes, nervously.

"Me? And what did I do?"

"You are the one who knows the way!" she shouts. "I mean..."

He bites his lips. "Yes, yes, I know... uh... well," stutters Stone Chisel. "I'm---"

BOOM!

Suddenly a deafening noise is heard near them. It sounded like an explosion, but it was so quick it lasted less than a whole second. The fur of everypony gets spiky and starts to turn their heads around...

... until they find out what was actually happening.

A confused colt cop asks Golden Badge... "Where is---?"

BOOM!

And everybody closes their eyes and throws themselves to the floor.

But seconds later... they feel nothing has changed. There was no fire. No burns. No cold. No death at all...

... what is going on?

They are playing with them.

They open their eyes and find out nothing has changed at all. They are in the same place as before. However, they get confused when they find out there is a missing cop. "WILD RIDE!" shouts someone, until they realize everypony else is in the same spot as before and no one flew away. Looks like something exploded but no one got affected by that.

Only one colt cop has disappeared... "Are we dead?" asks somepony, but no one answers.

"Where's Wild Ride, then, if we are dead?"

"He disappeared right in front of us!"

"WILD RIDE!" a cop shouts, trying not to get further. He fears getting lost. "WILD RIDE!" The smoke around them slowly starts spinning around the silent, confused mares and colts. Stone Chisel, still without saying a word, suddenly feels there's something behind...

... and turns around...

... but nothing is there. He swears on his inside he felt something.

Stolen Bag also turns around, but just like Stone Chisel, there is nothing behind his back. Just smoke. "What's..." asks a cop. "What's going on? What the...?"

"Where's Wild Ride?"

"There isn't."

The ponies start looking at each other when they hear that voice coming from somewhere. A young male voice jumping around the blind floor. Golden Badge looks around, observing Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag, and then her partners in silence. "Who said that?" she asks, with her spiky fur. "Was it you, Soft Raisin?"

A young colt cop suddenly shakes his head. However, things begin to get a lot stranger when he finds out her partner starts drooling. "Of course, I didn't," he replies. "I don't sound like that... uh... Badge?"

She squints while breathing heavily. "Yes?" She's still drooling.

Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag suddenly find out what's going on too, and stop remaining silent. "You are drooling," suddenly says Stolen Bag, nervously raising his eyebrows. "You are..."

"What?" she says, with paler skin and bloodshot eyes. "What are you talking about? I'm not."

"Yes, you are," replies the burglar, looking at his partner Stone Chisel.

"No, I'm not."

"Ms Badge!" suddenly shouts a partner of hers. "Your skin!"

"Uh, come on!" she whines. "But I'm feeling..."

Nevertheless, once she looks at her skin she realizes what they told her, and from out of nowhere, all of the pain and sicknesses come in and stay on her inside. Now she drools even more, almost about to break in half. Her bloodshot eyes start getting watered and the last thing she can do is to look at Stone Chisel in silence. "Ms Badge!" suddenly shouts Soft Raisin, her young partner, in a desperate try to help her. "MS BADGE!" he shouts running to her. The cops also try to hold her and prevent her from falling.

However, her bloodshot, watered, shocking look in Stone Chisel's eyes directly sends him her absolute fear and anger about all of this... the lump on his throat suddenly feels a lot heavier.

Her lips say something but she doesn't have the voice to communicate it. "No," she whispers while being held by her partners. However, just when Soft Raisin come to hold her head, a strong wind appears in the middle and freezes everyone, except for Golden Badge, whose pale body breaks into pieces and turns into dust, fading out in the wind.

The blank reactions of her partners don't last so long when they find out they are also breaking into pieces and being carried away by the wind. Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag look at each other desperately, but both of them don't have any scars. The police colts, trying to do something one last time, find out both burglars are not being carried away. All of them, almost in tears and in shock, look at each other. One of them opens his mouth and tries to shout but his face melts into dust when he's about to do it. Another one tries to jump onto them both but also fades out. His whole being suddenly is nothing, and with only thinking that, Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag's fur gets spikier than ever.

And silence comes in.

Both colts look at each other. Sweat on their faces. They've never seen each other sweating before. Stolen Bag clenches his teeth. "You son of a bitch," he stutters. "We are going to die."

Stone Chisel, however, shakes his head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, come on, you fuck. Didn't you... just... uh... see... what the hell is going on?

Stolen Bag tries to run away, getting past the smoke, but returns seconds later, only to remain straight, standing on the ground, looking at his partner in his eyes. Both of them share a silent look. "Are you going to say something, at least?" Stolen Bag threatens. "Or are you going to stay silent there? Do you know we have to go to that place you said, right?"

The yellow-skinned colt looks around, but the smoke hides them from absolutely everything, even the sky. When he ran away, he only saw smoke, smoke... smoke, smoke...

... he doesn't even understand what's going on and tries to understand Stone Chisel and empathize with him.

But he can't.

He's guilty of all of this.

"I know," answers Stone Chisel.

"So?"

He turns around. "I don't know."

"You don't know what?" Stolen Bag's now feeling mad, after all of the shocks he has just dealt with. "Come on! What are you talking about?"

"I just..."

"Just?" His hooves are shaking, he wants to do it...

"Uh..."

BAM!

Stolen Bag punches his partner, also a friend, right on his face. Chisel trips over and falls to the ground, feeling colder earth he never experimented with, so cold it actually relieves his pain. He frowns and gets up fastly, confused and mad, just like the colt in front of him. "What the--"

"Come on, you mother---!" he shouts then. "You set that monster free and had your project and the only thing you say is I don't know! What the fuck?"

"What the fuck is going on with you?" he shouts. "Don't you see that cop and her partners died and turned into dust right in front of us?"

"Yes," he replies. "So?"

"So?" he says, almost laughing out loud. "What? Some colts and ponies, just like us, die and beg for mercy in front of us and you want me to act like I didn't see anything? Don't you see we have to swallow this?"

"Swallow my hoof in your face then," he shouts. "I understand it was a rough time to look at, but it's not time to mentally process death because if we do, we will turn into dead pieces of mincemeat, Chiz!" Then, he starts running in circles around him. "Don't you see? Don't you understand?"

"What do I have to understand?" he shouts, angrily. "Huh?"

The partner approaches him once he stops running in circles. "We are going to die anyways, but we can, if you don't stand like a stupid statue, save time for something... maybe to beg for mercy."

However, once Stolen Bag says this, a beam of light suddenly shines on the ground. In the middle of the dark fog, smoke, or whatever that is... a hole is opened right above them, where they can see the bright sun being the witness to such a slaughter.

The hole suddenly gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until they realize they are breathing on the ground. The real ground. Huge mountains of smoke and fog remain around them in the middle of a plain wasteland which looked like Canterlot a couple of minutes ago.

Nevertheless, they are not the only ones there. Right in front of them, four strange, young rams are looking at them. A white ram looks at a bigger blue ram, who looks like his older brother.

The tallest of them all stands right in front of both colts. "I was about to erase you two but I've got to admit your argument was entertaining to watch."

"Ugh..." suddenly emits Stolen Bag. "What a creep." Stone Chisel raises an eyebrow, and Stolen Bag looks at him back. "Let me talk... I've got nothing to lose."

"You said you will beg for mercy."

"And who are you?" suddenly asks. "Tenebris?"

"He's not," interrupts Stone Chisel. "Tenebris is taller and bigger, and older... or... maybe he rejuvenated himself, who knows...."

The young ram chuckles along with his brothers. "Almost, pony. I am not Tenebris."

Chisel gets confused. "So?"

He closes his eyes. "My name is Maior, a younger relative of Tenebris the Night Ram."

Then, Maior turns around and points to his relatives. "She is Risu, a younger relative of us... and those smaller and younger rams are Mors and Sanguis."

Bag squints while looking at them. He's scared and confused at the same time. Chisel, on the other hand, is overwhelmed. "I don't understand..." he says. "He... you... you are alive?"

"We were always alive," replies Risu, approaching the ponies. "While our bones and legacy were rotting and our banished souls floating in nowhere, you were living a happy life."

"PONIES!" shout both Mors and Sanguis, also getting nearer the ring.

"And we are here to express how angry we are because of how mistreated we felt all this time. We are here to show you how powerful and how superior we can be. You don't listen to us? You don't hear me? Ok then... I'll show you what can we do... What can the Night Rams do as a community..."

Maior stops talking and takes a step behind due to being, according to his thoughts, too close to the ponies. At that time, they look at each other while Mors and Sanguis squint their eyes to look at both of them. Risu, on the other hand, sighs and looks at them angrily. "So..." asks Stolen Bag, clenching his teeth, burying his hooves on the ground, while Stone Chisel doesn't say anything. "Are you going to kill us or not?"

Chisel looks at him madly. He is seriously thinking he has nothing to lose now. He thinks about running away, but both he and his partner know they won't get so far. However, Maior has something else to say and looks at his relatives. "Firstly, I want to say something."

Stolen Bag, confused, raises an eyebrow while Maior takes another step behind, this time to look at Stone Chisel on its whole. Risu, Mors and Sanguis find out something else and do the same.

"Tenebris has told us many things while we were on Mt. Everhoof," he says, looking at Risu, who's nodding her head. "He did kill several creatures, destroyed an empire... he even told us a weak grey pony with a silver ring on his ear set him free and made him laugh." Stolen Bag looks at his partner. Maior keeps speaking."He told us you had some kind of clumsy attitude. A stupid clown who set him free. A pony who did defend his tongue against the animals and creatures who did kill... that's what he said, Risu?"

Risu only nods her head, looking at Stone Chisel. "So?" he says, confused. "What you are trying to say?"

Maior turns back for a second and then looks at him again. "Where's that attitude, then, pony?"

Silence. Chisel blinks a few times... but doesn't say anything. Bag looks at him, breathing heavily but without saying anything. Mors and Sanguis chuckle, and then say: "We took it from him."

Bag raises an eyebrow while Chisel doesn't say anything. His mouth remains shut and his face seriously straight. "And this is the moment when I realize," says Maior. "I realize one more time, Risu," says Maior. "We can be superior. We can change them... We've changed the Empire. The castle is nothing but shards of crystal... the Princesses are gone and scared... the grey clown is nothing but a statue of stone."

Chisel squints, while Stolen Bag realizes there's something in the sky. The burglar who had the silver ring on his ear suddenly sighs and exclaims: "Fuck you."

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

An overwhelming feeling she never dealt with before.

While holding the baby with her hooves, with all of her strength, after learning her brother had died, her friend Cadence had died, the Castle has been destroyed...

What is left for them?

For her?

For Flurry Heart?

Inside the smoke, she can't see any other thing than her desperation and also her friends' faces, which go from total consternation to confusion. Suddenly, she sees Spike running around trying to find an exit...

... but suddenly he returns to Twilight's hooves. "No," whispers the dragon, still shaking with fear. "It's all smoke."

"All?" asks Rarity, also trembling with fear, looking that everything around them is just pure fog. They can't even see the sun.

"Everything, Rarity," he says, touching his head. "Everything."

Rainbow Dash with her broken wing lets a tear go while looking at Applejack, who is standing like a statue.

When did this go out of hand? She thinks while still holding Flurry Heart and using her wings to move over the ground. "What if?" she says, looking above her, trying to find out if the sky is still there...

"I wish I could fly out there," whispers Dash next to Twilight. "But... if it wasn't for this stupid wing..."

"Don't take a risk, Dashie," suddenly says Fluttershy, with a depressed gesture. "Who knows... what could be... out there..."

And at that same moment, Flurry Heart starts sobbing, really quietly, though. Twilight shakes her head and looks over the clouds of smoke one more time. "You've seen Ms Celestia?"

All of them suddenly shake their heads. "No," replies Pinkie Pie in a low voice, so scared her hair is smooth. "Not even Luna."

Twilight swallows saliva while preparing her wings to fly. She looks at the blinding clouds trying to bite her off, but she won't give up.

No. She won't.

"Don't tell us you're trying to..." suddenly interrupts Applejack from behind. "Oh, no, sugarcube..."

"We have to know how grave is this."

"But..." pronounces a Pinkie Pie with smooth hair. "Everywhere around is..."

"... Smoke."

"I think," whispers Fluttershy, trembling and standing right next to Dash. "It looks... darker... it's like... some kind of... fog."

Twilight, however, turns around and looks at Applejack. "We have to know how big this smoke, or fog, or... someone has to fly."

"But not you, Twilight!" suddenly interrupts Spike. "I mean... what if? what if something or someone or... I don't know, catches you on the skies and you never come back?"

"I know how to defend myself, Spike."

"But you know how to defend yourself from Tenebris the Night Ram?"

Silence in the middle of the fog. Twilight, who tried to flap her wings and fly away, suddenly sighs. "I think... we've got to walk around, find something, somepony," speaks Rarity. "And maybe we can find the exit of this."

"You sure?" asks Applejack.

She sighs and bites her lips. "I said maybe..."

"Why don't we?"

"Twilight?"

The feminine voice came from somewhere and make all of them turn around. A bright white suddenly appears to pass by the fog, accompanied by a dark blue mare. Twilight's eyes widen when she looks that the Princesses are still there. "Princess..." she whispers. "You are..."

"Girls..." Luna pronounces while finding the manes and the dragon in the middle of the fog. Then she also finds Flurry Heart is there, along with them. "Oh, thanks..."

"Wait," interrupts Celestia. "We are all together... what about... where is Sunburst?"

Spike shakes his head. "We still haven't found him. Neither Stone Chisel nor all of the cops that were with him."

"I think we should take a look above us," replies Celestia. "Besides everything around us is fog... I still feel the Sun shining."

"And the Moon breathing," also says Luna. "Although I cannot see it from here."

"But we may see it if we fly," suddenly says Twilight. "I tried to... but I'd have to take a risk to do it."

"Don't take risks now, Twi," Pinkie Pie appears next to her. "I don't know... what's outside."

"Have you seen there were more than two rams, didn't you?" asks Rarity. "We don't know how many of them may be around this."

However, despite Rarity's question, wondering how many rams may be around Canterlot, Celestia flaps her wings. "I think we should take a look, sister," she says. "What worries me the most are all of the innocent ponies who were in Canterlot, with no idea of what was going on in the castle."

"Oh..." says Dash, with a lump on her throat. "I didn't even think about that..."

"Me too..." whispers Fluttershy. "What... what about... them...?"

When Luna is about to say something, she hears something.

VROOOOM

Looks like someone passed by them... and didn't even realize. Celestia turns around... but can't see anything. "You heard that?"

"I did," replies Twilight, while Applejack grabs Flurry Heart and Rarity gets in front of her, trying to take care of them both. "I did, Princess."

Suddenly, the Sun Princess's horn starts glowing and a small beam of light comes out of it. Despite it is not so effective, it can, at least, help the ponies by dissipating a small part of the fog around them. However, they still can't see the mysterious creature who ran away.

The ponies start looking around while Dash starts grunting. "I think it is better to move rather than stay in the same place," says Luna, looking at her sister.

Celestia flaps her wings again, biting her lips. "But... where do we go then?"

Everypony and also Spike start to look around again, but only Applejack answers: "I don't know," she says.

"Maybe we can follow the creature who passed by us," replies Rarity. "But... it's something quite risky."

"What if that creature is around us and watching us?" asks Dash. "I don't know... it may be... possible..."

"And if it isn't looking at us..." interrupts Pinkie Pie. "How can we know where is it now?"

