Secrets

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: Newcomer
Chapter 2: Memories
Chapter 3: One Armed Bandit
Chapter 4: Doubt
Chapter 5: Unexpected Meeting
Chapter 6: The Monster Within
Chapter 7: I Am No Hero
Chapter 8: Trying to Integrate
Chapter 9: Secrecy
Chapter 10: To Find a Cutie Mark
Chapter 11: Foreboding
Chapter 12: Darkness Calls
Chapter 13: The Journey Begins
Chapter 14: First Contact
Chapter 15: The Birth of Gamer Luna
Chapter 16: Heart of Steel
Rewrite

Prologue

Secrets

Prologue

In a land not so far from Equestria.

It was a dark and gloomy night. There was a certain chill in the air, a reminder of Winter. Snow still remained in concealed areas. Though peaceful the night was, there were still creatures scurrying about.

"Stop him! Thief!" rang out clear into the night, followed by thundering footsteps. As the locals opened windows and doors to see what the commotion was about. A small blur nimbly maneuvered itself among the houses. The lone shopkeep was joined by more citizens as they hunted down the thief. They followed the thief into a dark street, the thief then took a left turn into a dead end street. Thinking that they had him, the crowd slowed down to a jog. Turning the corner, they were surprised to find nothing there but a few rats. A shadow fell across the ground in front of them. As they looked up, they got a clear look at the thief. Outlined against the full moon, The thief stood proudly on the roof of an inn. He had a large hat that hid his face, though two amber eyes that seemed to burn through the shopkeeper's soul still showed; and a long red cape flowed behind him, tattered and torn. "See ya later boys!" Jeered the thief in a high-pitched voice. Flashing a smirk at the awe-struck brutes. Stepping back, the thief dropped behind the inn.

The thief calmly entered his room through the window, where a white wolf was curled up, sleeping. The canine raised its head lazily, arching an eyebrow. "Got your food, Snow."

Snow blinked in gratitude and stretched. "You're getting lazy, girl, maybe I should take you with me shopping". Snow rolled her deep blue eyes as she approached him. He unwrapped the parcel he was carrying, revealing a large chunk of meat. "That should do for a few days. Go put it in the storage if you may." Snow nodded and grabbed the meat, and turned to the small room where they held their possessions. Watching snow go, the thief took out a small journal and recorded the days' events. Though he disliked stealing, he was not in a position to do everything the honest way. As Snow returned, she nuzzled his shoulder, and angled her ears to the door. "We have visitors?" The thief put away his journal and slowly approached the door, knife in hand. Pressing his ear against the door, he listened. "Shhh! You're gonna spook him!"

"Where is he?" Inquired the Orc that he recognized as the blacksmith. "The innkeeper said he was in the third room on the left. I ought to make that bastard eat hot coals!" Backing up, the thief quickly packed their personal possessions. Motioning Snow to the window, they climbed outside and onto the roof. "Where to, Snow? I'm not sure where to go, this was the last city that didn't know of my presence." Snow motioned towards the dark forest in the east. "The Forest of the Damned? Have you gone out of your mind? No one ever makes it out of those woods. And besides, you know my win-"Their conversation was interrupted as the door to their room was kicked down. "Search the room! Don't let him escape!" Bellowed the shopkeeper. "Forest it is." whispered the thief. And the two companions disappeared into the night.

Chapter 1: Newcomer

It was in late night when the thief and his follower arrived at a clearing. Large thunderclouds coated the entire sky a dark gray, incessant rain and merciless winds kept whipping at the two travelers. Snow whined and shook her recently bandaged hind leg,

"I guess we can rest here a bit." Yelled the caped creature, through a cloak, rain, and the roaring wind. Snow acknowledged and nearly immediately dissapeared into a bush, only to have her nose poke back out as she stared at her friend. Chuckling at the sight, the traveler put down a bag, and rummaged through it.

"Where is it? Maybe in the back pouch? No, where the heck is- ah there it is." taking out 16 short metal rods, he put them down by his side. Looking back into the bag, he pulled out a large tarp.

"Snow, be a dear and hold this please." The wolf quickly snatched the tarp and hobbled back into the bush, but this time her whole head stuck out as to not rip the fabric. Whistling, the traveler assembled the rods into a triangular shape. Dragging the slender form between the bush and a tree, he grabbed the tarp and started attaching it to the rods. After a few adjustments, the tent was ready, motioning to Snow, the companions sheltered themselves from the elements.

As they were drifting to sleep, the thief cast out his senses, searching for any wildlife. Odd, there isn't anything bigger than a squirrel for at least a mile out. He sent his senses even farther, looking for what might be keeping the animals in check. Sweeping the area, he couldn't make out any fine details through the heavy rain. As he was about to give up searching, he felt an unfamiliar life force at the edge of his radius; looking ever so slightly farther, he noticed a small group of creatures inside a large structure he figured was a home. Carefully examining their features, he concluded that they were most likely mammals. Poking around a little more, he was careful not to make contact with their psyche; out of fear of being discovered. Taking into consideration their physical appearance, he tested out a few illusion spells that would make him look like one of their kind in a snap. Picking out a look, he tried it on, his hands and feet dissapeared and were replaced by hooves. Satisfied, he let the spell die and went to sleep.

"What in' the hay is that?" Asked a small energetic voice.

"Not sure, sugarcube, now how 'bout we go find out?" Responded an older, yet still distinctively female voice. Inside the two intruders were jolted awake by the sudden outburst. Damn, looks like my time's up, hope this illusion works. With a flash of orange, he activated the illusion spell, and waved Snow behind him. Pushing his hat down to hide his face, he emerged out of his tent, facing the newcomers.

Applejack froze when she saw the tiny figure emerge out of it's tent, putting a hoof in front of Applebloom. She pushed her sister behind herself and gave the intruder a good look-over. He was wearing a large hat much like her own, but it was of a darker brown and had a much larger rim, it also sported a single striped feather on it's right side. With the hat sunk down low, Applejack couldn't see the face of the stranger. As he fully emerged out of his tent, a long red cape unfurled behind him, flowing without any wind. Applejack wasn't afraid of many things, but this thing was giving even her the creeps, "Um, 'xcuse me? You seem to be in our land." She tested the caped figure, Does it even speak equestrian?

"Please pardon my intrusion, ma'am. I was only resting for the night here, I do not wish to have any confrontation with your kind." Applejack was surprised to hear the amount of maturity in the small creature's voice. After all, the thing wasn't much bigger than Applebloom.

"That's not a problem, if you were looking' for a place to catch a few winks you should've just came to our house." Applejack was curious to see how the thing reacted, was it dangerous?

"I, umm. Well I knew that your house was nearby but I was kinda hoping that I could pass through unnoticed." Applejack knew he was hiding something, he could see him pushing something back into the tent. I need to get him out of that tent, then I'll be able to see what's in there.

Sis? What does he want?" Applejack's thoughts were interrupted by her younger sister, turning around, she saw Applebloom peeking out from behind her.

"Hold on a minute please."

"Of course, I have all day." Turning to Applebloom, Applejack whispered into her ear,

"Something's off with this fellow, go back home and tell Big Mac where I am." Hearing the seriousness in her voice Applebloom ran towards home.

Now's my chance! The traveler had no idea what eye structure the creatures had, as the orange one talked to the yellow one; he quickly peeked out from under his hat and stared straight into the eye of the smaller one. He noticed that their eye structure had a large oval eye shape, with a large iris and pupil, which was rounded, unlike his; which were cat-like. Quickly correcting the spell, an orange glow could be seen from under his hat. Looking up, he saw that the orange one was just starting to turn back, and the smaller yellow thing was running towards the large wooden house he saw in the distance. Oh great, hopefully she's not getting the military.

"Now, what's your name? Mine's Applejack" Looking up, he saw an outstretched hoof, shaking it, he let out a smile and answered:

"I go by Wildfire. And this is Snow." leaving the tent, Snow poked out her head, eliciting an uncertain look from Applejack. "Don't worry, she doesn't bite. Much." Wildfire reached out and pet the furry creature, which seemed to reassure Applejack somewhat.

"Where did you come from anyways?" Applejack inquired. Wildfire though about it, what should I tell her? She seems friendly and all, but I'd rather not trust her too much yet.

"It's a long story, one I'd rather tell another time." Wildfire decided to play the 'long story' card, hoping to deter Applejack. But Applejack isn't someone you easily brush off.

"Listen, I gotta go work, but I would really appreciate it if ya could move your tent at least. These trees won't buck themselves." Well, at least she's not asking any questions.

"Sure, in fact, could you tell me where the nearest village is?" Wildfire decided he should get accustomed to the locals, if he was here to stay.

"Sure, you can see it from here, though im pretty sure they'll be afraid of, err, Snow; with her being a wolf and all." Nodding, Wildfire packed up the tent and headed towards the gate. With Snow following close behind, he started down the path that led towards the village.

Wildfire was about halfway when he heard something whiz by, looking up; he saw a multi-colored blur fly through clouds, making them dissapear one by one. The blur was so fast it left behind a long trail that looked like a rainbow, clearing the skies of clouds in a matter of seconds. The traveler stood there amazed at what he had seen, then shook his head and continued onwards. He had barely went ten feet when he heard a chorus of birds whistling together. Looking around for the source of the music, Wildfire looked at Snow; who was staring intently at a bush. Pushing through the bush, Wildfire saw a beautiful light yellow creature with pink hair humming to the birds. They seemed to be listening to her voice and repeating it in a harmonious melody. Allowing himself a moment to bask in the delightful sounds, Wildfire found himself smiling. Closing his eyes, he sighed, almost like a signal the birds immediately stopped. Opening his eyes, the traveler saw that the birds were looking at him, the yellow winged creature hiding behind what he recognized as a mane. "Sorry." Wildfire managed to mumble before pulling his head out of the bush, back onto the road he picked up the pace deliberately. Great first impression there, and to someone that I would like to talk to later.

As he neared the city, he got a good look at the kind of creatures that seemed to inhabit this land. They were of all colors, some had wings, some had a horn; others had nothing. Examining the wings more closely, Wildfire noticed that they were feathery, like his; but were the same color as their fur, unlike his. They seemed to predominantly speak anglican, like the peasants back home. Looking around he saw that the ones with horns were able to use magickae, but he could feel that the others were using some sub-consciously. Oddly enough, they seemed to be predominantly female. Oh dear ancestors, I hope it's not one of those hive species. As he slowly progressed into the village, he was met by stares and the creatures seemed to shy away into the surrounding buildings. Looking back, he shook his head at Snow, who then went and hid among the alleyways. Stopping in front of what seemed like a bakery, he looked around for any other sapient creatures. He leap straight up when a pink one appeared right in front of Wildfire, with a yelp of surprise he scrambled to get some distance from her, unconsciously using his magic to push her away. She was unaffected as she seemed to get even closer instead,

"Hi what's your name? I'm Pinkie Pie ooh are you new here? That means I have to throw you a Welcome-to-Ponyville party, yay! It'll be so fun! Well be best friends!" Wildfire stood clutching his racing heart, gasping for air. Tuning out the chattering pink mass, he tried to calm himself down before he had a heart attack. Taking a deep breath, he steadied his heart, and looked back at Pinkie Pie; who was still chatting to herself about who she should invite to the party. "Ahem. My name is Wildfire, and I w-" Wildfire found himself backed up against a wall as Pinkie Pie assaulted his mind with a barrage of questions. Enough of this! With his eyes glowing a light blue he dissapeared in a burst of blue flames. Reappearing by Snow, Wildfire let out a sigh. Opening his eyes again he shrieked as Pinkie Pie was standing inches from his face, still talking. "Why are you running? You were all like whoosh and then you were here and I found you." Oh no, not her. Looking around he saw a large building with many decorations, looking inside a window; he spotted his target, grabbing onto Snow, they both dissapeared in a blue flame much to Pinkie's disappointment.

Inside the building was a white mare with a purple mane. Happily humming along to the sounds of a sewing machine. The humming was interrupted by a large crashing sound originating from downstairs. Did Rainbow Dash stop for a visit? She inquired, pausing her sewing, she headed downstairs to see what had caused the distraction.

"Oh my!" there was a young pegasi sprawled out onto the floor with a wolf laying on top of him. "Quick! Get away from that wolf before it eats you up!" picking up the confused pony off the floor with her magic, she levitated him away from the foul creature.

"Huh-wha?" The Pegasus stirred, looking around he saw her and looked at the wolf. Much to her surprise, he asked, "Snow? You alright girl?"

"Why of course I'm fine, I'm not Snow, I'm Rarity." the pegasus looked at Rarity as if she were completely bald.

"Well, no duh, I wasn't talking to you, Snow is the wolf right there."

"Y-you actually-. That thing is yours?"

"Yup, dont worry, she doesnt bite unless if you give her a reason to." As he said those words, the pale creature started moving. Getting up, Snow shook her fur, sitting back down, she let the pegasus look her over. "I'm Wildfire by the way."

"Pleasure to meet you, I am Rarity, might I ask why you are in here?" Wildfire looked outside, checking to see if Pinkie Pie was still following him.

"I was running from this pink creature named Pinkie Pie." Rarity chuckled, the newcomer had obviously met Pinkie Pie first. A typical reaction she'd seen plenty times before. Taking a closer look at Wildfire, Rarity saw the muddy cloak.

"Dear Celestia! Where did you get those gastly crimes against fashion!" Using her magic, Rarity lifted Wildfire off the ground and dragged him to the next room.

Chapter 2: Memories

How long has it been? 700 years? They say scars tell a story. And I have enough to write an entire history book. Like a bad memory, they never truly go away, all it takes is a glance or thought and the memories come screaming back. This long-lifespan isn't a gift at all, if only I could have saved them. Wildfire felt disgusted as images of carcasses rotting in the street filled his mind, the acrid smell all too familiar. Sick to his stomach, Wildfire tried to occupy himself. Turning his attention to Rarity, he tried to take notice of what her chirping was about, though he hated being fussed over; it felt nice to have someone genuinely care about him. Rarity seemed to have noticed the distant look in his eyes, and was patiently searching his face for signs of activity. After Wildfire turned to look at her, she resumed her talk with him.

"Anything wrong?" She was curious to hear what could cause him to space out for such a long time. Holding an assortment of fabrics in front of Wildfire, she listened.

"Memories, lots of bad ones." Was all he gave her. Dissapointed , Rarity was about to push further, but seeing him shuffle uncomfortably dettered her. Whatever it was, it was profoundly personal to him.

"Anywho, your outfit goes very well on you, I just wish you would take better care of your cloak and I won't cringe every time I look at you. Also, the colors near the head are all wrong, you simply must wear something other than brown to properly contrast with those gorgeous eyes of yours, they are really... Unique."

"Indeed. But I personally prefer wearing black and blue, these are simply my travel clothes." Wildfire was not an expert in fashion in any way, but discussing them was something he enjoyed.

"Travel? Surely you can fit more decorations and more colors in there." Wildfire arched his eyebrow,

"Have you been, where I've been? Trust me, I'd rather not waste resources making a richly decorated suit only to have it torn when I run into another wyvern. Which I always seem to run into."

Rarity's interest spiked, she had never heard of a wyvern, nor did she believe you couldn't make clothes that was durable and stylish. "Wyvern? What is that?" Wildfire gave her a smile and seemed to lighten up, his memories pushed to a distant corner of his mind.

"A wyvern is like a dragon, I'm sure you've heard of those?" Rarity nodded, still keenly listening to Wildfire. "Well a wyvern, is smaller, about 12 feet tall. It looks a lot like a dragon, with the same basic body shape; that's where the similarities end. They are much more brutish than dragons, they do not speak at all, they are much more wild than dragons; you can negotiate with a dragon. A wyvern would eat you up without a second thought. They also do not share dragons abilities in magickae or fire-breathing."

"Pardon my asking, but what is magickae? Magic?" Rarity was confused, what world did he come from? It seemed so strange to her.

"Magickae is what you did to me when you levitated me here, I'm guessing you call it magic here." Nodding her head, Rarity was quickly losing interest, this was something Fluttershy would enjoy more. Rarity tensed up and looked at the clock, she was going to be late for the spa! "Well, look at the time, I need to go meet some friends. Care to follow me? I know my friend Twilight would love to hear about wyverns."

Locking the door behind her, Rarity led the way towards Twilight's library. Even if she was at the spa, Spike would no doubt take Wildfire off of her hooves. Wildfire was a pleasant fellow, he didn't talk much, if at all, and was a great listener; Twilight would no doubt like him as well. As they arrived at the library, Rarity knocked at the door. Just as she had expected, Spike came running towards the door, opening it wide for her.

"Hiya Rarity! Twilight is at the spa, if you were wondering." Rarity calmly entered the library, and when he thought he was out of sight; Spike swooned at her. He did not notice Wildfire until he heard his barely contained laughter.

"Who's him?"

"Spike, I would be forever grateful if you could take Wildfire here off my hooves ." Spike thought about it, please Rarity and let him in or refuse?

"I guess he can stay for a while, if he helps me rearrange the books." Wildfire stepped in, nodding to Spike, he went and took a look at the large array of books in the hollow tree. Rarity thanked Spike and quickly went out to join her friends, closing the door behind her as she did so.

Looking out the window, Wildfire could see Snow at the edge of the forest, chasing a rabbit. Satisfied that she was fine, Wildfire turned to Spike. The baby dragon kept eyeing him suspiciously, something Wildfire was accustomed to, reaching out with his mind, he made contact with Spike consciousness. Pretending to wonder where to put a book. Just as he had expected the dragon was not able to notice him, as he looked for the information he was looking for he noticed that Spike knew someone that he had met before. With a better idea of where he was, Wildfire progressed farther into his mind. He easily reached the part of Spike's mind that housed his current thoughts. I don't like the looks of this guy, he hasn't said a word since he got here! Wildfire smiled, of course no one trusted him yet. He debated internally whether or not to trust Spike, sure he was of no physical threat to him, but if he mentioned his name to the wrong person he could be very dangerous. Putting the book he held in the right spot, Wildfire decided he should try to squeeze a conversation through. Turning around, his eyes turned to a pale blue once again, and he levitated the next book towards him.

An alarm flared into life, drowning out the pitter patter of the rain. Leaping out of his bed, he made his way to the balcony, where the soldiers were assembling. Grabbing his helmet and shield, he assembled the complex armor and sheathed his sword. As he made it outside, the gates slowly opened with a low-pitched groan; revealing a large mass of blood-hungry orcs running towards the now-open entrance. The sirens blared their monotous shriek, giving the order to attack. Wildfire found himself behind Her, who gave him a comforting smile. As they charged the enemy, Wildfire didn't feel as much fear as he always had before; he felt rather sad instead, as more of his friends would die that night. Wildfire was snapped back into reality as the door opened. The sun was lowering under the horizon, I ought a get Snow in. Looking at the door, he saw a lavender mare, as he learned to call them, enter the library. Talking to Spike a little bit, she then turned to Wildfire and walked over to where he was sitting; through her smile, Wildfire could see distrust and doubt in her eyes.

"You must be Wildfire, Rarity was talking about you at the spa." Wildfire nodded, looking to the window, he saw that Snow was chasing a different rabbit. As she whizzed by a bush, the yellow pegasus he saw earlier was running after the two of them.

"Oh bloody hell!" He exclaimed, the others visibly cringed at the foul language. Not caring right now, Wildfire charged through the door. Barely pausing to open it, he ran in the direction he last saw the trio.

Snow leapt over a thorn bush as she chased the rabbit, it would make a good meal. Focused on the hunt, she dismissed the screams from behind her as ambience. The smells of the forest streaming over her, her paws lightly thumping against the ground rhythmically. Her prey was fast, but she was faster. She would have it already if it weren't for her injured leg, slowing her down. Snow was aware that the rabbit was leading her deeper into the forest, but she was hungry and determined to catch it. As she was about to pounce on the rabbit, it took a hard left. Stumbling, Snow followed into the clearing, where the rabbit ran over a large mound of rocks. Which started moving.

Trampling down bushes, Wildfire was running through the heavily forested area, with Twilight and Spike trying to keep up. Looking to his right, he saw Applejack joining the group, nodding to each other; they took the lead. Head low to the ground, Wildfire followed the tracks that were distinctly Snow's. Arriving at a clearing, The group was shocked to a standstill.

Snow, the yellow mare and the rabbit were all cornered into a hollow tree by a large troll, easily 20 feet tall. It was grey and had what looked like rocks attached to its body in various places. The troll had the others cornered into a hollow tree, just out of the reach of its massive claws. Snow was snarling at the troll, trying to keep itself between the yellow mare and the troll. She, however, was talking to the troll, asking it to stop. Taking a quick look at the situation, Wildfire turned to the ponies that had followed him.

"Any suggestions?" Wildfire already knew what to do, but he was testing the others to see whether they could be dangerous to him. Twilight looked up at the sky, looking for something or someone, then frowned. Pinkie must not have found Rainbow yet.

"Okay, here's the plan, I'll try to levitate the monster high enough so that Fluttershy and the others can escape, Applejack, help them out and lead them to town. Wildfire, help Applejack, any questions?" Wildfire scoffed at the plan,

"I'm sorry, but what makes you think you can levitate a four thousand pound troll? It's hard enough to lift something that heavy, it's impossible to lift something that heavy that will be struggling."

Twilight seemed rather insulted by the comment, but she didn't frown or yell. "Do you have anything better?" Applejack asked.

"Why yes, I've seen this troll a few days ago, it's missing a few fingers, no doubt it will remember me. I'll try to bait it away from here while you quietly get the others out."

