Guardians of Equestria : The Emperor's March

Chapters

1. Invasive Species (V2)
2. Ruckus at Sweet Apple Acre (V2)
3. Under New Management (V2)
4. Sibling's Reunited
Act 1 : Bitter Defeat
Act 1 : Last Stand
Act 2 : The Evil Within
Act 2 : Meanwhile, in Ponyville
Act 2 : The Repurposed Factory
Act 2 : Vindictive
Act 2 : Sleepy Holl0WND
Act 3 : The Midnight Ride
Act 3 : The Merchant
Act 3 : Superior Genetics
Act 3 : There's Evil That Waits Inside
Act 3 : Ending The Curse
Act 4 : One Last Game
Act 4 : Balgo's Domain
Act 4 : After the Storm
Act 4 : Confronting a God (Bad Future)
Act 4 : Confronting a God (Good Future)
Act 4 : Retribution For Your Crimes

1. Invasive Species (V2)

Twilight Sparkle woke up early today. She had a big day ahead, for she needed to go to Canterlot alongside three of her friends since princess Celestia had asked to meet them in person. Albeit very unusual friends compared to those who wielded the Elements of Harmony. As she trotted down the stairs, she noticed that Spike had already packed her bags for the trip and was waiting for her to leave. “Good work Spike! I can always count on you. We’re leaving now to get the others.” Twilight said to her apprentice, who was very thrilled to do something different for once. She walked up to the front door and used her magic to lif the bags on her back. The baby dragon hopped on the unicorn and they both left the library, making sure to lock the door as they walked around in the nearly empty Ponyville.

“I’ve never gotten up at such an early hour, it feels weird to see Ponyville like this. It’s as if the town is abandoned... almost like the kinds of town we see in zombie movies.” Spike noted, feeling a slight shiver at this rather uneasy sight.

“I’ve been up pretty early a couple of times already, it's always this quiet in the early morning. You know ponies usually don’t leave their houses when the sun is still rising. That's a fact brought to you by the early bird, Twilight.” responded Twilight.

It was indeed very early in the morning; the sun had barely risen, so the city was mostly in darkness. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw that one of her friends was also ready to make the trip, waiting in the center of the town for her. He was a paladin named Drag. He came from a planet known as Azeroth where he was born. He belonged to the race of the Tauren, which greatly resembled the mythical minotaur while also being different from those seen in Equestria like Iron Will. His skin was black, and he was wearing a full set of plate armor blessed by the light itself, or so he affirmed. On his back was his usual holy great sword that he always keeps close to him.

The paladin quickly took notice of the approaching unicorn. “Hey Twilight, as you can see, I'm already fully prepared for our journey. The same cannot be said for the others apparently. Where the hell are they?” said the Tauren as he looked around him in impatience.

Another one of Twilight’s newer friends came in view as soon as Drag was done talking. He was named Pink, in reference to his skin color. He was a strange humanoid being with large arms and small legs. His head was a perfect circle with two white oval shaped eyes, but no nose and no ears. he was wearing a Viking helmet and was always seen with a diamond shovel on him as well as brass knuckles with his name on it, albeit hilariously mispelled. Don't ask me how you can misspell pink.

“Sorry if I'm a bit late chaps; I was just making sure that I didn’t forget anything for our journey to Canterlot. I... tend to double check a little too much at times.” Twilight looked at the sky for a moment as if she was expecting something to be there. She then set her gaze back on the two, feeling a little bit agitated.

“Where’s Alduin? Wait... Don’t tell me he didn’t even bother to come?” Both Drag and Pink noticed that the unicorn was getting more and more agitated. The paladin briefly looked at the humanoid with concerned eyes before walking closer to Twilight, leaning forward to match the unicorn’s height.

“I’ll get him to come with us, that I promise. Just wait here and I'll be back in a flash.” Before Twilight could even respond, Drag ran in direction of the mountain Alduin resided in with an angry expression, every step he took sounded more like the stomping of an angry bull. He summoned a drake with his magical powers to fly up the mountain at an impressive speed.

Drag ran inside the cave only to find that Alduin, the ex-world eater was sleeping in his cave without a single care about their plans for today. This dragon was once defeated by a mighty hero in Sovngarde, causing his soul to be sent far away from the world he once terrorised, landing into Equestria and eventually he was forced into abandoning his plans to devour all life in this world by the paladin Drag and Pink as well. And now, this very paladin was coming to disturb his slumber yet again.

“Dammit Alduin! We’re supposed to go to Canterlot today! So, get up and move already! "The black dragon opened one of his eyes to look at the Tauren. He looked irritated and very displeased at the idea of going to the city of Canterlot to meet princess Celestia. The black dragon wasted no time going back to sleep which pissed off the Tauren. "Don't act like you didn't hear me!"

“Why can’t she just come to us instead? Pahlok joorre! A mere unicorn with wings cannot command that which is higher in the order of power.” Drag grabbed Alduin by the horns and started dragging him onto the floor with his impressive strength as the dragon desperately tried to slow the paladin down. It was in vein as the Tauren’s pulling strength was too much for him.

“Because we are going to stay in Canterlot for a few days too!" Drag shouted as he pointed at the castle in the distance. "If you simply listened beyond just ‘meeting the princess’, you would have remembered this fact.” He threw the dragon out of his cave. “You’re coming whether you like it or not. And don’t even try to slip out of this one, you know damn well how it went last time you tried to pull a sneaky one on me.”

