Fate's Hand

(Death) Seven clenches his jaw at what Panoptos is suggesting he should do as his orangish-red eyes glow brighter, casting the room in an orange glow as he fights the urge to shift forms and kill the watcher attached to him. He then looks at the sleeping princess as shadow slowly slips from her and falls onto the bed, then towards the floor only to dissipate before touching the stone below, and growls out softly, responding, 'I am only doing this to continue on with our plan, not because I find it enjoyable. Have a look outside to see if any of the guards are nearby, it would be troublesome should they catch me leaving the princess's chambers.'

Panoptos then grins and slips into the shadows of the castle's corridor, searching for where the guards are at nearby and reports back through the link saying, 'All is clear, master Death. I would be quiet yet hasty in making your exit as the closest guard is about twenty seconds from turning right and heading down that very corridor toward us, make sure you turn right and head down the corridor yourself. Not to worry, I will get the door for you due to your fingerless state.'

The horseman makes his way towards the door and says through the link, 'After I leave, make sure to cover her back up or she will know something happened.'

The watcher floats towards the door and presses the lever to be able to pull the door open and bows to the horseman saying through the link, 'Sure thing, horseman. I shall have a little fun of my own while you speak with Luna.'

(Death) Seven quietly, but swiftly makes his way down the corridor to the right of the princess's room and responds, 'Don't do anything that would draw attention to us.'

Panoptos closes the door softly and then looks toward the town of Ponyville to go have a little fun with the element bearers in their sleep, heading to the sleeping princess's bed and pulling the covers back over her body. With his final task done, he turns toward Ponyville and slips out through the window, looking forward to what he was intending to do with the element bearers.

As the horseman makes his way through the halls, he ignores the occasional suspicious glances the guards give him and finds the doors leading into the throne room. He looks to one of the guards and asks, "I wish for an audience with Princess Luna, my name is Seven Selbs."

The night guard on the left looks at the strange pony wearing a white mask and says, "I will see if she will grant your request, citizen, please wait here." then knocks on the door and waits for the princess's response.

Luna returns from her patrol in the dream realm at hearing the knocking and says, "Enter." Then watches as a night guard opens the door and walks inside, stops a distance away from her saying, "What is it guard?"

He bows to her and says, "There is a pony outside named Seven Selbs that has asked for an audience with you, Your Highness."

Surprised at hearing the stallion's name, her eyes widen and a slight smile comes to her face as she nods and says, "I will grant him an audience, please let him in."

The night guard then nods saying, "Yes, Your Highness." then turns and heads back to his post beside the door and says, "The princess will see you now, you may enter."

(Death) Seven ignores the tone of the guard and walks into the throne room and bows his head to the princess before stopping a short distance away saying, "Do forgive me for coming at such a strange hour, I found myself feeling a bit lonely and was hoping we could talk privately for a bit?"

Luna smiles at him deciding to open up to her a bit and nods her head saying, "Very well, come closer and I shall cast a privacy barrier around both of us."

The horseman nods his head and continues approaching her, stopping within a couple of feet of her as she continues to lie in front of the throne when she casts a spell. He watches as a blue barrier appears around them and asks, "So...no one will hear what is said in here right? It would be a big problem for me if others find out what we talk about."

She nods her head again and chuckles lightly, saying, "I assure you, no pony else outside of this bubble, including Discord, can hear a single word said in here. What troubles you, Seven Selbs?"

(Death) Seven look into her eyes with a serious look and ask, "If I tell you, will you swear to me on your life that you will keep every single thing I say, to yourself?"

Luna cocks her head in confusion for a brief moment, asking, "Is what you want to talk about really that important?"

He nods his head saying, "It is, so either agree and make the promise, or lift the barrier so I can leave."

She thinks about it for a long couple of minutes before sighing as her curiosity and desire to help others win out and says, "I will make that promise."

(Death) Seven remembers his book of secrets and raises his hoof up to the book charm on his necklace, then calls it forth, saying, "Will you place your hoof upon my book of secrets and make a formal promise to bind yourself to it?"

Luna watches as a large, ancient, weathered, black tome appears on the floor between them, catching her by surprise as she stares at it in shock for a few moments. She then sighs and nods her head to fully commit to her promise just to help them out, taking her right hoof and laying it on top of the book while closing her eyes, saying, "I solemnly swear on my life, that I will not speak a word of what you say to me, to anypony...including my own sister." then feels a wind pick up inside the barrier and opens her eyes, then looks down at the book to see it glowing with a green aura and asks, "What is going on with your book?"