"How do you know it'll take the bait?" Twilight inquired.

"Because, I'm the reason it's missing some fingers. See those cuts on its back? That's me, I'm certain it will go for me." Seeing no point in delaying further, the two ponies nodded, Wildfire turned towards the troll; who was starting to get closer to the group in the hollow tree. Looking around, he spotted a large rock beside him. Grabbing the rock, he spun a few times and threw the rock. The rock flew through the air, spiralling as it did so, closing the distance between Wildfire and the troll; it hit square onto the neck of the troll. Roaring in pain, the troll turned around to see what was attacking him.

Inside the tree trunk, Fluttershy was in a state of panic, nothing she did to the monster helped at all, even the Stare was useless against it. She heard the sound of rock shattering and saw the monster turn his back, quickly, she, Angel, and the wolf looked out to see what was out there. Wildfire was standing alone in the clearing, motioning to the troll. It snarled it anger and swung at him, they were all surprised to see how easily he stepped over the outstretched arm. Taking advantage of the troll's position, Wildfire ran up his arm and kicked him in the lower jaw, causing it to bite its tongue. Fluttershy was distracted when she felt a hoof poke her in the rib cage, looking to the right, she saw Applejack motioning to them to follow her. She let Angel and the wolf get to safety first, but as she was heading towards the bush her hooves caught in a tangle of tripweed, the tripweed wrapped itself around her hooves tightly, causing her to land on her face. The troll turned around, looking for his meal, seeing Fluttershy tied up; he swung down to grab her. Only to have Wildfire dart between his legs and push her into the bush, the grab turned into a swing. Wildfire nimbly jumped up and over the reach of the first arm, but he saw the other arm heading straight for him. And midair he could not avoid it, with a sickening crack he was launched across the clearing. Limbs flailing from the momentum, sharp pain permeated his ribs as he bounced across the ground at high speed. He turned to see the tree. Then darkness.

Chapter 3: One Armed Bandit

Wildfire opened his eyes to see himself in a dark cave, looking around, he recognized the cave where he found the mebrythilium he used to forge his sword. Looking behind him, he was delighted to see Her again, and just behind her, was his brother.

"Well? Get going."He always was the impatient one. She however, simply smiled, turning to his brother she told him.

"Go ahead, I need to say something to Wildfire." Wildfire looked at her, puzzled, this wasn't how it had originally gone. With his brother out of the way, she turned to Wildfire, all traces of emotion gone. "You almost got yourself killed again, dammit Wildfire. You're strong, but don't go around needlessly endangering your life." Wildfire felt relieved that he wasn't dead,

"Pshaw, it was either me or her, I think they called her Fluttershy? I needed to gain their trust somehow. And besides, we both know that it takes more than a smack to hurt me, even in my current state." She seemed to mull over the thought, giving a hard stare at Wildfire.

"Indeed it does take more than that to hurt you, but hitting a tree head first at those speeds sure can. Although I agree that your actions were well placed, surely you could have found some other way to do so. Now, do you want to relive this memory or go back now?" Wildfire grinned at Her, she chuckled, "That's what I thought, you never were one to refuse time with me."

"Nope." Joining his brother, who by now was getting impatient, the trio ventured deeper into the cave. Though this was one of Wildfire's darker memories he didn't want to part ways with Her just yet. Arriving at a narrow crevasse, Wildfire held out his hand, as he had done countless times before. Stopping, the trio waited while he looked for life, as it had always been, there was indeed nothing in there. Motioning to the group, they started moving again. Arriving at a fork in the tunnel, Wildfire chose the left route. He always wondered what was in the right route, but since he had never been there it just stopped the dream. As they traveled the familiar tunnel, the group heard an all too familiar rumbling. Peeking out to his left, Wildfire saw the same wyvern once again. It was busy eating a cave bat, the size of a small chariot. Motioning to his friends, they moved quietly towards the other side of the cave, looking back to the sounds of shrieking. The wyvern and cave bat had disappeared, an Abomination stood where they once were, gobbling up the last of the wyvern. Standing 40 feet tall on two frail legs, the slender figure was licking the blood off of its massive claws. Turning back towards the tunnel, the group continued their trek. A feeling of uncertainty rose in Wildfire's gut as they approached the center point of this nightmare.

Stopping at the cave for the thousandth time, Wildfire looked at the mebrythilium ore lining the outer limits of the cave walls. Taking a deep breath, Wildfire prepared himself for the worse which was bound to happen. Motioning to his brother to stay at the mouth, him and Her slowly walked up to the precious metal. Stopping halfway through, Wildfire sighed as he knew there was no going back.

"I can wake you up if you want." She knew him so well.

"No, I'm not going to learn if I hide. Let me stay."

"Have it your way." Taking another step forward, the wall to his right exploded outwards, as it always had. Turning to face the enemy, Wildfire was faced with the same Nightmare as he always had, the ugly thing had pincers the size of water tanks. Mandibles permeated its salivating face, seemingly anticipating the meal it was going to get. The Nightmare hissed, and Wildfire pulled out his axe and charged the creature. Let's get this over with. Running towards the monster, it swung its right claw, which was easily sidestepped by Wildfire. Running up the exposed arm, he swung the axe down at the joint, amputating the limb. With a cry that made the cave walls shake, the Nightmare threw off Wildfire. It then proceeded to try to catch him in mid-air, but an arrow from his brother quickly deflected the deadly limb. Landing on his feet neatly, Wildfire charged the creature again. As the battle was ensuing, She was collecting the mebrythilium with the spell Hope had taught her.

As the last fragment of the ore disappeared into the bag, she yelled out, "Got it! Let's get out of here!" Wildfire disengaged with the hideous creature, running back towards the exit. His brother was already at the mouth, panic in his eyes as Wildfire was being chased by the thundering insect. She, however, was simply standing, a little bit of sadness and nostalgia in her eyes, she too, hated the horrible memory they were experiencing. As Wildfire neared the cave mouth, he turned to see the Nightmare reaching out for him. Instinctively, he put out his left arm in hopes of saving his wings and body. A sharp stab of pain shot up through his arm as the Nightmare grabbed onto his arm, the crunching of bones prominent. Yelling out in pain, Wildfire struggled to wrench his arm free, even though he knew what he had to do, it didn't mean he couldn't try something different. Grabbing his arm at the shoulder, he pulled. The uncomfortable feeling of flesh ripping and bones separating still a vivid memory.

Wildfire woke with a start, looking around, he was in a grey room with a large window. Feeling the pain in his ribs, he clutched them with his right hand, relaxing back into the bed. Looking around, he found that he was in a green robe, still in his pony form. Turning his attention to his left arm, he gripped the life-less metal that replaced the organic one. Running his hoof over it, he enjoyed the fact that it also changed to a hoof with his spell. As he turned over the arm, he felt the familiar carvings of a crescent moon, an owl, and a sunset. Looking out the window, he was surprised to find it nighttime. Examining the room once again, Wildfire spotted Snow sleeping in the corner. "Psst! Hey! Snow, over here!" Whispering, Wildfire tried to get Snow over to him without attracting attention. Wildfire gasped as the curtain beside him was pulled open, for there stood the rabbit Snow was chasing. And beyond that, Fluttershy was in the next bed, sleeping, with bandages around her head. Putting his hand in front of his mouth, the rabbit ordered Wildfire to silence. Nodding, he turned to the window and stared out at the moon, it was beautiful tonight, without a cloud to obstruct the full moon. It also seemed bigger in this kingdom. She would have enjoyed a stroll at this time. As his exhaustion caught up to him, Wildfire made himself comfortable, and closed his eyes.

Everyone in the room was jolted awake as Pinkie Pie burst through the door, yelling, "Wake up sleepyheads! The doctors said I could come back tomorrow, and it's tomorrow!" Wildfire started laughing at the pink creature's enthusiasm, truly she was unique. Trotting over to Fluttershy, Wildfire noticed that the others were at the doorway, mouth agape. This sent Wildfire into another fit of laughter, only ending when his ribs protested. Turning her attention to the laughter, Pinkie Pie ran over to Wildfire to see what was so funny, he simply pointed at the still-dumbfounded ponies slowly entering the room. Pinkie Pie and Wildfire erupted into laughter once again, even Fluttershy giggled a little bit.

"P-Pinkie! You know we can't just barge into their room uninvited, that's just so rude." Protested the voice he recognized as Rarity. Turning back to the mare, her face was lined with worry. Noticing the stare she was giving his arm, he buried it under the sheets.

"I hope you don't mind my asking, but where did you get that?" Thinking about it, Wildfire decided that she was trustworthy enough. Clearing his throat, he explained about the tradition to get mebrythilium out of the Cave of Horrors to forge your very own sword. Answering a few questions of Rarity's, Wildfire continued to recount the spelunking escapade. Pausing at the part before he got his arm torn off, he asked, "Are you sure you want to know how I got this? I mean, not everyone has the stomach for it."

"Don't stop now! This is a great story!" Both Wildfire and Rarity jumped at the sudden exclamation. Turning, he saw that all five ponies were looking at him with interested eyes, the voice had come from a cyan pegasus with rainbow striped mane and tail.

"That's Rainbow Dash." He heard Rarity whisper in his ear. Taking a deep breath, Wildfire told of how he had given up his arm to survive the attack. Wildfire sighed when he heard dry retching from someone. "Told ya, but you didn't listen to me." The ponies seemed visibly appalled that there were places that were that deadly. Even Rainbow's smile had been buried in a frown.

"And that's how I lost my arm. They attached this to my nervous system, I simply had to imbue it with my energy to give it a full set of actions, though I don't feel anything on that arm. Nor can I write or do something that requires a light touch with it. What's even more ironic is that they used the mebrythilium ore to forge this. So I literally had to go back there a few months later."

At around this moment, a nurse walked into the room, "Alright girls, visiting time is over, you can come back later." Waiting till they left. The nurse walked over to Wildfire, "How are you feeling? You took a nasty hit, I'm surprised you even survived that without a concussion or something."

Smiling, Wildfire replied, "You REALLY think I would have taken the hit if it would've killed me? To quote a famous saying, 'Tis just a flesh wound."

"Well it was more than a flesh wound, you have two broken ribs-" "I noticed."

The nurse sighed, "And you also dislocated your right wing, you'll be staying at the hospital for a week minimum."

"Can I at least get my bag back? I have some books to read, I'm pretty sure I left them at Twilight's."

Bringing the heavy bags over to Wildfire's room, Twilight wondered what kinds of books could make it so heavy. She had to carry them by hoof since some force was preventing the use of magic on it. And not even 10 seconds later, that wolf that he traveled with was looming over her with narrowed eyes. After dropping them at the side of the bed, he reached down and levitated a small booklet to his lap. "How can you use magic? Only unicorns can use magic."

"There is plenty for you to learn, magic can be tought to nearly anything, it's just harder for me." Looking up, Wildfire saw that Twilight's curiosity was not anywhere near satiated. I wonder if I still have my book on magickae? "Looking back into his bag, he picked up a heavy brown book with a single purple stripe across its cover. Handing the book over to Twilight, "Here, this should satisfy that curiosity of yours."

"T-thanks, are you sure you want me to have this?" Smiling, "Of course, I have plenty of books to read, like my first journal, right he-" Looking at the small pouch where he housed his journals, Wildfire was shocked to see that the first one was missing.

"Seems you dropped one of my books somewhere, mind checking the library when you get back? It's black and not that big."

"Sure!"

"One more thing, how did we get through that troll?" A grin appeared on Twilight's face.

"Simple, I lifted it up off the ground."

Trotting off happily, Twilight left Wildfire to his own devices, after leaving; the smile on his face disappeared immediately. Oh how I hate this wretched existence, why can't I just die already? It's not like anyone would care...

Chapter 4: Doubt

Entry #592

26th of zantyia

What point is there to keep on living? All that I've had have been taken away from me. I've begun to ponder taking my own life in desperation, I want this nightmare to end. First my brother, then Blizzard, and now my best friend has been killed! I am writing this from the 'safety' of an orcish inn. The war has been lost, I've seen what they did to survivors, either they roast on an open fire or they're hanged with barbed-wire. I'm not saying I want to join them, but I see no point in continuing this childish desire for revenge that has kept me somewhat sane for the past few years.

-Wildfire

This was only one of a series of entries Wildfire had written for the past few years. Most of them were moping about his condition, at least that's how it seemed to Twilight. But perhaps what was most disturbing about the journal was the writing itself. It started out as very neat handwriting which was properly punctuated, capitalized and formatted. As she progressed deeper into the journal she witnessed how it slowly degraded into mad scribbling at the very least. His thoughts became irrational and downright cruel.

Twilight gagged at the sight of the dreams of genocide and murder. how could this be the same level-headed colt at the hospital? Surely there was something more to it? Reading further into the small booklet, Twilight saw no improvement in his mental condition. Hearing the door slam shut behind her, dropping the book, she spun around to find the wolf again. Eyeing the book, it seemed to be listening for something.

Wildfire, the purple one is reading the old book. Shall I dispatch of her?

Feeling the touch of his mind against hers, Snow felt a wave of sorrow and loneliness burst through. What? Of course not, on the bright side she might be scared enough to get someone to kill me.

Shuffling uncertainly against the hard wooden floor, Snow was worried for her long time friend. Wildfire, your dementia is acting up again, don't do anything stupid.

Annoyance flared inside his mind. Of course not, I'm just feeling sad, I've been seeing Her again. I'm just a little homesick I guess. Looking up, Snow noticed that the purple one was watching her, fear in her eyes. Deciding that she should go check on Wildfire, she left the library quietly and faded into mist.

Picking the book back up off the ground, Twilight continued to skim to the last page of the journal.

I know I've been acting crazy lately, and I regret that. Although most of the blame for the atrocities I've committed are solely my fault, I will admit to not having been entirely sane during the last few years. It's just that losing everyone you knew and loved, and the only thing you can do is just stand there and watch. It changes a person. I'm not saying this excuses my actions, but it is a problem. And with a problem there will be a solution. I'm sick of hurting, sick of thinking it's all I do.

-Wildfire

At least he seems to have somewhat recovered. What in Celestia happened over there? It must be pretty horrific to turn him into a sadistic monster. Picking up her saddlebags, she carefully slipped the journal into a pouch. She had time to make a few detours.

Arriving at the hospital, Snow passed through the window and reassembled in front of Wildfire. The first thing she noticed, his eyes usually glowed a healthy orange. At this moment, they seemed dull and gray. The bags that were ever present near his eyes seemed more prominent. At least, that's how he looked to her, for she could see straight through his disguise. Emitting a sigh, he was reading his 'book o' spells'. Are you okay? You seemed sad.

Looking up from his book, Snow noticed that he indeed had dropped the disguise and was in his natural form. "Pshaw, hardly, I just can't seem to get sleep since the nightmares returned. And i'm also looking for that retrieval spell to fetch my clothing."

Checking again, Snow confirmed that Wildfire was indeed au naturel, he had dropped the illusion spell. Are you mad? What if Flutterwhatever sees you like this?

With a loud huff, "Don't worry, Fluttershy checked out about an hour ago. I have the room to myself for a while. And even if someone is coming I'm watching the door."

Jumping into the spare bed, Snow sat down. What's your plan now anyways? Are we staying or are we leaving? I personally vouch for just marking this place down as an option.

Laying the book down, Wildfire stared outside the window. "I envy these ponies, their minds are uncorrupted by the horrors of violence. I'd rather stay, at least while I recuperate. Though in my opinion, I'd stay away from magic, Twilight made it sound as if anything without a horn here can't use magic. Buuut, since we are alone here, I'm gonna at least get my clothes and gadgets back here first."

Putting a clawed finger down on the spell he was looking for, he started the incantation. Mentally reciting the words that would allow him to retrieve his items. Snow, laying down, watched as a trickle of energy flowed back into the tired eyes of Wildfire.

With a flash of blue, the clothing fell into a bundle on Wildfire's lap. His gadgets soon followed with a soft thud. The reason he used this spell and not the one he already knew, was that this one did not require knowing the location of the items, while the other did. Quickly levitating them with his magic, he neatly packed them into his bags. "Please do me a favor, follow Twilight, she's probably going to take detours. Don't let her see you, don't interfere. Just watch and report back to me when she starts heading here. Pinkie Pie is gonna be hard, she seemed to know exactly where we were."

Nodding, Snow turned into mist again and exited through the window.

*********

"Hey Twilight! Whatcha doing' round here?"

"We need to talk. It's about Wildfire."

With her smile being replaced by a serious frown, Applejack came closer to Twilight.

"Ok, why do you want to talk 'bout him?"

I'll need to word this carefully. "I'm pretty sure you and I both noticed that he's not a regular pony. I want to know what you think of him."

With her brows furrowed in concentration, Applejack thought over the idea.

"I thought there was something off about that fellow. From the first time I saw him, he gave away a feeling of danger. I'm not sure if these fears are based on nothin' more than my gut, but I'm torn right now about him. Sure he saved Fluttershy, sure he seems generous and kind. But it's just those eyes, there's something he's not telling us and that's why I don't trust him."

Handing over the booklet, Twilight instructed Applejack to read the entries. She showed her the better ones, the scarier ones. And finished with showing her the last entry. Looking up from the booklet, Applejack's eyes were clouded with thoughts and hidden expressions.

"What about now?"

"Sugarcube, you just made it harder for me to decide whether or not he's safe."

"And why is that so?"

"He's been through a lot, physically and emotionally. I'll give 'im that, but I just can't ignore the fact that he's probably insane. The journal just screams loneliness and hurt, but I still don't think he should stay here for long."

"And what is your final thought on him?"

"I honestly don't know. I feel like I understand him better, but that just makes him stranger in my eyes. I don't trust him farther than I could buck him."

"That's all I needed to know. Thanks Applejack!"

"Anytime, sugarcube!"

Trotting off from Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight still felt unsure about him. Little did she know, that from the shadows. Snow was listening to the entire conversation. Waiting until Twilight had passed, she once again was on the move.

**********

Ugh, I look absolutely terrible. If only those damned nightmares didn't keep me up. Staring at himself in a mirror, Wildfire was giving himself a good look-over. Snow was right, I do look like I'm dead. His ribs didn't hurt, though his wing still ached. If I ever need to go in a jiffy i'll be able to manage it.

***********

Twilight entered Carousel Boutique with a determined step. She saw Rarity traveling down the stairs to join her.

"Well hello Twilight! What brings you here?"

"I'm here to talk about Wildfire."

"Oh, what did he do?"

"Nothing, I just want your opinion of him."

"I think he is simply delightful! He is such a good listener and has more than half a brain when it comes to fashion, why are you asking me this?"

"Because I found this."

Handing over the journal, Rarity proceeded to read through it.

"Oh my! Are you sure this is the same pony?"

"That's what I thought too, but that explains why he was always so sad."

"Wait, he was sad?"

Rolling her eyes, "You were too busy gawking at his arm to see how uncomfortable he was, even after he still looked on the verge of tears. So, about that opinion."

***********

Finally! I get to leave that blasted prison. It had been a week since he had been hospitalized, and he was finally free to go. It had been surprisingly long, even with the reading and the listening in on Twilight's conversations about him. Just as he had suspected, Applejack decided to stay away from him, Rainbow Dash just glared whenever she saw him. Fluttershy was being Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Twilight he had no clue. Because Snow was discovered when Twilight was talking to Pinkie Pie, though Twilight was suspicious of the wolf she had no idea of the link the two shared. Rarity was the only one who had visited, though she was visibly uncomfortable in his presence. During one visit, she had asked,

"Wildfire, answer me this. That journal you had lost. We read it, did you really do all those things?"

Reluctantly, Wildfire admitted to the crimes, he also explained what led to his insanity.

"Y'see, my homeland was lost in a brutal war against orcs. They hunted down the last of us, I lost all my friends, family, I am the last one to remember the legacy of Itia. After I escaped, I decided to live off the grid, in hiding."

"How do you deal with it?"

Wildfire flared up, bottled up emotions pouring out. "Deal with it? I don't deal with it! I'm stuck in this hell that is life! I've tried every single way possible to kill myself, but nooooo. The rope had to be brittle, or the tide washed me ashore! It's a curse to live forever! Especially with this on my conscience!" Screaming now, Rarity had backed up into a corner, mouth agape. Sitting back down, Wildfire fought back the tears that were threatening to spill over. "Look, I'm sorry to have snapped like that, I guess I'm just jealous about how perfect everyone's life is over here."

Emerging from her stupor, Rarity gingerly stepped out from the corner, "Please, life is hardly perfect here. If you knew what happens around here you'd find that it's hard to live here at times, and what's this about living forever?." Scoffing, Wildfire gave her a disbelieving look, rolling his eyes.

Wildfire, calm down. Looking to his right, he saw Snow, looking back at him with worried eyes. I have an idea, how about we go hunting? That should take your mind off of things.

"Yeah, it would be good to have something other than yogourt in my stomach."

What's yogourt?

"No idea."

Chapter 5: Unexpected Meeting

The Everfree Forest was going through a beautiful transformation. Red, yellow and orange leaves littered the ground, with many trees already bare. There was a chill in the air, "Strange, we just went through winter. Did we really travel that far or are the seasons that different here?" Wildfire had traded the heavy brown suit for a light outfit, blue and white. It also featured feathers at his tail, creating a flowing motion whenever he moved. He still donned his hat though.

Not sure, but assuming that we went east, not north or south, we should still be in spring. Maybe you could ask the purple one of this, she seems to be the brain of the group.