The world eater grumbled in frustration. “Nivahriin joorre. Fine, I’ll go to your meeting, but know that I won't stay with you for the whole trip. I’ll fly to Canterlot and wait for you there. Hin kah fen kos bonaar.” With that, he flew away and Drag went down the mountain on his drake’s brake to rejoin Twilight and Pink who were waiting for him in Ponyville.

It was finally Saturday, a beautiful day for the Scaler Empire or as some would say; Lord Balgo's Empire. The indominable tyrant stood atop the citadel that overshadowed the city he currently stayed in, enjoying the view of his soldiers patrolling the area, of the obediant masses praising his posters littered across the city and of the rising sun. "Today calls for something new, something different, something I've never tried before. No doubts will the rebels strike once more to weaken my troops but... can I make this more interesting?"

He looked at the clock only to realize that it was only 6:05 in the morning. "Perhaps I should wait until they commence their attack." Lord Balgo moved away from the window and sat comfortably in his chair. Amongst his kind, he was very different. Firstly, he did not have a house of his own. Instead, he moved all over the planet over the months to be able to carry out his work as the emperor of the Scalers. Like all its congeners, he has a crocodile-like appearance with green scales, a long snout with a big mouth filled with teeth that can grind bones with ease. However, his eyes are purple, a color that was feared by all Scalers for its attachment to Lord Balgo. Moreover, he was 10 feet and 2 inches tall which made him a giant compared to his species that measured only about 7 feet and 1 inch on average. His stature demonstrated his power and authority amongst his people, making him one of the most feared and powerful Scalers on the planet, rivaled by no one. He was unbeatable, everywhere at once and even in the wilderness, his presence can be felt.

He wasted no time putting on his fancy black suit and his top hat to go outside, taking the time to greet the soldiers nearby as he was leaving the citadel. “Hail Lord Baglo! May you bathe in your enemies blood!” Said the small cohort, accompanied with a salute to their reptilian overlord.

“Let's not get too hasty. We don't want to end the rebellion so soon, lads. What fun would there be without them?” responded the emperor.

"Oh, uh... Okay then? In that case, h-have a good day?” One of the soldiers said in a confused tone.

“Much better.”

As the giant walked over to the front gate, he immediately saw the problem through a nearby window. A giant breach in space-time that was splitting the sky in two, like a portal. A bad sight indeed, but the emperor wasn’t really impressed for he had seen much worse before. Finally getting outside, he noticed all the inhabitants of the city were outside their homes to observe the disturbing phenomenon. Although the breach seemed quite bad, the Scalers around were not looking too anxious, mostly curious about this situation. After all, their situation was bad enough as is. Nothing can really compare to Lord Balgo in their eyes, not even a breach like this.

As he kept on observing, the emperor receives a call on his cell phone from none other than his best friend, the genie Aruba. He is a big scaler who originated from the desert in the south, nearly rivaling Balgo in sheer size. His skin is black, and the color of his eyes were a bright green just like that of an emerald. He had two golden bracelets on his forearms, an Arabian hat and shirt and he sported a short grey beard. He was always seated on a flying carpet with a mysterious chest on it that can summon just about anything he wants thanks to his cosmic powers.

"Hey wassup boss, are you seeing this right now?" the genie began in a jovial tone.

“Yes, I am. I'm in front of the citadel. I can see this curious breach from here. I have a feeling that today's going to be very, very memorable.” Lord Balgo replied, staring intently at the sky above with his purple eyes that radiated pure malice.

“Of course, I took the time to mobilize an army in front of the breach, we built a camp while we were waiting for your arrival, buddy. Oh, hold on, I think I can see through this anomaly. It may be a passageway to another world, sounds exciting, isn’t it?” His last sentence sparked something in the evil emperor.

“Interesting, I will be here in two minutes.” Lord Balgo finished, having regained all his energy at the idea of a potential new world to discover. “Tell them to be prepared in case some mean S.O. B’s come through this breach; you must always imagine the worst in these kinds of situation.” Concluded the giant reptile before ending the call. His initial boredom was gone, now replaced with a malicious excitement at the idea of finally getting himself involved in some action. He smiled to himself, imagining the fun he will be having soon enough.

And with that, he lifted himself off the ground and flew in the direction of the breach. Although he uses vehicles to get around, the emperor still prefers to get around by himself, as he is much faster than any vehicle the Scalers have ever been able to build, courtesy of his extremely strong build and his unfathomable magic. Flying through the forest, he took the opportunity to observe the breach in the sky and realized that it was touching the ground because it was simply that enormous. “Big enough to fit a whole army for a potential conquest.” he thought. He swore he could see another world on the other side of this strange phenomenon just like Aruba told him but couldn’t quite make out what it looked like. This only served to excite him even more. If there were any form of life on the other side, he will have the pleasure of conquering yet another world for the glory of the empire he had built all by himself.

Finally, he arrived at the military camp set up by Aruba. The soldiers here were all very well armed with brand new military technologies that Balgo had designed. Furthermore, he immediately spotted three important figures amongst the crowd: Terra, his personal bodyguard and an excellent female swordsman who's recently came back to life under the form of a skeleton with a furnace for a head, The Tanker, a high ranking soldier in his army who is known for piloting a gigantic tank through town and finally, Kryser, the most powerful of the Scaler's elite troops armed with a high-cry war suit to increase his strength and the toughness of his armor at any time amongst other functions. Aruba had indeed brought the "heavy-hitters" into their group. This greatly satisfied the tyrant, who is now preparing to make his speech.