He then looks up at her and says, "Not to worry princess, it is just a binding contract that will inform me if you break your promise. I shouldn't have to tell you what will happen if you break it but in short...I will take your life and those who you so foolishly shared the secret with."

She gulps nervously at the immense promise she just made and returns her hoof underneath her, then forces herself to calm down a little, saying, "I will do whatever it takes to keep our discussion secret, will I be allowed to tell others that we had a private talk?"

(Death) Seven taps his charm again as the book disappears and nods his head saying, "Yes, the contract only covers what I tell you during our private conversations, so be sure to remember that."

Luna settles down a bit more at hearing that and nods her head saying, "Alright, I can do that. So what do you want to talk about Seven?"

He then looks at her and lies down on his stomach with a sigh saying, "Well...if I had to start anywhere, I suppose I should tell you that thousands of years ago, there was once a race of beings that were searching for a home of their own. However, in their search for a home, they put countless other worlds to the sword. They began to threaten the balance, so warriors were called to end their slaughter. I was one of those warriors called upon, and we painted the ground with their blood as we slaughtered every single one of them." He then goes quiet for a moment to let her ask any questions.

She is completely stunned at hearing what he said as her mouth hangs agape for a couple of minutes before closing it and asking, "Impossible...just how old are you exactly?"

(Death) Seven then chuckles and says, "I stopped keeping track after 3,000, but I guess I could be over 10,000 by now since time doesn't really mean anything to me because I will always be around. How old are you, Princess Luna?"

Flabbergasted at hearing his age, Luna absentmindedly says, "1100, my sister is a few years older than me."

He then looks at her saying, "Still but a child when compared to me, but I am no stranger to loneliness as so very few of my family remains. I do not regret slaughtering the others, but I do find myself thinking about all I have done."

She can't help but feel a little sorry for him and finds herself wanting to hug him, and then rises to her hooves to take a few steps towards him. As she sits down right in front of him, she leans forward and rests her neck against his right side and says in a soft, soothing voice, "Everything will be alright, Seven, there is no danger here."

(Death) Seven quietly enjoys feeling her warmth against him and uses his forehooves and wings to hug her back saying, "I don't know why, but I find our embrace soothing."

Luna nuzzles deeper into the hug and wraps her forehooves and wings around him as well, letting herself enjoy being in the company of such a tender stallion saying, "So do I. Would you mind if we stay like this while I continue the rest of my patrol of the dream realm?"

He continues to hold her close and softly says, "Not at all, though I may steal your heart..."

She chuckles and then breathes in his scent, smelling somewhat stale. Surprisingly, the stale smell doesn't bother her as she says, "I don't really mind, I felt a connection between us when I first saw you. I knew from just seeing you that you were suffering some sort of pain and loneliness. I now understand why you keep so much to yourself, because you want to keep others from being unhappy."

A few hours later, in the dream realm

Panoptos spends a little time flitting between dreams, searching for one in particular...Twilight's. Finding it a few minutes later, he watches as she is doing some experiment with the human and grins with delight at the idea that comes to him, thinking, 'So...you want to experiment do you? Very well then, let's have some fun with the way you see that little human.' and slips himself into the human's dream body.

Twilight looks between Carl and the charts before her, clapping her hooves together happily saying, "I finally did it! I finally learned what blood type you are in this world!"

Panoptos looks at Twilight through the dream human's body and steeples his fingers together, then uses his voice to ask, "Umm...Twilight?"

She looks up from her charts with an ecstatic smile on her face and answers, "Yes Carl?"

He then gulps nervously and asks, "Do...you think that we could try to do one more experiment?"

Twilight smiles widely and nods her head eagerly, saying, "Sure! What experiment do you want to try next? If you have any magical abilities?"

Panoptos continues using the human's form and voice and answers, "W-Well, it's nothing like that...but I wanted to know if it was possible for a pony and a human to..."

Curious, Twilight focuses on him a bit more asking, "For a pony and human to...what?"

He mentally grins as she gets more curious and leans towards her ear and whispers, "To raise a family together?" and then pulls away with a bashful look on his face.

Her mind reels back in shock at hearing his question and stammers while a fierce blush colors her whole face red, saying, "Wha...why....HUH?!?"

