Secrets

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.