Author's Note

Sorry, this chapter took weeks to complete. Will still need lots of editing to make it readable.

Chapter's song is Marching Into the Dark by John Legend. Have at it.

Eat your horsewords, and get ready for what comes next. We assemble the group and get the fuck out of civilized lands. Time for some random encounters, a bit of blood and casualties. Mostly collateral damage. The crown needs a reason to send us on our quest, after all, since I would take years to prepare otherwise.

Marching into the Dark [Not Edited]

I looked out the window in wonder. The large landscape view was amazing- From the mountain range of Fillydelphia, to the whole of Ponyville and it's Everfree Forest, to Dragon's Mountain-and Manehattan further, past the horizon- and further right to the Drackenridge Mountains. We were able to see from the extreme north to the extreme south, a view only rivaled by the Castle's spires. I was in one of those spires, actually- but this one was atop the labs where i worked. I still had to arrange for supplies back to the Personal Laboratory at home, the one we were doing our most secret of experiments in. The one that we couldn't just leave out in an undefendable area such as the Industrial District of Canterlot- so we kept such important research and projects at hoof, in our home.

Now, why I was here, you might wonder? I needed a safe place to hide the Goose. We had to set up somewhere that could act as a base of sorts, somewhere I could get working on getting my quest sorted out. I needed to start planning a little earlier than I did last time- which was still two years from now. My hazy memory, complex web of past lives and an uncertain future- was sketchy at best, if not completely unreliable. I had to find myself some entry into the south's many tribes of varrying species- one of them, the Tapirs, had access to a very peculiar magic of the Earth, and i believe they were the ones to start the conflict against the Zebrican allies of the south. I had to escort back the Cervideans' Leader, reunite the tribes that were scattered around in those jungles, and somehow find a way to make a whole army cross the Quiet Sea without getting noticed. Talk about an easy task... One that would require getting a better social standing, and some way into the Royal Guard...

Otherwise, my next option could be to gather a small offensive crew- by that i meant gather two others to make a complete party, for I was still ill suited for combat until i acquired a crystal horn, after all, and try to somehow infiltrate the Tapirus Republic's seat of power, it's largest temple, And hopefully finding enough stuff on the way there to learn the many ancient languages of their Civilization so that I might come up with some way, somehow, to stop their rituals and counter their weird magic. If we could also climb the Tower, maybe we could secure what's at the top ourselves. My guess was that they used whatever they found up there to create some new kind of magic, and develop their war machines on it- but I could only theorize, at the moment. I needed a crystal to navigate my memories properly, for Silence wasn't able to navigate my labyrinth of a 'Neural Library' by herself.

The Goose before me was fidgeting, pecking at random containers strewn about the place, nervously tearing the tarps over the mountains of boxes to find stuff to decorate our room, or at least that's what i could understood. In short, she was pissed. We had met with the Princess, when the dust finally settled. While I was doing my report, the Goose defied Twilight, and taunted her somewhat. A battle ensued- and at the end, the Goose was forced under a contract not unlike mine, an offer of Friendship followed, naturally, and they had a private chat while i went for a stroll with Celestia. Long story short, I got some news of the growing tensions between the southern tribes surrounding the Cervideans, the camels and tribal zebras and so on- while the Goose settled whatever she had to settle with Twilight, and both talked about Ink, as Goose promptly resumed with a huff earlier. She had yet to explain much about herself, and I still wanted to explain to her just what I was- but the tension in the air made it hard to talk. I was just done getting a little survival gear set up in an improvised camp in front of the largest curved bay window of the whole spire- bigger than the one in the high administrator's offices downstairs-, a set of cooking devices and a small workshop, with laboratory equipment stored in the workbench instead of raw materials. It was made to carry out into the field, to force field scientists to work with what they had instead of costly materials that could sometimes be costly to order from foreign countries, and encouraged the members of my Order to be as versatile and adaptable as possible.

I needed to adapt, and be versatile right now. I was just now aware of how my companion was from any other races on Equus- and somehow understood just how out of place and unfamiliar everything must've been for her. And to make it worse, she was now forced under the laws of the kingdom- and forced to obey a few laws that were against her values and morals, most likely. She didn't understand why squishy flesh wasn't made to be torn and shred, or why blood wasn't meant to be shed. She was a creature of Violence, Knowledge and Ink, as she proudly declared before. I still didn't understand the deal with the Ink that well, but I knew it was a terrible force I couldn't understand, much less wield and harness, even in my prime. I knew it was something like pure, condensed knowledge, that wasn't bound by physics or regular magic rules, and had it's own set of laws. So to me, it made sense that one who was raised on Ink clearly evolved in a different kind of society. Emotions and many of our concepts and values hold no meaning when you've been seeing the bigger picture, the outside of the box, ever since you could walk and talk. I needed to level with her if I wanted to make her open up, and I had a feeling it will require more than Tact or honeyed words. I wasn't even sure an Apology would be the way to go, for she seemed to hate weakness quite a lot.