Panoptos keeps up the disguise and says, "I thought you might be offended by my question...so never mind." and begins to turn away with an ashamed look on his face.

Twilight quickly reacts and says, "WAIT! Don't go, I was just surprised at what you asked." Her curiosity gets the better of her, leading her to say, "So don't be ashamed of asking an honest question, but why do you want to know that?"

He feels delighted, but hides it well before she can notice anything and keeps up the act, turning around to say, "Well...for a couple of reasons. Normally, I would never have the courage to even ask that question. With me being unable to go home due to your accidental summoning of me and not knowing how to send me back, I find myself really lonely and wanting to spend my time together with a really nice mare such as you. I love how knowledgeable and well-read you are, how you treat everyone kindly despite being different." To really sell it, he kneels down in front of her and takes her chin into his hand, then lifts her face up to look into her eyes and says affectionately, "I could care less about you being a princess now, but all I want is to be your very special somepony, yours and yours alone."

Her heart begins to flutter and skip beats as she feels lighter than air at the sweetness and affection in his voice, her wings lazily flap in the air as she floats closer toward him with hearts in her eyes saying ever so sweetly, "So do I, Carl."

Panoptos looks into her love-filled eyes and says, "I am really here with you in this dream, Twilight. I want our shared dream to remain between you and me. If I should happen to forget about this special dream, I want you to make the first move. I don't want to feel so alone anymore, my love."

Twilight's ears relax and hang beside her head as she looks at him with a love-drunk expression on her face as she grins dopily and says, "I pinkie promise you I will, my sugar bear."

A shit-eating grin crosses his face as he gets her to fall hook, line, and sinker for his ruse then quickly locks his lips with hers and kisses her romantically, secretly producing a slight amount of liquid corruption instead of saliva.

She loses herself in the kiss as her head tilts upward, swallowing his saliva as she does not want to break away from this passionate kiss thinking, 'Oh Carl, I love you so much...'

Near Sunrise, in the Canterlot throne room

(Death) Seven continues to embrace Luna when she slowly starts to stir awake and says, "Welcome back to the waking world, little princess."

Luna blushes at hearing that and backs out of the warm embrace saying, "Don't you call me that when anyone else is around."

Seeing a chance to get behind her defenses, he says, "Before I leave you for now, might we take solace in each other to keep our loneliness at bay?"

Curious, she tilts her head and asks, "What do you have in mind?"

(Death) Seven moves in with little warning, placing his hoof underneath her chin and leans toward her lips saying, "This...if you don't mind." and uses his right wing to lift his mask up above his lips.

Luna hesitates to pull away as she is frozen in place while her heart races, her mind tries to figure out what it should do while the heart cries out for affection. Her mind sighs in defeat and allows her to lean toward him, saying ever so slightly, "I'm okay with it." and locks lips with him.

He keeps the kiss a slightly intimate kiss with parted lips, but no tongue as he moves his hoof behind her neck and holds her close to him. Parting from the kiss a few moments later, he looks into her eyes and puts the mask back down saying, "I must go for now, but fear not, for I will return here again to keep you company."

Her heart races as she pants lightly, saying, "I wish you would stay longer, but I will look forward to each visit from you. You can always find me in this room each night as I guard the sleeping pony's dreams against nightmares."

(Death) Seven then bows his head to her saying, "I will see you again within a week as I have tasks of my own to pursue. Farewell for now, my little princess."

She blushes at hearing that name again and smiles before dropping the bubble saying, "Thank you for coming to see me about that matter, I will think about it later."

The horseman trots towards the doors as they open, eager to get away from the ponies making him sick with their attitudes and emotions, thinking, 'When my work is done here, I'm going to enjoy tearing these sickening, lovey-dovey ponies apart.'

Celestia wakes up feeling groggy along with an urgent need to visit the bathroom and throws the covers off of her with her magic and practically gallops to the bathroom. Nearly tripping over her own hooves and slamming into the wall, she quickly shuts the door and moves her tail out of the way just before planting her rear onto the toilet. Her eyes close as she lets herself relax and feels her body begin to relieve itself, sighing happily saying, "Wow, I can't believe how bad I had to go, nearly didn't make it." She smells a metallic smell in the air and licks her lips, then tastes blood on her lower lip. Turning her head to her left, she uses her magic to remove the mirror from the wall and levitate it in front of her and chuckles at seeing she bit her own lip saying, "Silly me, I must have gotten a little excited in last night's dream." and returns the mirror to the wall.