"Shh, deer. Twenty yards." Nodding, the white mass of fur lowered herself onto her haunches.

Your call. Slowly taking the bow into his hands, Wildfire put an arrow in. Taking a deep breath, he drew the bow. Sights on target, he steadied himself before letting go. The arrow flew with a high-pitched whistle, it missed the intended target by a few feet and lodged itself into a tree. Alerted by the sound, the buck lifted it's head and scrambled into the brush.

"Bloody hell, that was a good one too."

You're not the best at this, if I recall correctly.

"Yeah, that was Owl's thing. Poor Owl..."

Emerging from the forest, Wildfire was confronted by a large beautiful lake. It was so big that it disappeared past the horizon. The sight of the water brought chills to Wildfire's spine. Looking down, he noticed his brother sitting by the edge of the lake. Carefully manoeuvring himself around the puddles of water, he stopped a solid forty yards away from the water line. Clearing his throat, the creature turned it's frowning face, which quickly turned into a smile. "Hello, Wildfire." He spoke in a clear, loud voice.

"Greetings, my King." Wildfire responded with a wide grin.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" The frown on Owl's face returned.

Still smiling, "Exactly." Owl lifted himself up off the ground, and sat beside Wildfire. "You called for me, anything wrong Owl?"

"Yes, I'll need you to go arrange things in the south, seems like the orcs are getting rowdy again."

Wildfire was now frowning, "What's up with those green bastards anywho?"

Owl shrugged, "Not sure, they must be getting near mating season again. You can take your girlfriend with you." He teased with a sneer.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Wildfire shot back, punching his brother in the arm. At this moment, an Elite stepped up from the shadows, grabbing the hilt of his sword. Wildfire turned and gave him a look that could be weaponised.

"If I were you I'd bugger off before he shoves his foot up your ass." Owl chimed in, amused at the confrontation.

"But my liege, he hit you."

"I'll shove MY foot up your ass if you don't stop calling me that."

Chuckling, Wildfire got up and stretched. "Well, I'm going to get this done. See you later." Not waiting for a response, Wildfire snapped open his wings, with a few loud flaps he lifted off the ground. At least, that was when he could fly. Opening his wings, Wildfire contemplated the puny things. He could glide fine but any powered flight would be impossible for a few years at the very least. They were still bigger than the wings on the other fillies, he simply wasn't aided by magic when flying. Looking around, he lifted his nose into the air. Having dropped the illusion meant he had his full range of actions. Smelling the air, he picked up the distinct fragrance of deer, and there was some other smell. One he had smelled before a long time ago, dismissing the exotic scent, he focused on pinpointing the next deer. Left, about two hundred yards away. I can see it from here. Snow prowled off to the scent of food. Setting up again, Wildfire drew his bow and aimed at the heart of the furry beast. With another whistle, this arrow planted itself into the ground. The deer ran off. "Mother of-!"

Thunk.

Miss.

Twang.

Miss.

***********

But Wildfire, I'm still hungry! Snow was walking after him, a pleading look in her eyes, the dusk making her eyes reflect and oh-so adorable.

"Well you'll have to go find something yourself. I'm all outta arrows and patience, I'm gonna go get a drink." Stomping off angrily, Wildfire looked for the nearest tavern. Seeing a medium sized building with a sign featuring a foaming mug, he assumed that that was the bar. Entering the lively area, he manoeuvred himself among the tables and took a seat at the bar. The bartender looked at him, and did a double-take..

"Aren't you a little young to be in here?"

"Pshaw, I'm older than you!"

"We don't serve colts or fillies here, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

I can't get any friggin' break around here. "Well, I refuse. Alcohol. Here. Now."

"I'm warning you." The bartender leaned in on him, trying to intimidate Wildfire. Wildfire didn't budge an inch, a bored expression on his face. He instead flicked his left wrist. A long jagged blade deployed from the otherwise hollow limb. Pressing it up to the bartender's face, a smug grin now adorned Wildfire's face. "So what'll it be?" A nervous smile escaped from the barkeep.

"Much better."

***********

Wildfire was enjoying his drink, oblivious to the ponies around him. I wonder if they have a blacksmith around here? Maybe he could fashion me a crossbow. His train of thought was violently interrupted when he heard someone slump beside him. Looking to his left, he was surprised to see Rainbow Dash sitting beside him, head between her hooves.

"What'll it be Miss Dash?"

"Cider. Stat." The bartender produced a mug from underneath the counter, filling it up to the brim with the golden liquid. Pushing the mug to the lady, she gave him two brass coins in return. Realizing with a panic that he hadn't paid the barkeep. He attracted his attention.

"I almost forgot, how much for the bourbon?"

"Oh, the bourbon is four bits a drink."

"And bits are?"

"Money."

"And they're made out of?"

"Brass." Nodding, Wildfire took out 4 brass coins from his pocket. Handing over the currency to the barkeep, who eyed it, then Wildfire. "This ain't bits."

"It's made out of brass and its the same size, be happy I even gave you anything."

"Point taken."

Returning his attention to his drink, he had barely taken a sip when he noticed Rainbow staring at him with incredulous eyes.

"Hey."

"Greetings." The awkward silence resumed, only interrupted by quiet sipping. "So you're Rainbow Dash?"

"You betcha!" She turned to him again, a genuine smile on her face. "I gotta ask you something, how can you be drinking, yet you're a colt? You're handling that better than most adults."

Wildfire scoffed, "Trust me, I'm much older than I look. I simply look like this because of an unexpected side-effect of an old ritual." Rainbow Dash nodded absently, she felt like she was forgetting something.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Rarity wanted to see you for something."

"What?"

"I'm guessing something to do with fashion."

Wildfire let out a heavy sigh, "I'll go tommorow, now if you'll excuse me I am going to go find a tree to sleep in."

"Wait, do you have a place to stay at?"

"No, not really."

Rainbow Dash seemed uncomfortable, "I suppose you could spend the night with me and the Squirt. I know all too well what it's like to spend the night outside."

"Okay... Where do you live?"

**********

"Welcome to castle Dash!" Rainbow declared rather loudly. Wildfire stood there eyeing the cloud house.

"Pretty sure you can't walk on clouds."

"Of course! All pegasi can walk on clouds."

"Well I don't." Rainbow hovered for a second, a puzzled expression on her face.

"The clouds at my place are solid anyways, how else would my furniture stay up?" Rainbow Dash quickly flew over to the house, stopping to see if her guest was following her. The smile disappeared off her face as she saw Wildfire face hoof. Zipping back to him, "What's wrong?"

"Can't fly."

"You're kidding? Your wings are just as big as mine!"

"I don't use magic in flight, I still need a few years." Rainbow Dash sighed as she headed over to the colt. She picked up the slippery equine and zipped back to her house, careful not to let him fall. Arriving at the door step, (which resembled a landing strip) Rainbow Dash let go of her load. With a quiet thump, Wildfire's hooves hit the soft white material.

"Huh." Was all he commented, gingerly taking a step. Realizing that he wouldn't fall, he began trotting along with the cyan pegasus.

"Rainbow! You're back!"

Both Rainbow Dash and Wildfire turned to see a cheerful gamboge pegasus running to Rainbow. She ran up to the cyan pegasus, happily bouncing around her. The bouncing stopped when it bumped into Wildfire.

"Who's that?" The jealousy in her voice was almost palpable, Well, that escalated quickly.

************

Wildfire awoke with a cold sweat, in a panic. Something was tugging at his mind, something he had thought to have been rid of. The voices were back, taunting him with desires of wealth and power. The voices who had once dominated his life had found him again, even though he knew the evil whispers resonated from within himself.

G-get out of my head!

Now what fun would that be?

It's not as if we want to be here, you imprisoned us here.

That's not true! Get out of my head or I'll-

Or you'll what? That last purification almost killed you. Another one in your state would only shorten the time it will take for you to join us.

"Wildfire, what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo emerged from a doorway, Wildfire did not answer, he only ran out to the doorway and jumped. Opening his wings he started gliding towards the ground.

I need to get away from them.

Why? She hates me, it's not as if I would feel bad if I tought her to fear me. A wicked grin appeared on Wildfire's face, his sharp teeth had returned, and they craved the feeling of flesh and blood.

Ini mini miney moe, who will scream my name tonight? Shaking his head, the veil that was covering his mind dissapeared. No more games, I'm stronger than this. I just need to get to- A victim! Swooping down, he landed quietly in a dark alley. The insane look back onto his distorted face. Taking a look at his target, it was a white mare with a mane of various blue tones. He would enjoy wrenching her teeth out. Taking a step forward, his exhilaration was replaced with uncertainty,

This doesn't feel right. Wildfire's eyes widened with horror as he realized what he was going to do, edging further into the shadows, he made his way west.

************

What the buck was that for? Rainbow Dash had just witnessed Wildfire leaping out of her house. She was tempted to go after him, but the look he had given her had stopped her ice cold. She had seen that kind of look before, it was a look of sheer terror, mixed with a hint of something she didn't recognize. He had jumped through unclothed, his bags still remained on the fluffy floor.

************

What do I do now?! I almost killed someone just for the pleasure of it! This shouldn't be happening, it must be Snow playing a prank. Even after those thoughts crossed his head he knew there was no denying it. This was him. Not Snow nor anyone NEAR this place had the strength to corrupt his mind to that point. He had these problems in the past, but they were taken care of through a complex ritual. Sure he had a couple if relapses every now and then, but none were bad enough that he wanted to jump onto the nearest being and tear it apart.

*************

He's not budging.

Of course he's not! He's more stubborn than a hungry abomination!

And we would know, we ARE him.

He's much weaker than before, last time took us years, we almost had him within five minutes. A little more trauma and he should open up like a book.

Agreed, and I know just how to pull his strings.

No shit, Sherlock, we are the same being.

*************

Chapter 6: The Monster Within

The two had met in a destroyed street, far away from the actual fighting. It was Owl versus the lord of the Seekers. Wildfire sat on top of a nearby building, told to not interfere at all costs. The two enemies started walking towards each other at a slow, determined pace. Looking around, Wildfire saw the black figure of a Plague sitting on the other side of the street. Perhaps he was here for the same reason? He was supposed to take out the Seeker if he won, but in the meanwhile he was supposed to keep the grunts off of Owl. Looking back at the fight, the two were firing projectiles like mad. Looking down, he saw three orcs setting up with bows and arrows behind some rubble. A haze of black crystals flew through the orcs, either killing them or maiming them. As Wildfire watched, unblinking, the cloud of deadly projectiles reached a spot beside him and reassembled into a perfect copy of himself. A discoloured version of himself, but perfect in every other way. The plague were notorious for these capabilities. A nod was given and returned, they might be enemies, but they respected each other. The silent conversation was interrupted when a dull thunderclap resonated through the street. Turning to the ever-present fight, Owl was struggling to lift himself up after being hit by a bolt of lightning. The red menace was at the danger of having an overcharge.

"We all just want this slaughter to stop." Wildfire was surprised to see the plague speak Itian in a broken, strained voice.

"Yes, your race doesn't want to be warring do they?" The plague shook its head.

"They have us by the theoretical balls, we were forced into this war." This was something Wildfire didn't know, nor did anyone stop to think this.

"Interesting. I hope everything turns for the better."

"Hardly, the Seekers are planning to exterminate both our races." Wildfire turned to stare at the black representation of himself. It stared back with worried eyes, "We have no feud with your kind, yet these random creatures want to rid the world of the two most advanced species. And we are forced to follow them to our deaths."

"Why don't you run? I'm pretty sure that they won't worry if one of you dissapeared."

The illusionary master scoffed, "They will, they check regularly to see how many of us are left."

"Have you thought about faking your death?"

"I don't see how I could possibly fake a realistic death, you can do that but it is beyond my capabilities."

"Easy, I fight you and pretend to kill you in front of the Seeker lord. Then I teleport you to the Forest of the Damned and you hide in it."

"Oh what the hell, why not, it's not as if I could hurt you. But when we die we go through very specific phases, he'll be suspicious if I don't go through them."

"I can work up a spell, I specialize in illusions myself."

"We have a deal?"

"Yes."

Nodding again, the two took up places on the roof.

"He's over there!" Wildfire opened his eyes to see Rainbow Dash diving straight for him. Instinctively, Wildfire slammed his hind hooves into her chest and propulsed her into the tree he was sleeping on. Rolling off his back, he fell off the tree branch. With a loud thump, the air in Wildfire's lungs was driven out by the impact. Barely pausing to recover, he stood on his hind legs and started running.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Looking back he saw Applejack, Pinkie and Twilight running after him. He pulled out a short scarf, which he wrapped around his face. Peering eyes were the only visible facial feature. With an orange glow in his eyes, another him popped up, wisps of smoke still clinging onto its clothes. With that, he positioned himself forward of the clone and proceeded to create a veritable camouflage over his entire body. Taking a sharp left, he hid inside a bush. The clone whizzed by as he adjusted his camouflage, the three ponies hot on it's trail. Three, there's only three. Fear took hold of his gut as Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen. That crazy mare is going to find me. Snow must be pissed off at me too. Realizing with a start that Snow could easily pinpoint his position via telepathy, Wildfire tried to minimize the activity going on in his mind. You're in a lot of trouble mister. Mumbled a familiar voice.

Shit.

You can say that again, they all think you kidnapped Rarity.

What? I didn't even go to her house!

I'm rather interested to find out what happened as well.

There you are! Eyes widening with alarm. It was HER. Looking around, he looked for the pink monster that was surely coming towards him. He felt a pair of hooves wrap around his neck in a bone crushing hug, "There you are! You're going to be late for your party! But first, tell us where Rarity is!" Pinkie Pie's chirping was accompanied by the sound of hooves.

"Pinkie, why are you hugging a bush?" Inquired the voice he recognized as Twilight.

"'Cause, silly, it's Wildfire, see?" She said, picking him up and shaking him in a manner that made nurses look good. Quickly deactivating the illusion spell before he got brain damage, Wildfire heard surprised gasps from Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Looks like I have some explaining to do eh?"

"Yeah, like where's Rarity."

"That I can't answer." The group looked at each other as they tried to figure out what could possibly have happened to the white mare.

"Diamond Dogs?"

"I guess it's worth checking."

"What are diamond dogs?" The ponies turned to Wildfire.

"They're mean, they've ponynapped Rarity before, and it wouldn't be surprising if they did again."

"Alright, where do they live?" Rainbow Dash burst out laughing,

"What makes you think you can take them?"

"Says the one who got a hooffull of me."

Rainbow Dash, opened her mouth, but shut it soon after with a "Hmph".

"Don't worry, I'll just poke around. Even if you say no I can just forcefully take the information."

"No, we have to call for the guards." Twilight spoke up, her voice lined with seriousness. Like hell I'm staying here. Closing his eyes, he dove straight into Twilight's mind, eliciting a gasp of shock from her.

"What's wrong Twi?" Twilight couldn't respond to Applejack's question, her face strained from effort. Where is it, let's see Diamond, might as well look into D. Approaching the area of the mind which housed memories, he scanned across the massive archive that was present in Twilight's mind. Most minds were arranged in a somewhat alphabetical order, Twilight was no exception. Brushing off her attempts to expulse Wildfire from her mind, he started looking through the section that housed memories starting with D, about halfway through, he found the information he was looking for. Careful not to hurt Twilight, he allowed himself to be thrown out of her psyche. Opening his eyes again, Wildfire started walking towards the nest. Hearing a set of hooves behind him, he broke out into a run. Still hearing the hooves, he turned his head to see Applejack in a full gallop behind him. The others must be keeping an eye on Twilight. Nearing the clearing, he spotted a large congregation of dirt mounds. Taking a pick at the nearest one, Wildfire leapt straight into it.

*********

Sliding down on all fours, Wildfire couldn't see a damn thing. Feeling his body now freefalling, he prepared himself to fall for a very long time, only to hit the ground.

"Oh."

Before he could take another step, he heard echoed screaming coming from the tunnel he came from. Without further warning, a dirty mass of orange fur landed on him. Pushing off the blob of hair and mud, Wildfire noted that Applejack had followed him down. Angling his ears every way possible, Wildfire heard the pitter patter of footsteps coming from behind them.

"They're behind us, be quiet and follow me."

With a groan of protest, Applejack silently followed Wildfire, only emitting a faint clicking as her hooves hit the ground.

"Can you stop that?"

"Stop what?"

"Hooves."

"I'm not a ninja." Sighing quietly, Wildfire continued to go the opposite direction of the enemies. My optics! Quickly opening a small compartment inside his metallic arm, Wildfire took out a small green visor. Slinging it over an ear, he turned it on. A green glow started being produced from his right eye as information flowed into the old thing.

"Sound wave scanner, low pitch." A familiar female voice responded in his ear. Affirmative. Wildfire smiled as the AI activated the scanner on the optic device. Being canine, most likely, they shouldn't hear a thing that's too low octave. Pausing for a few seconds, the AI then proceeded to reassemble the readings into a map.

"There is a lot of activity in the northern area, Rarity should be in the center."

"What makes you say that?"

"I dunno, they're always in the center."

Wildfire had never seen a pony face hoof till now. Picking up the pace, Wildfire was about to take the right path when he heard quiet sobbing in the left.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Crying." Not waiting for a response, Wildfire trotted off into the narrow pathway. Nearing a T-bone, Wildfire stopped to look both ways. The right path was empty, the left one had a primitive steel door and a massive armoured canine.

"Now I hear it." The dog flicked it's head in Wildfire's direction, who barely pulled back in time. Wildfire glared at a blushing Applejack. Taking off his hat, he picked up a rock. Before throwing the projectile, a thought reared it's brilliant head. What if the path's loop? Lowering his arm, he stared at the empty passage. Shrugging, he stealthily snuck into the other pathway. Just at this moment, his optical device decided it would be a good time to die on him. Well you don't go years without needing new batteries. The path was indeed a circle, it was also a dead end. Peeking around the corner, the guard dog was still stoicly standing guard. Tossing the rock at his feet, Wildfire quickly tiptoed back to the other end. Just as he was hoping, the dog was now watching that single part of the cave. Stupid mutt. Pulling out an axe, he dashed forwards, Wildfire leapt onto the dog, shoved a hoof into its mouth, and slit its throat open with his axe. Letting the body fall to the ground, Wildfire quickly replaced the axe with a lock pick. Peeking into the barred window, he saw a trembling white filly with a pink mane.

"Who's this?" Wildfire was literally thrown out of the way by Applejack.

"Sweetie Belle? Don't worry we'll get you out." Turning around, Applejack was about to give the door a buck when her hooves were forced back onto the ground.

"Amateur, if you kick down the door, don't you think it's going to be very loud? Let me pick it."

"It's not the time for-" Applejack's sentence was cut short when Wildfire swung open the door.

"It wasn't even locked." Wildfire and Applejack both facehooved. Taking the time to put his dead gadget back into its compartment, Wildfire wiped the blood off the axe. He had altered the illusion spell so he could still grip things, yet look like a hoof. And boy was he enjoying it.

"Alright, Applejack, Rarity should be somewhere around the center. I want you and Sweetie to stay behind me. When I show myself they're going to be running for their lives."

Nodding, the two girls followed Wildfire to a large cavern. Nearing the cavern, they started hearing the familiar complaining of Rarity. Arriving at the mouth, Wildfire signalled them to stay put. Pulling up his scarf again, he dissapeared in front of the amazed eyes of the equines.

"This place is so ugly! You simply need to clean up things or-"

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here." Rarity stopped and looked around, he recognized Wildfire's voice. But he was nowhere to be seen. One of the guards suddenly slumped to the ground, a large gash on the nape of his neck. The other guards pulled out their spears, eyeing their surroundings. Another guard fell backwards, both paws on its neck as he tried to stem the blood pouring out of it's body. Rarity couldn't tear her eyes away, when she felt her restraints being pulled off. Turning, she saw Applejack and Sweetie Belle trying to pull off the shackles. All three looked at the source of barking, to see four guards charging them. In a flash, the four guards fell to the ground in mere seconds. Reappearing, Wildfire was now holding a long, thin and bloody blade. He gave an extra kick to one of the mangy mutts. Hearing more coming, he led the now-free Rarity and his friends to the exit. Seeing the light of freedom, Wildfire turned to face the dogs.

"Go! I'll stall them while you get out!"

Not complaining the three ponies rushed up the tunnel. Hearing the clanging of metal and howling from the dogs.

"Ow!"

Looking back, Applejack saw Wildfire on one knee, blood trickling into his eye. "You'll pay for that!" And with that he pulled his axe into his free hoof and jumped back into the fray. Running in the tunnel, the girls noticed that the howling was becoming less loud, even though the grinding of metal was still vivid. Continuing on, the girls emerged into the blinding light. Taking a moment to readjust, the girls were surprised to see Pinkie, Twilight and Rainbow Dash gawking at them.

"Girls! How did you get out?"

Their answer was interrupted as Wildfire burst through the mound, two dogs behind him. Wildfire flipped in midair and deflected the spear that had been thrown at him, he responded by throwing his axe at the unarmed mange-pelt. The blade dug itself into his shoulder, he grabbed the second spear by the tip, flipped it over, and stabbed the dog in the neck. Landing neatly, Wildfire had sweat practically pouring off of him. There was a cut right above his right eye, forcing him to keep it closed. He was covered in bloodstains, but without a source the girls could only assume it wasn't his. Panting, he pulled out his axe and returned the weapons to their sheaths.

"That was awesome! How did you do that?" Every pony, Pinkie included, turned to glare at Rainbow.

"Are you okay? You have blood everywhere!"