"Well... I've also heard those steps right there," Spike says, pointing at its right. "But he may have run away."

"We don't know if he did..."

"No, we don't know."

"We have to find that out..."

Someone's about to explode.

Her name is Twilight Sparkle and looks above her. The black fog is not now the main cause of her blindness. She has to let it out. The anger, the fear... the anxiety...

... she flaps her wings and...

STONE CHISEL

Stolen Bag looks at his partner by the time he finished saying that. "Those were your last words?"

However, Chisel stops thinking when he finds out there is something purple in the sky. It fastly goes down and then, from out of nowhere...

BAM!

The beam luckily lands over the four small rams and a purple smoke surrounds both lost stallions. A small explosion happened in front of them and both didn't even move from their spots, unexplainably. Something else can be heard in the free spot on the ground, like something heavy crashing against the surface.

... Once the purple smoke fades away, Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag find out they have Twilight Sparkle in front of them, spreading her wings and her horn glowing with magic. The first one to come out from the small crater created by Twilight is Maior, who has not got even a scratch. "Who dares to interrupt my first intimidating spee---?"

He doesn't even finish the sentence when Twilight attacks him with another magic beam, making him fly away into the black smoke. At the same time, lots of different colours appear in the sky. White, dark blue and yellow. From behind the crater, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie holding Flurry Heart, Rarity, Applejack and Spike come out of the smoke. Risu, Mors and Sanguis also appear but they don't even have a chance to speak or say something, due to being expelled from the sky due to Twilight's magic. "Twilight!" shouts Celestia, landing on the ground along with her sister and Fluttershy. "Wait a minute!"

"I'll defeat them!" she shouts unconsciously. "This is for what they did to my brother." Suddenly, she raises her head and looks at the sky. "MY BROTHER!"

"TWILIGHT!" Celestia shouts louder, making everybody focus on her. "No! We don't have to attack them!... we have to go. We have to run where..." She looks at Stone Chisel. "Where... Do you still know the way? With this... smoke?"

"We..." he blinks while taking a breath. "We have to go to the west... and the west..."

"Wait." Twilight interrupts him and everybody focuses on something coming out of the smoke... but this time it's not Maior, Risu, or the twins. The big, dark blue ram, along with his soulmate, stands in silence. Nobody says anything until Twilight slowly makes a move, letting Stone Chisel be seen.

"You," he says, raising his eyebrows. Rushkwa opens her eyes, surprised. "You... you are still... alive?" Stone Chisel clenches his teeth and passes by Twilight, stopping almost next to her and not saying anything. "And I don't even remember your name."

"Stone Chisel," replies Maior from behind, while all of the young rams come out of the smoke. "I was talking about how we actually changed everything in this... ponified culture until a purple beam landed on us."

The two sides stand in silence while Stolen Bag slowly hides behind the manes. Stone Chisel is almost in the middle and Tenebris, however, focuses on something else. "You never changed. You haven't changed."

"You killed my brother," Twilight Sparkle replies fastly. "You killed his wife. You murdered my pupil."

"You'll see them again soon." Twilight prepares to attack but stops when she finds out Celestia and Luna pass by her, approaching the ram and standing next to the burglar.

"You also have not changed, Tenebris and Rushkwa. Is this what you want to hear?" asks Celestia to the rams, with her serious face. "Your wish has been granted after so long. We, my sister and I have understood the capacity of a united kingdom of creatures and have recently started the idea you offered to us. What do you want us to say? That you were right all this time?"

Rushkwa prepares her position in silence but Tenebris stops her. "We don't need your opinion to know we're right." He shakes his head. "Actually the thing we want to hear the least, princesses, is your opinion... you fulfilled your fake hearts with an idea we gave to you, and you built the world we, the Night Rams, dreamt of once we vanished from the land. You truly are more outdated than me, and I've been imprisoned in Tartarus for a long, long time..." He stomps his hoof against the ground, making a small crater under him. "Do you think I did what I did because I wanted to hear you say sorry? I CAME HERE TO KILL YOU!" the shout of Tenebris resonates in the whole place and makes the smoke around shiver. "Do you think I stained my fur with your dirty, filthy blood because of some foolish sentences?"

"Yes," interrupts Luna. "Your hatred for ponies started because of a sentence, am I right?" the younger sister puts herself in front of Celestia, trying to cover her. "My sister and I don't forget that time you told us why your father came back to your land with such a disappointing gesture."

Rushkwa makes a small jump while all of the younger rams prepare to attack but Tenebris raises a hoof, making them calm down. Then, he uses that hoof to point at Luna. "My father was disappointed with you. That Flash Magnus monster told him it was not an appropriate moment to ask for help."

"The Pillars were fighting against a magical menace who threatened to burn down the entirety of Equestria, including your community, Tenebris the Night Ram," replies Luna. "It was not an appropriate moment because they were protecting you."

He snorts. "It was never an appropriate moment, isn't it?"

"You knew about us, your sister knew we were recluded, we were scared." Rushkwa also speaks. "Where were you?"

"Where were you when we vanished?" also asks Maior. Risu, Mors and Sanguis nod their heads angrily.

Luna sighs while looking at the ground. "That's what you don't want to understand, all of you. There were lots of closed communities that needed help at that time. Although we put all of our efforts into connecting with them, we couldn't do it with everyone. Some of them were too hostile or far from the kingdom."

However, Tenebris shakes his head while the six manes are getting prepared to defend the princesses. "I do not understand why are we talking about this. I didn't come here for your apologies. I came here to make you feel what I felt. An eternity of vanished souls, dead innocents, marauding youngsters, my wife inside an amulet and I... imprisoned in a statue. Do you know how it feels, Celestia and Luna, to have a community of friends vanishing in front of you?"

The huge walls of black smoke slowly fade away, showing the clear ground around them. Everyone is standing over a green hill which offers a view of the whole city of Canterlot... which is nothing but dust. The whole city has turned into a ghost town, with all of its bright and smart colours drained into a monotonous grey lake. Everything is destroyed, broken into pieces and there isn't any living thing moving around. It feels... empty. Mors and Sanguis begin to giggle while looking at the ghost city of Canterlot.

Now all of the good ones' faces get angry. Stolen Bag doesn't know how to react while Stone Chisel tries to swallow his guilt for everything that had happened. He turns around and realizes the smoke mountains are fading away from behind, making the way visible. However... is it appropriate to run away right now?

Twilight Sparkle clenches her teeth while burying her hooves in the ground. Her friends are preparing to attack while Rarity can't stop crying, even while frowning. Rainbow Dash flaps her sane wing while Fluttershy angrily takes a step next to her. Spike hides behind Twilight but not without showing his angry face to him. Celestia and Luna are in the front, also glowing their horns. Luna is the angriest of them all, about to shed a tear. The rams, on the other side, except for the small Mors and Sanguis, are not laughing. They only make small grins or smiles. "That's what I wanted you to feel. That's what you did to my community." He clenches his teeth while Rushkwa and everyone prepare to watch the spectacle. "Don't even try to attack. I'll end your suffering in a sec--"

No. No. Suddenly, Maior, Risu, Mors and Sanguis are thrown away by a strange force. The four of them fly away and crash into what remains of the castle, getting buried in shards of crystal. Tenebris stops talking, trying to find out what's going on when Rushkwa gets also thrown away by something. The Princesses, the Elements, Stone Chisel and Stolen Bag get confused and don't know what's going on...

...until the burglar decides to turn around.

He takes a look at the empty lands behind him and finds out there is actually something approaching them. A beige earth pony with caramel hair wearing a dark brown cloth which covers her loin. She's not running onto them, but flying in a floating wooden plank surrounded by a black aura. Stone lets a small chuckle go before processing who actually is that mare. "It's she," he says, looking at Stolen Bag.

Everybody turns around while Tenebris turns his back to look at Rushkwa being thrown away. He grabs her with his powers and makes her go back to her previous position. Then, he erases all of the shards of the crystal inside the castle to find the four young rams laying on the floor. However, the beige mysterious one passes by every one of the ponies when she stops and gets down from the wooden plank to look at Celestia. Her cutie mark can be barely seen: a grapefruit slice. "You must not fight this battle, princesses," she seriously says. "You need to go away."

Tenebris blinks, trying to find out who she is... and how did she turn out to throw away his five friends. "Wh-What? How is this...?"

"My mentor told me everything about you, Tenebris," she says, staying in front of the princesses. "I---"

"Wait, Grapefruit!" The beige pony stops talking and slowly turns his head around. She finds out a familiar grey stallion with a cut ear is right now next to him. Once he sees him, her eyes shrink. "Why are you out of your house? Since when do you come out of it?"

She squints her eyes. "Since an explosion destroyed the entire city of Canterlot and the lives of the princesses were in danger, Stone Chisel."

Rushkwa dares to attack but, surprisingly, Tenebris raises a hoof. Maior, Risu, Mors and Sanguis start flying onto the hill, looking at him in shock. "This can't be possible." He looks at the grey stallion and then at the beige pony. "What are you?"

Then, a yellow horn comes out of the beige pony forehead, impressing everyone. "Why should I answer you, monster? After what you've done to my species?"

"I can turn you into a lake of blood if I want, filth." He squints his eyes and shakes his head. "You... you have honestly surprised me."

"Grapefruit, listen..." Stone Chisel tries to call her attention. "Don't you dare to fight them. We need to talk. It's abo--"

Stone Chisel's neck gets crushed and is smashed against the ground by Tenebris' powers, but when he is about to get riddled, Grapefruit Slice puts a hoof over him and one of Tenebris' hooves gets twisted. Rushkwa gasps before clenching her teeth and the youngsters stop flying while looking at everything from the sky. How? Wait? What? "You idiot," she says, helping Stone Chisel to get up. "I can touch you. We share the same magic."

Celestia, on the other half, looks at both pony and ram with disgust. She's thinking about something specific. Twilight is the only one that is still in her position after Grapefruit Slice's arrival. Stone Chisel, getting up and coughing, touches Grapefruit Slice's loin, revealing her cutie mark. "No. We need to talk. We need to really talk."

She fastly replies, looking at the silent rams. "We don't have anything to talk about."

"Not you and me... but there's someone else who we can talk to." Grapefruit knows what he means. What he's talking about... so she tries her best to ignore him and pushes him away with a hoof. "I mean seriously. You know it's a way."

"No."

"Shut up." Tenebris points at Stone Chisel with his twisted hoof, only to fix it again with his own powers of chaos. "I'm being too humble by letting you explain how..." He looks at Grapefruit Slice. "this can be able to attack--"

"AAAAAHHHH!!" suddenly a shout is heard in the sky. Twilight Sparkle jumps, spreading her wings and about to fire something from her horn. Rushkwa is about to jump onto her at the same time the princesses and her friends try to get in the middle, defending Twilight and attacking, trying to attack.

However, someone else had a plan just in case. A yellow sphere is slowly created around all of the ponies and Spike, which gets brighter and brighter. Tenebris, surprised, fires a beam at it, only to find out that it's fastly shrinking into something microscopic. Rushkwa, Maior and Risu try to step on the sphere which is getting smaller, only to see how that disappears by burying itself into the ground.

All of them stand in silence. Tenebris fastly goes to the spot and in just one second, he breaks the whole hill in two parts... but there is no yellow sphere.

Are they gone?

The night ram, floating in the air, blinks twice. "No." He feels an undescribable feeling over his loin. "How can I be so stupid to let her talk---" He clenches his teeth. "NOOOOOO!!!!"

The remaining buildings of Canterlot start exploding while huge waves of lava appear on its surface.

Crimson Flower - The Prayer of Destiny

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Community

Arc III - Chapter VIII - Community

"...AHHHH!"

Twilight falls and realizes she is not in Canterlot anymore. The ground where she hit her head is not even green. She, along with her friends, the Princesses, Flurry Heart, Spike, Stone Chisel, Stolen Bag and the mysterious beige pony, is standing on a yellow round platform surrounded by an orange dome. She starts breathing heavily while being approached by her friends. Spike, who is holding the baby, finds out she fell asleep. "Are..." she blinks. "Are we dead?"

Her voice resonates with echo... "No," replies the mysterious beige pony, known as Grapefruit Slice. "We are in a special section which I designed a long time ago, along with an old fellow, in the limbo for us illegal users to refuge."

Twilight blinks while looking at her. "Wait..."

"So this place is not... Equestria?" asks Rainbow Dash, looking at the orange dome surrounding them. Nobody can see through it. "Where are we?"

"We are in the middle of two different dimensions." She turns around. "And we've got to hurry up, because Tenebris may discover where are we in not so much. With those godlike powers he may have robbed from Discord, he may find us like a cat catching a mouse."

"He did rob them," replies Stone Chisel to Grapefruit Slice. "And he doesn't need to learn so much about it."

Celestia is the last one who speaks. "So..." she whispers. "This whole place is a creation of chaos magic?"

Slice nods her head, without looking at the princesses, and Stone Chisel approaches her: "Wait, but I thought you... took the chaos magic out from you."

The beige pony turns around and looks at him. "And why would you look for me, then?"

"LaCrowley gave you the magical powder, didn't he?"

"I gave it back to him." Stone Chisel remains silent and closes his eyes. "I know what you want to do, Stone Chisel... you want to clean the mess you've done... but you've got to understand, firstly, I'm not in terms with LaCrowley and from what I know, you neither."

Everyone is in silence while observing both of them talking. Stone Chisel shakes his head. "I don't know anybody else who may be capable of confronting Tenebris."

"No. Sweetheart," she says, touching one of Stone Chisel's cheeks with a hoof. "You think that we can battle him... but you know Tenebris is the God of Chaos, don't you? His powers united along with his cruelty and bloodthirst are a lethal combination... and despite me and LaCrowley controlling the same powers, the same roots as him... we can't do anything else than twist his hooves and throw him away. No matter how many times we break it, he will wake up and rise."

"Please," interrupts Twilight Sparkle. "Would you put us in context?"

The princess of the sun frowns. "I've been wondering who you are, beige mare, and why, according to Stone Chisel here, you are the one who could help us to stop Tenebris. Would you mind explaining to us what are you actually?" even adds Celestia, in a rude tone, looking at her sister for a second. "Now."

She only nods while looking at the princesses. "My name is Grapefruit Slice," starts speaking the beige pony. "I founded, along with the last known Wizard of Chaos in Equestria, Black Magic LaCrowley, the Urushiol Forest Friendship Community, dedicated to helping lost creatures and making them find their way again by teaching them the Magic of Friendship. I am the one who put Stone Chisel in there."

"And you said you were not on terms with LaCrowley, didn't you?" asks Luna. "May we know what happened?"

Stone Chisel stutters, trying to say something. "Well, uh--"

"I was a pupil of LaCrowley in chaos magic, and he was the last pupil of the founder of the Wizard Legion, Shadow Star... but when the leader died, both of us escaped and stayed in Urushiol Forest, where he had the idea of the friendship community thanks to a scroll I had... about you, Princess Celestia, writing about the Magic of Friendship."

Every pony gets surprised at that. "Oh," says the princess. "I forgot that I wrote scrolls of this... when I was alone."