As she finishes relieving herself, she gets up and uses the handle to flush the bowl's contents away without noticing the black shadow filling the bowl to the very top. She leaves the room as the shadow disappears down the drain, sighing blissfully and saying, "Now let us prepare to raise the sun and lower the moon with my sister, then have a short breakfast before tending to our daily duties..." She then heads back into the room when she notices a rather thick scent in the air and groans, thinking, 'It seems that I enjoyed that dream a little too much if my scent is so thick in here... I shall open my window and allow the room to air out a bit.'

A few minutes pass as Luna stands near the balcony when the throne doors open and looks to see her sister walking in with a pleasant glow about her and smiles saying, "My my, it seems that someone had a rather enjoyable dream last night..."

Celestia blanches at hearing that and pauses a half-step and says with a slight blush coloring her cheeks, closing the doors behind her and saying, "So you saw?"

She giggles and smiles at her saying, "Unfortunately, I did catch the tail end of your dream, but I am happy that you had a wonderful dream that has you looking so pleasant this morning."

The blushing princess looks at her sister and sees that she is in a happy mood, which is unusual for her, and says, "It seems you had a rather 'pleasant' night yourself, sister. Did something really good happen that has you in this good of a mood?"

Now it's Luna's turn to blush as she looks away bashfully and says, "I-I guess you could say something good happened." while pawing at the floor with her hoof.

Celestia looks at her sister with great interest and waits a few moments for the answer, then asks, "So are you going to tell me what happened Luna?"

She smiles and looks up at her sister saying, "Somepony came to seek an audience with me, and we ended up spending the night together having a private talk."

She looks at her sister a little closer for any more information about who it was and then sighs exasperatedly saying, "Come on Luna, tell me who. You know how I get when you only tell me snippets about things..."

Luna giggles behind a hoof saying, "Sorry sister, it is just so much fun to see you beg for information. We met him in the cave with the Tree of Harmony, his name is Seven Selbs. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what we talked about as I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone. However, I can say confidently that he likes me and is slowly opening up to me, and I find myself liking him back. Not wanting to miss a chance to see her sister squirm, she says, "After our talk, he embraced me and held me close while I continued patrolling the dream realm, and shortly after that, we shared a light, romantic kiss last night."

Celestia looks at her sister and feels a bit jealous about her finding a romantic interest first and huffs while looking away with a pouty expression on her face, glancing back at her sister from the corner of her eye and saying, "No fair...you found a coltfriend before me."

She pulls her sister towards her with her magic and hugs her saying, "Don't worry sister, you still have your good looks and I'm positive that there are plenty of stallions out there looking for a loving and doting mare with experience under the sheets."

She gasps as her face turns beet red saying, "LUNA! I-I'm not THAT experienced!"

Luna laughs as she hugs her sister tighter saying, "I know sister, you know I love you and that I tease you because I enjoy seeing you squirm. Shall we raise the sun and lower the moon, dear sister of mine?"

Celestia backs out of the hug and looks at her sister with a firm, unwavering gaze saying, "I am. I look forward to seeing Seven again and having a talk with that stallion about how he should treat you."

That morning, in the skies just outside of Canterlot

(Death) Seven soars through the sky as he hears Panoptos chuckle annoyingly and uses their link to ask the annoying watcher, 'Was your night eventful?

He giggles and then answers through their link, 'Oh, it most certainly was, I managed to plant a foreign desire within or alter each of my targets' minds except for Rainbow Dash. I will have to try again tomorrow night. So then, how was yours?'

The horseman continues flying through the air and tells him through the link, 'I am making progress with her, I will have to visit her again soon to progress any further.'

Panoptos looks at the sky through Death's eyes, mentally smiling as he asks, 'You found something that you like about her, didn't you ancient one? Does it bother you to be so much older than her? Oh what am I asking that for, you are amoral, of course it doesn't!'

(Death) Seven looks around the area in front of him asking, 'So, where are we going next?'

The watcher thinks about it for a moment saying, 'I think that perhaps we should let things fester here for the moment and head to the Crystal Empire, though we will require a bit of an entourage to provide an introduction.'

He then growls under his breath and looks toward the town of Ponyville saying, 'To Ponyville then?'

Panoptos chuckles and replies, 'To Ponyville.'