He stood in front of the breach and turned his attention to all his troops, who were now staring intently at him: "Greetings to all, you are the first and most important line of defence against a phenomenon that is completely unknown to us. Exciting, isn't it? We don't know what's behind that breach, but we're certainly not going to wait to find out.” Lord Balgo paused, looking at all the soldiers who were impatiently waiting his next sentence. “We will go through it in just a few minutes and take over uncharted lands.” Lord Balgo barely had time to finish his sentence that the entire crowd gathered before him busted into excitement. “Hehe. There won’t be anything to worry about, not that I believe any of you here are worried in the slightest. But just to be safe, we have brought with you... the elite of our strong world! Terra, Tanker, Kryser, Aruba and lastly, I, your invincible emperor... I will lead you all to success as I have always done. Guts and glory to us." Balgo announced proudly before his kin. The scalers responded with unanimous cheering, excited at the idea of exploring a whole new world.

Terra sat impatiently next to Kryser in their tent. “How much longer do we have to wait? This world adventure is pointless to me for I have only one goal.” said the undead Scaler.

The soldier responded without even looking, still focused on sharpening his knives. “A couple of minutes, and don't even think about leaving Lord Balgo on a mission like this. Your selfish quest for revenge is unimportant to the glory of the empire. Try to leave, and I'll break your bones, one by one.”

“Boldly said, though I hardly believe you can even beat me. I am the greatest swordsman there will ever be while you rely solely on your guns to do the job for you. Your skills with the knife can't compete with my blades.” Terra responded as the furnace opened, revealing her red eyes glowing with perfect hatred.

“We'll see about that." Kryser didn’t find his answer all that imposing. He closed his eyes and started to meditate in hopes of calming himself down before he can make a stupid mistake. “If you join us and don't question any orders; I'll help you bring down the one who took your life. Do we have a deal?”

Terra closed her furnace, before grinning to Kryser. “Thanks... we'll gut him like a fish together.”

Kryser chuckled at the young swordsman response. “Heh, I'm looking forward to this day.”

“And then I told him to go sleep in a crib or something and the lad just pissed himself right on the spot!” said the Tanker to his unit, unable to hold in his laughter.

“Why does almost every single one of your stories have piss and cribs involved in them somehow? You literally spend your days stealing Scaler's money, how can you even get yourself in these kinds of situations?” exclaimed a Scaler in a heavy power armour.

“Hey, when you patrol the city and take a good look at the civilans there; you'll quickly realise that a lot of Scalers do piss on th-” Another Scaler violently hit the Tanker in the back of the head with a wine bottle, breaking it into millions of pieces.

“Oh shut up already! Let us prepare in silence!”

Aruba was moving around the camp to make sure everyone was preparing for the mission at hand instead of lollygagging around. He couldn’t help but notice the fact that Lord Balgo was standing deathly still in front of the breach, almost as if he was admiring it. “Oh boy, you sure are excited for this, aren’t ya?” said the genie as he approached his friend on his flying carpet.

“But of course, when was the last time we got to go on an adventure of this caliber?” asked the emperor.

“Eight months ago, if I recall correctly. Holy cow, that was a long time ago.” The tyrant summoned a small portal with his dark powers and took out a coffee mug from it.

“Shall we call this a vacation?” asked the genie with a hint of malice on his face. The emperor grinned at his friend’s proposal.

“Oh yes! We’re going on a nice vacation today. I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind a nice break from work.”

Thus, all the creatures packed their items and crossed the breach once the signal was given. Lord Balgo stayed behind to watch as all the Scalers crossed one by one through the anomaly. As they crossed to the other side, everyone was surprised at the sight before them. A world of bright color and filled with cute looking critters welcomed them. This sight removed any anxiety present in the hearts of the invading lizards, not that there was much to begin with. This conquest is going to be nice and easy they all thought. Once everyone had passed through, Lord Balgo went in, making sure the camp around was tightly secured with automatic turrets and robots on guard.

“Dude, this is just like them TV shows my daughter watches at home.” exclaimed a Scaler.

"Now, now. Let's not be fooled by appearances, the residents here could be quite powerful and provide a nice challenge for us. Oh, let's hope that this is the case, otherwise we'd have gained nothing from this endeavor." Lord Balgo said with a large toothy grin on his face.

“It's still difficult to take any of this seriously in the slightest when you find yourself in the equivalent of a children's cartoon.” Aruba replied as his entire body began to show disinterest. “I was hoping for a massive warzone. At least I get to do something more than just be a funny looking Arabian politician. Herf, I’m not feeling this vacation anymore.” sighed the genie.

“I’m sure there’s more to this place than meets the eyes. Don't lose your hopes so soon.” responded Lord Balgo.

“It’s exactly one more reason to be wary.” Kryser objected. “We do not know if this world is inhabited with powerful foes. If it happens, we would be foolishly throwing ourselves into certain death. You’d do well to take this a bit more seriously, genie.” The Scaler’s armour and muscles started to tighten in response to his growing annoyance.