As she came down from her pile of 'junk', pushing a large box with her larger-than-life wings- it was almost cringe-inducing to see how large they could grow without the pressure of magic hanging in the air- I cleared my throat to get her attention. She came around her huge luggage, her large mismatched beady eyes looking straight through me. ''What is it?'

The Telepathic Network she used to talk to me scrambled with a warm, unsettled rage that could boil at any moment. ''I think we are overdue for a little chat-'' With a Honk, she stopped me, and with a flap of her wings, she was hovering before my nose. ''You are overdue for an attitude shift. I was willing to follow you and study you. Now I'm put under you in a hierarchy I cannot understand. I've never been stripped of my authority before, and I don't ever want it to happen again. I know you aren't to blame, but I still feel resentment towards you. I want you to prove your worth to me again... Enough so that I can put my aspirations between your hooves, and put great trust into you. If you could only fathom what that entitled, what it would mean. I cannot trust a mortal with this.'' As she spoke, I took a seat on the floor, and tried to keep her as calm as possible by nodding and showing I was really attentive to what she said. but at the end, I couldn't resist letting a smirk rest on my lips. ''I could perhaps tell you about my past, and my family? You might trust me more then. Oh! I know!'' I tore a piece of paper from a notebook resting nearby, and produced a pencil from a pocket of my duster. ''Twilight and I did this exercise at first to build up trust. We shared what we felt, some secrets, or whatever we wanted to entrust one another with, then burned the piece of paper together, as a symbol that we'd keep each other's secrets safe. Would that work for you?'' The Goose nodded, and nervously preened a wing as i started scibbling our names on top- Pony and Goose, and separated the paper in two with an horizontal trait- making two columns to write in.

''Let's start with our names. For over four hundred years, I've been known as Orpheus Apokryphes.'' I hastily wrote down my name under 'Pony', and held the pen out to her. She slowly grasped it with a wing. ''For longer than time can remember, my brothers called me-'' And what followed built up such pressure between my ears, i almost passed out. The pain wasn't intense- but it forced me to keep my eyelids tightly shut, and i let out a small wimper that couldn't reach my delicate ears.

As i recovered a bit, and came back to my senses, i could see her blue eye shining a caring, apologetic shine- while her lavender one turned slightly more fuchsia/reddish, and held a steel-like coldness that shook me out of the kind of stupor I was in. ''I can see you won't be able to repeat that without passing away, sadly. As I said when we met, there is much power in a name.'' She Looked away, and her reddish eye returned to a lavender... Actually, it even turned a bit blueish, and a milky cloud of nostalgia could be sen hanging over her pupil. ''You might call me... Erika. But only if i can trust you with my life, and choose you as my Servant. I'll need to work you into shape, though.'' She scribbled down 'Erika' under 'Goose', and held the pen out to me. I took it, with a smile. ''Of course. I'll deserve the honor before we burn this paper, Goose.'' I took the pencil, and gave it a thought. ''You should know... I'm not exactly mortal. I can die, yes, but I can come back from death in another body. The whole process is hard to convey through words, but it involves another, synthetic soul to fuse with yours, and having a second personality to live within your head. Mine is called Silence-'' She raised a wing to stop me. ''We've already met. I think I understand... But I do not want to. Not just yet. I want to come to understand by myself, don't tell me the details right now.'' She took the pen from my hoof, and wrote 'Silence' under 'Pony', before clearing her throat. ''She's very kind. But... who is the synthetic one between you and her? Aren't you both humonculi at this point? Can you still be considered Equine after all that misshaping?'' She let out a soft honk at her own joke, and an hint of malice could be seen twinkling in her eyes. ''I've been defying my brethren, actually. Trying to claim the leadership of my people. If you can somehow do this for me... If you can help breach the veil between our worlds and stop this bloodshed, and establish a working relationship between Mortals and Gods... I shall grant any wish, when I become the Chosen One.'' I nodded as she wrote 'Aspiration' under 'Goose'. ''Now... I have two questions for you. You mentioned coming back from death...'' Her eyes locked with mine, and the warm-colored orb swirled with an intimidating, somber tension. I could feel the full intent of her soul bearing down through her gaze, while a soft compassion emanated from the milky, cloudy baby blue eye, and the contrast between the two looks shook me a bit. ''Pony... After dying more than once, can you remember what is on the other side?'' I took a deep breath.