"Apart from the eye, it's not mine. Though I have some horrible stains to get out." He said, grinning. He managed to get a faint chuckle out of everybody, and they started walking back to Ponyville. Just then a large mass of shadows passed over the field, and the eight ponies witnessed as a platoon of what Wildfire assumed were the soldiers of this kingdom landed in the field. Their armor seemed light and supple, better designed for hit and run tactics than the usual slug fest. He was dimly aware of Snow joining them. This should be interesting.

You don't say?

Chapter 7: I Am No Hero

"That was awesome! How did you do that?" Every pony, Pinkie included, turned to glare at Rainbow.

"Are you okay? You have blood everywhere!"

"Apart from the eye, it's not mine. Though I have some horrible stains to get out." He said, grinning. He managed to get a faint chuckle out of everybody, and they started walking back to Ponyville. Just then a large mass of shadows passed over the field, and the eight ponies witnessed as a platoon of what Wildfire assumed were the soldiers of this kingdom. Their armor seemed light and supple, better designed for hit and run tactics than the usual slug fest. He was dimly aware of Snow joining them. This should be interesting.

You don't say?

Turning to Twilight, "If anyone asks, the guards saved Rarity." Pulling his hat down, Wildfire tried backing up. He felt a rush of air from behind him, looking up, he found himself staring into the magenta eyes of a large white mare.

"And why, may I ask, do you want to not take credit?" She spoke in a warm, yet stern tone.

"Being in the spotlight, it is rather dangerous for me." Arching an eyebrow, she obviously wanted more. "Because, over the years I've made quite a few enemies. Now, my turn, who in the bloody hell are you?" As he declared those last words, he heard gasps of shock from the surrounding ponies. "What?" The white mare, who had both a horn and wings, smiled.

"I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria."

"I figured I recognized this place."

"You're not from here, yes. We've met before."

"When I was still a drooling baby."

"If I recall correctly, your kingdom lost communication with ours years ago, care to explain?" Wildfire recoiled from the question as if it was a physical blow. Rubbing his shoulder, he hesitated.

"If you really want to know, the empire was exterminated, along with every Zarynthian. I'm pretty sure I'm the last Zarynthian left."

Celestia's eyes widened with surprise. "I just thought you forgot we were even here."

Shaking his head, "No, the Plague returned with four billion orcs and a new breed of species. They call themselves the Seekers. They caught us during a famine, and the surrounding kingdoms didn't even bat an eye. Obsidian died rather early on. And without an experienced leader everything went pear-shaped."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I rather enjoyed Obsidian's presence, he seemed nice."

Nodding, Wildfire perked up as a thought came to his head. "Oh, I almost forgot, is there any place where I can get a crossbow?"

"What's a crossbow?" Twilight asked.

"It's a mechanic bow, why do you need one?" Wildfire was surprised to see Celestia answering.

"I suck with regular bows and Snow has to eat something other than squirrels."

"I'm afraid we don't have any." Nodding, Wildfire began to trot towards Ponyville, followed by the group. Looks like you're going to be eating squirrels until I craft a crossbow.

Great.

His conversation was interrupted as Twilight appeared beside him.

"Where did you meet the Princess?"

"During a diplomatic mission, my Father was in the security detail that escorted King Obsidian. He bugged him until Obsidian agreed to take me along. I was very young at the time." Nodding, Twilight opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

"Now we have to have a Welcome-to-Ponyville party AND a thanks-for-saving-Rarity party? Woohoo!" Wildfire shuddered at the thought.

"Trust me, if you knew about half the things I've done. You'd be calling me a monster." Shaking his head, he sighed heavily. Wildfire perked up as Rainbow Dash hovered beside him.

"Where did you learn those moves? You kicked those dogs into next week!"

"If you think I'm good, you should've seen Sunset, she beat me with a spoon once. The rest were complete curb stomps. I was always the stomped one." Wildfire smiled as he remembered the lively girl. "If anyone is invincible, it would be her." Not saying another word, Wildfire shifted his attention to his bloody clothing. "Do you happen to have a dry cleaner somewhere?" Rarity nodded,

"I'll show you later." Wildfire heard a grumble from his stomach as it protested being ignored.

"When is that party?" He asked towards Pinkie.

"Right now silly! We're late for the party at Sugarcube Corner!"

**********

"Uh, Wildfire. That pie was for everybody."

"Mmphmpmm" Wildfire was quite litterally eyes deep in a blueberry pie. He cleaned the plate in under a minute. He sat back on his haunches, sighing in relief. He hadn't eaten anything in three days, and the recent extortion had drained his will to wait any longer. "Sorry, haven't eaten in days." He looked down at his clothing, still soaked in blood. Maybe I should take it off.

Putting his prized hat on the table, Wildfire took off a various array of belts and harnesses. Designed to hold over sixty-seven pieces of weaponry, there was hardly a time when Wildfire was carrying absolutely no weapons. Even his cape could be used as a weapon, for it became solid when magic is charged through it. Pulling off the silk garment, he quickly rubbed a hoof over it. The silk had been the finest in Zarynthia, given to him as a birthday present by Her. He still wore it proudly after countless tears, burns, and scrapes had worn the thing down. Stripping off the blood-soaked clothes, the surrounding ponies got a first look at what Wildfire looked underneath. The warrior was of a light orange shade, resembling that of dusk. His hair was pitch black, with a short mane. His tail was rather long for a pony his size, either due to neglect or personal preference. He had glowing amber eyes, with an iris that seemed like it had been drawn by an artist. Inside those eyes a flurry of activity was present, ages of knowledge and experienced locked away in the jewels. His wings were rather large, almost twice the size of ordinary pegasi at his size. They harboured few feathers, though they were massive in size and no doubt substituted lots of small feathers perfectly. The feathers themselves overlapped, which would give Wildfire more lift. His body was covered in a multitude of scars, each of varying shapes and sizes. To finish it all off, rippling muscles flowed underneath his coat, hinting that he was much stronger than his small stature showed.

Wildfire had chosen his disguise perfectly.

"Good build, but what's wrong with your feathers?" Rainbow Dash commented.

"I could say the same about your feathers. It's the norm back home to have these feathers." Both winged creatures turned at the sound of Twilight's voice.

"I don't think even Celestia has feathers that size. Why are your feathers like that?"

Shrugging, Wildfire tried remembering what he was tought eons ago. "There were lots of high places back home, speed and agility were practically unheard of. Everyone preferred endurance and a good gliding ability. Due to the warmer ecosystem, there was almost always a good current that would allow you to spend minimal energy flying around. The elders had wings large enough to wrap them around your library, Twilight." Twilight imagined Rainbow Dash with wings of that caliber and had to hold back giggles. Spotting Pinkie Pie out of the corner of his eye, she was laughing histerically to the point no sound came out. Taking the chance he was presented, Wildfire slipped away from the group. Settling down in a corner, he took in the party in front of him. Snow was having a conversation with Fluttershy, who seemed to be much more comfortable. Pinkie Pie was going around, making sure every pony was happy. Twilight was talking to other ponies, while Rainbow recounted stories to a group of small fillies and colts.

Wildfire was worried, he shouldn't have broken a sweat when going against the dogs. I need to work on my stamina again. What bothered him most was that even when surrounded by all this happiness, he felt soul-crushingly lonely.

Chapter 8: Trying to Integrate

Wildfire awoke to find himself in a beautifully decorated room. Looking to his right, Snow was beginning to stir. To his left, was a half-closed door. The smell of fresh pancakes wafted through, I don't even remember what pancakes taste like.

Eh-wha? An irritated wolf crossed his field of view, heading for the door. Following closely, Wildfire put on his hat and cape. Opening the door, the wanderer saw Sweetie Belle, in the kitchen cooking pancakes. Turning to him, the young unicorn frowned.

"Do you ever go anywhere without that hat or cape?"

"Not usually, I feel naked without them." Wildfire shot back. "Where's Rarity?"

"She was up all night working on something, she's in her room sleeping." Nodding, Wildfire approached the stove, where one half-cooked pancake lay.

"I'll just be out. Don't bother making pancakes for me or Snow." Nodding, the unicorn shifted her attention to the pastry.

I wanted a pancake you know.

"We'll you should've spoken up."

Wolves don't speak, dumbass.

"Wolves don't read minds either."

Proceeding past the door, Wildfire and his companion were greeted by the hectic activity that surrounded them. Finding their way to the town square, Wildfire looked around. The ponies seemed to be going in one direction. Curiosity taking hold of him, he followed some of the ponies to what seemed like a market.

"In the mood for some shopping?"

No. I want a damn pancake.

Rolling his eyes, Wildfire took the lead as he plunged into the marketplace. Confidently walking through droves of buzzing ponies, he looked at merchandise.

"Asparagus? Cherries? Lettuce? The hell are those?"

They seem to be veggies. These creatures ARE herbivorous after all.

Grunting in agreement, Wildfire and his companion traveled towards the Everfree.

I better find something to do.

Looking around, he spotted a small, flat clearing. Nudging Snow towards it, they both laid down in the sunlit area.

**********

"So, you were studying to be a musician before you were dragged into a war?"

"Yes, I've been running ever since."

Nodding, Twilight seemed deep in thought. "What about naming? Does it work like over here?"

Wildfire shook his head, "I don't think so. In Itia, we believe that each name should have some poetic beauty in it. Which is why you'd find names like Spectre, Moon, or Sunset. Most names were connected to something you find in nature or an emotion. I know I had a friend named Hope that patched me up quite a few times."

Twilight said nothing as she jotted down notes. "Tell me about the ecosystems."

"It was pretty hot throughout most of the land, but the north was frozen over most of the year. The dominant biome were prairies and coniferous forests."

"And the species living there?"

"Quite a few, there were plenty of sapient species, your usual zebra, elf, ent. The Zarynthians comprised of only fourteen percent of the population."

"What about languages?"

"Hmm, last time I checked, Itian is a dead language. Even though I speak it. And Anglican was the only official language."

"Anglican?"

"Whatever you call your language."

"Interesting, if our two kingdoms only had contact twice, how come we both have Equestrian as our main language?"

"I'm honestly not sure. Maybe ponies have a tendency to develop that language?"

"Possible. What was the main style of buildings?"

"Hmm, that depends. The larger cities were highly decorated buildings with multi-story living spaces. While the lowly villages were mostly wooden huts with practical applications."

"What about Cutie Marks?"

Wildfire raised an eyebrow, "Cutie whats?"

Twilight turned to him, a puzzled expression on her face. "You know, a Cutie Mark. It shows what your special talent is."

Wildfire shook his head, much to Twilight's dismay. "You mean you don't have Cutie Marks?! Impossible! Every pony gets a Cutie Mark!" Quickly closing her book, she urged Wildfire to his feet. Having nothing else to do, Wildfire followed, leaving Snow behind.

And I'm forgotten. Again. Shaking her head, the canine decided she would pay Fluttershy a visit.

**********

"I really don't see a reason to fuss over this. We didn't have Cutie Marks in Zarynthia."

"But that's the problem! Everypony gets one eventually! But don't worry, I know the best group to help you find yours."

**********

"Oh, hey Twilight! What brings you here?" Asked the cheery voice of Applebloom.

"Are you gonna make us read again?" Scootaloo cautiously inquired.

Twilight let out a small chuckle, "Not if you tell me the mass of the sun." The three fillies looked at each other, then back to Twilight. "Just kidding." Wildfire heard sighs of relief from the interesting group. Pushing his way past Twilight, the young ponies caught sight of him and their smiles dissapeared.

"Oh. H-hello W-wildfire." Applebloom took a step closer to her friends. Grabbing Twilight in his magical hold, he carried her outside. Ignoring her protests, he set her down at the bottom of the tree house.

"Okay. Explain to me why they're scared of me."

"They aren't afraid of you, they're just shy at being around someone new." The obviousness of the lie was practically dripping off those words.

"I've hurt enough to know fear when I see it. And they would be less afraid of a wyvern than they are of me."

Twilight groaned, "Alright you got me. After you escaped with Rarity, Sweetie and Applejack. Pinkie and Sweetie kinda told everyone about it. Didn't you notice?" Wildfire only grunted.

The ponies DID seen to form a path around me this morning. Sighing briskly, he turned around and walked back to the entrance. As silent as a feather falling, it was second nature of him to sneak around. Stopping by the doorway, Wildfire leaned in as much as he could. The traveler heard the three fillies in an excited conversation.

"Is she crazy? Why did Twilight bring HIM? He's insane for buck's sake!"

Oh boy. A fan club.

He heard a small voice he recognized as Sweetie Belle, "He's not insane, as far as I can tell. He's a colt of few words, sure, but he's nice." Wildfire felt touched at the unicorn's support. Scootaloo could be heard laughing,

"Ha! Nice, you're joking right? What kind of pony slaughters dogs and walks away as if nothing happened?"

Wildfire had heard enough, "The kind that lost everything." Now standing in the doorway, Wildfire glared at the trio of ponies. Applebloom contemplated her hooves while Scootaloo blushed a deep shade of red. Visible through her coat.

"Er, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough. I'll have you know that I have feelings." Let's play with their heart strings eh? Wildfire wiped away a false tear, "All I've wanted was for somepony to appreciate me. But I can see that that's never going to happen." Feigning hurt, he drooped his head and walked out, tail dragging on the ground. He kept the appearance as he neared a concerned Twilight.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Leave me be." Wildfire walked past the lavender unicorn, who trotted after him. Still moping, he headed towards Ponyville. As soon as they were out of sight, Wildfire's demeanour considerably brightened. A wide smile on his face, "I should've thanked Trinity for teaching me mind tricks."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you notice? There was no way I was going to be friends with Scootaloo or that yellow filly if they didn't feel they owed me something. And that entire 'loveable yet lonely' charade did exactly that. In other words, they just got mind raped."

Twilight flinched at the sudden language, "Mind what?"

"It's slang for reverse psychology." Looking up at the sun, Wildfire noted that it was almost noon. His usual spar with Snow would probably be extra-hard to compensate for lost time. Craning his neck, the orange pegasus peered into bushes and trees. Where his sparring buddy would most likely be hiding. Leaving Twilight behind, he walked around the town. Unconsciously, his hooves carried him back to Rarity's boutique. Seeing nothing else to do, he calmly entered the boutique. He couldn't help but grin at the cacophony of hooves originating from upstairs. He was greeted by a happy-looking Rarity,

"Oh, hello Wildfire. You're just in time! I have to show you something." Nodding, the caped illusionist followed the elegant unicorn upstairs. The upstairs room was much more spacious than he would've imagined. Among the chaos of fabrics and sewing equipment, three clothed mannequin was proudly standing. "Behold the latest craze in fashion! I call it Bad-"

"I told you that me staying at your house was fine. Your debt has been repayed."

"This isn't all for you, your performance in the caves gave me an idea for a new branch in clothing. It's supposed to give a 'Bad to the Bone' feeling."

"Oh."

"Don't worry, it's fine. The one in the middle I designed for you." Turning to the middle mannequin, Wildfire gave it a look over. The suit, which seemed to be made out of a type of nylon, was pitch black. It seemed layered, but upon further examination it was all one piece. The clothing was decorated with red lines going across the entire piece in elegant patterns. On its back, two long strips of cloth lay.

"You've known me for less than three weeks yet you already know how to make me drool."

"Hmph, I thought you would say that. Go ahead, it's yours if you want it." Eyes glowing in excitement, Wildfire slipped awkwardly into the clothing.

"It fits perfectly! How did you get the size right?"

Rarity looked away and blushed slightly.

"You didn't."

"I did."

"Creepy. Nevertheless, I've gotta go meet Snow for our daily spar."

"Ooh, sounds interesting."

"It's just a little duel."

"What for?"

"Eh, if I don't exercise regularly I'll crust over and become as flexible as a rock. The moving keeps scar tissue from building up."

"Is it dangerous?" She sounded worried.

"Not really, it's just an exhibition fight and we keep things toned down."

"Have fun then dear!"

Dear? Shrugging off the unusual name, Wildfire went into the guest room. Looking into the corner, he found the sheath that held his short sword, dubbed Scourge. Though he preferred a long sword, he was too small to use one now. The blade itself was thick, curving slightly in an 'S' form. The blade was a gleaming silver, covered in ornamental runes. Now how am I going to be able to use this to its full extent, yet still look like I'm holding it in hooves? His gaze drifted to his mebrythilium appendage, the engineers had managed to reconstruct a perfectly functioning hand. That's it. With a grin on his face. He adjusted his illusion spell once again. I know SOMEONE's going to be surprised. The spell hadn't even taken a toll on his stamina, as used as he was to it. He smiled as he remembered the first time he attempted a spell, he had tried to lift up a small rock. It had drained him of all his energy and didn't even lift it up. His mentor, Boulder, had laughed at the pitiful attempt. Even after the first failure, Wildfire was urged to continue his attempts. Boulder had told him, Magic is like a muscle, if you don't use it a lot, it will wither and weaken. Only through rigorous exercising can you achieve excellence. Boy was he right. Throughout the years of his life, he had accumulated a massive strength in magic. Not a match for an alicorn or dragon sure, but large nevertheless. Hitching on the sheath, Wildfire exited the boutique and looked for his opponent.

*********

A/N

Yeah, yeah, I'm going to catch a lot of flak about how OP Wildfire clearly is. Yes, he needs to be nerfed to the ground. /sarcasm.

In all seriousness it's not like he can vanquish eight Ursa Majors with his awesome or teabag Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis and Discord all at once while eating ice cream or anything. So haters bug off. Wildfire is not a Mary Sue, the test says so. Hell, apparently he has enough personality and traits for three OCs...

Chapter 9: Secrecy

The setting was dark, the room was small. The cold barrel of a revolver pressed to his forehead. Sitting up on a chair, Wildfire struggled to keep eye-contact with the towering gorgon. Her lips moved, but Wildfire heard no sound. Ignoring the pain permeating every fiber of his body, he focused on the thick, dry lips. Almost like a switch, the sound returned to his ears.

"-Have to thank you for freeing me. I wouldn't be free without you."

Struggling to form the words in his head, Wildfire hissed out a response, "You're right. I freed you by mistake. You should never have escaped the prison." Eyes widening with alarm, the gorgon was shocked when Wildfire leapt out of the seat and pushed the weapon between his legs. It fired off into the floor inches away from his body, before his captor could react, Wildfire grabbed the vile reptile by the neck and pulled both him and herself through the window behind. Freefalling, Wildfire angled his wings, causing the mass to spin the gorgon downwards. Crashing through a shopping stand, the revolver fell feet from them both. The gorgon saw her chance and reached out for it, but Wildfire jumped over her and grabbed it, rolling away. Breaking out into a hobble, he created distance between himself and the snake-riddled monster; who was barely getting up. Turning around, he slumped into a wall. He pointed in the general direction of the gorgon and squeezed the trigger twice. Both shots hit her in the lower chest area, only stunning her slightly. Snapping open the gun, Wildfire saw four more rounds. Looking back up, the gorgon was running at him at full speed. Quickly snapping the gun closed, Wildfire madly pressed the trigger, emptying the clip. The first round hit her in the shoulder, causing the gorgon to stumble slightly. The second and third barely grazed her, much to Wildfire's horror. The fourth one caught her square in the eye socket, turning the charging mass of green into a dead heap that collided harmlessly into his foot. Sighing a breath of relief, he choked when his body warned him that he wasn't exactly in ship-shape. The world turned and threatened to go black, Wildfire's arm flopped down limply to his side, all his energy spent. Closing his eyes, he grasped more solidly onto consciousness. Wildfire noticed the presence of something. Opening his eyes, he-

I'm here. Let's start this. Snow's sudden interruption made Wildfire jump, and he returned to reality. Now standing by the edge of the Everfree, he had been waiting for the canine to show up.

"So what'll it be?"

Let's go off with the usual first. Nodding, Wildfire started a rigorous stretching. Though he found it useless, he needed something to do while Snow set up spells. Feeling his energy tapped into, Wildfire verified to make sure it was the canine.

A blue aura surrounded the animal in question, and the illusion took hold of her body. In front of Wildfire now stood a female white unicorn, holding a large scythe.

"Heh, looks like your magic didn't go soft." She spoke in a clear, determined voice.

"I've only been practising magic my entire life."

"You changed your disguise again. That wasn't there before."

"I figured that would help."

Not answering, Snow instead swung her scythe at Wildfire. Who barely blocked it with his arm, he answered with a kick to the shin. In a blur, Wildfire unsheathed Scourge. Each taking a step back, the duo assumed a stance. Both charged at each other, Wildfire swung low, which Snow simply jumped over. She swung over handed at Wildfire, who sidestepped away. Wildfire swung again, and the unicorn countered with a parry. The two weapons sent showers of sparks as they collided, both bearers trying to overpower the other. A devilish grin came across Snow's face, as if on cue, a large ball of energy formed between the interlocked weapons. The ball grew in size and intensity until it dwarfed Wildfire. He could feel the tug on his magical force as Snow tapped into his reserves. The ball blew outwards in a silent explosion, knocking his sword out of his hands and sending Wildfire flying. Angling his wings, the warrior tried to stabilize himself, but to no avail. Instead, Wildfire curled up into a ball, hoping he wouldn't hit a tree again. He was surprised to feel the crunch of stone on his back, quickly losing his momentum, he rolled to a stop. Getting back up, he noticed that Snow had precariously blew him into Ponyville.