Luna blinks, trying not to remember her dark times as Nightmare Moon. Grapefruit Slice, however, keeps speaking: "LaCrowley has been always a Shadow Star contrarian, something that I still agree with. He said that he was an authoritarian, selfish wizard that locked all of his pupil's minds in a specific grey place controlled by him, and didn't let anyone there experiment with the magic powers in the beautiful entirety of Equestria." At that right moment, something inside Stone Chisel makes him feel dizzy, making him lie on the yellow platform. "At first, I collaborated with no problems at all with Mr LaCrowley, helping the lost ones and taking them to him, until I realized that he was doing the exact same things as Shadow Star. He locked them in Urushiol Forest and didn't let them come out of there, a place controlled by him and his eldest pupils, such as Galloway the Griffon, Cheesecake the pony and..."

A short pause in the yellow platform where someone points at somebody else who speaks: "Me." Stone Chisel says that in a very low, almost inaudible voice.

"And did he teach chaos magic to his pupils?" asks Twilight Sparkle.

"To some. Not all of them, but that's something I also disagreed with." Slice takes a breath. "I told him I was not in favour of what he was doing and I even dared to say he was just another Shadow Star. I know that... really hurt him in a way, but I feel he never understood what I really meant." She squints her eyes. "I didn't want to be rude, I didn't call him a hypocrite... I wanted to let him know that he wasn't doing something good. I wanted him to do the right thing." She then sighs and keeps speaking: "He gave me a magical powder which I could use to talk to him through the limbo... but I never used it. I even tried to steal the Shadow Star amulet we robbed together from the Wizards of Chaos, but I decided not--"

"Until he did it." Luna points at Stone Chisel. "You know he robbed that amulet and swallowed it to gain powers, don't you?"

Grapefruit Slice opens her eyes in shock and looks at the stallion, who looks at her back with disappointment. Everyone doesn't say anything. "Tell me it's not true."

He slowly shakes his head. "I wish."

"Where is it, then?"

He closes his eyes, turning his head down. "I... I haven't talked to you since I left the community. There are too many things you don't know... and you also shouldn't know."

"Do you have it inside you?" asks Grapefruit, then looking at everyone else. "Or... don't tell me the amulet was the cause of---"

VROOOOSSHHH

A portal is opened in the middle of the circle. Everyone is prepared for battle. Is it Tenebris? Is it Rushkwa? Which one of the rams will enter first? They begin to doubt who may be getting inside when they find out a boney hoof is the first thing that actually comes out of the portal. Both Grapefruit Slice and Stone Chisel unexplainably recognize who has entered the limbo. An old grey stallion with a short white beard and a black star as his cutie mark. He looks at the princesses and the elements and then turns around to observe Stolen Bag, Stone Chisel and Grapefruit Slice looking at him. Once he slowly moves his head, the portal is closed. "Since my back started itching, I knew someone was here." He tries to calm down, looking at his pupils after so long. "I can not forget the feeling of someone inside the refugees, Grapefruit... what I didn't expect was..." he turns around. "... so many."

"LaCrowley?" asks Celestia, shocked. The wizard turns his back to look at her and nods his head in silence. The only thing he does is look at both Stone Chisel and Grapefruit Slice. Twilight Sparkle and her friends, confused, slowly approach the wizard just in case he does something suspicious.

Stone Chisel approaches the magician he hasn't seen for a long time and surrenders. He turns his head down and slowly, barely crouches. "It's all my fault. Everything's my fault." He shakes his head once. "I should have listened to you."

"No," he replies. "It's my fault. Everything's my mistake. I shouldn't have let you go so easily." He slowly puts a hoof over Stone Chisel's loin while looking at Grapefruit Slice. "I shouldn't have let you go too, Grapefruit. I was an irresponsible mentor."

Grapefruit Slice, however, doesn't approach the wizard. "You know that... everything I said to you that night didn't have any intentions of hurting you, but to help you. Why didn't you listen to me?"

LaCrowley sighs while shaking his head, and turns around to look at the princesses and the elements in silence. "It's no time to speak about this, sadly. I may be still one of the most powerful users of the chaos magic... but, if I think clearly for a second, neither I nor my pupils can fight together against not only the source of our power but an unstoppable force." He takes a small look at Stone Chisel. "I knew it. I knew that if you had survived the butchery of Tenebris, you will come to me sooner or later to ask for help... and I'm glad you came to me and I really wish I could help you, Stone Chisel... but I can't eradicate Tenebris."

The six manes look at each other. "So..." Pinkie Pie asks, with smooth hair. "This is it?"

Pure silence on the yellow platform. LaCrowley raises his eyebrows while looking at the yellow platform. His whole back feels goosebumps. "In a way," he replies. "If the equestrian land depends on us, yes. This is it... but there is something under the place where I rest every night. It's something I never wanted to use. I cannot control it. I cannot manage that... but it's the only thing I know that may be able to erase this ram."

"No," suddenly says Grapefruit Slice, with tears about to come out of her eyes. "No."

LaCrowley turns back, calling Stone Chisel's attention. "I'm sorry, Grapefruit Slice."

"You..." she starts crying. "You said you returned that to the zebras which owned it."

"I've been lying to you. I've never given that tribe what is theirs back, and I also hired a zebra from another tribe to pray on i--"

"What are you talking about?" suddenly shouts Stone Chisel. "What are... or were you hiding... under the place where you rested?"

Silence, one more time. Everybody looks at Stone Chisel but LaCrowley and Grapefruit Slice don't stick their eyes from each other. "Does anybody else know, in your community, about what you are hiding under the house?"

LaCrowley shakes his head. "No."

"Do you realize that the sole existence of that puts everybody in Equestria in danger?"

"Yes."

"Do you know that if Tenebris finds that this object exists, we have no solution but to be doomed?"

"AND WHAT IS THAT?" Stone Chisel shouts at them both, running away from them and getting nearer the princesses. "What are you hiding from us? What were you hiding from me, Cheesecake, Galloway, Light Eater and the others...? Why is it so dangerous? Why is it related to the zebras?"

LaCrowley looks at his pupil and then at the mares from Canterlot, who have been looking at this whole spectacle in silence. He has to explain while Grapefruit Slice is shedding tears behind him. "It is an ancient object which belongs to a certain tribe of zebras... It's older than the princesses, much older than the Wizards of Chaos, and I could even say... that it's older than chaos itself."

"Is something related to the ancient equusquagga mythology?" asks Celestia. "The leaves of Zaitonia? The trees of Zeironi?"

"No."

"The crimson flower of Zerbuhmahs?" asks Twilight Sparkle.

LaCrowley clenches his teeth after hearing that name. "No. It's an object I can't use because... it repels any kind of chaos, dark magic. It only allows clear magic that comes from zebras, unicorns or alicorns."

"So..." says Luna. "This means... we are allowed to use it, as clear magic users."

"Absolutely." LaCrowley nods his head. "I trust Celestia and Luna the most. That object may be the only thing that can save us."

"And what does it do?" asks Rainbow Dash. "I mean, if you say that it's so powerful... tell us why."

Grapefruit Slice gasps and raises her hoof, approaching LaCrowley. "Because... because it has the ability to modify destiny."

"Destiny?" asks Applejack, confused. "Don' ya mean..."

"Change destiny?" Twilight Sparkle raises an eyebrow. "In which way?"

"Alter the flow of history... modify the skeleton itself," says LaCrowley. "That's what I know about the object, but I could never use it because I'm not worthy of it. It hurts to say it but... Nobody. Nobody in my community is worth it. I paid a zebra and ordered her to pray on it, to maintain the object magically active. The last time she came into the community... was yesterday morning."

"Yesterday morning," replies Celestia. "And what does this mean?"

"I don't know." LaCrowley looks at both princesses. "If you want to find out what that means and if you want to save the lands... you need to, at least, come with me... and try."

Just a minute later, LaCrowley opens another portal where Cheesecake comes out from, and he orders her to help everyone enter Urushiol Forest. She gets surprised at seeing Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna in the limbo but almost loses her mind when she finds out Stone Chisel is there. She tries to give him a hug, but once she realizes on which verge of their lives are they standing, she decides to hurry up and order everyone to enter immediately. However, Mr LaCrowley ordered her something else: Stone Chisel had to be the last one entering the portal, after Grapefruit Slice. Looks like somebody needs to tie some loose ends. She expects them to not last so long.

The princesses enter without saying anything, expecting to do something at least before the rams eat everything. Grapefruit Slice takes a bit of time to make a decision but decides to enter the portal without even looking at her old mentor and her pupil. Once Stone is about to cross the portal, Cheesecake puts a hoof over his loin and smiles at him. "Actually," says LaCrowley. "I want Cheesecake to go. I need to talk to you about something in private."

Cheesecake passes by him and enters the portal without saying anything, and turns around to look at Mr LaCrowley, his mentor. Why would he want to talk in private now? "We don't have so much time... what's going on?"

LaCrowley nods his head while his eyes are getting filled with a certain spark. "You unintentionally freed Tenebris through the Shadow Star amulet, didn't you?" The question makes Stone Chisel's fur freeze. "I know you would never do it on purpose, so... tell me the truth. Tell me... if you accidentally released him using Shadow Star's amulet."

Stone Chisel gets goosebumps when he observes the spark in LaCrowley's eyes. In all of his years, he has never seen the mysterious and intimidating wizard Black Magic LaCrowley doing that. "What. What's going on..."

He closes his eyes for a second. "There's something I need to explain to you. It's not..." he pauses. "... something easy to digest but... has Tenebris ever told you what is a souklat unáe creature?"

Chisel feels he's slowly freezing and turning into ice. He doesn't want to know the truth behind his master's words, but he has to. He tries to remember those two words... souklat unáe... souklat unáe...

Wait, he... he actually...

...an-basic knowledge of magic too. We are souklat unáe creatures, I mean, we are creatures whose magic increase and improve when they unite with another soul, another being. Two becomes one, but after that... we didn't know anything else. We didn't even use our magic so much, we just used it for fis...

He actually explained to him what does that mean. "Yeah," he says. "He explained that to me."

"Would you repeat what he told you?" he squints his eyes, increasing the spark on them.

"... What's going on?"

"Repeat to me what he told you."

"But... w..."

"Repeat."

Chisel now has a lump on his throat and feels his eyes getting watered. "Well, uh... he told me they united with another... um, soul and... their magic got stronger with... uh, what's happening, LaCrowley?"

The mentor closes his eyes and touches Chisel's loin with one of his hooves. "I've been reading everything about souklat unáe creatures the whole day. There is something about them which is called The Involuntary Union. It's a theory that was believed to be false, according to old texts and declarations... but, thanks to newer and better investigations, it has been discovered, recently, that is a true thing."

Stone Chisel's body is freezing without even being in the cold. "What's that about?"

"The involuntary union says..." LaCrowley takes a long breath. "... any living form that reunites two souls that were connected or destined to be with each other... turns into a supporter of the connection, even if they aren't connected to one or both of the souls." Chisel can't even breathe. "I did this to you. It's my fault... I always knew that Shadow Star's amulet had Rushkwa's soul on its inside. It was a secret that was revealed to me, and I never looked for it. You are realizing this now, but let me explain it to you... according to the involuntary union theory, you are a supporter of the magical connection Tenebris and Rushkwa have." The face of Stone Chisel is now red. He's trying not to think. "And no matter how powerful you are, if one of your connections in your soul union is erased... you suffer. You have a second of pain, even if you are the God of Chaos. That's how the souklat blood works."

The wizard slowly hugs the pupil and the stallion whispers. "This means... A way..." he can't stop sweating. "A way to counter... Tenebris... is my death?"

LaCrowley softly caresses Stone Chisel's loin while both of them are crying on their inside. "If we don't have time. If we don't have any choice... I will have to kill you, Stone Chisel. This is a pain I cannot describe, and you don't deserve to have..."

"What..." only manages to say Stone Chisel while trembling non-stop. LaCrowley gasps while cleaning his eyes.

"I assure you if... if everything goes the way it has to go... you will be OK. Did you hear me? You will be right... as if nothing... nothing had happened."

Death

Author's Note

Ok. I wrote this on a rush... This may be the most intense chapter in the whole story, and not only is it a pretty violent, brutal, and disturbing chapter (welp, take a look at its name), but also it may get too bizarre. Lots of things happen here.

I hope you understand.

:twilightoops:

Death

Arc III - Chapter IX - Death

The first thing Stone Chisel looks at while getting out of the portal is not everyone around him, but the sky. Everything feels different now.

The sky is completely black. There is not even a single star on it... it hasn't got any dark blue tone from the night. It's pure darkness. Everything is so dark that he can barely see the ponies and others around them. He can't see the top of the Urushiol Forest's trees.

Everything feels so cold. The forest's soil feels like snow, burning through its cold and his fur gets spiky because of the ambiance. Everybody who was in that forest before looked at him. His parents get shocked by his presence. His father doesn't say anything and slowly moves his head to the right, while his mother slowly approaches him, getting her eyes filled with tears. Is it her guilt? Why is she crying?

Suddenly, little creatures approach the crew, murmuring. They are LaCrowley's pupils. "Calm down, be silent, please," says the mentor to all of them, standing next to Stone Chisel. "I'm thinking about what's going on."

"Why is everything so dark, Mr. LaCrowley?" asks one of the pupils. Stone Chisel turns his head to his right and finds out Stolen Bag hiding behind an old friend of his, Galloway the Griffon, who is standing in silence and only moves her neck when looking at him, saluting. "The sky didn't look so menacing five minutes ago..."

"Someone did it," replies Cheesecake. "We are trying to find out who."

The wizard stomps one of his hooves into the soil, making a loud sound. Everybody focuses on his straight face taking a breath. "I know what's going on, but I need to say something first." LaCrowley's rough, deep voice bounces through the ground and makes everybody silent. "This is not only for you, my pupils... but for everyone around that can listen to me." Cheesecake turns around and looks at him, shocked. "I'm about to tell you the truth: a menace we cannot describe has attacked Equestria and our beloved forest... and I hate to say this but..."

He looks at the sky, pure black, while the griffon approaches the wizard: "What will you say?" she whispers to him. He only swallows what he had in his mouth and takes a breath while closing his eyes.

"I'm... I don't want to say this but, we have to be realistic." He moves his neck, trying not to look at his childish pupils. Stone Chisel now looks at him, shocked. He feels it's the first time he sees LaCrowley like this. "This menace is a very powerful monster that may annihilate the world itself and... those... unexperienced users who may not easily resist the pain and destruction he causes, must keep fear inside... and fade away from this ground."

"W-What? What are you talking about?" Cheesecake whispers in shock and covers her mouth with a hoof while Grapefruit Slice and Twilight Sparkle now get nearer him.

"You're not telling your pupils to kill themselves." An angry Grapefruit Slice touches her nose with LaCrowley's mane, trying to swallow her anger. "Do you?"

"Tell me you did not say that, please," adds Princess Luna, not even blinking while looking at him.

The little ones get pale. "I'm trying not to be harsh with my own words," LaCrowley gasps. "I don't want you to die. I don't want anybody to die. Nobody wants that... but no matter what we do, blood will be spread on the ground, and somebody will die, and not only one. Lots... I don't want..." he looks at Grapefruit Slice. "I don't want them to be there to look at it when he arrives... I don't want them to feel the fire. They have to be spared from this indescribable suffering."

"He? What is coming?" asks one of the trembling pupils. "Is it coming for us?"

"A beast." LaCrowley answers. "The sky is dark, everything is cold because the beast is angry. He wants to destroy everything and won't stop until he sees everything plain white. He's blind. He's furious... and nobody can challenge him..." He shakes his head. "Not even me."

