Fate's Hand

Twilight is leaving her home when she sees a large shadow on the ground in front of her, causing her to stop and look to her left to see Seven heading into town and smiles saying, "Hello Seven, did you go to the ceremony yesterday?"

(Death) Seven looks at her from behind his mask and says, "I did, and that trick you performed was interesting and well-timed. What are you up to today?"

She looks at him and smiles saying, "Oh not much, I was going to go shop for some supplies for the Equestria Games coming up in a few weeks. How about you?"

The horseman looks at her and answers, "Well, I am planning to visit the Crystal Empire, what is the best way to get there?"

Twilight smiles and says, "My sister-in-law, brother, and my niece Flurry Heart are there, they actually rule over it. If you want to get there quickly, you could buy a ticket and take a train ride that would take a few hours to get there."

Panoptos chuckles inside Death's mind and says, 'You should invite her along since she knows them personally. Perhaps she might be willing to tag along and introduce us.'

(Death) Seven looks away for a moment and asks, "Would you care to join us? The trip is long and we wouldn't want to cause a fuss because of how strange I look."

She smiles widely at the chance to see her old foalsitter, her brother, and her adorable niece of course, then clops her hooves together saying, "WOULD I?! Of course I want to, do you mind if I ask a friend to come along with us?"

The horseman shrugs his front shoulders and says, "I don't mind at all, just as long as we can be on our way soon."

Twilight then nods her head saying, "Alright, I will go find him then and see if he wants to come along, I will be back in a few minutes." then turns and practically gallops away to go find the human.

(Death) Seven stands there watching her leave when he hears Dust caw angrily at him from a distance and repeatedly looks toward the gingerbread-looking shop and sighs asking, "Must I go there, Dust? Really?" and hears another angry caw with a look at the shop, then sighs saying, "Fine, you bag of feathers. Let's go get a sugar-induced coma shall we?" and heads towards the store.

Pinkie Pie is at a counter, baking up a batch of tasty cupcakes when she starts to shiver and says, "Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner, Seven Selbs. What can I get or make for you?" and looks up at the pale pony with black wings with a matching mane and tail, having a pair of glowing orangish-red eyes and asks, "How do you get your eyes to glow like that, it's really cool."

He chuckles and says, "Well, I doubt you have any fresh souls here, so how about something for my companion?" He then looks at her from behind his mask and says, "Well, to be honest...you might find it hard to believe, but I was born with these eyes."

She laughs at his request and says, "Sorry, we don't have any to spare, as we are currently using ours. We might have some ready in a few decades, but in the meantime, what can I get for your pet?"

(Death) Seven then grins and laughs saying, "I will hold you to that then." and looks at Dust as he is perched on his shoulder and says, "Well, go find what you want."

Dust scans the room for something interesting and finds it lining the outer edge of each level on a multi-layer dish, spotting others like it strewn about on a table. He then flies over to an empty spot on the table and walks over to the curious item, then pecks it. He opens his beak and bites of a piece of it and tastes something entirely new to him, he enjoys it and quickly devours the rest of it. He then picks up another piece and flies over to the pink pony, dropping it in front of her before returning to perch on his master's shoulder and letting out a single caw.

Pinkie feels her body shivering from the cold and looks down at the gumdrop with a smile, saying, "Your pet likes gumdrops just like my pet alligator, Gummy. How many would you like to purchase?"

The horseman looks at her and says, "I think that a thousand of those might last for a while before I will have to get some more."

She smiles widely and hops toward the kitchen saying, "For an order that large, I will have to make them. Unfortunately, they need to sit out overnight, but they will be ready for you to pick up tomorrow though. Would your pet like some jellybeans to enjoy until then?"

(Death) Seven sees Dust nod his head and then says, "That will be fine, I have some business to tend to in the Crystal Empire anyway. How much for one pound of these...jellybeans?"

Pinkie smiles and heads over to the barrel filled with assorted jellybeans and says, "It will be one bit please." then sets a medium-sized cloth bag on a low table near the barrel, then takes a scale with a funnel bowl on it and places it near the empty bag.

The horseman watches as she holds a small scoop in her mouth and begins measuring the requested amount, retrieving his bag of bits from his saddlebags and removing one to pay her. He returns his bag of bits to his saddlebags and sets the bit on the counter to pay her saying, "That should cover the jellybeans. I will pay you once the gumdrops are done."