“Um, yeah, listen for a moment Mr. Erected muscle. While this may be a possibility, if one where to attack everything immediately and not give the opposition any time to react, one does not need to worry about a potential counterstrike. Heh, voilà.” As he finished, the genie reached into his chest to pick up a pipe. Kryser looked at Balgo, only for the emperor to give him a look that says, “Chill out”.

“Hey! What's their currency over here? Do they even have one? Oh man, me and the boys could totally steal some of their money with threats and tanks. It's getting quite boring over at our world since every single Scaler has gotten used to us.” Yelled the Tanker while his mouth contorts into a grin big enough to nearly cover his entire face. “Come to think of it, it's been a while since I got to shoot at buildings with this bad boy.” Exclaims the Tanker enthusiastically as he was frantically looking left and right.

“I greatly appreciate the enthusiasm here, Commander Tanker. I suggest instead that we take an entire city hostage just to have a shield against all enemy forces. They will refuse to do anything against us if we have hostages. Then, we enjoy the nice scenery of this world. Oh, but don't think that you can't kill one or two if you so like. I'll always bring them back so we can have more fun. Like I always say; the torture is fun and the fun will be endless.” The tyrant said while carefully observing his surroundings, still drinking his coffee.

He continued by signaling to the others to advance into the forest present in front of them. It is very dark compared to the hills they had set foot in. During their walk, everyone found that there were no animals in sight. Perhaps because the local wildlife was frightened by the arrival of potential predators? Then again, everyone fears me. Thought the gargantuan emperor.

Finally, after several minutes of walking, he spotted some houses in the distance. Just beyond the bushes that marked the entrance to the forest was a village inhabited by a unique species of horse. These animals had very pronounced and bright colors compared to their equivalent on the Scalers home planet.

Now all the scalers can see their opponents clearly: "So is this the enemy? A bunch of baby horses.” began a soldier in a mocking tone, nearly incapable of holding in his laughter.

“Apparently yes.” Aruba replies. “They don't look very threatening, or even armed for that matter. By the looks of it, they don't even have a police force or any soldiers patrolling around. We’re gonna tear them apart real quick like the time we faced off against a bunch of living teddy bears. This is going to be a real pub-stomp... Yes, I just learned about slangs.” said the genie, being embarrassed at his cringy usage of slangs.

“I have no doubts about that, my dear hatted friend.” Said Lord Balgo. “We are not going to struggle against them at all. If they send any type of soldier at us, let’s hope it’s not going to be a bunch of little ponies. After all, what sick men would send babies to fight us?” Balgo was quite amused by how things were going now. "Oh yeah... I should mention that children are not to be killed or hurted in any way. We like to keep things a little civilised."

“Yeah, killing babies is a bad idea. These little demons can and will hold a mighty grudge against their parents murder. We'd basically be creating an army of Batmen if we did that.” said the Tanker, frowning at whatever kind of twisted thought was running through his head.

Lord Balgo chuckled at this Scaler's statment. "Ok... Now listen up, here’s the deal. We will storm the town and force everyone inside their homes. Then we can have some fun with whatever kind of circus freaks we’ll have to fight this time. Sounds good?”

The Scaler all nodded in agreement.

"Then it is time for blood."

The citizens of Ponyville were going about their business when suddenly, a frightened scream caught their attention. A pony fell on its back upon noticing the giant reptile walk in town without any warning. “Greetings everyone! Today’s a very special day, for it is my birthday of course! Here’s a special surprise that I've been saving for you all.” He moved to the side to reveal an entire horde of Scalers charging into the peaceful town.

In a short time, the lizards landed on the streets and rushed down their prey until they locked themselves in their dwelling. The town, once peaceful, is now subject to a hellish cacophony of terrified screams and furious mocking roars. The ponies of this world will soon have to call their strongest assets in to deal with a threat bigger than anything they’ve dealt with before. While observing the chaos around him, Balgo thought to himself “They won’t have anywhere to hide or run to soon enough. I think I will have a bit of fun this time around and use just a little bit of psychological warfare... and tomfoolery.” His smile grew even larger at the thought of what he was going to accomplish here. Thus, the conflict between Equestria and the Scalers began.

Aruba didn’t follow the others into the town. He had sensed something in the forest that caught his attention. He followed this strange scent of magic to arrive at a house decorated with large wooden masks. The front door opened, and a zebra left the house, stopping in her tracks when she noticed the large lizard floating on a magic carpet. “What are you?” said Zecora in shock. The genie calmly took out his pipe.

“Oh, so there are zebras too?”

“There are more than just ponies, look around and you’ll see.” Aruba took an interest in the zebra’s habitation.

“Say, what kind of wacky things are going down in your house? The whole feeling of the decorations as well as your trinkets seem to imply some sort of magical activities.” Zecora took on a more defensive stance, trying to mask any possible hint of fear.

“I do not do much other than to brew, in my cauldron lies a nice warm stew.”

“Oh shit, you speak in a certain rhythm. That’s actually kind of cool, but I really wonder why you’re even doing it when I'm basically just asking you a really simple question.” The bushes behind Aruba began to move. He looked over his shoulder to see Balgo joining in the conversation.

“What do we have here? A zebra in a forest... and with an interesting choice of decoration.” The emperor took another sip of his coffee. “Alright, we’ll invite ourselves in.” Lord Balgo grinned and took on a more comedic posture before taking exaggerated steps toward the zebra.