"And... a-and what can we do?" asks Stolen Bag, still standing there. "Or it's... just... it's... we have just to wait?"

"There's something we can do." LaCrowley replies. "We don't have much time, but I want to do something before..."

"What do you want to do right now?" surprisingly, the one who raises his voice is now Iron Pick who turns around. "This has to be some kind of nightmare. Everything falls, monsters rise again, I get kidnapped by a sect of weird creatures, and last but not least... he appears." The father points a hoof to his son. "I don't even know what to say but... the way you stabbed me when you left, son... I thought I would never see you again. I thought you erased me, I erased you, but well... here we are."

He only shakes his head. "You still think everything goes around you." Stone Chisel stands up to him. "Have you ever thought that I'm just another stallion instead of an extension of you? I'm not you. I'm not a part of you. I will never be you. You are just a selfish, broken stallion with a pathetic mindset that doesn't look around when he is in the mirror." The father wants to reply but gets interrupted when Poofy Lantern, the mother, gasps while cleaning her face with a hoof. He closes his mouth, surprised. "And why are you crying, mother? Did you miss me?"

She sighs. Iron Pick now looks at her. "Every day."

"I also missed you when I was in Klugetown. I wanted you to tell me tales of Gusty the Great like when I was a baby filly... but I've never heard anything. Anything from your mouth. When I came back and we did that stupid thing with Stolen Bag, you said something to me? What did you say?"

"I want you to apologize," suddenly interrupts LaCrowley. "That's what I wanted to do before what we need to do. I need you two, parents of Stone Chisel, to apologize to him."

"I don't deserve it," says Poofy Lantern. "I truly want to say sorry but... it's too late. I spent so many years pretending to be blind that I---"

"Is this necessary?" asks Stone Chisel to LaCrowley and then looks at everyone, observing in silence. Trustlight, the third one, who was hiding behind the couple, looks at Chisel for a second and turns around. He doesn't say anything. LaCrowley only replies:

"We need to tie loose ends with you." He blinks and that spark from his eyes comes back again. "It's the best I can do right now."

"Right now?" Iron Pick softens his tone. "Which loose ends are you talking about? Didn't you say something was coming for us? Why would you care for this when we need to do something quickly?"

"I care for him," replies LaCrowley approaching Stone Chisel. "I care for Stone Chisel in the way you never did. What you did to your son is horrifying, and I won't let him go off my hooves without a proper apology from those who conceived him and brought him to this world."

"I agree with my father," surprisingly says Stone Chisel, shaking his head while looking at LaCrowley. "We need to do something, don't we? Tenebris is about to kill all of us... we cannot waste time with this."

Iron Pick's face breaks into pieces and calms himself. Poofy Lantern only closes her eyes and lets a tear roll down one of her cheeks. "I just want to know... I always loved you."

Stone Chisel doesn't even react. "I can't say the same but... I always wished you well."

Iron Pick can't recover from what Stone said seconds ago. He said that they couldn't waste time with that senseless discussion... and he can't believe that actually hurt him a bit. He feels something inside is slowly breaking and leaking blood, is it the essence? His thoughts? "I always thought about you." He, with a serious face and the surprise of both wife and son, continues. "Since you left as a child, I always wondered where were you... all this time."

"For what?" asks Stone Chisel. "To look for me and put me on your business one more time? Repeating the same cycle?"

"Maybe," he replies, but this time being really serious and honest. He squints his eyes and shakes his head. "I don't know what to say."

"Sorry is the word," suddenly says Galloway, breaking the silence from everyone around. "It's not hard to say it, you know?"

"It's not necessary, Gal," interrupts Stone Chisel, raising a hoof to her. "I understood what he said. We don't need to do this now."

LaCrowley approaches him, this time getting nearer his left ear, and whispers: "You know this is the last time."

"It's enough for me," he replies and looks at his parents one more time. "As my father told you, we have to do what we need to do."

Iron Pick bites his lips and doesn't say anything after hearing that...

... Nobody says anything after hearing that. Nobody speaks, or says anything... everything is silent. Silence. Princess Celestia takes a step nearer LaCrowley and asks the question: "Where is this object you've been hiding?"

The pupils get surprised by that question. Cheesecake and Galloway look at each other while Light Eater, the bat pony who is standing behind the griffon, raises an eyebrow. "Which object do you mean?" asks Cheesecake. "Does she mean...? Mr LaCrowley?"

"Wait," interrupts LaCrowley, looking around. His little ones are scared, but nobody stops looking straight at him. They believe in him, do they? They actually believe he can stop this weird beast he talked about. He looks around... nobody can face the ram. It's too late, isn't it?

He finds out there is a baby dragon holding a baby filly. Not any filly, but a baby alicorn. She must be from the Kingdom. "What's going on?" Galloway approaches the wizard. "Which object is she talking about? From what I know, we are not hiding anything."

"I need to do something before I explain what's going on." LaCrowley looks at his pupil, the griffon, and a light blue smoke appears from inside the ground. The soil feels much colder and some of them look at how their legs are being covered by ice.

"Woah!" shouts Stolen Bag, about to pass out. "My legs! MY LEGS!"

"What are you doing?" suddenly shouts Twilight Sparkle looking at the smoke surrounding them. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

The first ones who get frozen quickly by the light blue smoke are all of the young pupils of the Urushiol Forest Community. Fillies, yaks, kirins get completely trapped in ice while Poofy Lantern, Iron Pick, Trustlight, and Stolen Bag are in process of suffering the same destiny, being almost covered in magical ice.

"NO!" shouts Galloway, while Stone Chisel looks at his now frozen parents in silence. Stolen Bag shouted for his life before being frozen to death by the smoke. He sees it. "STOP! NO! YOU CAN'T!"

The princesses and Galloway want LaCrowley to stop... but it's done. All of the pupils and the non-magical creatures, except for Spike, have been frozen by chaos magic. Celestia and Luna look at the light blue ice statues surrounding them everywhere they see, having little creatures trapped with shock inside them. A second of silence, a second of everyone looking at the wizard until somebody stomps his head against the ground.

Grapefruit Slice makes him fall and crash his head with her magic. "Do you realize what you have just done? You froze innocent pupils who didn't deserve to die! What in the hell are you doing?"

"My parents..." Stone Chisel whispers. "My parents. Trustlight, that partner of theirs. Stolen Bag too."

"We had no other choice!" shouts LaCrowley while having his head stuck to the ground because of Grapefruit Slice. "It hurts! It hurts, Grapefruit, but I had to! What would you do in my position? Spare their innocent lives quickly or sacrifice them to the ram?"

Celestia glows her horn against the wizard. "But you couldn't..."

"I ask the same question to you, princesses. Would you spare them from the suffering or take them to the genocide?" He shouts while Cheesecake cries. "To the horror itself? To the end? It's no time to save lives... it's time to fix the world. No matter who is frozen right now, if we don't look for the object, we are all dead and we can't fix this."

"WHICH OBJECT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Cheesecake's scream deafens every pony around, and at the same time Flurry Heart starts crying. "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING FROM US?"

Grapefruit Slice stops using her magic and LaCrowley rises up again, to be grabbed by the neck by Galloway the Griffon. "Tell me this is not true," she also says angrily. "You didn't do this. You didn't freeze them to death. You didn't hide anything. You are not this. You are not what I've just seen."

LaCrowley uses his magic to open Galloway's claws and releases himself from the griffon. "Galloway... It's not me. I didn't want to but we had no choice. I won't let them see Tenebris break the forest."

"But... b-but... I didn't choose!"

"Please." LaCrowley looks at Cheesecake, who is still frowning and looking at him with anger. "I know why you are angry and I cannot apologize for what I've done..." he takes a long breath. "Yes. I've been hiding all of you something under the place where I rest every night."

"And what is it?" asks Light Eater. "Explain."

"Further," adds an angry Cheesecake.

LaCrowley looks at Stone Chisel one more time before he starts again: "Firstly... Cheesecake, I need you to transport right here... the zebra which comes every week to sell incense for the house."

The angry pony moves her neck. "Why?"

"Do it."

"But why? Why the ze-?"

"Just do it, Cheesecake!" he shouts at her. Cheesecake, in silence, squints her eyes and clenches her teeth while opening a portal. A second later, a big old zebra with a white mohawk and a golden nose piercing gets through it. "Zebra."

She recognizes at LaCrowley and looks at everypony around, but shakes her head. "Why would you make a portal at this time of the day, already knowing I can't make peace and harmony stay?"

"Yes, you can," replies LaCrowley. "We need you to pray on the flower."

Twilight and her friends look at each other. Cheesecake, Galloway, and Light Eater observe him in silence. The zebra snorts. "I already did it before... a day ago."

"We need your help again."

"A flower?" Twilight Sparkle speaks aloud. "So I was right? The Crimson Flower?"

"The crimson what?" asks Galloway. "What's that?"

"It's no time to talk about that," suddenly interrupts LaCrowley. "Yes, I have the Crimson Flower of Zerbuhmahs, but we are on the verge of the end. We don't have much time."

"It's one of the twelve ancient objects of space and time from prehistorical Equestria," says Celestia, confronting the wizard. "All this time I thought it was taken care of by the ancient zebra tribes, but turns out you took it and hid it from them."

The pupils of LaCrowley get shocked after hearing this. Stone Chisel feels another lump in his throat while looking at all of the statues of ice. How could he? Did he really steal an ancient magical relic from a tribe? Why? "And paying a zebra to pray on it," adds Luna. "Stealing, hiding, bribing... It's immoral and illegal."

The zebra gets scared but doesn't care when she looks around... It's the end. LaCrowley doesn't say anything after hearing that. "No matter what you do, LaCrowley..." The zebra speaks again. "The flower dislikes you, and harshly. You are not able to use it with your magic, you will turn everything worse than tragic."

"That's why the Princesses are here. Their magic can control it."

Everyone looks at the princesses except for Stone Chisel, who is still observing the frozen statues of his parents and his partner Stolen Bag. "Using the Crimson Flower means irreversible consequences that cannot be modified, and nobody will ever be the same after being blinded by its bright."

The wizard only nods his head. "I already know." He looks at his shocked assistant. "Cheesecake, go to the room where I rest and break the wooden floor. You'll find a box in the ground. That's what we need right now." He turns around and looks at the princesses. "Celestia and Luna."

The Princess of the Sun spreads her wings in silence. "If it wasn't for the monster ram and his storm of anger right now, wizard of chaos, I'd have used the powers of the aforementioned flower to erase the roots of your illegal magic..." she shakes her head. "Everything... everything that has happened... was directly and indirectly caused by the use of chaos itself..." and finally squints her eyes at him. "And this means... you're also not innocent."

The silent princesses prepare to walk into the barely seen wooden house in the middle of the dark before telling Twilight Sparkle and her friends to stay. "Wait, princess... what if something happens inside the house?" asks Rainbow Dash.

"Everything can happen everywhere at this time," replies Luna. "Stay in case something happens outside." She looks at LaCrowley for a second and begins to walk along with her sister and the mysterious zebra, passing by several small blocks of ice. However, Cheesecake doesn't move from her place while approaching her mentor and master.

LaCrowley finds out: "You need to go with them."

"How long have you been hiding this flower from us?"

Galloway and Light Eater also approach their master in shock. He has been hiding secrets from them for a long, long time. He only shakes his head and closes his eyes. Grapefruit Slice, next to them, only looks at him with disgust. "I've been hiding it for a long time... even before the three of you were born."

Cheesecake gasps and Galloway turns around in silence. Light Eater is the only one who stays: "You told us you never kept secrets from us. Several times. I... I still can't believe you... did that. We trusted you... everything that came out of you... we believed it was the truth." He looks at the young pupils frozen in ice. "All of them believed that... you know? They loved you."

Cheesecake slowly flies to the house using her magic and Princess Celestia stops for a second after hearing Light Eater's words, only to keep moving. The bat pony, a pupil of LaCrowley, only shakes his head. "I spared them."

"In this way? Freezing them to death?" shouts Galloway, slowly turning her neck back. "Why didn't you send them to the chaos refugee you were into minutes ago?"

LaCrowley nods his head, looking at Grapefruit Slice. "Tenebris would have found them quickly. He has the ability to find those places easily with his powers."

"And you knew about this?" Light Eater turns around to look at Stone Chisel. "Did he ever tell you something?"

Chisel turns around to look at his angry partners, who he used to tag as friends. He is still shocked by seeing his parents trapped in a block of ice, but slowly takes a breath and accepts his fate: "I found out the same day you found it."

Galloway looks at Grapefruit Slice now. "And you are Grapefruit Slice, isn't it? The one who left when we arrived and grew--?"

The griffon wants to finish her sentence, but suddenly cold wind gusts begin to penetrate the skins of everyone. The black sky begins to show light through blinding lightning and the deafening sounds of a thunderstorm. The elements of Harmony begin to glow her horns while Spike holds a crying Flurry Heart in his hands: "What should I do?" he shouts to Twilight.

LaCrowley looks at the baby one more time. He didn't have the guts to freeze it along with the dragon that is holding her, but the thunderstorm is making him change his mind. He doesn't want to have the thought of freezing a baby alicorn to death driving his mind mad... but he has no other choice. He said it. He tries to focus his mind on what he is going to do with both of them, but the ground starts shaking uncontrollably and everybody starts to tremble. "HE IS COMING!" he shouts.

Galloway can't even fly naturally because of the earthquakes and tries to make a chaos magic shield while both Stone Chisel and Light Eater find out the frozen are falling to the ground and breaking into pieces. He looks at how his parents fall onto the ground. They are broken. Stolen Bag. Cozy Glow's father. The young pupils.

Cheesecake arrives at the house, throwing away all of the wood that it's falling over her because of the horrible earthquakes. The wind gusts just get worse and worse while lightning strikes over the trees, setting them on fire. Both princesses shield themselves with their own magic while Cheesecake is doing the exact same thing with its illegal power, also taking care of the zebra with it.

She doesn't have to do so much work, due to the wooden floor from the resting place of LaCrowley being violently thrown away to the skies by the wind and the earthquakes. She easily finds a hole hidden in the ground and clenches her teeth while trying to approach it. "NOT TODAY!"

She tries to make a bigger hole so she can see where is the object his master was referring to.

His master... his master hid secrets from her. She told him everything... everything and thought he was doing the same. She, Cheesecake. His principal assistant and helper.

Luckily, she gets to the hole in the ground, attached to the cold soil, and takes a look inside. There is a wooden box about to break into pieces because of the earthquake, and what calls her attention is that there is a dark red light coming from inside.

Is that the Crimson Flower of Zerbuhmahs? "I'VE... I'VE..." she shouts, trying to grab the object with her magic. "I'VE GOT..."

"Oh, no!" she hears from inside the broken house. Princess Celestia finds out that a small portion of the ground where Cheesecake is trying to touch the flower is slowly rising to the sky, turning into a tiny plateau. "Oh, no! Not the...! Sister!"

"Oh my..." Cheesecake feels how her body is fastly getting far from the ground while trying to hold the flower, also losing connection with the princesses and the zebra. She begins to look to her left and right trying not to observe how things are going below and looks at how several pieces of the ground are becoming rising platforms. The whole forest is almost on fire and the speed of the grounds rising is only worse. The cold soil. The fire.