I did remember what awaited us mortals at the end. I believed she knew too. ''You already know the answer. I am part of the process, now, and it's all I'm allowed to say.'' I broke eye contact with her, so I could grab the pen and etch down a little symbol on my side of the sheet- the one referring to the gates of Tartarus. ''Gods have made me their plaything, in the past. I rose above it, Ascended myself... But it cost me my anchor. I can see you're pretty sharp, so I won't hide anything from you- but I cannot go into details here. I don't want to draw the attention of the Gods by speaking ill of them.'' Her face remained emotionless, but I could see something cold in both of her eyes, something calculating. ''My second question... What is your Oz, your destiny driving you to? In layman's terms... What is your end goal?''

I took a moment to look out the window in wonder. After ending the war... What is it that I wanted? What did i want to leave the world with? I had already done much, left more than one legacy behind. I had created many artifacts, wrote new laws of magic, ascended to divinity and much, much more- but as I grew older, I became... Bored. I grew tired. Weary.

I was old... But to other entities like the Goose before me, I was but a smear on the great wall of History. Another Ink stain.
Did I really want this pseudo-immortality? What is it that I wanted? ''Goose... I'll be honest. I don't even know what it is that I want... For centuries, I've pushed the limits of magic, of this world. I helped develop the technologies and the civilization of Equestria, and been on countless adventures. What I want... Is retirement. I want to sit back, and know the world is in capable hooves- that the equilibrium is restored. I've shared your aspirations for as long as I can remember... To create a world of cooperation and compromise. Built on Friendship and Trust. Building on Faith like Celestia and Luna did before isn't enough. Building on Science like Twilight is doing is prone to lead to a downfall eventually. We need an evolving civilization- one built on versatile and adaptable values. I have tried to build my order for this task... But the truth is, it's out of my control now. The Technology I've helped advance, it now fuels the ambitions of more corruptible equines. It as if none of my attempts ever succeed... Nothing I've done so far has really worked- It all backfires eventually.''

I took a step towards the window, and motioned towards the city down below. ''After all I've done to save them, they always end up turning against each other. I believe the cause is the magic pouring down from the breach...'' I pointed at the large, gaping tear in the sky, so far away from us that it was barely half an inch long- ''Whenever I come to life into another body, the Cutie mark magic changes the symbol on my forehead. This time... I've been given the ways to purify and stabilize this magic. So this shall be my end goal, as you put it.'' I took a moment to let my thoughts drift a bit- I could only now realise just out of reach it all was. Once again... I would tear down whatever they call reality. Bring down the walls of physics and laws, and reduce everything still standing to ashes and dust. It was the only way to make way for a better tomorrow.

The Goose let out a small honk of surprise at the mention of my changing mark, and had been silent ever since. I could hear the sound of palmed feet pit-platting- for she was no doubt pacing nervously. ''Does that mean... We really did meet before?''

I looked at her through the reflection in the window... Hoping she wouldn't catch my grin. ''There are things I can and can't remember... There's only so many memories that can be held in a brain, even less accessed at any given time. But I factually remember having done deals with entities out of the veil in the past. Maybe I could've dealt with you then.'' Her reflection's eyes bulged a bit, as a honk got caught in her throat. ''But... That was millennia ago. Eras ago... And you mentioned being only centuries old. That doesn't make sense...'' ''... Unless it takes me a long time to find a proper host to come back to life. Few are those who can bear strong alchemy mutating their bodies, and having their psyche torn to shreds. This one had to be genetically selected, the work of over 4 generations... And it's a complete dud so far.''

I shook with inner laughter at my self-deprecation. ''But I already know much, enough about what is and what will be. And most importantly... I know how to ascend- I myself had to do it twice, and found a way to keep some source magic on the second time around. The only thing I don't know, is who our foe is.''

She was completely still. Silent. she didn't even appear to be breathing. Slowly, she blinked, and in a shaking breath, she finally managed something in her native language that hurt my head a bit. ''The thing working against your Oz, pushing against your Zah, is no one else but my little brother. For convenience's sake, call him Yba'sokug. I wasn't raised alongside him, and know very little about him. He looks like a bug, or a toad, and has the ambition to devour all, hoping to become All, so he can kill himself and thus destroy Everything known to creation.''

It was my turn to become speechless. As soon as I started to think we could level with each other, she just casually flaunts that her brother is Fenrhir from another dimension. How nice. I regained my composure, and gathered my wits. I had to step up and take the role she entrusted me with... And that meant no more hesitation. No more doubt. Stiff upper lip, squared shoulders, i turned to face her.

''We'll stop your brother. We'll bring the world under a single order, one the masses will make for themselves. Let them decide, together, how to move forward. We'll be agents of change and nothing more, and we'll bring the whole system theses Gods and Cosmik entities have erected faster than they can blink. Are you with me, Erika?''