“What? No, I-” Before Zecora could finish her sentence, Lord Balgo pushed her out of his way, sending her straight into a wooden fence. Aruba followed closely behind, turning to make a funny face at the fallen zebra. The zebra got up despite the terrible pain in her side and rushed inside her house where the two Scalers were now thoroughly inspecting.

“Ooo! That looks nice!” Lord Balgo was placing multiple ingredients in the cauldron placed in the middle of the room while Aruba was eating the food present inside Zecora’s house like a fat man eating nuggets at 3:00 in the morning. The zebra looked on in despair, not willing to say anything as it might get the two lizards to attack her. “May I borrow your house for a moment? I just need to prepare some potions that will be useful down the line.” The genie took another puff from his pipe. The smoke that came from was in the shape of a Scaler giving the middle finger.

“This is a trick question zebra. There is only one correct answer to this question and let me help you with the answer; the answer is yes.”

Author's Note

Now that's the first chapter re-done.

Smithy is not entirely gone, but he's going to be very different from his previous version as I felt he needed to be different seeing as I already kinda have a swordsman under Lord Balgo (Terra).

The Soldier is gone forever though. The Tanker is going to play a similar role to him, but with the added bonus of being more original.

2. Ruckus at Sweet Apple Acre (V2)

Applejack was looking forward to this day. She was going to teach her younger sister Applebloom the art of apple bucking. “Come on now Applebloom! You don’t wanna be late to your first lesson in apple bucking! You’ve gotta learn how to collect the apples from the apple trees!” said Applejack enthusiastically to her little sister.

“Aw, but my friends said today we would be meeting at our clubhouse at noon. If this takes too long, I won’t be able to join them.” Replied Applebloom in a disappointed tone, looking down at her sister with puppy eyes to get her sister to reconsider, but she stayed firm, nonetheless.

“No need to worry about that sugar cube, I won’t keep you hostage for the whole day after all. It should only take a couple of hours at most.”

“I sure hope so...” sighed the little filly.

The two sisters got out of their farmhouse to head on to the nearby hills. On the way there, they grabbed a couple of baskets that will be used to store the apples they will collect. During the travel, Applebloom simply walked in complete silence, still grumpy from having to assist her older sister in apple bucking. The older pony was feeling a bit guilty about potentially ruining her little sister’s day, but reassured herself that no matter what, she would always be reluctant to come. After a short walk, they have finally arrived at the hill containing the apple trees. Applejack finally decided to break the silence.

“Looks like we’re here. I hope you’ve slept well last night because this is going to take a lot of effort to get this part of the clearing done. Here, we’ll start with this here tree first. I’ll show you how it’s done and then you’ll try your luck.” And with that, she placed a basket down at the root of the nearest tree and turned around to place herself in a good bucking position. She kicks the tree with impressive power causing all the apples to fall off from the tree, landing in the basket down below. “See that? That’s how you buck an apple tree! It’s very easy once you get used to it.” exclaimed Applejack. “Here, try bucking this tree over there” She pointed at a nearby tree.

“Are you sure I'm strong enough to do it?” Asked the little filly.

“Don’t worry about it ‘sis, I started apple bucking at around your age. You just need to keep on trying. Eventually, your legs will get strong enough to do it with ease! After all, you’re an earth pony, you’ve got strength in them hooves!” Reassured Applejack, showing off her hooves.

“Hey! Do you think my special talent might be apple bucking? If that’s the case, I may be able to finally get my cutie mark!” said the filly as she was bouncing around in excitement at the idea of potentially.

“Hoho! Now that’s the spirit ‘sis! Go on, try bucking it now.” chuckled the older mare as she stood back to watch her sister try her first ever attempt at apple bucking.

Placing the basket down at the tree, Applebloom turned around and got into the same position her sister had demonstrated earlier. She prepared herself to strike this tree with all her might. After a few seconds of preparation, the little filly threw the strongest kick she could muster. The apple tree vibrated in response to the impact, but no apple fell off.

Discouraged by the failed attempt, Applebloom kicked the tree even harder, trying to one up her previous kick. Her attempts were getting faster and faster, until she accidentally sprained her hoof on impact causing her to fall to the ground in pain. Her older sister quickly rushed to her side to make sure she wasn’t hurt too badly. “Are you ok Applebloom? Is your hoof alright?”

“Yes, I think so, I only sprained my hoof, I should be fine in a couple of minutes.” groaned the filly, clutching her injured hoof.

“Well, if that’s the case, let’s take a short break and then we’ll resume. I don’t want you to break a leg, quite literally.” said a slightly worried Applejack.

A few hours later, the two siblings were done with their exercise. As they were getting ready to return to the farm, they heard screaming coming from Ponyville mixed with animalistic sounds she had never heard before. “What is going on in town” worried Applebloom. “I don’t know, let’s head back to the farm first. Big will take care of you there while I'll go check what’s causing all this ruckus.” answered the older sister, trying to mask her worries to the filly.

The Tanker was looking at the chaos they were causing in amusement. Up on his tank, he could see ponies being dragged and locked in their own homes by the Scalers while others were taking turn breaking down buildings and other infrastructures with their bare hands, taking immense pleasure in doing so. He kept on looking around for something to do until Kryser, his superior, approached him.