Once the portions of the ground start rising and turn into plateaus, several holes are opened under them, which begin to expulse hot steam and rivers of lava.

The earthquakes turn things much worse, making almost everybody unable to make a single step. The first unfortunate victim falls to her death when the ground under her breaks in half, making her fall into another river of magma. Celestia and Luna are the only witnesses of the zebra's death, who begins to shout in a horrifying way while the hot orange liquid slowly absorbs her.

How can they pray on the flower if there's no prayer?

LaCrowley feels something happened near the house and finds out one of the platforms that is now rising to the dark sky has a shiny red light on its top.

No. It can't be the Flower. "CHEESECAKE!" he shouts, slowly shielding himself with an aura of black magic, and flies away. Unfortunately, another piece of ground rising to the sky hits him in time.

"SPIKE!" can be heard under him. Turns out he is not alone on the new plateau. Spike and the baby alicorn are with him... but there's no time to save lives. He said it.

It's time to fix the world. Spike looks at LaCrowley in silence while trying to look for the baby, but the wizard only leaves the plateau and looks at what's happening under it. Grapefruit Slice and Galloway are flying with their own magic from one side, while Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy holding Pinkie Pie are on the other.

Now he thinks about it. He realizes that clear magic users... can't confront Tenebris' magic. They are only useful for the Crimson Flower right now, and the Princesses are more than enough. He only needs them both. He doesn't need any other clear magic user. He doesn't need the baby dragon and the baby alicorn to suffer what will come for them.

Another wave of light blue smoke appears under LaCrowley's hooves, and Spike the dragon is the first one who finds out. His pupils shrank and he breaks his nails while trying to maintain his body on the plateau: "NOOOO!!!!" he shouts. His last.

He looks at how Flurry Heart gets successfully frozen in less than a second. Then his legs. His hands. His arms.

Him.

Flurry Heart. Spike.

Twilight Sparkle finds out her hooves are getting covered by ice. "NO!" she shouts, finding out. "YOU DIDN'T! NO!"

Fluttershy also finds out she is turning into an ice block and gets so scared that stops flying and falls to the ground. Pinkie Pie does the same.

Both of them look at how Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack have already turned into ice being melted by gigantic rivers of lava. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, already frozen, crash in the air and touch the lava together.

Twilight Sparkle, trying to do something with her last breath, expulses a magical beam from her horn. The last one. "You didn't do this!" she shouts, with her pale face covered by ice. "You didn't! You didn't..."

LaCrowley knows what he has done, but there's no way back. He looks at the purple beam that came out from Twilight Sparkle coming for him, but he uses his own magic to change its direction, back to where it came from. The beam lands on Twilight Sparkle inside an ice block, exploding and breaking her into pieces. Seconds later, frozen Spike falls from the plateau.

Flurry Heart's ice statue is the only object standing on the rising ground, but the wizard of chaos can't even look at it. It makes him sick. He only turns his head to look at the shiny red light under him. "CHEESECAKE!" he shouts, flying like a missile to her.

Grapefruit Slice and Galloway arrive at the top at the wrong time. Both of them look at the frozen baby on it. "No," Galloway gasps. "NO!" She scratches the ground with her claws. "He can't do this! He didn't do this! He is possessed! He is possessed! He has to!"

"Focus!" shouts Grapefruit Slice, looking at her. "What he did right here is unforgivable and horrendous... but we have to look for the others who may be still struggling... there's no time! There's no..." She looks at the frozen baby one more time with the griffon and vomits. She looks at the rivers of lava that have been expanding on all of the forests and thinks about something: "Where's... Where's Stone Chisel?"

"It's almost... It's almost done..." Light Eater tries to heal himself after exposing part of his body to pretty hot lava. Stone Chisel is under him, and both are surrounded by hot liquid and hellish warmth, making them feel they are melting without even touching it. "I... I told you I owed you one."

"It was not necessary, Light Eater," he shouts while gasping. "Why did you do it?"

"I told you I owed you one," he says, curing two of his burnt legs with his magic. He can't stop gasping due to the pain he still feels while healing his skin and meat. "Last time we saw each other... and talked to each other a long time ago... you saved me from being... smashed by a tree trunk... and I told you at that... time if you saved my life, I had to save yours..."

The lava is slowly approaching them. "Right now?" Stone Chisel asks, closing his eyes. "It's too late, Light. We are about to turn into..."

"Not if I can fly and get you out of here... just wait..." The wind gusts only get worse while the earthquakes slowly calm down but keep moving.

Stone Chisel looks at the new platforms surrounding them in what was the Urushiol Forest. All of the trees are on fire while several images and intrusive thoughts are beating up his brain uncontrollably.

The statues of his parents. Ice being broken. Lava. Darkness.

"I will have to kill you, Stone Chisel." His mentor Black Magic LaCrowley whispered those words near his ear, his sane ear... and has been stabbing his soul since the moment that came out of his mouth.

Does he need to die? Is this the moment? "Wait, Light... wait..." The shadow of a griffon covers them both and they are taken from the hot ground by a black magic aura. "Galloway..." whispers Stone Chisel.

"I've got you!" shouts Grapefruit Slice. "Hold on!"

"We have already lost the youngsters and the LaCrowley we knew... No shit I'm going to lose you two," shouts Galloway, healing Light Eater's skin completely. She also sees that Stone Chisel has an almost severed, infected ear. She quickly heals it and creates the upper part of it that was left but doesn't add the infamous earring Stone Chisel had. "LaCrowley's absolutely lost. I... I don't know what's going on. What happened to your ear?"

He shakes his head, looking at the rising plateaus still moving. "I don't even remember."

She rolls her eyes. "Hell no. Gosh, I haven't seen you for a long time, Chisel... I'm not going to lose you quickly."

Chisel only sighs. "Yeah. Good morning too, Gal."

She gets angrier. "I'm being serious! Don't be stupid!"

It's understandable. She had to get angry. He finds out they are slowly approaching somepony else.

"CHEESECAKE!" LaCrowley fastly lands on the rising platorm with the Flower. The wooden box that held the object doesn't even exist anymore, and his assistant is holding and protecting a big crimson flower with a white light on its inside, covering it with all of her hooves. "CHEESE-"

However, LaCrowley finds out that Cheesecake was not the only one on that plateau. She was protecting the flower from something else. Two small rams with dark blue fur are standing on the other side of the ground and don't say anything. They giggle at the Wizard of Chaos. "Hehehehehe!!!"

"Tenebris?" only dares to say LaCrowley, slowly stretching his boney back and loin. He moves nearer Cheesecake to protect her and the flower. The two little rams stop laughing when they hear that name, and get prepared to fight.

"Tenebris is the name of our ancestor... We are Mors and San---!" The wizard didn't even let them finish their sentence. He needed to get rid of them quickly. The little rams standing on the same plateau as the Crimson Flower is dangerous. He has to do something horrible that must hurt them, and may give him time for him and Cheesecake to fly away.

He knows what to do.

"RAAAAGHH!" LaCrowley gets surprised at how the little rams shout after skinning them alive with his own magic. He fastly takes their skin with dark blue fur off them in less than a second and throws them away from the plateau. Cheesecake only opens her mouth in shock.

At the same time, two other creatures touch the top of the plateau: Celestia and Luna. The Princess of the Moon glows her horn while looking at the wizard. "What you did was..."

"They will recover their skins in less than ten seconds with Tenebris' magic." LaCrowley interrupts. "Where's the zebra?"

The sisters look at each other. "The zebra... the zebra's dead."

Cheesecake and LaCrowley's pupils shrink. "What?" shouts LaCrowley. "How? How did...?"

"She fell into a river of lava."

"And you didn't save her?" shouts LaCrowley.

"It was too late!" shouts Princess Luna, confronting the wizard. "Her body was already burning and melting when we saw her. We couldn't do anything to stop it."

At that moment, the ground stopped rising and everything felt immobile. LaCrowley turns around and finds out there are two rams on the other side of the plateau again, but this time... they are bigger, and one of them has white fur instead of dark blue. Celestia and Luna get prepared to fight. Tenebris, the dark blue ram... speaks. "I will not let you talk this ti-"

SNAP! Both of the ram's necks are cracked and their heads turn back before getting thrown away by LaCrowley's magic. He looks at Cheesecake and the Princesses before giving one of his last orders: "Run." The princesses spread their wings and start flying, but once Cheesecake prepares to leave the plateau, LaCrowley grabs the Crimson Flower with his own magic. "I'm sorry, Cheesecake. I left you alone with a pretty hard task... let me take charge of it."

"LaCrow--!" she shouts but the wizard fastly flies away from the plateau holding the flower with his own magic. Cheesecake starts to follow him. "MR. LACROWLEY!"

He is shocked. The zebra's dead. What can he do?

Cheesecake is still following him until something crashes against her. It's a young, small female ram with white fur who crashes her against one of the walls of the platform where she was standing. Cheesecake tries to choke her using magic, but the young ram breaks one of her legs. "I, Risu, will take charge of you."

"LACROWLEY!" she shouts, but he can't hear her anymore.

He is shocked. The zebra's dead. What can he do? He is shocked. The zebra's dead. What can he do? He is shocked. The zebra's dead. What can he do?

He can't stop thinking about that. He needs time to think. Does he know another zebra? Does that zebra know the Prayer of Destiny he or she has to recite to activate the Flower's magic?

He doesn't have much time to think about it. No matter what he does, Tenebris is unstoppable... and looks like he is not the only one around. He resurrected his tribe. Brought them back. He needs to weaken him so he can think of a plan B... but how?

He stops flying and his hooves start shaking... he knows a way...

He knows how... "Stone Chisel," he whispers, before looking at Galloway and Grapefruit Slice flying in the air. Light Eater is flying with them and there is somepony else resting over Galloway's loin.

It's him. He holds the Flower under his skinny belly, fastly flies to them, and stops in front of Grapefruit Slice. However, once Galloway sees him, she grabs his head with one of her feet. "You have to be possessed! You froze a baby!"

"What?" say both Light Eater and Stone Chisel in shock.

LaCrowley releases himself one more time from Galloway's claws with his own magic. "I know. I didn't want to... but there's no time left. Tenebris has arrived..." he sighs. "... and I need Stone Chisel."

Goosebumps touch the skin of the earth pony burglar. "Only Stone Chisel?" asks Galloway. "Why? Aren't you looking at three of your other pupils here?"

"I need him now. We have a deal." He looks at Grapefruit Slice. "The two of us can save time for you. We know how to weaken Tenebris."

Celestia and Luna also appear behind the wizard. "Where are...? Where is Twilight Sparkle? Where is--?"

"We don't have time for that!" LaCrowley shouts, making the princesses boil in their own anger. "Tenebris may be here in a second! Come with me, Stone--!"

Another earthquake starts breaking the land, but this time it feels worse than the previous ones. A monstrous movement that doesn't let anybody move from their position. Grapefruit Slice is the first one that finds out there is something merging from the gigantic hot river under them. "LOOK OUT!" she shouts, looking at a gigantic hand of lava coming right to them. The Princesses and Grapefruit Slice fly away while LaCrowley does the same, holding the Flower and also Stone Chisel with his magic. However, he does not do the same with Light Eater and Galloway. He flies away and leaves them alone.

The griffon stays frozen and in shock looking at the enormous boiling hand of lava approaching her. "GALLOWAY!" shouts Light Eater, about to run, but the hand of lava moves faster than they thought and grabs them both in time. The Princesses and Grapefruit Slice are witnesses of it.

"NOOOOO!!" shouts Grapefruit Slice. Stone Chisel looks at everything from above while getting into another place with LaCrowley and the flower.

He caused this. He did it. It's his fault.

His eyes get watered.

The hand managed to grab Galloway's whole body, making her have a horrible death, being melted and destroyed on its inside. Light Eater, on the other side, could break free from the hand, with half of his whole body being completely burnt. He, almost unconscious, falls into the ground invaded by the river. Grapefruit Slice tries to save him with her magic but it's attacked in time by a flying Risu. The princesses try to do the same but they run away when they see two small rams trying to eat them.

Light Eater falls into the river of lava and he can't think anymore. "No! NO! Light Eater!" Stone Chisel shouts. "NO!"

LaCrowley looks below him as Stone Chisel lands on a plateau along with his old pupil and the Crimson Flower. He doesn't know what to say while shaking his head. He realizes what has just happened. "Galloway. Light Eater. I could have saved them," he says. "I didn't see them."

"They would have died for you," slowly replies the hurt stallion. He doesn't know what to do and only looks at the bright light coming from the flower. "How did you not see them both?"

"How didn't I..." whispers LaCrowley. "I didn't see them, I swear."

"They were with you... but, as you said," he frowns with anger. "We don't have time to save lives, didn't you say that?" He stands up. "And what are you going to do right now? It's time to die?"

The hand is slowly rising from the river and it is revealed that it comes from a big monster of lava. He shouts something that it's barely understandable, something that LaCrowley repeats: "I... am... Maior."

"A younger relative of Tenebris," whispers Stone Chisel. "I caused this... I created him."

"You didn't create anything," replies the wizard, shaking his head. "You didn't do anything wrong. You wanted to solve it."

"Everybody died because of me. I am a mistake."

"You are not... you did your best, didn't you."

Chisel only shakes his head. "The best thing I did since I set free that monster was... saving the baby... and you froze her? Did you really do it?"

LaCrowley bites his lips. "I don't want to remember that."

"And what are you waiting for? Aren't we here because you need to kill me? To save time? To weaken Tenebris?"

A shout heard from under the plateau interrupts the conversation. LaCrowley fastly looks below while holding the flower and gasps when he finds out. He levitates and moves Cheesecake using his own magic and puts her at the top. Her whole body is filled with stitches and fixes two of her broken hooves herself. "What happened?" asks the wizard.

"Thanks for helping me," she sarcastically answers. "One of the rams, named Risu, attacked me when we left the ground. She was about to kill me until she saw Grapefruit Slice."

LaCrowley looks at the battle again. Celestia and Luna are still fighting against Mors and Sanguis, while Grapefruit Slice is still attacking Risu on the ground. Maior, now turned into a big monster of lava, is trying to attack the princesses too. Tenebris and Rushkwa... haven't appeared yet. Where are they? "I need you to do one more favor, Cheesecake."

"The last one?" she asks. "After everything that has happened? I've heard Grapefruit Slice's shout, Galloway's suffering. I will never forget it." Her eyes start watering.

"I've heard it too," replies LaCrowley while looking at Stone Chisel. "I promise you it will be the last one. Bring Princess Celestia to me. We have to protect her."

"What about Luna?" she asks. The wizard shakes his head.

"She's the second one. If Celestia's alive... she's not so important..." he thinks about what he has just said.

"No," she says. "Luna has..."

"Bring her to me." LaCrowley interrupts. Stone Chisel is still looking at the battle. "Bring them both."

Cheesecake sighs and stands on the edge of the plateau. "You can do it too, you know?" She looks at the princesses fighting in the air and fastly wraps them both in a dark magic aura. Mors and Sanguis, their opponents, get confused for one second and begin to celebrate. They really think Tenebris has done it. Cheesecake fastly takes them to their destiny, landing quickly on the plateau. Luna trips over while trying to step on it but Celestia grabs her in time. "What?" asks the Princess of the Sun.

Both LaCrowley and Stone Chisel don't say anything. Cheesecake turns around to look at her master and mentor. "I'll go and help Grapefruit Slice." Then, she jumps and flies away with a chaos magic aura. LaCrowley looks at her, maybe for the last time, and touches the flower. The wizard looks at the princesses but discovers there is something being opened above them.