"Cheater." He muttered to himself, followed by the sound of a sword burying itself into stone. Ignoring the surrounding ponies, Wildfire saw Scourge less than forty feet from his left. Before he could take another step, a silent lightning bolt landed right beside him, sending Wildfire stumbling backwards. Not waiting for a second one, he broke into a run for his sword. Out of the corner of his eye, Wildfire saw Snow now perched on a roof. Sprinting towards his sword, Wildfire nimbly ran through the flurry of lightning bolts striking around him. With the surrounding ponies now in a panic, thinking it was a real fight, the warrior reached his intended target. Grabbing the blade, he cartwheeled, freeing it from the ground. Turning around, he drew open his wings. With a kick of his legs and a flap of his wings, Wildfire leapt at the still crouching Snow. Raising her weapon in anticipation, a stream of sparks appeared as Wildfire harmlessly overshot his challenger, only managing a glancing blow. Flipping in midair, Wildfire now faced Snow and dove back down. This resulted in another standstill as both opponents couldn't outplay the other. Shifting his weight, Wildfire pushed the two blades downards. Snow countered by turning the movement into a spiral, gambling that the younger opponent would lose his grip first. Snow was disappointed as Wildfire pushed forward ever so slightly, forcing her to let go. The two weapons flew through the air, Wildfire's sword planting itself into a wall with the scythe precariously balanced onto it. Snow jumped towards the arms, only to be stopped cold as Wildfire wrapped his tail around her hind leg. Wildfire was in turn surprised as she fell off the roof with an audible "Eep!", dragging him along. The duo smacked into the now-empty street with a loud thud, scrambling to get back up. The two assumed a hoof-to-hoof stance, and nodded at each other. Both opened into a flurry of kicks and punches, though neither managed to land any. Wildfire swung hard at Snow, she leaned back barely in time. Feeling herself being pushed back by the wind the swing had generated, Snow grabbed hold of his cape. Pulling hard, Wildfire's face made contact with her fist. Wildfire immediately put his nose into his hooves, groaning loudly. Thinking that she had hurt her friend, Snow approached Wildfire.

"Sorry! Are you alright? I didn't hit you too hard did I?" Snow was answered when Wildfire grabbed her arm and swung it into a circle motion. Having to keep her arm at the proper angle meant trying to keep up with the spin. Wildfire grinned mischievously, and swung his leg at her. Instead of being blocked, this time his leg did a clean sweep of the ground. Carrying the canine off her feet, Wildfire was now standing victorious. He was trying to contain his amusement, a hoof to his mouth. He sat back onto his haunches, his demeanour cracked as he started laughing.

"You STILL fall for that trick? Seven years and you still lose due to some basic move!" Resuming his laughter, some of the ponies peered out of closed stalls, confused. Snow stood back up, wiping the dust off her coat.

"You know I'm just here to make sure you don't blow your top. Fighting is not my specialty." Irritation seeped off the phrase, which only made Wildfire laugh harder. His laughter was interrupted when he felt himself being carried away by a magical force. Craning his neck, he saw a panicked aquamarine unicorn levitating him away from Snow. Groaning loudly, Wildfire protested at being handled against his will.

"What was that for?"

"What was what for? That unicorn was attacking you, that's what that was for!" Wildfire sighed heavily,

"Look, it's just a spar with a friend. She just got careless and almost turned me into a freaking dinner roast!" Directing the last bit towards Snow, she looked away, admiring the shingles of a building. "Hmph, well I won anyways. And I was going easy!"

"Heh, as if. We both know I'd win if I weren't holding back."

Wildfire turned towards Snow, a glimmer in his eyes as he heard the challenge. "I'd beat you in ten seconds flat, there's a reason they call me the Last Shadow." Snow only opened her mouth before she was loudly interrupted by a loud exclamation,

"HANDS!" Wildfire was tackled by the aquamarine unicorn, who was now staring at the adjustments he had made to his disguise. He had reverted his left arm back to it's hand form, so he could handle his sword to a better extent than with a hoof. He adjusted only that part under the assumption that he could get away with it since it was mechanical. And now, the unicorn was holding the arm with both hooves, a wide grin and a strange glimmer in her eyes. "Is it like a glove? Ooh, can I try it?" Not waiting for an answer, she pulled hard on his arm. Both were surprised when she managed to pull off the arm, revealing a concealed stump and a few wires.

"Ow! Stop that!" Quickly letting go, the crazy mare stepped off of Wildfire. Standing back up, he struggled to put the attachment into its proper place. "Great, you pulled it clean out. Now I have to screw it back in."

"S-sorry, I got carried away. Lyra, by the way."

"M-hmm. Nice to meet you 'Lyra' but I'll be going now." The arm still hanging, a few droplets of blood rimmed the stump. Leaning on Snow, the two headed quietly back to Rarity's. Leaving an embarrassed Lyra and a greenish mare trying to console her.

*********

"Oh hello Wildfire, who's th- SWEET CELESTIA! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Snow flinched at Rarity's screaming, Wildfire resisted the urge to do the same. He had no chance to explain whatsoever as Rarity pulled up a sofa and fainted onto it.

"Uh-huh. I'll just go attach this."

Retreating to his room, Wildfire closed the door and locked it.

"You know, I swear that bloody thing was on tighter."

"Eh, it gets loose sometimes, you had problems with it in the past."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was often worse, you got some blood poisoning once before they switched the joints over to mebrythilium. I still can't believe they let bad quality-iron in there, the thing rusted over into your bloodstream." Wildfire nodded, looked at his arm. Then looked back to Snow and arched his brow. "Oh, right. I never told you how to put it back on did I?" Wildfire shook his head as he let the canine handle the dislocated arm. With a few clicking noises and some adjustments, the engineering marvel now was working again.

"Thanks."

"Think nothing-" of it. In a white haze, Snow reverted back to her natural form. With a lazy stretch, the wolf settled down into a pile of sheets. You seem troubled.

"Nothing, really. Just a flashback."

A new one? Wildfire only nodded. Well, it's been a while since you had some memory come back. You still don't remember everything do you?

"No, and it scares me. Sometimes I feel like a different person, sometimes, the whispers get louder all of a sudden. Why did the ritual strip me of my memories?"

It would not have changed you had it done otherwise. It cleansed your mind, giving you the second chance you wanted. If you had all your memories, you'd be sobbing about how much our spar resembled a fight with a certain someone. Sighing heavily, he knew that he would not get any more information from Snow. She HAD been sworn to secrecy after all. Only divulging information when she had to. Both heads turned to the sound of knocking on their door.

Chapter 10: To Find a Cutie Mark

Who could that be? Ignoring the question, Wildfire got up to the door. Using his magic, he heard four distinct heartbeats. Assuming Rarity's still passed out I'll take it we have three guests. Opening the door, the two were confronted with the three fillies again. They seemed unconcerned about Rarity's condition, to say the least. Sweetie Belle elbowed Scootaloo, who cleared her throat.

"Uh, listen, Wildfire? We thought about it and we really feel bad about making you feel unwelcome. We were just wondering if, you might wanna, hang with us?"

Wildfire had to keep himself from laughing, instead he pictured an eldritch abomination. Almost instantly the urge to laugh dissapeared. Looking over to the fillies, they seemed to be sincere.

"I appreciate the gesture but you didn't have to come all the way over here."

"We're cool though right?"

"Yeah, no hard feelings." The three girls gained a smile that reached the sides of their head. "So, what is it that you do?" As if on cue, they whipped out capes and took a deep breath. Wildfire drew back his ears in anticipation, fearing the worst.

"We are, THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" Wildfire swore he could see the windows vibrate. Snow shoved her head under the bed.

"And that means that you do, what?" Wildfire shook his head to try to clear the ringing from his ears.

"We try to find our cutie marks!" Sweetie Belle chimed in.

"Yeah, but we tried just 'bout everything."

"But enough of that. Do you know what your special skills are?" Noticing that he was being talked to, Wildfire raked his brain for the necessary information.

"Well, apart from being a marksman, weapons specialist, martial arts expert. Acrobat, Mage, survival expert. No I don't have any special skills."

"Modesty, don't forget modesty." Scootaloo commented. Wildfire smiled, he was going to have fun for once.

"But seriously. I never had the time to do something 'different'."

*********

"I have to get into that?"

"Unless if ya want to run everywhere, I suggest ya get on." Taking Applebloom's advice, Wildfire sat awkwardly in a small red wagon. Taking his place by the two other fillies, he was handed a spare helmet. Obediently trading the hat for the helmet, he wasn't sure why they needed a helmet for a seemingly peaceful ride. Scootaloo took her place at the scooter (ironically) and fluttered her wings. She's seriously not hoping to make this cart fly. Wildfire's heart leapt out of his chest as the wagon took off abruptly, slamming Wildfire into the back. Scrambling like a puppy to get a hold of something, the wagon bounced violently across the cobblestone.

**********

A few concussions and bruises later...

**********

After what seemed to be an eternity, the wagon finally stopped at a building that looked like it was made out of baked goods.

"What's the plan?"

"We thought we'd try baking again. Where's Pinkie?" Wildfire's ears perked up at the mention of the pink furball. A pink blur caught his attention. Looking towards its source, Wildfire did not see what he was looking for. A head materialized from the doorway, and he recognized it as his worst fear: Pinkie Pie. He found it odd, that with all that he's been through, all that he's fought, he'd prefer hugging a sand wyrm over being near Pinkie. The aforementioned pony dissapeared, only to pop up beside Scootaloo seemingly effortlessly.

"Are you ready to have the best times of your lives?!" Pinkie Pie yelled in her usual cheery self.

"Yeah!" All three crusaders spoke out at once. Wildfire stood by awkwardly, not wanting to be noticed by the energetic pony.

"What brings you here Wildfire?" Fuck. Bringing his best possible smile into play, Wildfire opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by a certain orange pegasus.

"Oh, him? He's just here with us." Wildfire shot her a glance, Scootaloo smiled maliciously.

"Wee! We're going to be the best of friends!"

"Ehh, I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"W-what?" Pinkie Pie seemed visibly saddened, her smile that Wildfire thought was plastered on had faded into an uncertain frown.

"I'd love to be your friend, but, I tend to hurt those around me." Pinkie scoffed, her bright mood returned.

"Is that what your making a fussy-wussy over? You're not a Big Meany Pants!" Not taking no for an answer, Wildfire was dragged into a spine-breaking hug. Before he could form a response, Wildfire found himself being dragged towards the door of the building. Inside, Wildfire managed to make out a wooden floor. A counter appeared in view as he slid past it. Still in Pinkie's iron grip, she prattled on about all sorts of nonsense. From aristocrats to zebras, not a single topic was left untouched. What was most amazing was that Pinkie Pie managed to do this in a matter of seconds. Wildfire's brain could not process the information that was being crammed down its throat, so it did the only thing it knew how to do. It zoned out.

**********

"Forty-eight, forty nine, fifty!"

Wildfire looked around the room. The large banners making a bigger impression than the unnocupied large throne. Seeing nobody on the ground, he looked up. He was greeted by a solid diamond chandelier, even though everyone knew it was plain old glass. He dashed towards the throne, eager to find his newest friend. Looking behind it, Wildfire was disappointed to find only dust behind the large seat. Looking to the windows, he noticed that a shadow was draped precariously across one of the sills. Bunching his muscles, Wildfire jumped towards the window. He was greeted by a thump as he overshot his target and hit his head on the window. He reeled back from the impact and yelped as his foot slipped from the narrow windowsill. The rest of his body hurtled over the edge, sending him on a trip towards the solid cobblestone underneath him. He slammed quietly onto the rocky floor, with a smacking sound. Struggling to retake his breath, Wildfire was terrified as he experienced having the air driven out of his lungs for the first time. As he lay gasping, the small black figure he was looking for emerged from hiding. Gifted with both a horn and wings. She fluttered over to him, a mix of worry and fear in her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Regaining his breath, Wildfire broke out into sobs, pain still permeating his body. Slowly, he sat himself on his rump, holding up his right leg. A small gash could be seen, slowly oozing blood. His friend came closer, and upon inspection, told Wildfire to stay still. Not daring to move, he obeyed the command, and watched nervously as she dissapeared into the adjoining room. A few seconds passed by and the door reopened. She re-emerged with his Father, who had a concerned look on his face. His gaze broke out into a warm smile as he saw Wildfire, who attempted to limp towards his Father.

"Hold on there kiddo, you might have broken something."

Laying back down on the ground, his crying had reduced to irregular sniffling.

"Now, where does it hurt?"

"E-everywhere."

His dad chuckled, "You'll need to be more specific than that." Wildfire held up his leg further, even though he did hurt all over. "Aww, that's not bad at all, especially for a fall from that height." Wildfire now frowned at his dad, who gave a nervous smile. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some bandages, and proceeded to delicately wrap the tissue around his leg. All the while, the green-eyed creature looked on in mild interest. After he checked over the rest of his body, his father assumed that there was nothing worse than bruising. At this moment, a light rapping sounded on the door, and the polished helmet of a guard poked through.

"Captain Spectre, if you're done, we need you in the diplo room."

Spectre nodded and headed towards the room, but not before he patted Wildfire's head. The door shut closed, and the two were once again left to their own devices. His friend, who he had yet to learn the name of, approached him.

"Does that hurt as bad as it looks?"

Wildfire wiped away his tears and stood up as tall as he could.

"Why of course not, 'tis just a flesh wound" Even though he wanted to flail on the floor bawling. The dark creature rolled her eyes, obviously not buying it. "I never caught your name." She smiled, before opening her mouth.

Wildfire's thoughts were interrupted by the smell of fresh cupcakes. Pinkie Pie moved in a blur as she showed the group how to correctly put confections on a cupcake. Seeing no reason to listen, Wildfire mulled over his most recent thought. He smiled at the warm memory, it seemed so far away when compared to the rest of his life. He felt the same bittersweet feeling that he felt whenever he thought of the hooved creature. He felt warm at the good times they spent growing up with each other, and the same heart-wrenching feeling of losing her to corruption. He knew that she would not hesitate to kill him if she was given the chance. He was once again interrupted as he heard screams from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Letting his eyes focus, he spotted Pinkie Pie walking towards them brandishing a knife.

"Now let's add the special ingredient." Wildfire was a quarter of a second from jumping onto her, when she passed by the terrified children to the counter. "An itty-bit of cheese!" Wildfire met the confused eyes of Scootaloo, and burst out laughing. He was joined by the others as they too realized what had happened. Pinkie joined in their laughter seemingly just for the sake of laughing. Adding the final ingredients, Pinkie let the quad try their hand at baking. Wildfire found that it was much harder than Pinkie let on. The specific timing and strict procedures did not agree with him.

"Y'know what? I'm gonna take a walk."

Leaving the group behind, Wildfire made it to the edge of the Everfree, deciding fresh air would do him good. He prowled around the area, checking to see if anypony was near.

Did I just use the word anypony?

Dismissing the almost alien word, Wildfire resumed his natural form with a content sigh. Calmly trotting among the trees, he looked around for possible prey. After a few minutes of searching, Wildfire found a decent sized tree. Climbing up the tree, he found a nook that he could lean on. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes.

**********

It had been years since he had lain eyes on her. The child he knew had matured into a beautiful young woman. She seemed to be assessing him as well, obviously giving him a look-over. She stood beside her parents, now wrinkled with age. Her mother was as warm as ever, while her father simply eyed Wildfire suspiciously. The awkward silence lasted until Obsidian spoke up.

"We all know why we are here. The matters discussed in this room will remain confidential. Is it agreed?" Everyone in the room nodded assent. "Good, now let's get started." Her mother spoke first, her voice cracked with age.

"Thank you. I propose a diplomatic agreement between our two kingdoms. We will formally declare ourselves as allies, and position ambassadors in both of our countries. Furthermore, we offer you the hand of our daughter, to strengthen the bonds with our empires." Wildfire smiled inwardly, knowing the response before it was said.

"Thanks, but I already have one wife and she's hard enough to please." Obsidian spoke with a smirk. She visibly relaxed at hearing she wasn't going to marry anyone. "The ambassadorial proposal is tempting. As for the allied declaration? I'd rather position ambassadors and see where it goes from there."

"Fair enough, who will be positioned?"

Wildfire felt the weight of four pairs of eyes on him. He flicked his tail, a signal that only Obsidian would comprehend.

"Wildfire."

He knew she must feel as happy as he did, not only was he getting an indirect promotion, but he also got to spend time with her. And it would not seem awkward either, as they could just pass things off as formal meetings. Wildfire physically nodded, agreeing to the role he would play.

Chapter 11: Foreboding

The darkened room was deathly silent, save for the occasional cracking of fire and the heavy breathing of an armored figure. Wildfire sat on the golden throne, normally he would be excited to have the honor of doing so. However, the situation was far too dark to enjoy such a luxury. He had his attention on a sickle that lay on his knees, distractedly sharpening it. Normally he would have ran, but he was determined to give Sunset as much time as possible to escape with the group of civilians. Without warning, the sound of footsteps resonated in the room. Wildfire looked up to see an orc diving towards him. Flesh ripping was the next sound to disrupt the monotony of the throne room. The sound of metal hitting the floor followed closely.

Wildfire towered over the dying corpse of the orc, the sickle sunk deep into his enemy. With a disgusting sound of gore, Wildfire withdrew the sickle rather messily from the body. Turning around, he was confronted with a group of what he estimated was twenty-two orcs. He flicked his wrist as the last of the blood dripped off his blade, the orcs stood by uncertain. His eyes flew from target to target, examining the possible avenues of his attack. With his face remaining in its grim state, Wildfire disappeared from the eyes of the green enemies. His shadow betrayed his intentions as it could be seen traveling at high speeds over the cobblestone. Wildfire landed in the middle of the orcish group with a powerful magical blast. Concussing the nearby orcs as they were launched every which way. The ominous roar of thunder resonated through the castle. Standing back up, Wildfire blocked the blow of an orc, who ran past him. Without a second thought, he ducked as he spun, barely avoiding the blade destined for his spine as he tore the orc’s head clean off. It flew across the room and hit another orc, seizing the opportunity, Wildfire used his magic to warp towards the orc. His face remained emotionless as he drew the curved blade across it’s throat. Wildfire then blocked a kick from another orc, who quickly found himself disarmed and was launched. Using his magic Wildfire reconstructed the stone support beam around the monster, encasing it in stone. Wildfire’s attention was caught by an arrow buried at his feet. He cartwheeled out of the way of more arrows, and rolled backwards to escape another volley. He used his magic to teleport to the rampart of the throne room. He quickly dispatched of the archers, who were not expecting him to be behind them.

He dropped back down into the throne room. He knelt down and was grazed by the knuckleduster that was destined for his head. Quickly, the orc found itself immobilized as he was drawn into a headlock. Looking past the green blob, Wildfire spotted six more orcs heading towards him. Wildfire turned and threw his sickle, spinning it with magic. The sickle hit the first orc and quite litterally reduced it to shreds. Wildfire drew the orc's arm over his neck, looking behind him. He lashed out at the nearest Orc, kicking it in the knee. The force of the impact bent the leg at an awkward angle and sent the green mass sprawling across the floor. He slipped a wing underneath the Orc he was holding, and with the combined effort toppled the Orc onto the other. Not pausing, he slammed the Orc into the next one. He flipped the monster and was now grasping it by it's ankle. With a single spin, he threw the heavy creature onto the last conscious monsters.

Wildfire barely had the time to enjoy his victory, for a fist spawned in his face. The impact itself was not hard, but the psychokinetic force behind it was massive. This sent Wildfire sailing through the room, bouncing on the floor. With a heave of his wings, he managed to roll onto his feet. The assaulting being appeared again, driving Wildfire into the throne. With an arm into his throat, Wildfire gasped for air as he stared into the unknown creature's purple eyes. With his left arm, he felt for the sword that had been dropped by the first Orc he killed. Knowing that the creature was charging a spell, Wildfire attempted to buy some time by pushing his right hand into the maw of the creature. It responded by biting down on his hand, eliciting a wince from Wildfire. He finally grabbed onto the sword and drove it through the creature. He kicked it off him, tearing the flesh off his arm. He jumped after the creature as his sickle flew towards him. He caught it in his left hand and hooked it around the slim creature. Propulsing it further into the air, Wildfire flew until he reached it's height. He smacked into the monster, sending the sword through it and into the floor. Quickly, Wildfire teleported to the floor, pulled the sword out of the ground and waited for gravity. The creature was surprisingly heavy, as it almost caused him to buckle. Letting the body drop to the floor, the room was silent once again. Save for the blood dripping onto the cold floor.

Wildfire awoke to the grumbling of his stomach. He realized that he had neglected to eat once again. He decided that he would get Snow and get something more... substantial.

Way ahead of you. Wildfire looked down to see a slightly bloodstained Snow. Knowing what she meant, he hovered downwards to her. She took the lead, Wildfire complied to following her. After what seemed to be a few minutes of walking, a bloody corpse assaulted Wildfire's mind.

"Did you kill this?"

Maybe.

**********

"Rosey?"

The shrill squeak of a frightened voice called out for her sister. She knew what had happened to her, but she refused to believe it. She can't die! She's going to walk out of that crater any moment... A growing sense of dread settled in her heart as the full weight of the situation sunk in. Her only family. Dead. Even now she could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. Peeking out of the debris, she spotted her sister's holster, her long rifle charred and smoking. She tried to make sense of what had happened. Baddie came. Threatened Rose and herself. Rose and baddie fought. Rosey was winning until baddie tried hurting her. Then her sister pushed her out of the way and dissapeared in a beam of light. She teleported! She's just going to pop beside me and tell me everything's alright... If only Phantom was here. Her mind felt like it was imploding. Why was she freaking out like a scared baby? She could take on whatever was out there no probs. Just as she was about to go retrieve the weapons, a winged shadow crossed the ground. Except maybe a full-grown Banshee. She looked around for anything dead to use as energy. She saw a dead cow in the middle of the field. Reaching out, she was disappointed to find that it was just feet beyond her magical grasp. Just my lucky day. Could never get any worse. Just as those thoughts finished processing, the roof of the downed house came down. She had to roll outside to avoid being flattened by the debris. She looked back to see what could have caused the damage. She turned back to the sound of a roar and saw a draconian shadow blotting out the sun.