She sets the bag of jellybeans on the countertop and smiles widely saying, "Okie dokie, no problem at all. Thank you for visiting Sugar Cube Corner, Seven. I hope you have a wonderful day!" and returns to the cake she was decorating for the upcoming birthday of Princess Flurry Heart.

(Death) Seven takes the bag with his mouth as she collects the bit, placing the bag of jellybeans into his saddlebags looking at his pet saying, "I will let you have some of these after we get on the train."

After returning to the spot where Twilight left him, he sees the mare making her way back with the human accompanying her and asks, "Are we all ready to get going now?"

Twilight nods her head with a smile on her face and says, "Yes we are. Sorry, we took so long, I was just asking how Carl's day went yesterday and if he had any interesting dreams."

After spending the entirety of the trip to the Crystal Empire, Death wakes up feeling refreshed and finds Dust still digging into the jellybeans and digs out a few apples for himself to eat, saying through the link, 'Panoptos, I wish to pursue this Sombra creature and claim its soul. Be sure to help guide me to it, I can only hope it will put up a decent fight...'

Panoptos giggles inside of his mind and says, 'Oh I certainly will, but first, you will have to make it past the Crystal Empire's magical barrier produced by an ancient artifact called the Crystal Heart.'

As Twilight heads for the door, she asks, "Do you want to come with us to the castle, Seven? That way I can introduce you to Cadance, my brother Shining Armor, and my niece Flurry Heart."

(Death) Seven shrugs his shoulders saying, "Sure, why not, lead on." and follows her out of the car towards the castle.

A half-hour later, Cadance is sitting in the throne with her daughter, braiding her mane and tail when she sees Twilight and Carl with someone new and smiles as she finishes tying her daughter's tail with a pretty pink bow and sets her on the floor saying, "Looks like Aunty Twilight and Carl have come to visit us, they also brought someone new with them."

Flurry Heart looks at her aunt and smiles widely, then races over saying, "Aunty Twily, mister Carl!" and gives Carl and her aunt a big hug then looks over to the one she hasn't met yet and cocks her head asking, "Who are you?"

The watcher whispers to Death through their link saying, 'I don't know why, but this little alicorn filly is more perceptive than the adults are. I've tried to slip corruption into her but she seems to be immune to it, but she is one of the targets so we will have to do something about her later on if things don't progress as we want.'

The horseman looks down at the young filly and says, "I am just a pony that came here to tend to some business, getting to meet royalty is just a bonus." He then looks up to the pink mare saying with a respectful bow, "Greetings, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Seven Selbs, and it is a pleasure to have the chance to meet you."

Cadance looks at the tall stallion, having a spotted, light celadon coat with a black mane and tail, black feathering along each of his hooves with a pair of massive black wings. She then shivers as the temperature seems to drop around them and says, "Welcome to the Crystal Empire, Seven Selbs. I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but I prefer to be called Cadance. I do hope you enjoy your time here. If you would forgive me for not welcoming you properly, I wish to greet Twilight."

(Death) Seven watches her get up and start to head down the stairs and shakes his head for a brief moment saying, "Not at all, I'm not big on ceremony. I thank you for the warm welcome and shall see myself out to tend to my business here." then looks over at Twilight and says, "I will look at the different stalls after my business is concluded Twilight, farewell for now." He then turns and makes his way towards the front doors as he hears the two sing a strange chant and both laugh at the end. His annoyance spikes as he asks the watcher through their link, 'UGH, how long do you think it will take until things are ready for the next part of our plan?'

Panoptos giggles in his annoying tone saying, 'Awe, what's wrong? Are you getting attached to these affectionate, caring, warm, and fuzzy little ponies?'

The horseman walks out of the castle and makes his way toward the snowy lands responding to the watcher's words saying, 'Attached? Hardly, I just want to move on with our plans so I can free my brethren from the council. guide me to where this...King Sombra...is.'

He then says, 'Alright, but let's wait until we get outside of the Crystal Empire.'

(Death) Seven makes his way towards the barrier grumbling, 'You're going to make me hunt him down...aren't you?'

Meanwhile...at the Crystal Castle

Cadance watches Carl get pulled away by Flurry Heart with a smile on her face saying, "Now that is cute, though a bit sad with how dense the human is. It is a shame that he is already spoken for though, am I right, Twilight?"