A window into reality. Tenebris and Rushkwa are observing them while standing on another side. A plain white existence. "We've been thinking and watching everything from another side." Celestia and Luna prepare to fight while LaCrowley hides the flower behind him.

"Fair battle, isn't it, princesses?" Rushkwa is the first one who touches the risen ground. "Maior's idea of turning into a giant of magma was not so bad after all."

"However... what I've been watching the most is something else." Tenebris now touches the ground, getting out from the window between realities. "Looks like Discord left some... ducklings." He looks at LaCrowley.

Rushkwa's hooves suddenly turn into tentacles that trap the Princesses' and LaCrowley's hooves, making them unable to move. A snake comes out of her mouth, which also covers both princesses' horns. Now they can't perform magic. Stone Chisel, sitting in a corner and watching Cheesecake and Grapefruit Slice fighting against Risu, doesn't get caught by it and both he and Rushkwa look at each other. "Shall I catch the useless one?"

Useless one. Tenebris laughs while Stone Chisel doesn't even frown. "Why not? He was my personal jester at one time. I want all of the pieces to match."

"You are a fucking idiot," is the only thing that Stone Chisel says while one of his hooves gets surrounded by the tentacles.

"I missed you too," Tenebris replies. "All this time I thought you were dead... and I missed treating you as a stump... but turns out..." he slowly changes his sight to LaCrowley's eyes. "You replaced me... and came across someone else after me."

"I've known him for years... even before I met you."

"And what about the red stone you are hiding from us? Since when did you know it? What is that?"

LaCrowley, Stone Chisel, and the princesses look at each other. "What is it? Don't you know your destiny has been already sealed? Your lives have been already finished? What is the sense of hiding things from us?"

"And why do you care so much about it? It's just a gem of value I love," says LaCrowley. "My mother gave it to me a long time ago. Why don't you kill us already?"

Tenebris squints his eyes and a deafening shout is heard. The lava monster which is now Maior begins to growl and successfully smashes a weakened Cheesecake, destroying her against the ground. Grapefruit Slice is nowhere to be seen. "You are right... Mors! Sanguis!"

The little rams appear instantly over Celestia's loin, with new skins. They only give LaCrowley a cruel look before turning their heads to Tenebris and Rushkwa. "What do you want to do?" he asks her soulmate.

"Mors, Sanguis... I want you to do me one favor while I... fulfill my desires." Rushkwa chuckles. "Take the red gem behind the old one there... and throw it to the lava."

Both rams nod their heads before asking for something else: "Can we take charge of the old one? He was the one who skinned us alive."

LaCrowley and Stone Chisel look at each other one last time, and he points with his head at Stone's trapped hoof. "I'll cut it and then you fall."

He meant it. He knows what he's talking about.

"Shut up!" shouts Mors while Sanguis grabs the Flower with his own magic. Stone Chisel looks behind him one last time and observes his mentor again. "Shut up."

"Three."

LaCrowley begins the counter.

Stone Chisel's heart begins to beat faster and faster. He unconsciously accepts the deal. He has to do it. There's no other chance.

Sanguis, holding the Flower, squints his eyes. "What did you say?"

Heart beating. The faster he's ever felt it. Stone Chisel's pupils shrink.

"Two."

The princesses turn around. Mors also looks at him. Tenebris and Rushkwa approach the old wizard.

Stone Chisel looks at what's below him. There are some rocks burning between the risen plateau and the river of lava.

Is it his destiny? It has to be. He is the main cause of all this.

What if he can solve it? Can he?

"One."

Tenebris shakes his head, chuckling. "Which foolish thing do you have under your nose, old pony?"

Stone Chisel squints his eyes, about to vomit.

"Zero."

SHREEP!

Stone Chisel's trapped leg gets cut in half and the burglar begins his own spectacle. He's in a freefall. He falls from the plateau. Nobody does anything. The rams look at each other. "Suicide? That was your plan all along?"

The rams begin to laugh out loud while Stone Chisel is falling to his own death. The air is breaking his bones, and the pain from his amputated leg is making him want to vomit. Everything feels hotter...

... and he thought Flash Sentry was an asshole for sacrificing himself for the princesses instead of saving his own life.

How stupid is Stone Chisel? Maybe Flash was right.

The rocks are near. It feels... the bones... crashing...

CRACK!The sound felt horrible. Sounded gross. LaCrowley sheds a small, almost visible tear while clenching his teeth. The rams can't stop laughing while Mors and Sanguis look at the burglar's body being burnt by the hot rocks and the river of lava. Almost all of his bones are broken and blood is coming from everywhere. His sight is lost.

He's dead.

Risu, who was attacking a nearly dead Grapefruit Slice on another plateau, looks at his body and laughs at him.

Maior, the lava monster, laughs at him.

Nothing changes... Mors and Sanguis grab the Flower with their magic and fly away together.

Tenebris and Rushkwa also laugh. That was the most pathetic thing they have ever seen... what a pathetic death... but then... something else happens.

Rushkwa's pupils shrink when he feels something itching on her inside. It's more than a feeling. It's a loss. Tenebris feels the exact same thing seconds later. They slowly turn their heads to look at each other.

LaCrowley was right. The books he read were right. He looks at it when he sees their faces.

The Involuntary Union was real all this time.

What is going on?

The snake that trapped the Princesses' horns magically fades away, and the strength of Rushkwa's tentacles is slowly getting loosened. Mors and Sanguis, not knowing what's happening, fly by the river of lava and let the flower go. It's falling.

It's time.

"No." Tenebris whispers while looking at her soulmate. He doesn't know what to say. That itch doesn't go away... and he doesn't know why. This... this means...

Tenebris said Rushkwa's father proved that thing was fake. The Involuntary one. Was Rushkwa's father wrong? All this time? "My father..."

"No."

She clenches her teeth with strength. "I... told you!"

The plateau suddenly breaks in half. Tenebris and Rushkwa stay on one side while the Princesses and LaCrowley are on the other one. The tentacles that were trapping them disappear and the wizard goes to the rescue.

The flower must not touch the lava. It must not be destroyed. He flies for it. It can't be outside of his hooves. The little bastards turn around and try to attack him, but he already knows what to do. He gets prepared for another horrifying thing to happen. He will skin them alive.

"Oh..." Pain is felt in his belly. He turns around and finds out a spear has gone through him. The red spear comes from one of the big rams' mouths. He's bleeding... Red. When was the last time he bled? "No." He tries to get the spear off him, the flower can't fall... but the power of the rams is stronger than him. He feels he is actually coming back. "NO!"

The princesses try to fly away before they are attacked by Rushkwa. However, Princess Luna tries to stab the female ram with her own horn, but she successfully bites her loin and traps the mare. Celestia doesn't look back and desperately flies for the falling flower. Tenebris turns one of his hooves into a dagger and stabs Luna on her neck.

No.

It's too late. The flower is about to touch the river. Mors and Sanguis turn around. The white light from inside the object gets much brighter. "The flower..." whispers LaCrowley while another spear breaks through his loin. "The flower..."

Time stops. Everything gets silent when the flower gets in touch with the river of lava. Particles stop moving. The ground platforms stop rising. Wind stops. Fire stops. Celestia blinks.

Tenebris clenches his teeth, realizing something has happened. The Crimson Flower turns white... it's the cause of a blinding, deafening explosion.

Huge waves of cold, white, and red fog cover every living creature near the Flower. The object is melting. The explosion suddenly gets worse... and nobody can't even see anything. Everything is turning white.

Celestia and LaCrowley feel how the fog is slowly eating their skins. Celestia closes her eyes until she doesn't feel anything else.

There's complete silence...

...but feels there's nothing around her.

Nothing.

"Luna?" she asks in a low tone. "Where are you?"

The Celestia Way

Arc IV - Chapter I - The Celestia Way

Her voice sounds too childish. She opens her eyes and finds nothing around her.

She is alone. She tries to look out for her younger sister. "Luna?" Her voice sounds like a young filly's. She begins to slowly trot around and finds out she can see herself on the ground. The weird floor where she is standing looks like a mirror that reveals her new form... she's not Princess Celestia anymore. Her hair does not have the same color.

She's now her young self. A filly with short pink hair, wings, and a horn. "What?" she whispers. "What happened?" she looks around her, desperately. "Luna? Twilight?" Silence. "Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy?"

Silence. Nobody answers.

Then she hears something, far away from her. It sounds like... something slowly trotting over water. She fastly turns her head in that direction and takes a step. "Luna? Is that you?"

"I killed your sister." The frightening shadow of a ram appears far away, stuck into a white, empty horizon. "You are the last one."

Her fur gets spiky when she hears that. There it is. Him. He must be lying... that has to be impossible. He can't have done that to her beloved sister.

The frightening ram is now visible to her eyes... and something happened to him. His soulmate Rushkwa is not there with him, nor his young relatives. He's alone, and his eyes reflect something else. Not only pain but also loneliness. His dark blue fur has now faded into a clear grey and he seems to be much thinner than before. Last but not least, the lower part of his jaw has neither skin nor fur. It's fleshless. Just a bone. "Luna?"

He squints his eyes, looking around. He doesn't understand what is happening. "A filly. What is happening?"

"Where is my sister?" the little princess snorts at him. Tenebris tries to do something to her... but he can't. He clenches his teeth before the two of them break into pieces. He's weak. He's trembling. Something has drained him. "If you did something to her..."

"Tell me," he affirms, with a sad smile. "It's not necessary for me to answer your question. You can do it for yourself, little princess. Do you feel her? Somewhere?"

No. She doesn't feel her. She doesn't feel her sister near... but she got used to feeling the distance when she was on the moon. This can't help her. "And you? Do you feel any one of your relatives? Somewhere?"

"Don't you dare to mention their names." Tenebris tries to attack her... but surprisingly, he's feeling deadweight. Literal deadweight. "That... kind of non-consensual... soul union... that explosion, that fog. What in the world was that object?"

She doesn't want to deviate from the situation right now."That doesn't matter right now. Where's my sister?"

"No. I do matter about that object." Tenebris' hooves start trembling. "That weird fog... it felt like fire burning me alive. I saw Rushkwa being disintegrated into ashes..." He squints his eyes. "What was it?"

She approaches him. "If my sister appears, I'll tell you."

Tenebris growls. "What was it, you disgusting creature?"

"Where's Luna?"

"WHAT? WAS? IT?" He shouts in a low tone but can't do it loudly. It looks like his throat is about to pass out. "I had the power of chaos flowing through my veins. Rushkwa had it. Risu. Maior. Mors. Sanguis. All of them had it... and I don't feel them anymore." His loin begins to tremble while part of his fur starts falling to the ground. "My Rushkwa... I haven't felt her since... and I don't feel this... strength anymore."

Celestia wants to keep speaking, but something bubbling is making sounds behind her. Both the ram and the princess find out there is a small pond filled with a white liquid right there, and a bony hoof raises from it, soon revealed to be somepony else.

It doesn't have any skin, muscles, or fur. All of his bones can be seen. His eyes are empty holes that observe both creatures. "I... I hated Shadow Star..." his voice is barely heard by both. Tenebris tries to maintain his position but his hooves are slowly losing strength. "I hated the wizards of chaos... but something... he said... actually had a point..."

Celestia is slowly realizing who is the skeleton. "LaCrowley," she says. "What is going on? Why am I a filly? Why are you...?" she bites her lips.

"What did you do to me?"

Celestia looks at both of them and looks around again, trying to find her sister and her friends.

"Shadow Star once said chaos... was an unstoppable force that could be... stabbed in the back... by..." The skeleton opens his jaw while drowning in the strange white liquid. Tenebris can't hold anymore and falls to the wet blank ground. One of his hooves breaks in half. He almost lost all his fur, which is under his weak body on the ground, now revealing his bare, white skin. "...destiny."

"I had destiny on my hands!" shouts the ram while sticking his head to the floor. "I had chaos on my hands! I could control destiny itself!"

"Destiny is in nobody's hands." Celestia looks at LaCrowley's skeleton getting into the white liquid again. "Not even Discord touched it... no... nobody did it."

"I had it on my hands..." The ram clenches his teeth looking at the filly. "I told myself I was going to kill you... as I did with your sister... I had it on my hands, the story cannot end right here... I can do it... I can do it..."

The filly gets scared. "You didn't kill Luna."

And the ram, a weakened creature on the floor, chuckles, and smiles, trying to gain the strength to get up. "I did. Yes, I did."

She frowns. "Where is she?"

"I... I turned my hoof into a knife and stabbed her neck... several times. I saw her bleeding."

Celestia's pupils shrink and she clenches her teeth. "That's not true. I didn't see it."

"You never turned around to look at me."

"Cel... Celestia..."

"It surprised me that her blood was actually dark blue instead of red." The ram makes a bigger smile, but can't get up from his position. His hooves are not responding to him. "She looked at me with tears in her eyes."

She feels goosebumps. "Celestia..."

"You're lying!"

"Celestia!" the skeleton tries to shout, but he can be barely heard.

"Why would I lie right now? About your sister?"

"Celestia!!"

"What?!" she shouts while her eyes start getting watered. "What is going on?"

The skeleton gets in the pond. "Get... in the pond..."

She looks at the weak Tenebris still smiling at her on the floor. "Why?" she asks.

"The pond... is calling... for you... It's calling for your... name..."

She raises her eyebrows, calming herself down. This has to be a dream. "What?"

"The pond... has your sister's voice... she's calling your name... Celestia... Celestia..."

Her sister's voice? Is what he is saying real? The truth?

Is Luna there? "Luna?" She approaches the white pond and finds out it's the only part of the ground where she can't see her own reflection, being, ironically, a liquid surface. What is this liquid?

"No!" Tenebris wants to get up but his legs don't even move. "We can't end like this.. Don't you dare to leave! I must... I must kill you! As I did with your sister! I stabbed her in her neck!"

Celestia sheds a tear while her hooves start touching the pond. She doesn't want to have that mental image again. LaCrowley may be right now underwater. "If you did something to her... I swear I'm going to take charge of you. I swear."

The ram raises an eyebrow, surprised. He didn't expect that. "What? Take charge of me? What are you going to do, filly?" He chuckles. "Kill me?"

"I can be the joyful and worshipped princess of the sun, but only a few creatures of Equestria know my menacing warrior side." She snorts. "And is one of the worst things that a creature can see." Eyes squinted. "You will see it, Tenebris. I assure you."

Tenebris laughs. "I understand, little princess. Let it go through your dirty veins. Through your blood. You are feeling the same pain as I felt when you trapped me in that stone statue in Tartarus. Don't you remember?"

"Believe me in what I say, Tenebris," she sheds a tear. "I assure you will see it. For everything you did. For everything you are."

He is still chuckling. "And what are you waiting for?" A cold hoof touches Celestia and she fastly gets attached to it without her magic, getting in the water. Has he trapped her? "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?"

"COWARD!"

Celestia can't see anything at first under the white liquid from the pond. Everything is actually the same. There is white everywhere, but this time the bottom of the pond is grey. The skeleton of LaCrowley is near it.

Celestia... Celestia... Celestia...

That voice. It's not Luna's... but sounds like something else. Where does it come from?