“Now I know what you’re thinking, Tanker. Don’t leave the town under any circumstances. Stay right here and assist the others if need be with your tank. Am I clear?” Just as he finished his sentence, he heard a crashing noise behind him. He looked back to see a Scaler breaking down a bunch of barrels with glee. “Oh ok, well Tanker, don’t you go running off to... how did he leave so soon?” The Tanker, and by extension his tank, had already left. He was already driving in direction of a farm he saw just on the outskirts of Ponyville. He already knew what he was seeking was going to be located in that farm.

“Nyeh he he! Time to run over some dumb ponies! Come on boys, let us see some blood.”

Fluttershy was tending to her animals in her cottage. She had gotten out of bed earlier because her pet Angel was very hungry wouldn’t stop pestering her. She tried to offer her pet carrots, but the bunny was reluctant to eat any carrots, kicking them away whenever she tried to offer them. “Now now Angel, you must at least try a bite out of these carrots.

Carrots are very healthy, and bunnies usually love them.” She gently pushed a carrot near him and gave a forced smile to encourage the bunny to take a bite out of it. Angel responded by kicking the carrot away and hopped away towards the front door. “Angel! Come back here, I swear I'll give you something else to eat.” The bunny stopped when he got close to the front door, reconsidering if he should come back to the Pegasus. He then turned to face the front door but didn’t move from his position. Fluttershy hurried herself to him, fearing that he’ll try to leave the cottage but was surprised when she noticed that Angel looked anxious.

She looked at the window near the door but saw nothing unusual about Ponyville. The city looked as it had always been, save for the mist present in this morning. “What’s wrong Angel?” asked the worried Pegasus. Angel hopped away and went upstairs, probably into her room.

Hesitant, she opened the upper part of her front door to hear if something was going on outside. Everything was normal and she was about to close the door until she started to hear screams coming from Ponyville. They were screams of terror mixed with malicious sounding screams echoing in the misty morning. Fluttershy stood there, frozen in anxiety as multiple different scenarios were playing out in her heads as to what was happening in town. She snapped out of it once she heard large footsteps approaching her cottage.

Eventually, something big came to view but she couldn’t quite make out what it was thanks to the mist obstructing any defining features of the thing. All that she could see was the thing’s imposing size, rivaling that of the alicorn sisters, maybe slightly bigger. She yelped and immediately slammed the door shut and locked it. She backed off from the entrance and jumped when the thing outside knocked loudly at her door.

“Let me in! There are monsters out there! You gotta let me in or else they’ll get me!” Fluttershy remained silent, the thing didn’t know that she already saw it coming. “Too bad, I'll just invite myself in if you don’t mind.” She heard the thing outside jump onto her roof and walking on it. In her panic, she fell on her rear. The thing was moving above her, making the ceiling creak with every step it took.

The Pegasus looked behind her and saw the chimney and, connecting the dots, discovered what the thing was trying to do. She backed away from the chimney as the beast’s steps stopped abruptly. Then there were strange noises coming from the chimney as the sounds of something forcing its way in were heard mixed with sounds of metal scraping against the chimney. The Pegasus remembered that the interior of her chimney was filled with broken nails and was also very narrow yet this thing was somehow able to fit through. This horrifying cacophony kept on going for a while until it went silent.

Fluttershy kept on staring at the chimney, waiting for something to happen. She waited for what felt like hours until she finally stood up and thought about going upstairs to check on Angel. As she took a hesitant step, a reptilian creature fell down the chimney’s door. It started punching at the metal grate after it had spotted the Pegasus, slowly breaking through it. Fluttershy jumped back, squealing in horror at this horrible sight.

The Pegasus wasted no time running up the stairs as the beast broke through the grate and crawled out of the chimney. Its entire armour was bruised and cut, exposing the lizard's skin underneath its metal shell. It started limping towards her as one of its legs got badly injured during its descent. Despite the painful state the lizard was in, its face did not express much pain, rather a malicious pleasure in chasing her down.

She arrived at her bedroom and saw Angel cowering underneath her bed. Shutting the door behind, she placed a chair on the lock to buy her some time. “Angel! Come to me, we are leaving now!” The doorknob turned and the beast started pushing heavily at the door, trying to force it open. When it realised it couldn’t open it, it punched straight through it and grabbed at the chair to toss it out of the way.

Fluttershy yelped and grabbed Angel in her mouth, running to the nearest window to open it. The door swung open so violently that it hit and damaged the wall in her bedroom. The beast saw her attempt at escape and growled angerly. It lunged at her, but she flew out of her window in time. Having just arrived outside, she heard the commotion in Ponyville much clearer now and was now faced with a difficult choice, either she could hide in the forest and wait for all of this to blow over or she could fly over to Ponyville and try to help her friends out of this predicament. The sound of the reptile falling just behind her prompted her to fly straight into Ponyville, having chosen the second option.

As they were running back to their home, they could now hear additional sounds coming from Ponyville. It was that of roaring and explosions. Applejack grew increasingly concerned when she remembered that all her friends, safe from Twilight and the Guardians, were in Ponyville. But it wasn’t the time to be thinking about them, she needed to get her younger sister to Big first and foremost. Applebloom tripped on a loose root on the floor. Applejack quickly took notice and ran back to her sister to get her back on her hooves.

“Are you sure you can keep up? I’ll slow down if you can’t, wouldn’t wanna leave you behind in a time like this.”