Not really paying attention, she absentmindedly says, "Yeah, a shame..." but then realizes what she just agreed to and whips her head around to look at Cadance with a fierce blush on her face saying, "Wait a...how do you..."

She puts a hoof over Twilight's mouth and giggles saying, "I could see it as clear as day. I am the princess of love, it is my duty to know when someone is head over hooves for another." She then returns her hoof to the ground and asks with a gentle, teasing tone, "So, when are you going to make your move, or are you going to wait for the perfect moment just to have Flurry steal him out from under your nose?"

Twilight sighs and says, "I don't know, I've never been in love before...this is new, so I'm worried." then looks down at the floor dejectedly.

Cadance giggles and uses her left hoof to lift her chin up, looking into her eyes and saying with a smile, "What is there to be scared about, the heart can heal from any emotional wound if given time. If you wait too long, and watch him be stolen from you without taking the chance...your heart will be scarred, and shall regret it your whole life. Don't forget the old saying...wounds heal, and scars fade. Take the leap or don't, it is your choice to make and live with. If it doesn't work out, your friends and family will be there to support you."

She then gives Cadance a big hug saying, "So...can you give me any advice on dating?"

The princess smiles and then nods her head saying, "Of course, follow me to my chambers and I will help you."

A half-hour later, somewhere outside the barrier around the Crystal Empire

Death gallops away on his steed Despair, trying to catch up to the fleeing shadow of King Sombra shouting, "You can't escape the inevitable, petulant shadow child, so stop trying."

King Sombra flees for his life as purplish blood oozes from his wound, as he looks back to see the being who wounded his shadow form running him down relentlessly and bellows, "I'LL DO ANYTHING IF YOU JUST LET ME LIVE!"

As his steed gets him closer to the fleeing shadow, Death looks at Sombra directly in the eyes and says, "Interesting proposal, but I'm not biting. I can study you after I've caught you, coward." He then shifts to his most powerful form and reaches out to grab the fleeing shadow.

He glances back and instantly regrets it, seeing the black skeletal hand reaching for him as he makes a desperate choice screaming, "I WOULD PREFER SAFETY IN THE ETHER TO WHAT YOU HAVE IN MIND!" and then dives into the ground and sends himself there to preserve his life.

Panoptos groans and floats beside Death saying, "How disappointing..."

Death looks down at the spot where Sombra vanished and asks, "Is there no way to pursue him into this...Ether?"

The watcher sighs with irritation and says, "Unfortunately not, but I have been looking into it. I will need some time before I can find a way in. So for now, let us return to the Crystal Empire."

The horseman huffs with irritation as Despair rears up and slams his hooves onto the ground saying, "I know, boy, I know. I wish we could have caught him too, but the chase was fun wasn't it?" He rubs his steed's neck as he nickers in response saying, "Come on, let's be on our way back then."

Panoptos looks at the cloudy skies above him and chuckles saying, 'Looks like we had an audience, perhaps we will have to return to collect them as well. If you look up, you will see who I mean.'

Death looks up into the clouds to see ghostly heads looking down through the cloud cover at him and shouts, "BOO" making them shriek and pull their heads back up and asks, 'What are those creatures?'

The watcher smiles and says, 'Those creatures are windigos if remember right, they feed off of hate and use it to cover lands in snow.'

Back at the Crystal Empire

Cadance walks around the market with Twilight, enjoying catching up with her asking, "Oh Twilight before I forget, where did you meet Seven Selbs and why did the temperature seem to drop when he was around?"