"I may have an idea about what happened." LaCrowley's voice is now understandable and hearable under the strange water. Looks like he needed the liquid to talk. "The crimson flower is... or was a destiny tool." Celestia already knows that. It's what the legend says. "The last time its magic was called... was yesterday morning when the zebra prayed on it. Once it touched the lava, the crimson crystal melted and the object's power broke in."

Seconds of silence. Celestia doesn't say anything. "Maybe all of its power went outside, to the light... and everything exploded." He looks at her with his skull's empty holes. "And the world may have been erased."

Celestia... Celestia... Celestia... Celestia... Celestia...

"I had it on my hands! I HAD IT ON MY HANDS!"

He slowly moves from its position. Celestia tries to approach him but gets distracted by the voice who is calling her. "I don't know if you get the same feeling... but my bones are getting... attracted to a certain aura. I've tried to use my magic but... look at me. Looks like the power of destiny in the flower had... eradicated chaos itself. That's why all of them are gone except for Tenebris. The ram may have resisted it because he had the crown of Discord, and he is almost dead... but me? I have no idea why I am alive." He shakes his skull. "I should have died."

Celestia...

"I froze my pupils. I shut the mouths of each one of them. Stone Chisel may have freed Tenebris from its hell, but... everything was caused by me. Everything it's my fault... I am guilty." He looks at his bones. "Galloway, Light Eater, Cheesecake, Stone Chisel... dead. Grapefruit Slice... may be dead too. They should have survived instead of me."

"Uh..." She can speak fluidly, even with the liquid around her. "I can speak."

"This is not water. I don't know what it is... but it makes me feel... attracted to something."

"I want to ask you a question."

He nods his skull, expecting it. "Which one?"

"Where are my sister and my friends? I don't feel Luna near me. I haven't seen Twilight Sparkle and her friends... my friends, any one of them since I went to your place to look for the Crimson Flower with your assistant. Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Spike the baby dragon. Flurry Hea---."

Something makes the skeleton shiver. "Don't." He shuts her up. "Don't mention that... I..."

Her eyebrows rise and her pupils shrink. "What happened?"

"I don't know what happened to your sister but... your friends, the dragon, the... I didn't want to freeze them. I had to because I... I couldn't stand the fact that... No. No. I can't..."

Celestia doesn't want to reply to him and wants to change the course of the conversation, trying not to explode into something else. "Stone Chisel confessed..." she takes a breath, trying to calm down. "He confessed everything to me. He told me he robbed an amulet that belonged to someone called Shadow Star, who you mentioned... a minute or two ago."

LaCrowley also calms down and tries to close his nonexistent eyes. "That amulet had Rushkwa's soul in it. That woke Tenebris up and gave him a new power. I knew Stone Chisel stole it from me... but I never cared. I had it for a long time but I hated it so much... I hated that amulet with every part of my fur... The fur I had."

She doesn't understand. "But... Didn't you ever think that he could make something wrong with it?"

LaCrowley shakes his skull. "I never thought he could do something wrong with it."

"He?"

"COWARD!"

Celestia... Celestia...

"I thought he didn't know how to use it and would eventually throw it away... that's what I told myself, because... because I don't know. I don't know what to tell you, Celestia. I wanted to get rid of that amulet but... I kept it in my place just in case... and at the same time, Stone Chisel. I trusted him... even when he left..."

"And he caused this."

"No. I caused this. Don't blame him for what I didn't do. I took Equestria to its end."

A white light appears at the bottom of the pond. Both of them look at it. The voice gets louder.

Celestia... Celestia... Celestia...

The princess' horn starts glowing. She still has her magic, unlike LaCrowley and Tenebris. "It's calling you."

"Is it a portal?"

He shakes his skull. "I don't know."

"I think it is..." The magic of her horn is getting attracted to the white light, which is getting bigger and bigger. The voice gets much louder.

"Do me a favor before you do this, Celestia."

Celestia... Celestia.

"If that light actually changes destiny... I want you to look for me. At the Urushiol Forest. You and your sister need to stop me and take me to Tartarus."

She looks at him with resentment. She knows what to do. "You don't have to ask me for that. I made the decision... even before we got here."

Silence between them. "I'm proud to hear that."

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

The voice gets louder. Her horn is trying to go through the light.

Celestia!

Something cold surrounds her after the horn touches the bottom of the pond.

She closes his eyes... a fog is surrounding her... a light blinds her...

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Arc I - Chapter I - The Trial

Zero (Part 1)

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

Finding Out the Truth

Arc I - Chapter VI - Finding Out the Truth

"I don't understand, Twilight."

"I've already told you what I think, Spike."

"He already told you he didn't want to, Twi," says Spike on the Castle of Friendship. "And not one, but two times."

"I still think... I still think it's unfair, Spike. I feel like an idiot because of what I and Starlight did, and besides... do you know he's next to Tirek and Cozy Glow because the Royal Guards wanted him specifically to be there? That is..."

"Torture," he answers. "I know, but he decided to be there. You talked to him not once, but twice about your offer and he eventually rejected it because Celestia knows why. Things are like this, Twi. Don't be sad."

"I'm not sad," replies Twilight. "I feel... I did something wrong, Spike. I've got to talk to him again... I still have doubts on my mind."

"I think the same," says Starlight, who has entered the room. "As I told you the day before the trial... Are we sure that we completely know this stallion from the inside?"

"We studied him psychologically, Starlight," answers Twilight Sparkle. "But... but... no. There are still..."

"We never talked to him," answers Starlight. "That's because when we were studying him, he was still free... we can't know how he is if we don't talk to him. Besides, his rejection really surprised me, and I'd say I'd go to Tartarus only to visit him, to talk to him, personally this time."

Twilight softly nods her head. "Yes... and that's why I called the girls and Flash Sentry to be here."

"What?" says Spike. "You called them? Why?"

"We are going to Tartarus."

"WHAT?" shouts Starlight. "I've meant it but not now, Twilight!"

"We need to do this again, Starlight! And besides, you know it was unfair from the Royal Guards to keep him in that cage!" shouts Twilight. "I... I thought about what you've just said when Chisel got mad on the trial and in Ponyville, Starlight, and... and..."

"And?"

"You are right... we never had any chances of talking to him... and this is the right moment before he gets his head drilled by either Tirek or Cozy."

"Bruh, I think he'll be the one who will drill Tirek and Cozy's heads," says Spike. "I mean... he's a really talkative stallion..."

And at that time, the remaining Mane 6 and Flash Sentry appear on the Castle. "Miss Twilight!" shouts Flash Sentry. "Awaiting your orders!"

"Jeez, buddy," says Applejack, laughing. "Ya should calm down a bit, fellow."

"It's my job, Ms Applejack," answers Flash Sentry. "What shall you desire, princess?"

"Flash, I need you to take me to Tartarus."

Spike sighs while looking at everyone getting shocked by that announcement. "I tried to," says the dragon. "But I couldn't."

"Oh, come on, Twi..." says Rainbow Dash. "Why do you want to go to Tartarus again? Remember that last time?"

"It was a wild ride," says Applejack. "And we also have to put u' with Tirek."

"Until I came to the rescue," exclaims Pinkie Pie while getting between Rainbow and Applejack.

"And why would you want to return there, darling?" asks Rarity.

"You see... I think, and sorry for this, Flash... but Starlight and I need to talk to Stone Chisel."

"What?" says Flash. "Huh? Why?"

"We've been thinking about what he said on the trial and after it... and we think he must deserve the third offer, but this time as a real conversation."

Flash Sentry smiles. "I appreciate your innocence, princess, but even I know Stone Chisel will reject it."

"He rejected our offer before because he complained we didn't know anything about him... and he is right, we don't know anything about him."

"Right? Him?" asks Rarity. "Why would you say that, Twilight?"

"Because I thought about this after Chisel rejected my offer... and I realized we studied him psychologically but only through his robberies, detentions and escapes... but there are some parts of his life that are completely blank, Rarity. What happened between the time he left his home and the robberies? What did he do? That's... that's what Starlight and I think!"

"Come on!" shouts Flash Sentry. "It is not even necessary to analyse him, Ms Twilight... all of us know Stone Chisel it's an annoying, B-class robber!"

"We know he is a robber," says Twilight. "But if we look at him from that point of view, since our analysis... there are still some plotholes where we have no idea what Stone Chisel did. Tell me, Flash... do you know how did he survive once he escaped from his parents in Manehattan? I literally have no idea, and few stallions can leave his parents and turn into what Chisel turned."

"Several newspapers have discovered Stone Chisel has been working clandestinely for several clothing companies of Manehattan," answers Flash. "He robbed clothes at parties with his partner Stolen Bag, who we are still looking for, and then they gave the clothes to these companies to be resold, and they did that for a living. They got paid for that."

"But..." whispers Fluttershy, behind Rainbow Dash. "How... did he stumble across Stolen Bag, then?"

"And how did that buddy mess with those companies?" says Applejack.

"Moreover," adds Rainbow Dash. "He never answered me what friendship meant to him. I mean..."

"He doesn't know what friendship means," says Flash.

"And are you sure about that?" asks Pinkie, sticking next to the Royal Guard.

"Duh, of course! He's a robber!"

"Either he knows or doesn't know about the power of Friendship..." says Twilight. "Do you know how did he meet Stolen Bag, or how did he survive years and years hiding from the cities until the companies found him?"

Now everybody is in silence and even Flash doesn't answer. Spike dares to say: "If that's true... I'd say there was somepony else there."

Flash sighs while looking at the Princess. "No... and that's why we are going to interrogate Stone Chisel tomorrow morning about Stolen Bag."

"How about doing it now?" asks Twilight. "We'll go with you to interrogate Stone Chisel now."

"Princess Twilight..."

"Flash, I want to go because we need to talk to him!"

"Sorry," says Flash again. "But... Since when did you show too much interest in Stone Chisel, Princess?"

"Since the moment I thought this... and also since I found out you put him in a cage between Tirek and Cozy Glow, Flash Sentry... do you want to turn him crazy?"

The Royal Guard now blushes. "Um... well, it was my decision... I had some kind of resentment."

"You want him sane, don't you?" asks Starlight. "You've got to get him out of there and move him to another place."

And now the Mane 6 begin to talk for real: "Resentment?" says Rainbow, with a serious face. "Really, Flash?"

"Well... he hated me, and I hated him! It was a mutual resentment!"

"But really, Flash?" says Rarity. "Putting him between Tirek and Cozy Glow? How vengeful!"

Flash sighs and even rubs his face with one of his hooves, moving his golden helmet. "Will you... will you forgive me for this? I... I strongly apologize, Princess."

"If you take us to Tartarus to talk to Stone Chisel and move him to another cage after, everypony here will forgive you."

Flash gets angry at that but can't disobey Princess Twilight's orders. "Well... please take a step behind."

Everyone takes a step behind Flash, and the Guard's horn draws a circle which eventually ends up opening a portal. "Here it is, Princess Twilight, but I'll only let you stay for several minutes because of your security."

"Don't care about that, Flash," says Spike. "She is an alicorn. Besides, she has me."

Flash Sentry laughs while listening to that but once he finds out nobody follows his game, he shuts up. "I'll enter first."

The royal guard enters first, and at the same time, the Princess looks at her friends. "Do you want to come?"

"Bruh..." says Pinkie Pie. "I ain't got nothing better to do, you know, Twi..."

Nevertheless, Flash Sentry violently comes out of the portal, without his helmet. "NO! NO! NO!"

"WHAT?" shouts Twilight. "What happened, Flash Sentry?"

"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! THEY ARE GONE! TIREK, COZY GLOW AND STONE CHISEL ARE GONE!"

The Little House at the End of the River

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter feels quite fast to read. Didn't have so much time this week and wrote it on a rush.

I've been planning to release two chapters next time, I don't know how long it will take but I promise there will be two.

See you, and enjoy your read.

The Little House at the End of the River

Arc III - Chapter II - The Little House at the End of the River

An explosion was heard a time ago in a small town of ponies. Once all of them went outside their homes to look at what happened, they saw a big red cloud fading out of the sky.

They had no idea of what that was, and that's why several stallions decided to take a look. The town went into a meltdown, trying not to let the bravest stallions on the town to investigate, in case that explosion was caused by something evil, but some stallions decided to walk out anyway.

There are five enormous, robust earth colts trotting to the Empire, surrounded by a small red smoke and a really hot temperature.

"It smells like..." says one of the stallions.

"Smoke... Fire," replies another one. "As something got burnt, isn't it?"

"Like coal?"

"No," says another. "Remember that time we got a chimaera?"

The stallions looked at each other. "The chimaera?"

"Yes," he says. "Rocky Plate and I went hunting and we caught a chimaera. Cooked it for the town... it had the same smell like this..."

"And it's getting... I just... I'm confused," says one of the stallions. "Don't you feel cold on the inside?"

Silence, until another colt, replies: "A bit."

"How weird... it's getting colder... but the air... just smells like burnt meat..."

"HEY!"

One of the stallions points out at something flying in the sky. The five stallions look at it, and find out it is not flying... but falling. "IT'S FALLING! FALLING DOWN!"

And suddenly, crash. The mysterious thing crashes and gets stomped against the ground, letting everyone around hear the most awful, obnoxious sound ever made:

CRACKK...

The five stallions remain silent, observing the mysterious object which turns out to be pink... the mysterious object whose sound while falling reminded them of...

"Bones," says one of the stallions. "That was the sound of..."

"Broken bones?" two stallions approach the boney object and suddenly find out hair is covering its face. Once they get the hair off, they find out the absolute horror...

The five stallions found her. Her throat looks like it's been smashed and her bloodshot eyes are looking at nowhere. One of the stallions recognises her on the first second of them all: "PRINCESS CADENCE!"

"What?" replies another colt. "NO! YOU ARE..."

"IT'S HER! IT'S HER!"

"NO! NO!"

"PRINCESS CADENCE!"

Miles away from the tragedy, a journalist is looking at the city of Manehattan through his window. Tabloid has been looking at the streets getting emptier due to fear and uncertainty about Tenebris the Night Ram, but his mind is not so focused on that now. He looks at a big building far away from where he lives and observes the big, metal pickaxe on the skyscraper's top. It's Shiny Picks Gem Company.

"How long have you been trying to write that article?" asks Blister, the small orange dragon, while entering the room.

"I don't know," he replies. "I just... don't know how to start... where to start... firstly, how did they disappear?"

"Who?" says Blister. "Iron Pick and Poofy Lantern?"

"Yes... I don't understand, Blist... they were at the top of the building, completely surrounded and unable to get out... if they got their heads out of the room for just a bit of time, they would have been eaten in a few seconds. How did they get out... and no one could see them?"

Blister raises his eyebrows. "Magic, maybe?"

Tabloid shakes his head. "They were earth ponies..." Now the journalist opens his eyes widely now and looks at his dragon. "Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"You think they paid someone to get them out of there... magically?"

Blister only raises his shoulders. "No idea... I wasn't there."

"It can be possible, although..." whispers Tabloid. "I think I've found a way to confront my stupid writer's block... Thanks, Blister."

Blister chuckles... "Um... well, you're welcome."

And then suddenly, both can hear how someone is trying to open the door... but it doesn't look like he is OK. It is not calm. It's desperately trying to open the door. They share a short look of confusion right before the dragon comes out and grabs a key.

Once Blister opens the door, to find out what's happening on the outside, Ink Pot, the second journalist in the house, enters the place like a cannonball. He quickly passes by Tabloid's room door, almost crashing it and breaking it into pieces, and stays in silence, breathing.