**********

"What the hell happened over here?"

Wildfire could not help but blurt this out as he arrived at the edge of Ponyville. It seemed like every single pony, unicorn, and pegasus was fighting over some sort of... Doll? Looking around he noticed Twilight, who looked rather unkempt, along with her friends. Sprinting over to them, he seemed to go unnoticed.

"-Oh what have I done?"

"What have you done, Twilight? Did I miss something or what?" Six heads shot towards his direction.

"It was my Want it, Need it spell! It was only supposed to affect three ponies, but now everything that looks at it falls under it's spell!" Looking towards the flailing group of ponies, he felt the pull of the spell. Which wouldn't force an eyebat out of him. Amateurish excuse of a manipulation spell...

"Wait here, I'll go get that doll away from every pony," Everypony. "if I get it far away enough it's effects should wear off correct?"

"Yes but-"

"Twilight Sparkle!"

The eight surprised creatures looked up to find an angry-looking Celestia flying above them. Without saying another word, Celestia's horn lit up in her signature golden glow. It gave off a flash and a yellow orb could be seen growing from the tip of the horn. Wildfire felt a small twinge of uncertainty as he wondered what effect it could have on him. As the magic reached him, audible sizzling and intense heat assaulted Wildfire. Sure that his multiple protection spells were the cause of this, he scrambled internally to find an exit. His body was quickly enveloped in blue flames as he dissapeared from the field.

**********

A freezing wind pierced through a red cloak. The figure underneath did not attempt to pull it closed. Instead she stood motionless, a tombstone at her feet. On said tombstone lay the engraving of a rose, delicate and graceful. The figure turned and left, head held low. She observed as the forest around her visibly wilted, seemingly mourning her sister as well. She knew that it was in reality her mood affecting the nearby wildlife. She wanted nature to mourn, for one of the few souls who could hear it had passed on. She let her mind wander as her feet carried her to someplace only Fate knew.

**********

The Everfree was silent, most creatures finishing up their activities for the day. A large lake shimmered in the dusk light. The relative peace was shattered as a blue ball of flame appeared over the lake. It produced a flailing reptile then dissapeared. The writhing mass plummeted towards the water, it's wings flapping uselessly. A string of curses were bellowed as the shape desperately tried to avoid the water. It hit the water with a bloodcurdling smack, forming a large disturbance in the water. Bubbles could be seen streaming towards the shore at a frightening pace. The shape exploded from the water, and ran into the forest. Only when Wildfire had run non stop for a few minutes did he stop to look back. He slumped onto the ground trembling; if there was one thing he was afraid of it was water. His eyes were wide open and shot around, not looking for an enemy, but for water. He cast a spell to evaporate any water on him. After a few minutes of laying on the ground, the trembling subsided and his tears reduced to scared whimpers. Standing back up, Wildfire started his long walk back to Ponyville, dragging his feet. Just as I thought. That spell was designed to strip everything in it's radius of spells. And I just happened to be there. He felt a bit bummed out of losing his protection spells, it had taken him years to cast the armada that protected him from things as simple as rocks falling. Wildfire stopped abruptly, his nostrils flaring. Only now had he noticed the smell of something burnt. His eyes drifted to his muzzle, his red scales revealing nothing. That's when he noticed that they weren't their usual red, they were red hot. It only took his mind a fraction of a second to make the connection, and his nerves even less time to get the pain screaming back at him.

"YEAOOW!"

**********

A different forest was bustling with activity, calls of various kinds resonating through the thick woods. The cloak-clad figure was still walking, entranced by the sound of her feet hitting the ground. A blur of movement caught her attention, looking up, she saw a group of wildbeasts amassing in front of her. She stood perfectly still as they snarled at her. One of the wildbeasts charged forwards, diving towards her. Inches before hitting it's target, she dissapeared in a puff of petals. The monster looked around, then looked at the bright moon. In a haze of magic, seafoam eyes blinked. Her hand reached down and grabbed the weapon in her holster. She spun as the weapon deployed, she pointed it towards the wildbeasts. A loud bang resonated through the air as one of the bull-like monsters' head split open. With gravity taking hold, she dove down towards the ground. As she hit the ground she rolled, standing back up she fired at one of the beasts near her, tearing out a large part of the chest. Smashing another creature in the head, she rolled the firearm in her hands. The weapon, which formerly belonged to her sister, deployed to its full extent. The barrel lengthened by four feet, and the blade of a scythe rolled out from underneath it.

"Let's get this party started."

**********

The door to Twilight's library slammed open, scaring the six ponies inside. Wildfire walked in, devoid of facial expressions.

"Wildfire! Don't you know how rude it is to-"

"Not in the mood. I just got the wonderful experience of burning alive." Wildfire cut off Rarity as he clenched the door behind him. He immediately started looking for a book.

"What are you looking for?"

"Feather regrowth spell. I had some spells on them that made them less fragile and when it got stripped away by Celestia's spell, it burnt off my feathers." He could feel the gaze of the other ponies on him, looking for his wings which he had concealed.

"Wait, did you just call the Princess by her name? Without Princess with it?" Wildfire turned to Rarity.

"Yeah, so?"

"So? So?! It's the Princess! You can't talk to her like that, you must use her title! You're lucky she didn't hear that or-" Wildfire tuned out Rarity's seemingly incessant talking and continued to look for the spell.

**********

About a week later...

**********

"Welcome to Nightmare Night!"

Chapter 12: Darkness Calls

"We have a lot of explaining to do, huh?" Snow tried a weak smile, but Luna was having none of it.

"Well?"

**********

About thirty minutes earlier.

**********

"Nightmare Night? Sounds fun."

"You don't sound excited..." Wildfire smiled, he did seem cold at times. Snow was traveling beside him as the white unicorn once again. He himself had decided to participate, his eyes their normal reptilian. "You know perfectly well I can't risk emotions." Snow rolled her blue eyes.

"Stop using that as an excuse."

**********

"Better, but that still doesn't explain who that was."

Snow wiped her brow, "We're getting there."

**********

The sky suddenly became clouded, dark clouds smothering the beautiful stars. A bare spot remained for the full moon, and through it came a chariot. Pulling it were two bat-like ponies and atop of it rested a hooded figure. Lightning flashed behind figure, lighting up her face in a wide grin.

"Should I be worried? I'm going to be worried." Wildfire looked over to Snow, who was following the path of the chariot. She turned over to him.

"Are you going to just stand there? It's obviously royalty."

"Last time I checked, royalty doesn't bring forth darkness. And they certainly don't look like a Reaper."

"Yeah, apparently, this princess is a little different. Come on!"

**********

"Was my entrance really that bad?"

Snow waved off Luna's concerns. "Nah, it was really good. Might have worried Wildfire a bit, for a second we thought it was someone else."

"Continue."

**********

"Madam Mayor, thy princess of the night has arrived!" Wildfire watched from the sidelines as 'Luna' thrust her hoof to the frightened civilians. She obviously expected it to be kissed, but the ponies were avoiding it like she had some sort of disease. Wildfire shook his head, until he felt Snow poke him in the side.

"We had a bet. And you lost it."

"Ugh. Fine." Wildfire took a bag that was strapped into his belt and dropped it into the smug hoof of Snow.

"I told you she was royalty."

"Anyways, now that we've had your fun, how about we take care of our guests?" Snow cocked her head, only to realize what he meant a few seconds later.

"You noticed them too?"

"I'd say it's a trap, they're just too obvious." Wildfire was referencing to the magical signature of Seekers heading their way. They normally hid their signature with magic, but when they didn't they could be detected miles away. There was also the reek of fuel in the air. Both companions nodded, and headed their separate ways. Snow headed to the Everfree, and Wildfire headed for the Princess.

**********

"And that's all I know on my end. What did Wildfire tell you?"

"He mostly warned me."

**********

Luna laid down at the statue of her terrifying alter ego. A permanent reminder that these ponies would not forgive her. There must be a way that we can gain the love of these villagers. Her reverie was interrupted as she heard the voice that belonged to the pony she should have gone to first.

"Princess Luna?"

Luna stood up and faced the newcomer.

"Hi, my name is-"

"Starswirl the Bearded. Commendable costume; thou even got the bells right."

"Thank you! Finally, somepony who gets my costume!" Twilight seemed to remember who she was talking to, "Uhhh, I just came to welcome you to our celebration. My actual name is-"

"Twilight Sparkle." Luna interrupted again. "It was thou who unleashed the powers of Harmony upon us, and took away our dark powers!" Luna watched as Twilight stumbled backwards, possibly due to the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"And that was a good thing, right?"

Luna landed in front of Twilight, "But of course! We could not be happier, is that not clear?"

"Well it kinda sounds like you're yelling at me."

"But this is the royal Canterlot voice! It is tradition to use the royal 'we'; and to use this much volume when addressing our subjects!"

Again, Twilight Sparkle stumbled backwards. The force of the Royal Canterlot Voice banishing her fake beard and hat to the right side of her head. She straightened both her hat and beard, "You know, that might explain why your appearance was met with mixed results?"

Luna's response was cut short when she saw a draconian being burst through the bushes, she blinked and the form turned into a small pegasi. Said pegasi seemed to have noticed the puzzled look in her eyes, as it,-he; she corrected, walked towards her. "Princess Luna?" At once, Luna was taken aback by the tone of voice he spoke to her with. Whereas the other peasants feared her like a shoggoth, he spoke to her, relaxed, as if talking to a friend. He wore a peaceful little smile, almost as if waking from a good dream. Yet his eyes flashed with cold comparable to her celestial body, not letting any emotion appear in the glowing spheres.

"Yes?"

"Pardon the intrusion, but I'm just here to warn you that we are about to get a group of rather violent guests here any minute. I've sent Snow to stall them but I do not expect her to slow them down for long."

"Why are they coming?" Luna was trying her best to remain unfazed, yet this news unsettled her.

"They're most likely coming for me. They've always come for me." He said with a hint of sadness. Luna shared a look of worry with Twilight.

"What do you intend me to do?"

"I mostly just came here to make sure you knew what was going on. My magic isn't exactly the silent type. If you hear a lot of screaming and explosions in the next hour that would be me. I would only truly worry if those explosions stop suddenly and the bodies of me or Snow are found." As if on cue, rustling could be heard from the bushes. Wildfire spun around on the soles of his feet, bringing an arm to the sheath of his sword.

**********

"And that's where I come back in."

**********

Wildfire stared intently at the bush, expecting the vicious grin of a Seeker to appear. Instead, the white head of a unicorn appeared. The pony stumbled through the bush, and whipped around when she arrived beside Wildfire. "There's three of them. Elementals." Snow explained.

"What kind?"

"There's a morpher, an icer, and a weaver."

Wildfire huffed, "Three on two. Great."

"Better odds than when it was five on thirty seven million." Snow answered with a hint of exasperation. The bushes shifted once again, and the bipedal figure of a Seeker came through. They were hardly spectacular, two arms, two legs, no wings or tails. The specimen in front of Wildfire was average sized, roughly seven feet tall. Following behind was an elf and a cloaked figure.

"Bene salve ibi, vermiculus." (Well hello there, Crimson.) Spoke the Seeker with words dripping of hate.

"Si mendax essem ego bono quod locutus sum ad vos coluber." (I'd be lying if I said it's good to see you, snake.) Responded Wildfire in an equally resentful manner. "Quid vis?"

"I want you. It's time for you to pay for your crimes."

"Thank the ancestors, I wasn't looking forward to a conversation entirely in Itian." Commented Snow, "And what crimes do you speak of?"

"Only the murder of countless Seekers, orcs and the like. I could care less for the orcs, but they put a rather handsome price on your head."

"Yes, I'm well aware of the four million zeacs on my head. Do I care? Absolutely not."

The Seeker chuckled, "Four million? Heh, it was increased to fourty-five mil a few weeks ago."

Wildfire exchanged a glance with Snow, who simply shrugged. He turned back to the group, to see that the elf and Seeker were gone. The only one that had remained was the cloaked figure. A voice resonated through the air, "The only condition of this bounty, is that I kill you first." Wildfire turned around to see a confused Twilight and Luna whose emotions were unreadable. The duo immediately whipped back around, Wildfire was hammered to the ground. The hammer lifted back up, carrying Wildfire with it, and slammed him back into the ground. He pulled out his sword and slashed at the Seeker, who disengaged to avoid losing his feet. Wildfire heard the now distorted voice of Snow, signalling that she had switched over to dark magic. Lifting himself off the ground, Wildfire parried a few blows from the seeker, whose arm had transformed from an oversized hammer to a sword. The sword faded into a shield as the Seeker was being overwhelmed by the swordplay that Wildfire was exhibiting. The shield was knocked off by a particularly strong hit from the left, and the Seeker transformed in a puff of purple smoke. What was left behind was a large purple rock, Wildfire did not ask any questions as he hit the rock once more. He backed away by a few feet, and took the time to see how Snow was faring. She was getting back onto her feet, as the elf threw a ball of magic at the ground. Spines made out of ice materialized towards Snow, who slid onto her haunches. She used the ice to her advantage to slide farther than she usually would, only grazing her cheek from a low-hanging spike. Wildfire snapped back towards the Seeker, and was confronted by a humongous rotating drill, which took off at him at worrying speeds. He tried catching the drill in his left hand, but upon realizing it held his sword, he settled for trying to parry. His sword hit the tip of the drill and glanced off, the result being that Wildfire had to move to avoid being penetrated. Said object started pushing him backwards, which brought a new worry forward, Wildfire couldn't let Twilight or Luna get hurt. Rearing his free hoof, Wildfire punched the drill as hard as he could on the tip. He was surprised by how easily he shattered the drill, which puffed back into a Seeker. The form flew backwards, tumbling over itself. Wildfire looked back to see that Luna's horn was glowing, and with it, a protective bubble was around both of the ponies. He sheathed his sword, seeing that his opponent no longer had the will to stand back up. He saw Snow trotting back to him, smoke coming off her head, his gaze was directed towards a smouldering crater.

"Where did number three go?" Wildfire's eyes widened as he realized they had lost track of where the cloaked figure went.

"Buck number three, who were they?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Eh, your usual guy that traveled halfway across the world for money. Nothing unusual where I'm from."

"Pray tell, how did it transform itself at such a quick pace? I sensed no magic being used."

"Seekers tend to do that. Though they do not morph as readily or quickly as Asa'roth."

"Asa'roth?" All three asked at once.

"Twilight and Luna I understand,-"

"Princess Luna!"

"But you, Snow? You know what Asa'roth are."

"I recall you always calling them by their other name." Wildfire only grunted as he started towards Ponyville, if things went the way he thought he would, they would find the third thug in Ponyville.

**********

"And that's when shit hit the fan."

**********

As the group arrived into Ponyville, Snow and Wildfire uttered a breath of relief. Twilight had peppered them with question after question. The group fell silent as they took in the scene in front of them. The entire village seemed empty, the streets devoid of ponies. In the square, a hooded creature stood. It seemed to be about nine feet tall, with large wings and a reptilian tail flicking about. Wildfire noticed his heart was beating faster, the presence of the thing stirring age-old memories and feelings. Said thing turned and looked at him, white zarynthian pupils surrounded by shadows adorning his visage.

"Eam 'been paulisper, Icaendium." Instantly, Wildfire threw an axe at the creature. It stood there, the axe cutting deeply into his head. Unflinching, it casually reached out with a tattooed arm and pulled the axe out, dropping it to the ground.

"But, how?"

"Multis muneribus chaos. Sed expecta secunda! Praeter has notas es tu possidere." Wildfire frowned, which drew a smile from the being he hated most.

"Sed satis de me. Quam suus 'Luna factitasti?"

"You should know, you killed her."

"Semper quasi infensa sæcula. Vos semper erant meus ventus de monstra."

"Wildfire, who is that?"

"It's Star."

"Star?! But you killed him! Twice!"

"You can't kill hatred." Both Wildfire and Star said at the same time. "And besides, that last encounter still hurts." Star said, dropping his hood down to reveal a disfigured face. "Your friend here doesn't play nice." He spoke to Luna. "Now as to why I'm here."

"You're here to kill me, bla bla ba."

"Contrarium. Roland vult vobis. Im 'simpliciter Retriever."

"ENGRISH." Snow complained. Wildfire answered by warping to Star, intending to hit him. The undead king effortlessly caught his hand, the impact creating a boom that resonated across the air. Wildfire saw Star's muscles flex and he felt the metal starting to bend. He pulsed his magic, sending both parties away from each other in a loud explosion. He looked at his arm, to see it slightly deformed.

**********

"And you know what happened after, he got his ass kicked!"

**********

Star grabbed Wildfire by the waist, before pile driving him into the stone. He slid his hands down to his ankles and slammed him again into the cold ground. Passing a current of magic through him. Wildfire pounded his fist into the ground, his eyes shifting to green and purple flames forming around his eyes.

"STOP!"

Instantly, the fighting was over like a schoolyard fight. Luna looked furious, "Lay another finger on one of my subjects and you'll be answering to the goddess of the night!" Her horn lit up and lifted Star up into the air, Wildfire scrambled to retake his place by Snow. "Now I want you out of this place and out of my kingdom!"

"Alright I'm leaving. But just because you look so cute when you're angry."

"OUT!" Luna yelled once more, which caused her ethereal mane to flare up and her grip on him to tighten up. This caused real fear to appear in Star's eyes as he sho'puned away.

**********

"And this brings me to the conclusion. It cleared absolutely nothing and no one learned anything new from this."

Luna nodded, "Star was an old enemy of Wildfire's correct?"

"Yes, they actually used to be friends. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask him."

"Where is he?"

"In Twilight's guest bed, he's not used to facing Chaos magic as powerful as his. The poor guy passed out on the way here." Luna nodded again, extending her mind.

"He's not asleep. He's not even here anymore." Both Snow, Twilight and the Princess ran up the stairs, only to be greeted by an open window and an opened letter. Snow hovered the letter over to her and attempted to decipher it, being written in shifter. After passing over the letter, she read it out loud.

"Dear Wildfire,

Her Royal Highness requests your presence in the Hive to discuss the most important of matters. Make your way as soon as possible to the central Hive, where your original dormitories will be given to you for the time being.

-Nymph,

Head of the Department of Royal Affairs

P.N. I promise not to gouge your eyes out, Wildey.

~C"

Snow looked up to the two other magical beings, "Shit really hit the fan."

A/N: I hope I got dear Woona right.

Chapter 13: The Journey Begins

The bright sun burned as it hit the streets of Itia. Wildfire wished it was night again, mostly to hide the rotting corpses in the streets and to hide himself. He focused as he felt a bit green. There was one more person to kill before he let himself die. He turned around to see a mass of shadows creeping along the ground, it stopped at about a hundred yards from Wildfire. The darkness began to mass up, taking the form of a reptile. Black eyes seemed to suck in the nearby light, a twisted smile present on the subjects' face.

"So how does it feel to betray your own birthplace?" Wildfire's voice broke the monotonous howling of the wind.

"Heh, do you think I still care about them? I was always the freak of the group." Star replied with a great deal of contempt and bitterness. His eyes had turned from their usual emerald to a lifeless shadow. The two did not need words to know what to do, Wildfire drew his sword as Star drew his.

Wildfire's reverie was interrupted as he bumped into something. He fell back onto his rump, looking up he couldn't help but swallow. Before him stood the lunar princess Luna herself. With the way the shadows reflected upon her, Wildfire could not help but feel intimidated as she towered over him, her emotions unreadable.

"Can I help you, Princess?"

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked.

"Well, I have an old friend who's willing to be my friend again and I won't pass up on the opportunity." Luna was silent as she stared at Wildfire, making him a bit uneasy.

"I have been watching you." 'Kay, a bit creepy but okay. "Through your dreams, I know your past, and I know what you have done." And she's going to give me an otherworldly beating. "I'm not going to hurt you," Yay! "For I've also seen you reform. And I must ask, how do you have such a great connection with the public?"

"What?"

"You've killed, tortured and brutally assaulted more creatures than there are stars in my night sky. I demand that thou show us how you do it!"

"Do what, the killing?"

"Show us how you are in such good relations with everyone."

"Oh." Wildfire tried to get his brain to comply, the sudden demand taking some time to process. "Look, as much as I'd love to play teacher with you, I'm on a deadline. I don't like to keep her waiting."

"Then take me with you."

"S-wait what?"

Luna shrugged, "Why not? Our sister can surely take a few weeks without us."

"Don't you have royal duties to attend to? Court and all that?" Wildfire attempted to make her stay, after all, he knew the Rule of Comedy would inevitably make this end badly.

The Princess shook her head, "Does thou really believe that anyone would request an audience with me? The peasants still believe that I am Nightmare Moon." Wildfire groaned, showing his indecision. "Alright look. You and I are almost exactly alike. Both of us are creatures of the night, both of us have a dark past. I do not want to be alone again, Celestia is doing her best to make me feel wanted, but she cannot baby me." Wildfire thought about it, on one hand he wanted Luna to go home. On the other, I finally could have my own friend as well.