“No, I'm fine. I can keep... up.” Applejack could see through her sister’s lie. The filly was trying to hide her panting to give the impression she could still run a marathon. After a few seconds, Applejack told her little sister to start running in direction of the farm once more. They kept on running for just a little longer until they finally left the field of apple trees.

“There’s the farm!” happily exclaimed Applebloom. Applejack could clearly see the farmhouse now. Big Macintosh was standing outside the farmhouse, having barricaded the road leading to the Sweet Apple Acre. He took notice of the sibling’s arrival: “There you are! I was worried something had happened to you two.”

“We... gotta get... Applebloom and Granny... to safety first!” Said Applejack while trying to catch her breath.

“Let's hide them in the farmhouse. We’ll deal with the problem ourselves. The road's barricaded here just in case.” Responded Big Macintosh.

“You heard him ‘sis, go on now. “Responded Applejack, putting on a reassuring smile. Applebloom however, looked behind her two siblings with wide eyes.

“Wait, w-what is that over there?” questioned the youngster in a panicked tone.

Both Applejack and Big Macintosh turned to face the road only to see a creature riding a vehicle they had never ever seen before. An extremely large bipedal reptile wearing a black helmet obstructing its eyes was slowly walking along the road, its face was constantly contorted in a large grin as it was singing to itself. It was slightly taller even than princess Celestia herself from the looks of it. Eventually, the giant tank stopped once its drivers noticed the barricade and the two ponies standing behind it. The poor barricade looked pitiful in comparison to the sheer size of the vehicle confronting it.

The Tanker opened his visor to get a better view of them revealing two piercing yellow eyes that slightly disturbed the two ponies. “Oh please tell me we are doing this because if so, then it's on little ponies! Just try to stop us from running over this farm!” enthusiastically exclaimed the lizard.

“We ain’t gonna let some tyrants destroy the Apple family's namesake! No matter what you throw at us, we ain't budgin.” Objected Applejack.

“Is that so? Well then, if that's what you want...” Tanker retreated inside his tank. "Alright squad; it's time to smash through this dooky farm!"

“Uh oh, brace yourself Big Mac!” replied Applejack, intimidated by the sheer size of the tank moving towards them.

“Stay right here and let us do our thing, will you?” said the Tanker, slowly making his way to them at a not so slow pace.

The tank immediately sped up at the barricade without warning. “Out of the way!” shouted Applejack.

“Yup” answered Big.

As the creature got closer to the barricade, Applejack pulled out a stink bomb and threw it at the large tank.

“Nice try, but its not going to get us out of our tank bro.” said the Tanker inside the comfort of his war machine. It lowered its canon to aim it directly at the barricade and blew it to bits. Its remains were launched far in the sky. Shocked by this display of raw power, the two ponies were greatly intimidated by their seemingly indominable opponent.

"Now, it's your turn... If you would just hold still." The tank's canon then pointed at Applejack and fired, missing her but the explosion sent her flying away. Big Macintosh wasted no time to charge forward at the tank, hoping that he could somehow get the Tanker out of his war machine. The Scaler inside responded in kind as he jumped out of his tank to confront the stallion. Their heads collided with one another, turning this fight into a sumo wrestling competition.

"Let's see how you size up to me, big boy!"

Eventually, Big’s better posture allowed him to throw his opponent off his balance and throwed him off the vehicle and into the ground on his back, but the reptile regained his composure much quicker than the pony had anticipated. The Tanker kicked the horse square in the face, knocking him out for a moment. More Scalers left the tank to witness the fight happening, though their leader instructed them not to intervene.

As the Scaler got up, he turned his attention to Applejack who had just gotten back on her hooves. She quickly notices the monster approaching her in an odd battle stance. His arms were slightly bent and completely to his sides, exposing his torso and face. The mare reaches out for a big branch on the floor, big enough to cause some damage.

Once the Scaler was close enough, she struck with all her might only for her adversary to block the branch with enough strength to shatter it in multiples pieces. Bad idea though the pony before realizing the Tanker was readying a strong kick. She tried to back away but was hit full force with a blow powerful enough to once again send her flying into a nearby tree. The blow nearly broke her bones as the mare tried to get up to no avail. “Hyeh he he! Yo guys, it's as easy as stealing candy from a baby!” cackled the beast. Applejack coughed a bit of blood on the ground in her struggle to get up.

However, as the Tanker was moving closer to her, she noticed a shadow growing just above her assailant. He stopped dead in his track, having noticed this shadow below him. “Huh? What’s that?” he grumbled in confusion. Just as he looked up, he could see the silhouette of the barricade that was blown into the sky. “Wait, no!”

Smash

In less than a second, the reptile was crushed. “D-did we get him?” said Applejack in an unsure tone as she got up.

“E-yup” responded her brother who had just come back to his senses, his head still ringing from the Scaler’s kick earlier before falling back on the ground. Suddenly, a fist bursts out of the broken remains of the barricade.

“Urgh, this is really embarrassing on our part. Let's hope Lord Balgo didn't see any of this...” said the Tanker while pulling the rest of his body out of the debris. He looked irritated now. “That’s it! I am pulling out the big guns this time! Straight up to murder!”

He pulled a large metallic object that neither ponies could recognise. The grins on the face of the other Scalers indicated nothing but bad news regarding this device. “I’ll blow you and this farm to smithereens! Here goes!” The beast pulled the pin on the object but dropped it by accident. “Oops”, clumsily said the Tanker. The object’s sheer weight caused it to get slightly buried in the ground upon impact. “Oh non. Get down troops!”