"What the..." says Blister, confused. "What's wrong, Ink Pot?... You... Are you... Are you OK?"

Tabloid doesn't even say a word. He only turns around and looks at his pupil in silence. At that right moment, Ink Pot takes a long breath and looks at both friends: "You remember Wheat Stack, don't you?"

Tabloid raises an eyebrow. "The one who often helps you with your homework?"

"It's not my homework," says Ink Pot, furiously. "It's a friend I made during my first articles. I often write essays and he collaborates with me..."

"Well, I know, come on," replies Tabloid. "Go to the point."

"Do you remember he had several cousins and relatives in that little town near the Crystal Empire? A camping family... do you remember?"

Tabloid and Blister look at each other again, surprised. "Um..." says the old unicorn. "Er... I, I don't remember it so well... but I think he mentioned something about it... what's the matter, then? Why you entered like a...?"

"His cousin told him he found Princess Cadence's dead body outside the town."

And now, complete silence in the room.

Tabloid closes his eyes while Blister slowly closes the room's door, having his mouth completely closed. "And..."

"And what?"

"And how... do you know this is real...?" whispers Tabloid, looking at the city, breathing slowly, trying not to pass out. "Or... a lie?"

"He... he showed me a card... he received from his cousin... I think he also has a dragon..."

"Wheat Stack? He has a dragon?" asks Tabloid, grabbing his head and taking off his glasses with his magic.

"I'm not so sure but..." says Ink Pot, unstoppably blinking. "If this card is true and he has a dragon... then..."

"This is a bomb," says Blister. "But we can't drop it if we don't know anything... oh, gosh... Cadence..."

Tabloid's eyes now get wider. "Oh, god..."

"What?" asks Ink Pot, surprised.

Tabloid turns around and swallows saliva. "Damn," he says. "I'm getting nervous over a rumour but... if what Wheat Stack says it's true..."

"Not only Cadence..."

"But also," says Blister. "Shining Armor, the Guards..."

"What about Flurry Heart?" shouts Ink Pot.

"Yes... yes... and what about the Crystal Heart..." says Tabloid. "This doesn't sound good...."

Meanwhile, Black Magic LaCrowley is inside a small wooden hut filled with books and papers, reading a small book while having Poofy Lantern next to him. Iron Pick is outside the hut, turning his head around, not looking at the wizard in his eyes. Suddenly, Galloway the Griffon, along with Cheesecake, LaCrowley's assistant, enter the hut. However, Iron Pick interferes on the entrance and Galloway can't enter, due to lack of space.

"Let me in," says Galloway. "You wouldn't like me to get you off the way."

Iron Pick snorts at her. "After what you did last night?"

Galloway growls back. "I can be worse, little horse... get out the way."

But suddenly, some of the wooden planks next to the door get off and disappear magically. LaCrowley thinks about something, fearfully, while Galloway now enters the hut with no problems. "No time for fights, my children," says LaCrowley, closing the book. Poofy Lantern takes advantage of this and reads the name on the cover.

"SOUKLAT UNÁE: AN EXPLANATION OF SOUL-UNITED CREATURES"

"Cheesecake," he says, while touching his white beard with a bony, trembling hoof. "What about the father of the filly? How is he doing?"

The assistant raises an eyebrow. "Trustlight?"

"Yes."

"Light Eater is now with him in the hut. He has several bruises on his loin after what you did to him last night. He also says his back hooves are tingling and he can't move..."

"What a coward," says Galloway, laughing. "His hooves are just tingling and he says he can't move?"

The griffon laughs and realizes another laugh can be heard besides hers. She turns around and finds out Iron Pick is also laughing at the same while looking outside. Galloway growls at him but Iron Pick decides not to do anything.

To calm the waters, Cheesecake asks: "And is there any news about what you felt?"

"Yes," also says Poofy Lantern. "I've been here for two minutes waiting for your answer."

Black Magic LaCrowley looks at Stone Chisel's mother. "What?" he says, confused. "You asked me a question?"

Poofy Lantern raises an eyebrow, surprised. "Yes."

LaCrowley chuckles. "Oh, sorry... I don't remember."

"But... it was two minutes ago."

"Ok..." says LaCrowley, grabbing the book with his magic and putting it back on its shelf. "What I felt... uh... about what happened this morning?"

"Yes," replies Cheesecake. "It's the first time in years you wake up so nervously... what happened?"

LaCrowley shakes his head. "I felt..." he says, stuttering. "I... I always use my chaos magic... you know, Cheesecake, but... when I woke up... I used it to put the lamp away from me... and when I did it... it felt..."

LaCrowley stays in silence, still shaking his head. "Felt what?" asks Poofy Lantern.

"Different," he replies. "I never felt in that way while using my magic... I experienced something else..."

"Can you describe it, Mr LaCrowley?" asks Galloway, while Iron Pick slowly turns his head to look on the inside.

"... I..." LaCrowley stutters. "I felt cold."

Silence. "Cold?" asks Cheesecake.

"Yes," says LaCrowley. "I felt... as if my body was freezing on the inside. It was the first time in my whole life I experienced that... and when I took out those planks to let Galloway enter... I felt the same chill in my stomach."

"Come on," says Iron Pick, interrupting the scene's thrilling tension. "Are you sure you didn't catch the flu?"

Cheesecake angrily gives Iron Pick a menacing look, while Poofy Lantern sighs. Galloway angrily takes out a plank from the floor to hit him... but suddenly her face turns blank. Her claws get clenched and she closes her pick. She feels something.

Iron Pick covers his face, but once he finds out what happened, he gets inside the house in silence. "What?" asks Poofy Lantern, surprised.

Galloway leaves the plank on the floor and turns around and looks at LaCrowley. "I feel cold on the inside," she says.

Cheesecake now gets more nervous. She decides to grab the same plank Galloway took with her magic and suddenly she throws it away... "I feel the same."

"Oh, great," says Iron Pick. "Now everypony's got the flu."

"It's not the flu, fool," says LaCrowley, this time angrily. "Something has changed in Chaos. The way we feel our magic is now different from the one we felt before. Cold... chill... what does this remind me of?"

"And how can Chaos be changed?" asks Poofy Lantern. "I mean... it's chaos!"

Cheesecake and Galloway look at each other, having no idea of what they should answer. The wizard, on the other side, sighs. "There's one-way chaos can change... and it's literally changing its source."

"Source?" asks Galloway. "You mean..."

Cheesecake gets next to her master. "You think Discord has changed?"

"Or maybe something else changed Discord," replies LaCrowley, while getting outside. Some of the lost creatures he is helping and raising are still sleeping. He goes outside and that chill on the inside gets warmer under the rising sun. "Cold... chill... cold..."

Then, out of nowhere, the book which was being read by LaCrowley suddenly gets out of its shelf on its own and goes to LaCrowley. He uses his magic to open it, and reads a couple of pages until finding the one.

"CHAPTER VI: NIGHT RAMS AND ITS SOUL UNION"

Could this be real?

"Night Rams were sedentary creatures who live in a very closed community, officially considered extinct due to a battle..."

No. This is not what he's looking for...

"... were characterized by their dark blue fur and big, light blue irises..."

"Mr LaCrowley!" shouts his assistant. "What's wrong?"

"... their skin naturally felt cold and chill while touching it, making them feel slightly warm thanks to its long fur and nature's weather..."

"Cold and chill," says LaCrowley, closing the book, growling. "Son of a buck... did he do it for real?"

"Who?"

He turns around and finds out everyone is looking at him. "Nothing," he says.

"Nothing?" says Poofy Lantern, shocked. "What?"

"If I told you..." LaCrowley gets inside, putting the book back on its shelf. He lies on the floor, closing his eyes. "If I told you... you won't ever sleep again."

Everyone is shocked. "What?" asks Cheesecake. "What do you mean?"

LaCrowley shakes his head. "I don't know if what I found it's true but... cold and chill, cold and chill... what I know is something happened to Discord... and you know what reminds me of cold and chill..."

Silence. Iron Pick turns around and goes outside again. "What?"

"..." The wizard sighs. "... Tenebris the Night Ram."

"No," shouts Cheesecake. "No... it can't be..."

"It can, Cheesecake... it can... and if it is true... then your son..."

"My son?" says Poofy Lantern, surprised. "What?"

"Stone Chisel... he's in grave danger, maybe... I don't know but... he may die on the way."

Poofy Lantern doesn't say anything and turns around, closing her eyes. Cheesecake and Galloway go to help her, looking at her eyes slowly getting wet because of her tears. "Gosh..." she whispers. "I feel so guilty... no..."

Iron Pick, on the other hand, doesn't turn around. He's still looking outside, taking a long breath, but the thing that calls his wife's attention is that he is saying nothing. Nothing...

"You're not going to say anything, don't you?" says his wife behind him. "Or are you just going to pretend this is not affecting you, huh?" Iron Pick doesn't answer, but his face and his gestures seem different. He is looking to the ground, with his head down. "Our son may be about to die... and you don't say a shit. You fucking prick."

Iron Pick closes his eyes and walks out of the house, not even trying to make a commentary.

A baby dragon is doing its best to get to where it has to be.

He has something. A bomb of information.

Cadence is dead.

He decided to fly away from the town and inform the Princess personally. Those five stallions, friends of his, were trying their best to get the Kingdom's attention as soon as possible, and that's when the dragon decided to go. To fly. To say. And he arrived in the city of Canterlot. Where everyone is right now.

Star Swirl turns around, looking at the room. "And I don't know what would come," he says, "after Luna."

"Me," replies Celestia. "Star Swirl, he wants both of us dead."

"Wait..." says Twilight Sparkle, raising a hoof. "Don't speak as if this is going to happen soon... Princess, we can dodge this by finding them and working right now... together."

"And where we can find him?" exclaims the yak, Thunderhooves... "Equestria's too big to look for him..."

"Or maybe too small..." says Applejack. "For this night ram."

Rainbow Dash, Ember and Twilight try to say something but get interrupted when something breaks in the castle, crashing one of the windows and making all of the Royal Guards enter the room with their weapons. However, once they realize what did break in, they calm down and help that small dragon get up.

"What...?" says Twilight. "Who are you?"

The baby dragon cleans his face, shocked, and shouts to the roof...

"PRINCESS CADENCE!"

He is now nearer, looking at what's in front of him. The house exists, and there's somepony inside. Slowly walking to it, he finds something covered in several cloths and dirt, almost buried on the ground. He stops to look at what's inside, but, at that same moment, he hears the door being opened.

He touches the mysterious thing with a hoof until he listens to that voice...

"Do not dare to touch it, whoever you are."

The voice. Yes. He recognises it, and once he turns his back, looking at that yellow pegasus with brown hair, he feels angrier than ever. The Pegasus, on the other hand, gets silent until he blinks several times...

"What?" says the pegasus. "What the... Stone... Stone Chisel?"

"You motherfucking asshole," shouts Stone Chisel at that moment. "You motherfucking piece of trash. Son of a motherfucking bitch."

"Hey, horsie, don't you dare insult my mo---"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, STOLEN BAG!" shouts Stone Chisel, much louder, pointing at the pegasus with a hoof. "While I was rotting in Tartarus, you were on holiday on this stupid house... huh? Do you know how it felt at that moment? When I was in the Everfree Forest running away from those stupid guards, waiting for you... and finding out you escaped without me?"

Stolen Bag sighs. He feels guilty. "Sorry, horsie, it wasn't my intent--"

"Sorry?" he shouts. "Is that all you say, son of a bitch? Do you know how many things I've gone through since I escaped from Tartarus? You can apologize to fucking nowhere... fucking Celestia," he says, and punches the mysterious thing buried in the ground. "My god..." he whispers, about to cry. "Goddamnit."

"Hey..." says Stolen Bag. "Your ear... it's... uh... cut... and it's... bleeding..."

"I can't feel the pain, tho," he says, still not looking at his partner. "I can't feel... anything... anymore."

"Wait..." he says. "I haven't read the news for days but... a town near here said you escaped Tartarus with..."

"Yeah," he interrupts. "I escaped... and screwed it up."

"They said Tenebris the Night Ram was there..."

Stone Chisel turns around and approaches his partner. "That... fucker was the worst thing I've done, horsie."

"The worst thing you've done?" Chisel doesn't say anything and goes away. "What do you mean?... Hey, where are you going?"

"To the river."

"Why?"

Chisel turns around. "I need to think."

Now, both colts are on the river. Stone Chisel's cut ear has now a small bandage, although it is not enough for such an injury. Stone Chisel looks at himself on the water. His face is horrifying. The talkative, annoying robber is now a lost, traumatized colt with hopelessness. Stolen Bag, confronting Chisel's grey colour with his yellow skin, appears on the back. "So... that ram thinks you're dead?"

"I hope so," answers Stone Chisel. "He went crazy there... motherfucker... son of a gun... I can't... I can't even talk about it..."

"Why?" asks Stolen Bag.

"You weren't there to feel it," he answers. "But I've got to tell you... it was a slaughter, genocide..."

"I've heard an explosion," says Stolen Bag.

"That's only a bit of what I saw," he replies. "He killed... killed..."

"On the Crystal Empire?"

"Guards... wiped out as if they were... seabreezes."

Stolen Bag snorts. "And what about... the others? Didn't you escape with...?"

"Dead."

The pegasus' eyes widen. "What?"

"Tirek. Chrysalis. Maybe Cozy Glow too. All dead."

The partner gets silent for a second. "Oh, shit," he exclaims. "Wait... and what about the emperors?"

"I saw Shining Armor getting killed... I don't know about Cadence and that baby but.. that explosion was really huge, guy..."

The pegasus sighs, trying to process everything he has said. "You..." whispers his partner. "Are you... the only survivor for real?"

Chisel raises an eyebrow. "He also killed Discord."

"WHAT?" he shouts. "Discord?" But... fucking Discord? He can't die. He's chaos!"

"Guess what," he says. "There's a new God of Chaos around town."

Stolen Bag lets a tear roll down one of his eyes. "Holy shit..." he whispers. "And... and what is going to happen?"

"I don't know," replies Stone Chisel. "And I don't even care about it, you know..." He approaches much nearer to look at his face through the water "I don't have the will to live."

"Don't say that, man," he replies. "There must be a way."

Stone Chisel looks at his partner. "Yeah," he answers. "And I've found it."

"Which one?"

The thief gets up and looks at the water. "The Stone Chisel Way," he says, before throwing himself into the river, something which makes Stolen Bag mad.

"You son of a.." he says, and the pegasus also gets in the water while the robber tries to swim to the bottom. Stolen grabs him from behind, almost choking him, and both start fighting underwater. There's a key moment where Stolen hugs his partner and takes him to the surface.

"What in the hell are you doing?" shouts Chisel, angrily.

"You asshole!" shouts Stolen Bag. "You really want to end like this?"

"And what are we going to do, then?" he replies. "Let's see... that fucking horned shit is now the God of Chaos... I've seen him turning Discord into dices... what is up to us?"

"Would you calm down?"

"NO!"

"There is a way!"

"There is NO way!"

"But you can't do this!"

"I can!"

But then, out of nowhere.... both stallions hear something strange coming from far away... it sounds like some kind of sob they can't recognize. Both colts look at what's coming and stay in silence, observing that small piece of wood with some pony tied to it.

Some baby pony.