"Alright, fine. You may accompany me on three conditions. One, you will do what I tell you to do, when I tell you. I tell you to jump, you say how high. Two, you'll have to do this without your regalia and we may need to create a false identity for you. Three, don't talk, look or point at anyone or anything. It's not that I worry about your safety, you being a Demi-god and all that, I'm more worried about mine." It was now Luna's turn to look thoughtful, her delicate brow slightly furrowed.

"Hmph, although I understand all these conditions I would prefer add one of my own. I'll accept them if you teach me how to be more 'modern' and 'likeable'. Also, could you teach me that zippy thing you did?" Wildfire tried to find a way to get some profit, but as he was coming up with none, he decided to put his hand in the fire.

"Deal." Both eldritch creatures nodded before shaking their hooves, Wildfire lightly grasping Luna's small hoof in his hand. "Alright, now let's go."

"Steady, I just need to fly over to the castle. I will store my regalia and warn Sister of my departure." Wildfire sighed as he watched the stellar entity fly off. What have I gotten myself into?

**********

"Ah, there you are, Lulu. Did you have fun at the festival?"

"Can't talk. AbouttogoonanawesomeadventureintoanothercontinentwithWildfire." Luna responded as she unceremoniously threw her regalia into her room and leapt off her balcony. Leaving a confused Celestia trying to process what she had just said.

"What?"

**********

"Well, about time." Wildfire commented as Luna landed gracefully beside him.

"So where to?" Luna asked, ignoring the irritating comment he had made. Wildfire pointed to an unknown area in the forest.

"That way!"

**********

"How did you earn the title 'The Last Shadow'?" Luna's strong voice broke the monotony of their hoofsteps.

"Because mine would be the last thing you ever see. How did you earn the name 'Nightmare Moon'?"

"I would rather not speak of it."

"Fair enough. Answer me this, why did you really want to tag along?" Princess Luna seemed to hesitate before sighing.

"I wanted to follow along because Tia told me to meet new people. Make friends. I really appreciate that the villagers of Ponyville have accepted me, but this is just one small town out of an entire kingdom. And then when I heard you were going to a different kingdom, I thought, 'Hey, what better way to make friends than to go to a land devoid of pony kind'?" Wildfire shrugged, he wasn't in a position to judge someone who had been locked up in the moon for a thousand years.

"What is it like, to be on the moon?"

"It's not bad, for me at least. Tia says it is very cold and grey, but to me it is mild and colourful. Not red or blue, but rather many shades of black, grey and white."

"Interesting."

"Indeed." The duo moved silently through the trees, simply happy to be in the presence of someone who could overlook the past and judge from present actions.

**********

Meanwhile...

**********

"Drone!" A large black figure bellowed at a nearby drone, causing it to immediately bow it's head.

"Your Majesty?"

"Summon Mantis. Tell him that we will be having guests over soon. And bring me some nectar while you're at it!"

"Of course, your Highness." The servant quickly exited the room, leaving Chrysalis alone. She sighed heavily. The seven Hives aren't fairing well. Thorax and Exodus are almost completely out of love. Hopefully, with Wildfire on my side I will be able to execute my plan. To invade Equestria and take what is rightfully mine! She smiled at his eagerness to be with her. Little did he know that as soon as she was done with him she would toss him away. Part of her wanted to forgive Wildfire for what he had done and welcome him back into the Hive. The other, dominant part wanted to make Wildfire burn in Tartarus for all eternity.

"My Queen? Mantis has arrived." Chrysalis distractedly nodded assent to the servant, looking up to see her brother.

"You requested my presence your Highness."

"Indeed I did. Wildfire is coming back. I do not intend to kill him immediately, for I need his assistance in the invasion. I want you to arrange it so he doesn't get torn apart on arrival. You have two weeks before he gets here."

"Two weeks? Where is he that he takes weeks to get here?" Chrysalis smiled maliciously before answering.

"Equestria."

"He's right in our enemies noses and they do not even know it. Very well played."

"Yes. And where's my nectar?!"

**********

I am going away with him to an unknown country where I shall have no past and no name, and where I shall be born again with a new face and an untried heart. Do not worry, Sister.

But that's exactly what I'm doing! You can't just ditch all your duties to go traveling with a complete stranger, Lulu!

Pray tell, Tia, what royal duties do I have that require me to be at Canterlot?

There's night court...

And do ponies even go to my night court?

...

Exactly. Now please let me be. I need to set the moon. Luna severed her mental connection with Celestia.

"Would you mind pausing? I need to lower the moon."

"Sure." Luna turned to face her astral guardian. Before she closed her eyes and willed the moon towards the horizon. Hush, child. She soothed the figure as it was startled by her sudden presence.

**********

"Sire? There has been an incident. He has been located once again by Commander Star." The charcoal coloured figure turned its creeping red eyes towards his messenger.

"What state is the subject in?"

"He is apparently unable to use his shade, and in his infant stage. He also is not carrying firearms or ABA." The dark king closed his eyes, a low rumbling noise escaping from it's throat. The sound evolved into a low laughter, which gained intensity until it morphed into a mad cackling.

"This is very good news indeed. Send a black ops squad over to Asthea. Send an AC thirty-eight with them and all the equipment they will need. Tell them to wait for my orders to mobilize into the new realm." The Lord waited until his servant dissapeared through the immense doorway. He then hoisted himself onto his feet, before walking to the balcony that overlooked the serene ocean. The sun burnt his skin slightly, but nothing seemed to dull the wide grin on the immortal's face. "I will win this time."

**********

Wildfire suddenly shivered violently. "Well that was weird."

"Hmm?" Princess Luna turned to him with an interrogative expression.

"I just have the strangest feeling right now... It's just sending shivers down my spine."

"Probably the cold."

"Probably the cold." Wildfire repeated as the two trekked on.

**********

"Boss? I have some intel you might want."

"Speak."

"Sources indicate that Seeker forces are mobilizing. An entire black ops detachment has been sent to Asthea. Apparently they found Wildfire and want to give him hugs and love."

"Funny... Do what we always do, just send the Retriever and put him on standby."

"Yes sir. Right away sir."

**********

Damn. Ivy couldn't help but swear as she saw the contingent of soldiers mass their way through the city. At this rate I'll never get to the market. She of course was referring to the local black market. She needed to restock, and bad.It's not like him to waste his finest men on a routine expedition. Maybe they found him? Ivy had to suppress the urge to look around for him. She wanted to find him so badly, so she could bitch-slap him right in the face.

**********

Wildfire shivered again, "Ok. This is definetly not the cold."

**********

A/N: And the chess pieces fall into place! Remember what happened in this chapter because its very important in about 30 chapters. :3

Chapter 14: First Contact

Chapter 14: Are We There yet?

"Would thou mind stopping? We would like to rest." Wildfire checked the sun's position.

"Really? It's not even noon."

"I know, but we usually sleep in the daylight and do our activities in the night." Wildfire sighed inaudibly,

"If you must, then yes. We can rest until nighttime." Luna stood by, looking around. "What?"

"Do you have a shelter of some sort? Surely you do not expect me to sleep in the middle of the open." Wildfire clicked, Paranoia.

"Hmph, I understand. But I honestly wonder why you're fine with sleeping on the ground?"

"On the moon, there wasn't anything better than craters to sleep in."

"If I keep watch, will that be good?"

Luna gave a quick look around, she then sighed, "That will suffice for our current circumstances. But I hope we will not always be unprotected in our sleep." She then proceeded to pace around the area, looking for a softer patch of grass. Well, at least I won't have to worry about getting swan feathers to make a bed. Rather odd that she does not mind sleeping in the middle of a forest, but is afraid of sleeping without a safety blanket...

Without warning, the Princess shot up straight into the air, dissapearing behind the canopy of the woods. Wildfire was puzzled by the sudden outburst, what could she gain from flying off? His answer came when Luna sank back towards the ground with what seemed to be a large cloud. Noticing Wildfire's incredulous stare, she stuck out his tongue at him briefly. After fetching a few more clouds, the princess had amassed herself what looked like a very comfortable cloud mass. Wildfire resisted the urge to jump in and roll around in it. Instead he stretched and slumped at the base of a tree. He unsheathed a dagger as he occupied himself with sharpening his claws. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Wildfire could not help but smile as he heard quiet snoring. Looking up, he could barely see Luna's horn above the clouds. Wildfire closed his eyes, and yawned.

**********

Something's not right here. Wildfire cracked open an eye, before looking up. The sun was setting, and not so surprisingly, Wildfire's presence had been enough to keep the dangerous critters away. However, his sixth sense told him that something was coming. Rising off the ground, he was relieved to still see Luna in her cloud. Looking behind him, Wildfire noticed why he had felt so agitated.

"Hey there big guy..."

A manticore stood a short distance away, obviously dissapointed in not having a stealth kill. The manticore growled menacingly, not fazing Wildfire in the slightest. "Kid. If you don't get out of here I'll tear you a new one." This only seemed to coax the hybrid further as it pawed at the ground like a bull readying a charge. Wildfire wasn't in the mood to fight the manticore, so he decided to do the next best thing.

**********

Ugh, Tia, five more minutes. Luna groaned inwardly as something woke her up. Something was... Snarling? Immediately her eyes shot open and Luna raised her head out of the clouds. Lying before her was a scene that looked rather impressive. A manticore was challenging Wildfire, who was standing with an unimpressed look on his face. The manticore suddenly inhaled a deep breath, before loosing it in a violent roar. It blurred the air around her as the roar lasted several long seconds. After the manticore closed its maw, it was surprised to see Wildfire still standing. The latter yawned before he himself took a deep breath. Rearing his head Wildfire stood up. He slammed his feet at the ground as he roared in return, all the while releasing a burst of necrotic energy to wither the plant life around him. Wildfire also deactivated his illusion spell, leaving a blackened version of himself. Tentacles whizzed around, smashing down trees as they sprouted from his back. The noise sounded more like a large amount of metal being crushed and bent instead of a lion's. As Wildfire ended the unearthly moan he took it upon himself to hurl his extra appendages around the manticore, carving holes in the ground around it. The terrified feline whimpered before bolting into the brush. Wildfire turned around and saw Luna staring at him with wide eyes.

"Well, considering I haven't been thrown into the nightmare realm again I'm guessing I look rather normal to you?" Luna laughed heartily as Wildfire resumed his pony form.

"'Tia has done worse. That is all you need to know."

"Ew."

**********

"Interesting..."

"Well?"

"I don't know... I like the specs but I'm a bit worried about field effectiveness. After all, this is an experimental correct?"

"It is an old war artifact from before the Takeover. However, I assure you that it has been tested plenty of times by myself and qualified researchers to guarantee victory, especially in hands such as yours. Which look rather lovely dear."

And if you want to keep yours, I suggest you bug off. "Alright I'll take it. If I could find him I'd be able to know who's it is."

"Pardon?"

"Those carvings. They're in Itian."

"How do you know?"

"My Father taught me."

**********

"What was the most uncomfortable experience in your life?" Wildfire asked to break the ever-present monotony of incessant walking in the unknown. And to think it took me two weeks non-stop to get to Equestria. Wildfire estimated it would take twice the time to reach the nearest village. And a few days to cross the Dead Zone. Without counting the time they would take to get back, he guesstimated four months would be adequate in the amount of time they would be gone. For he had every intention to return to Equestria, even if it cost him another limb. I hope it won't get to that point, however.

"Hmm. I would have to go with either trying to raise the moon for the first time or trying to fly prematurely. The former felt like using a limb that was never used over a lifetime before, and the latter was terryfying. I had thrown myself off a cliff hoping it would be enough to get me going. But alas, 'twas a failure. You?"

"Mine, no doubt about it. Was drowning. Never again have I let myself get wet if I can help it."

"How does thou clean thyself?"

"I just pat myself down with a wet towel or something."

**********

"Will that be all?"

"What do you have that could interest me?"

"I got a Hyperion rifle."

"No thanks, I got my sister's."

"How is Rose doing anywho?"

"How much do I owe you?"

"I see, that'll be four grand total."

"Four grand?"

"You resupplied as well as buying the bow remember?"

"Sounds about right." Ivy then dug into her pocket and threw out a medium sized bag, which made a satisfying jingle as it hit the counter.

"Thank you for your transaction, miss Ivy. I hope we see each other again."

Ivy reached for the doorknob, but not before looking outside a hole in the wall. It wasn't illegal to carry weapons, it's just that she thought that looking like a fully loaded mercenary wasn't a good idea.

**********

"Necromancy is illegal in most countries, is it illegal in Equestria?"

"I do believe it has been outlawed. But seeing as you do not seem to leak the energy all over the area, then you should be fine if you abstain from using it in public."

"Alright."

"So what is the route we are supposed to take?"

"We are going to arrive at Asthea in a few weeks, then I will load up on weapons before crossing the Dead Zone, then we will arrive at the eastern hive. After that, if we are not attacked immediately, then we will travel to the central hive to do whatever reasonable business Chrissy wants me to do. Then we can take the air currents home and arrive at Equestria's borders in a few days." Wildfire was hoping that the jet stream he could currently see stretched all the way to the hive. It seemed powerful and high, if the two took that route then the travel time would be halved from a quarter of a year to two months.

"Dear Faust that sounds like it will take a long time."

"It will take a little over two months, or about four moon cycles."

The two continued in silence for a short while, before Luna turned to Wildfire.

"What is this Dead Zone?"

Wildfire unconsciously clicked of annoyance, but then reminded himself that she wasn't aware of the plague that was ravaging his country.

"The Dead Zone is the name we have given to the areas that has been abandoned due to the plague. It is a super-virus that cause hyper-aggressivity, decreased bodily functions and complete loss of control in the hosts. In other words, it pretty much creates zombies."

"And I take it there is no cure?"

"Not that I know of."

The travellers were engulfed in silence once again. Wildfire noted that Luna kept casting furtive glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Don't you have a moon to raise?" He snapped impatiently. The last thing he wanted was pity from her of all ponies.

*********

The duo arrived by the cover of night at a particularly thick clump of bushes. Following Wildfire's beckoning, Luna quietly placed herself in the bush. Wildfire took his hand and parted the foliage aside.

"Welcome to Zarynthia! Former land of the glorious, now reduced to poverty and widespread crime."

Luna noticed how run-down most of the buildings were. Yet there was one large manor that seemed to be perfectly conditioned.

"Why is that manor so well maintained? You would think that the nobles would take better care of the peasants, correct?"

"Eh, this is a special case. The fat pig who run this district has major hoarding issues. I would kill him, but no one had asked me to." Wildfire motioned to a back alley that contained a large metallic door. "And that is the local black market. I don't need anything from it, however I'm not sure I have any gas masks that would fit you."

"Normally I do not associate myself with this kind of organization, but if you insist..."

Wildfire gave a short chuckle. "I see that you finally stopped with the third person."

"I adapt well. The language is not as different as I thought it would be. Though if thou prefers us with the ancient dialect, we can comply to that request quite easily. After all, you understand it perfectly."

"Hey, I'm not that old!" Within the next few minutes, the companions had managed to sneak to the black market's entrance. Wildfire walked towards the blast proof door, which had runes carved into it. And gave four dry knocks.

"The thousand eyes that see truth..."

"...Have come about for the great journey..." Responded a voice from the other side of the door.

"... To end the evil that plagues this land."

The door gave a few subtle clicks before grinding open, revealing a heavily scarred Orc on its other side.

"Evening." Wildfire tipped his hat towards the Orc, who returned the gesture before waving them in.

"You know. I will say that I was quite surprised at your reaction towards seeing me uncloaked, Miss Luna."

"What? You expected the queen of the night and the creature of nightmares to be afraid of a little lizard?"

"Point."

"On the subject, when will you reveal yourselves to the others? It is unhealthy to do what you are doing."

Wildfire heaved a long, heavy sigh. "When they are ready."

Chapter 15: The Birth of Gamer Luna

Luna jumped as the heavy metal door behind her shut loudly. She looked behind herself to see the guard standing stoic by the entrance, eyes boring into her. She sighed inwardly as she was forced to follow Wildfire and the shopkeeper, who seemed to be catching up on past events.

"So you've made advances in necromancy and limit breaks?" From the shopkeeper to Wildfire.

"Aye, I've figured out how to use and create phylacteries, though I have stayed away from them lest I accidentally turn myself into a liche."

"And another one of your legends would become true eh? Ha!"

"Too true, and I've also designed a few new limit breaks, there's one that can be done with a Hyperion rifle with anything sharp, and one that is used with clawed gauntlets."

"Have you..."

"Yes."

"Ah. Anywho," The keeper said as he opened another door. "What do you need? I'll assume that you don't need medical supplies, 'cause you being a loner an all."

"That's not entirely true." Wildfire responded with a motion for Luna to join them. "Luna, Umbra. Umbra, Luna."

"You can just call me Shade, Miss Luna. Wildfire here has a tendency to translate names into Itian when introducing people."

"Eh, primary language and all."

"Primary language my ass!"

"Language. Miss Luna isn't the usual kind of lady out here."

"Oh, pardon my behaviour, Miss Luna." Shade quickly grabbed Wildfire and dragged him a ways off. "What the hell is the idea, Wildfire? Why did you start kidnapping royalty? And where in all seven hells is she from anyways?"

"Calm down. Okay, you got me. She's royalty, but she came with me willingly, something about adventure or something. Look just get me what I need. Chrissy wants to see me."

"Ohohoh. Wildfire you dirty bastard! You don't even try and you have to wear a chastity belt to keep away royalty, I can't even find a darn waitress that will have me." Wildfire gave Shade a pat on the back before motioning Luna to follow him. As the trio entered the next room, they were welcomed by an assortment of gear. Masks, swords, bows, you name it. There were even the expensive hazmat suits designed to clean acid vats with.

"Pick your poison."

"Alright. You might want to take a list."

"I need two glow in the dark watches, with the batteries in them."

"Don't want a repeat of the drone eh?"

"Yes, a gas mask that would fit Luna. Two Geiger counters. And have they passed by recently?"

"Yes, thought it pains me to say that it seems that the eldest has passed."

Wildfire's eyes widened considerably, before he looked to his feet. He looked back up with his neutral expression returned.

"I'll need a twelve-gauge KSG, long barrel, adjustable stock and foregrip. Two pythons, one Boberg XR9 with improved iron sights. Two mini-Uzis with silencers attached. One cobra dagger."

"Jeez, slow down. How much ammo?"

"I want about eighty rounds for the KSG. Sixty-four rounds for the pythons. Eighty-one for the XR9. And an even five hundred and forty for the Uzi."

"All in mags and the mags in pouches, correct?"

"Please, yes."

"Would you like some fries with that sir?" Shade quipped in an exceedingly accented voice. His grin dissapeared as he noticed Wildfire's deadpan. "You're no fun sometimes, you know that right?"

"So I've been told."

"Go meet me at the front. If Miss Luna could follow me I will fit her a mask."

Luna cast a worried glance towards Wildfire, who gave her a reassuring smile and waved her onwards. As he left the room, Shade emitted a long and heavy sigh. Noticing the inquiring look that the princess was giving him, he motioned for her to follow.

"Poor kid. See what he did back there? He's bottling up emotions, again. I love the kid to death, but he's a ticking time bomb when something like this happens. I shouldn't have told him..."

"You only did what you thought was best. I see no fault with that." The corners of Shade's mouth drew up slightly.

"So you do talk."

"I do, albeit I prefer to stand by and observe when I'm out of place. Mostly to prevent myself from looking like an idiot."

"Not used to the dirty streets eh?"

"Not at all. The fact that this technology is beyond anything our wizards could conjure up is mostly what's keeping me from conversing."

"Hmm. Ever killed anything?"

"That is like asking if the rain has ever fallen."

"Ah, so you're like him."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know, like Wildfire. Into the whole 'vanquish entire armies in style and turn cities into gravel' gig?"

"No! Why would I do such a thing?"

"Oh dear lord, wait till you hear Wildfire's stories!" With another strong bout of laughter, the elf turned Luna into a room. "Alright, I'm going to try some masks for you, is that ok?"

"I see no problem with that. But why must we wear masks?"

Shade picked up a mask from off the wall, examined it before putting it back. "That is because the DZ is a slew of toxic chemicals and radiation. From the list it sounds like you're taking an airborne route, or else Wildfire would have ordered a few hundred pounds of food and water. Now stay still please."

Complying with the request, Princess Luna stood still as Shade slipped a cold rubber item onto her face. As his hands slipped behind her head, she felt the rubber stretch and a click came from the nape of her neck.

"Have you ever used a gas mask before?" As he saw the shake of the head that Luna gave Shade, he hid a sigh with some explanations. "The most important thing to remember about these is that when you are exposed to gas, you never take it off. Under any circumstances. You so much as lift up the mask slightly and the seal gets broken. And then you die before you hit the ground." Seeing the slightly flabbergasted look from the princess, Shade quickly added, "But these are more for 'just in case' situations. It also keeps the stench of dead bodies away." After tightening a few more straps, Luna felt increasingly worried as she thought about their upcoming journey. Was it really as dangerous as the two told her it was? She might be the bolder sister, but she was not stupid.

"Exactly how dangerous is Zarynthia?" Luna barely caught herself from laughter as she heard herself through the mask. She sounded like a stallion with rheumatism.

"Depends on your strength. For Wildfire it's a walk in the park most of the time. He seems to scare away most of the critters. For me? I wouldn't survive five minutes alone in the Dead Zone. The populated parts, that is."