Twilight cocks her head and asks, "I met him near the Everfree Forest just the other day. He startled me when he jumped up out of a hole dug by Diamond dogs after having beaten them up, then he accompanied me into the forest and we talked a little bit about himself. A few moments later, he took off into the woods to fight more of the vines, then came back after my friends had rescued me so I introduced them to him. When Fluttershy asked if there was any way we could help him with the issues in his homeland, he told us about a disease that is spreading throughout the land. He said its first sign is black, spidery lines appearing on our bodies and that he has been wandering in search and hadn't seen any sign of it being here. Rainbow didn't think much about it and I told them that there might be more to it, so I asked what happens after that first sign and how bad the disease gets. Seven then told us that the next sign is that the disease takes control of the body and makes the body behave irrationally, after that, the body begins to cough up black ooze until its mind goes insane and eventually chokes to death on the ooze building up inside them. He then asked about the jewelry we were wearing, so Rarity told him that they were actually the Elements of Harmony and which one we represented. We then went to the cave and returned the elements, then freed the tree along with the princesses. After I spoke to the princesses, they saw him and went over to meet him. I heard him telling them what he told us, with a few minor added details about the disease. When they offered to help him fight the disease, however, he said that there was nothing they could do because of how far away his homeland is and it would be too late by then. The princesses didn't give up though, and they insisted that they could combine their magic to travel anywhere on the planet. That is when he shocked us all and said that was the problem because he wasn't from our world, and has had no luck in finding a way back. Celestia told him that when they returned to Canterlot, they would search every library for a way to help him return after holding a ceremony first. Seven got annoyed with that and raised his voice, then told them to quit pestering him. The angry tone of his voice made them flinch and back away a step, making Celestia do something I never saw her do before, which was hang her head and apologize for caring too much while trying to help him. I never saw her look ashamed before, and seeing that stunned me. What happened after that though took us all by surprise, because he must have realized how he made her feel bad when he let out a sigh and said the truth was that they couldn't help what was already dead. We were slack-jawed for a few moments before Luna recovered from the shock and asked why he wouldn't tell the truth instead of just lying about it, which he said he doesn't like to talk about his past because of the guilt, shame, regret, and pain that he doesn't want to be reminded of. Also said that we had enough to worry about without knowing what happened to his world, he came here because his world and its inhabitants were dead and that it was all his fault. He started to leave, but stopped and looked back and asked where he could turn in the dog tags from the Diamond Dogs. After Celestia told him to go to the town hall in Ponyville, he called for his companion Dust to guide him there and then left. When I looked at Celestia's face...she had tears coming from her eyes, so I made my way over to give her a comforting hug. Celestia then invited him to the Ceremony, I heard him say something that makes me think he is older than he looks. As he was walking away, he called back and told us to watch ourselves out there and that trouble isn't far away and comes when it feels like it. After that, we made our way back to Ponyville so I could continue practicing. That is about all I know about him Cadence, sorry that I don't know more."

She smiles and shakes her head gently, saying, "Oh don't apologize for that Twilight, you gave me some valuable information about Seven. I am looking forward to getting to know them a little better myself."

Just outside of the crystal city

(Death) Seven Selbs walks through the city, seeing ponies with their crystal coats and watches as Flurry Heart stands in front of the human with her tail wrapped around his thigh. He keeps walking and watches out of the corner of his mask as she uses her tail to bump her rear against his leg, causing a light blush to color her cheeks as she keeps smiling like this is the best day ever and uses his link to ask, 'What did you do to that filly, Panoptos?'

Panoptos chuckles and watches from the horseman's shadow and answers, 'Well nothing much, to be honest, but I did appear in her dreams in shadowform when she was only a few years old and...helped...her fall in love with the human. I haven't meddled with the mother's mind yet, but I did get a good look around inside and I find her rather...interesting.'

The horseman raises an eyebrow curiously and asks, 'The pink mare is interesting to you? Why is that?'

The watcher giggles and replies, 'Well, perhaps it is because she already has a tiny speck of corruption in her already that I did not put there. After digging around her mind for a while, I discovered that she has a few quirks that would be frowned upon in pony society and would destroy her public image if they were to become public knowledge...'

(Death) Seven stops in his tracks for a moment and growls under his breath then demands through the link, 'Enough of your games, stop talking in riddles and just say it already!'

Panoptos gives death a fake sad sigh and says, 'You're no fun at all, but fine...Princess Cadence has a bit of a naughty side to her.'

The horseman continues walking forward and responds, 'Really? What is that supposed to mean to me?'

A plan starts to form in Panoptos's mind as he then says in a conspiratorial tone, 'Well think about it, we could help speed thing along a little bit by capitalizing on the fact that she enjoys spying on others while they are in the throes of intimacy. All it would take are a few nudges on my part, and dropping a very subtle suggestion to the mother to put things in motion. What say you, master Death?'

(Death) Seven scoffs at hearing that and says, 'I think that you are a very nasty and wicked creature, but I won't kill you because you found a way to have us spend less time on this planet. What do you wish for me to do?'

Panoptos becomes excited at messing with the pony's lives again and says in a sickeningly sweet tone, 'Oh it isn't much really, I just want you to spend some time with Cadance this evening until I tell you everything is ready.'