"Populated?"

"Yes, most infected hang around the cities and such. Most of the Dead Zone is empty, actually. Though none of it is habitable. The sad part is that the Zone used to be known as the Fields of Plenty. The richest agricultural province in the known world. Then came the war and it came out looking like this."

"That's terrible!" Shade grinned sadly as he heard Luna's exclamation.

"True. But nowhere near as bad as the things that Wildfire has done. But that's up to him if he wants to talk about it or not."

**********

"So are we done?" Wildfire questioned as soon as the Princess had stepped through the door.

"I believe we are." Luna felt a bit unsettled as Wildfire's eyes locked to hers. The pupils were dilated, the iris sparkling. He looked... Innocent? What is he going for? Is he buttering me up so I will let my guard down? Her pondering would have to wait, for Shade had dropped a massive amount of bags and metal objects onto a counter.

"'Kay. All this is f-" The merchant was silent as a bag was tossed into his lap, nearly keeling him over.

"How did thou do this?" Luna asked, as her companion had produced the currency seemingly from nowhere.

"'Thou' should be 'you'. And with the same trick that I'll be using to do this." With an exaggerated sweep of his arm, Luna and Shade were befuddled as all the weapons simply dissapeared from the table.

"Pocket dimension?" Luna deadpanned.

"Pocket dimension." Wildfire answered with a smug grin. "Alright, let's go to the cache. But first, are you hungry?"

**********

"I actually think I'll be fine for now. Immortality and all that!" Luna exclaimed as she saw the 'restaurant'.

"Be quiet! Do you realize the price tag you have on your head for simply being what you are?"

"Don't talk to me like that." Luna gave her best death glare, which actually managed to make Wildfire look away.

"Sorry... Just stating the truth..."

"But really though, are th- you sure that this is the best establishment to dine?"

"Yes. Unless they added a restaurant since the few months that I've been gone."

"If you insist..."

**********

"Everything in this menu is for carnivores!"

"Just ask for a salad then."

"I will! Why wouldn't they give food items for herbivores? That is simply rude!"

"That is because most herbivores are prey. And the rest do not hang around these parts or stay around long enough."

"Ugh... I'll never understand what you find so appetizing in meat..."

"Hey, I might be omnivorous but I still need my protein."

"Me and Shade spoke about you, he mentioned something about you scaring off 'critters' with just your mere presence." Luna desperately tried to steer the conversation towards something more appetite-friendly.

"That? I'm not sure about it either. I really wonder why I scare off the undead..." Luna would have believed him was it not for the withering tone and the over-emphasized eye-roll.

"What are you saying?" She said, her tone instantly bordering suspicion.

"Hello? Didn't you see me with the manticore? What wouldn't be scared of-" The Zarynthian paused as the waiter came up.

"Are you done?"

"Quite. I'll have a salad and some tea, please."

The waiter gave an odd look to Luna before eyeing Wildfire, who was once again sharpening his claws with his dagger. Making sure that he could see the deadly gleam of the weapons. Understanding the message perfectly, the waiter dissapeared with their orders. This was not lost on Luna, as she eyed Wildfire.

"Aren't you going to order something?" Wildfire's eyes snapped up, before he started playing with the silverware. "Wildfire." Instantly Wildfire stopped all movement. "Speak."

"I don't eat very much."

"And why is that so?"

Wildfire resumed the relentless replacement of forks and spoons.

"Wildfire."

"I can't hold down food very well. The seekers. They did something to me. Now I just eat breakfast and that will last me the day. It has really been messing with my growth, heck I should be flying circles around everybody and be almost as long and tall as the average mare!"

"Oh my, I'm sorry I asked, I had no idea..." Luna stammered as she realized she might have hit a nerve.

"No! Of course it's okay! You were going to find out anyways." Wildfire himself tried to change the subject. "Look, don't worry. Amidst all the brain damage I've been getting I could use some more growing."

"Err.. Actually nevermind." Luna smiled as her food reached the table, as terrible as it looked. It was a simple salad, vegetations that could be considered edible has been thrown together.

"Will that be all?" The waiter hissed.

"Yes. You are dismissed." Luna replied as she levitated a knife and fork. Her enthusiasm barely dimmed by the fact that her meal looked unworthy of the worst cooks.

**********

"I can't believe the nerve of that peasant! How dare he!?"

"Calm down, you wouldn't even have noticed had I not told you."

"And there's another thing! Why did you not inform me before I started drinking?!"

"He spiked your tea."

"Yes!"

"You didn't even feel it."

"Well excuse me! I still don't enjoy having that filth put into me."

"Turning him into a duck was a bit too harsh though, don't you agree?"

"I would have hanged the fiend! I would have sent him to the gallows! The NERVE!"

"Shh, the mob is heading this way."

"..."

"Are they gone?"

"Yep."

"The NERVE!"

"Ugh..."

**********

"Well. Here we are."

"Where?"

"Can't you see it?"

"No..."

"Look."

"Where?" Wildfire sighed before pointing at her hooves. Luna looked down to find what looked like a steel saucer. "Oh." Wildfire grinned ever so slightly before reaching down and unlatching the hatch. Opening the hatch, it presented a ladder and a rather deep looking hole. Wildfire motioned for Luna to get in, the latter levitating herself downwards. After giving the princess a few metres of lead, Wildfire crawled himself onto the ladder and closed the hatch behind him. The pair were bathed in complete darkness as their primary source of light was extinguished. Now all that remained was the dark blue glow of Luna's magic as she floated down the narrow hole. Eventually, the princess met the ground, and she quietly stepped out of Wildfire's way.

"Let me get the lights."

As he pawed around the wall, Luna took the chance to look around. She did not need light to see, therefore everything was in fine detail around her. The room she was in was large and rectangular, with tables spread around on the edges of the room. The walls and tables were filled with firearms of all shapes and sizes, and one would be lucky to find an empty spot. The lights turned on suddenly, and the room illuminated itself.

"Ow... My eyes..." Wildfire complained as his sensitive eyes burnt from the sudden light. "These things are supposed to light up in stages, who changed them?"

"I can't answer that." Luna walked into the room, eyeing every corner of it. She noticed many doors, and wondered where they might lead to. She turned to the wall on her left and stumbled backwards at what she saw.

Now normally armor wouldn't faze her in the slightest. However, the suits of protection on the wall could only be described as exo-skeletons. So detailed! I've never seen anything like it! Luna regained her composure quickly, and turned to see Wildfire still gingerly adjusting to the light. Satisfied that she hadn't made a fool out of herself, Luna decided that she would explore the other rooms.

"I will go see what is in the other rooms."

"Okay. Ow..." Wildfire heard a door open and close, and once again tried his eyes. Satisfied that the light wasn't going to bite him, he proceeded to walk across the room slowly, taking everything in. With his eyes glued to the left wall, Wildfire gave a nostalgic look to the suits. The first one was more clothing than armor, but he had felt it deserved to be put up on the same wall. It was a brown suit, crafted elegantly and looked worn. The pants were of a slightly darker brown, akin to mud. The large black boots that still bore the slightest hint of blood on them were a welcome sight. But Wildfire eyes were inevitably drawn towards the hat. It was another wide-brimmed Stetson. Except that this one was crimson red. It also featured a half mask on top of the rim. The said mask was used to cover the upper portion of his face, and had eye holes in them. On the left eye hole resided what looked like a gear mixed with an upside down drop. He recognized it as the royal seal. Wildfire levitated the hat towards him, running the rim through his fingers.

"One day. I'll wear you again. One day. Everything will go back to normal." He put the hat back in its place. Wildfire sighed deeply before moving on to the next suit. As soon as he laid eyes on it, he wished he didn't. For there lay his combat suit.

**********

The Orc tried desperately to crawl away, bleeding profusely from it's abdomen. However Wildfire would have none of that. He walked up to the Orc, flipped him over with a steel foot before stepping on his head. Brain matter and blood splattered all over his foot as Wildfire smiled from the near-orgasmic sound of shattering bone. His ears swivelled to the anguished cries of a mother and child. Turning around, he aimed his gun at the mother, and right in front of the child, he-

**********

"No. I can't afford myself to think these thoughts." Yet Wildfire couldn't deny that these ideas didn't excite him a little bit. He wiped a hand over the shoulder plate of the suit, dusting it off. It was a pure grey, as shiny as fresh steel. The suit was a perfect mould of his adult body, minus the wings. It stood nearly eight feet tall and six feet wide. The arms themselves were two feet wide. The legs four. Along it's back ran cast iron spines, allowing for swift execution of anything he rolled over. The suit was aided by a hydraulic system, hence the size. It was virtually immune to small and medium calibre weaponry. And sported it's own onboard computer.

"What I'd give to be able to use this again. All I'd need to do would be to raise the platform and alter the computer..." Wildfire fell silent as the ideas ran through his head. Without taking his eyes off the suit he levitated a welding mask and blowtorch to him.

**********

Luna opened yet another door as she continued to explore the gargantuan expanses of the cache. As far as weapons caches go, this was definetly one of the more user-friendly one. So far she had found a kitchen, a living room and multiple bedrooms. As she opened one door, she was confronted by a mild darkness. Stepping into the room, it did not take long for her eyes to notice the massive TV. And the surround sound audio system. As her gaze drifted downwards, she saw a small grey box. Cautiously, she stepped in front of the object. Almost as if she gave an order, the television whirred to life. Looking back down to the box, she saw a red button. And as the law of storytelling goes, it had to be pressed. Princess Luna slowly inched a hoof towards the unknown device. As she pressed the button, no explosions occurred and no ancient evil awakened. It instead turned green. A burst of color came from the television, and this is what Luna read on it:

"Super Smash Brothers Melee?" The tone was questioning. Luna briefly considered asking Wildfire, but decided against it. Only now did she notice the option that was blinking rhythmically. Play.

"It hasn't exploded yet, I guess there's nothing wrong with it." She looked and saw the remote. Naturally assuming that this was the controller, Luna picked it up with her magic before pressing 'A'. This led her to more options, and after picking a delightful looking pink ball commenced. The battle quickly ended with her being knocked off a ledge and off-screen. Luna's eyes went wide as she was confronted with the 'Game Over' screen. And with that, she said four words that changed history.

"Let's try that again."

Chapter 16: Heart of Steel

800 years Before Present Time.

"Good to go!" Sharp exclaimed over the rustling of armor. Wildfire jogged to the fresh corpses, the feeling of sand an odd one. We're going to have a field day getting all this sand out of our armor... As he hit solid ground, he spotted a dead grenadier, still fully loaded. Ambling over to him, Wildfire grabbed onto the fragmentation grenades that were loosely secured to a leather belt.

"Mine now." He stated as if anyone could hear him. He returned to their base of operations, an oasis slash beach slash beached cargo ship slash ruined city. He looked over to what his men were doing. Sharp had brought in a railgun from the ship. Star had found an old handheld Gatling gun that actually worked. Blizzard had brought out ammunition for their battle-worn rifles. And Hope was deploying razor wire at both ends of the sand barrier. It was rather astounding that the forces of both the ocean and the oasis had thinned out the sand between them until it was roughly twenty feet wide. Wildfire spotted something shiny in the water, so he levitated it to himself. As it approached he found out it was a heavy-calibre grenade launcher. He even found an extra round with it.

"I'm going to blow big holes with you..." Wildfire grinned as he changed the magazine. Fresh roars were heard clearly from the jungle. "Here they come!" He bellowed out as his men and women spread out around the broken hull of the ship. Sunken to ground level by the sand, the lip of the frontal hull was the only thing remaining, and it provided excellent cover. Wildfire hovered around the center, ready to assist either side. Star and Hope had gone to the left side and were hiding behind some barrels. Blizzard and Sharp were waiting eagerly for the enemies on the right.

"Grenadier!" Star shout out as he opened fire, Hope trying to assist with her triple-barrelled machine gun. Wildfire crouched behind the left side of the wall, motioning for Star and Hope to do the same. Star hobbled over to his right, while Hope positioned herself a bit farther off to the left. Wildfire looked from the cover and opened fire with a powerful semi-automatic Mark Three. A predecessor to the more compact Mark Four, it fired high-velocity forty-millimetre shells at over two hundred rounds per minute. Wildfire spotted a flame trooper approaching, but still eons out of effective range. He fired a few rounds into the exposed tank on the goblin's back and was rewarded with pretty fireworks. He crouched back down as Star took his turn to fire unto the unfortunate Orcs. The duo alternated this pattern, creating a highly effective killing ground.

"Dry." He informed his colleague as he dragged another heavy drum to his weapon. He switched it out with the empty cartridge and pulled the bolt. Unfortunately the MKIII was also unreliable, which meant that the bolt jammed halfway. "Goddamn, not now." Wildfire grumbled as he struggled with his equipment. He heard a slowly augmenting whine as Star's Gatling got hotter and hotter. After a certain while Star simply threw the weapon into the water, earning a vengeful hiss from said liquid.

"Damn that was getting hot."

Wildfire stole a glance at the others. A small explosion blew in front of Blizzard, turning his look into one of worry before he heard her beautiful laughter. After hitting the receiver of the weapon a few times, the bolt gave way and completed the cycle.

"I win again."

"Yeah yeah. Shoot the mother fucking orcs!"

"Right." Wildfire peaked over the wall, "Flailer!"

"Affirmative!" Came from Sharp as he started to hobble over with his rail gun. Switching places with Star, Sharp took a look. "Can't get a clear shot. If you keep him occupied I can redeploy by those barrels."

Wildfire nodded, "Hey Hope! Give the man some cover fire!"

"Got it!" She shouted back over the massive amounts of gunfire. She leaned over her cover and started firing upon the flailer. Wildfire did the same, but from the flailer's right. This crossfire meant that the heavy creature had to stay still by the container, trying to block both Wildfire and Hope. The two kept firing in bursts, as to not overheat their weapons. Wildfire's brow furrowed in concentration. He had seven rounds left in his magazine.

"Reloading!" Hope cried out.

Crap.

The Orc seemed to overhear Hope, and started to move towards her; before shrinking back as Wildfire fired two rounds that lodged in it's armor. It attempted once again to move laterally, this time facing Wildfire. He aimed low, trying to hit his feet. Two rounds hit before he connected. Yet the flailer brushed it off and didn't as much as flinch. Over the gunfire, Wildfire heard a whistle from Sharp. Taking it as a signal he rolled over to Hope, pulling out his sidearm. It was a revolver but could be mistaken for a hand cannon. He fired off a carefully aimed round at the flailer's shield. He had to move his head to the right to prevent himself from knocking himself out due to the recoil. The round impacted the shield. It was comparable to a Ferrari hitting a bus. A white line passed through the flailer, and a small explosion appeared. Wildfire yelped as an arm hit him on the head.

**********

"Wildfire?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. I'm just reminiscing old times."

"...Want to talk about it?"

"Ehh, maybe later."

"Can we get going now?"

"Yes. Let's make our way to the launch platform in the city."

"Are you sure they won't attack us?"

"If they do they have about as much chance as an ill-equipped earth pony trying to single-handedly kill you at Celestia's side. During a military demonstration. With me in the crowd."

**********

"Ohoho crap!" Blizzard cried out over the radio.

"Wha-shit." Wildfire deadpanned as his eyes connected with the threat. At the edge of the jungle stood a twelve meter tall monster, equipped with chainguns, railguns, and rocket pods. "Welp. We're fucked."

**********

"Wildfire, will we always have to be hiding from everyone?"

"Hmm? No. The villagers are still a bit sore, that's why."

"Okay."

**********

700 years Before Present Time.

I need to get away.

Those words repeated themselves through Wildfire's mind as he ran through the glassed city. He had been in the field when the nuclear bomb went off. And he could see now the effects of the bomb. Droves of civillians of all races were dead. Statues of ashes all that remained. Wildfire ran through one as the gunfire picked up behind him. He remarked grimly that all of the bodies had the same expression on them, one of sheer terror. There had been rumours of a weapon that could end the war on the Seeker's side. But no one actually believed that they would dare use weapons of mass destruction. Especially of this caliber. The town was eerily silent, even the gunshots sounded muted and quiet. Wildfire flew forwards as a mortar landed behind him. He hit the ground and lost his weapon, sliding on his face for a few feet. He flipped onto his back, taking a look at what was in front of him. He was confronted by the statue of a mother attempting to protect her child, yet both had perished in the slaughter. He couldn't view the scene longer, as an Orc ran through their bodies. A smile of victory on it's face, Wildfire simply lowered his head as he awaited his destiny. He flinched slightly as a loud crack broke the silence. Yet his death did not come. He opened an eye to see the Orc being executed by Sunset, who had just fired a second round into the Orc with a shotgun. She turned and gave a nod at Wildfire. Her facial expressions were dreadfully devoid of emotion, but her eyes said all. Horror. Anger. Disgust. Nostalgia. Fear. Wildfire suddenly had his rifle thrust back into his hands, looking up he saw Her again. She bore the same melancholic expression that had become the norm between them. She looked back up as she shot another Orc dead. Wildfire stood back up, only to have a knee buckle. She steadied him with her hand, her face now full of concern.

"I'm fine." He managed to croak out. She could tell he was lying, but did not press. The three took refuge in the destroyed remains of a building. Firing three hundred and sixty degrees as the orcs slowly closed in. It did not matter if they killed one Orc, for the body didn't touch the ground before three came in his place.

**********

Wildfire stood at the top of the launching platform. It was a tall tower designed to help flying creatures to reach the thermals easier. At this very moment, all the confidence he had felt left him.

"I'm not sure about this, I have bad wings."

"That never stopped me." Luna returned as she past him. She spread her wings out- which looked rather small compared to her size- and took off. Wildfire drew open his wings. He was always priding themselves with his flying skills. Maybe it was time he started to walk the walk. Wildfire took a full sprint until he reached the end of the platform. He leapt directly upwards, flapping his wings as he had learned millennia ago. He felt the warm rush of wind press the underside of his feathers. It felt so weird, but it felt so right. With growing confidence, he began moving forwards. Picking up speed until he caught up with the Princess. He smiled genuinely as the situation fell upon him. He was flying!

**********

698 years Before Present Time.

It was full blown winter for the Northern Hive. Also known as Thorax. Here food was scarce. And love was rarer still. But the changelings here were smaller and more energy efficient. They were also fewer in number, with an active population of twelve million, compared to the forty-two billion changelings in the Central Hive. But to consider them weak was like considering the Spartans of Thermopylae weak because of their numbers. One odd thing to mention about Thorax was it's lack of snow. The Hive generated a constant ultra-sonic whine which vibrated loose debris before it could build up. Even on mountains such as this, where the clouds couldn't reach, life was good.

"Not quite home yet, but it will have to do."

There, on the largest mountain in the Icy Peaks stood a large hooded figure. He would have preferred immediately heading for The Hive, but hearing that Chrysalis was currently doing buiseness in the metropolis was enough to detrack him. He jumped head first off the sheer cliff, hoping to land in the road below. He descended quickly, not bothering to slow down with his wings. On his HUD a yellow light flickered green, immediately the wearer of the suit flipped until his feet were pointing at the ground. The screen read 'Retro Landing in Progress'. Amongst the clutter of the screen, the suited creature read the most important parts of the warnings.

Energy 23%

Structural Integrity Critical

He hit the ground like an anvil would hit a block of ice. His knees curled to absorb the impact. He could have used thrusters, but to safely use such a thing needed over seventy-percent power. He checked the systems.

Radar Offline

Thrusters Offline

Navigation Offline

Hydraulics Online

Gyroscopic System Online

Ballistics Computer Offline

Weapons System Offline

Nanobots Offline

He would need to get the nanobots back online to fix his other systems. But for that he would need energy.

Energy Source Detected

Source Type: Ambient

Estimated Charge-up Time: 2 Hours

Activate Charge, *Y*/N?

Charging.

He was snapped back to reality as an arrow hit his armor. It shattered immediately upon impact. Looking up, he saw a figure he was simultaneously elated and shocked to see.

I can't believe it...

He simply could not believe it. It was Chrysalis, alright. If seeing Chrysalis donning ceremonial armor was a good thing to see at all. The sound of rustling feet echoed amongst the air, and orcs started to peel away from a cloaking device.

I can believe it.

Without a word, his overcoat dropped to the ground.

**********

"Wildfire?"

"Hmm?" His mind snapped from the cold North to the dusk sky.

"Could you please not be so quiet? I'm trying to have a conversation here."

"Oh, sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was asking if you had ever had any followers, preferably the religious kind."

"You mean a cult? Yeah I had one of those a while back. Just a group of misguided people decided they should start sacrificing animals in my name. Somehow I had become to be seen as a god, as apparently nothing could best me. I dispersed them rather quickly enough, acting all godlike to impress them."

"I don't know what I would do if someone started sacrifice in my name."

"Pff, they're just lucky they didn't start sacrificing virgins. That would have been messy. I mean, what am I supposed to do with dead corpses anyways? I don't go near them unless they have loot."

"Heh, luckily my followers are more tame than th- oh dear Faust never mind. Your cult is better."

"What?"

"I'd rather not tell." Luna was looking positively red around the cheeks.

"Tell meeeeee." Wildfire pressed on.

"What happens when you mix alcohol and fumes with ponies in heat?"

"Oh. Lucky."

"Excuse me?!"

"Excuse what? I said 'Yucky'."

"..."

"What?"

"I don't believe you."

Rewrite

Well. Had this coming for a while. I'll be attempting to rewrite the story as I have been nicely pointed out that my chapters are downright terrible. Don't expect a new chapter anytime soon.