BOOM

The explosion was big enough to catch the attention of a small group of Scalers still assaulting the town. “Uh oh, I didn’t know ponies had access to weapons of mass destruction...” said one of them in an unusually casual manner. They then all realized what was most likely the cause of this explosion, looking at each other in the process. “It’s the Tanker, again!”. They saw another one of them arriving in a hurry.

“Yo, did any one of you see where the Tanke- Oh never mind, I guess it’s pretty clear where he went.”

Fluttershy froze for a moment when she finally got to see the full scale of the invasion happening in Ponyville. There were lizards everywhere, dragging ponies by their hooves to throw them and lock them inside the nearest building. She couldn’t save everyone in Ponyville from these invaders, but she could at least escape with a friend if they’re quick enough. The only friend that she could flee with was Rarity, seeing as her boutique was located on the borders of the town.

The Pegasus flew towards her friend's home and as she did, she saw something fast flying in the sky above her. “Rainbow Dash! She must be heading to Canterlot to warn the princess about these strange lizards.” She finally arrived at Rarity’s home just in time to see her shop being invaded. She hid near a window and peeked through it, letting go of Angel as her mouth grew tired of dragging him around.

“Woe is me! I cannot live shut inside my boutique! How can I show my beautiful crafts to all of Equestria if I can’t even leave my own house?” complained the unicorn. The two reptiles inside looked very tired. They must have heard her complaining for quite some time now and it was clearly showing on their posture. They both looked at each other in sheer exasperation as Rarity kept on going on and on.

Eventually, they grabbed her hooves and dragged her upstairs. Fluttershy flew to another window overlooking the second floor and saw the two reptiles throw Rarity in her bedroom. One immediately shut the door as the other one started barricading the door with wooden boards. When he was done, the other one threw an entire wardrobe in front of the door to ensure no one would ever get out of the room. After they were done, they slowly left the boutique, with any sign of excitement gone from their body.

"Gee, why can't we just kill this one?"

Now that they were gone, the Pegasus flew to the window overlooking the unicorn’s bedroom, gesturing at Angel to stay hidden. She quietly knocked on the window to get her friends attention. Rarity immediately went to open the window to let her friend in. “Fluttershy! Thank Celestia I won’t be alone in my bedroom! I suppose you have a plan to get me out of here?”

“Not exactly, there are lizards everywhere in Ponyville. Our only chance at escape is to run away as soon as possible before the chaos outside settles down.” responded the Pegasus.

“Fair enough, but we can’t leave without Sweetie Belle! She’s somewhere in here but the door leading out of my room is blocked.” They then heard a voice coming from the other side.

“Rarity? Are you okay in there?” It was Sweetie Belle who was speaking from the other side of the barricaded door.

“We’re leaving now Sweetie! Try to sneak out of the house, I’ll catch you outside with Fluttershy!” shouted Rarity to make sure her sister heard her.

“Got it! I’m going now!” The unicorn and the Pegasus opened the window once more and they descended. Rarity was holding on to Fluttershy as the latter tried desperately to go down at a slower pace, but her friend's weight was too much for her wings and they both fell from a high distance.

After regaining their bearings, the moved towards the entrance and saw two reptiles guarding the front door, the same that locked her in earlier judging from their expression. Angel ran back to them and hopped on the Pegasus’s back. Fluttershy smiled lightly, happy to see her pet still there. Suddenly, the door behind the reotukes opened and they turned around to see Sweetie Belle standing just by the entrance. She smiled sheepishly and tried to defuse the situation.

“Oh... uh pardon me, I was just going to... uh, w-water our plants of course.”

The left one spoke up. “Go back inside little drama queen, we’ve had enough with you annoying lots!” Just as they approached the filly, they were struck by a large rock flung towards them.

One of them fell to the ground and was then crushed by the other who fell on top of him. “Hey! get off me lazy bone!” The two began to hit each other with ever increasing force, eventually leading into a full-on fight to the death as they began biting at each other, tearing their armour off.

“Let’s get out of here now...” said Rarity, disgusted by the brutal battle going on.

They were soon out of Ponyville as they were running through the borders of the town. While they were running, they noticed that the town was becoming quieter. There were more and more lizards roaming the town and it was only a matter of time before they would be spotted. Thankfully, they could see the bridge just in front of them leading out of Ponyville, and then they could escape through the fields and get to Canterlot. “We missed three of them! Don’t let them get away!” The reptile’s shout alerted all the others near the three ponies, and they soon gave chase.

The trio got on the bridge and began to make their final sprint out of Ponyville. They saw strange flashes of light fly right past them, one of them nearly hitting Rarity in the leg, slightly cutting it. She squealed in painful surprise and looked over her shoulder. The reptiles were not running after them, rather they were standing still pointing metallic objects at them.

“What are these things they’re carrying?” said Rarity, scared at her ignorance of these weapons. Over in the distance, one of the creatures yelled to the other.

“What in the name of the dark lord? I thought we weren’t supposed to kill them.”

“They’re getting away you idiot. We’re not gonna let them escape us.”

“So why aren’t we running after them then?”

“... Uh.” A very loud sound got Rarity to look at where she was going. A large purple mist was hindering their view of the field in front. Suddenly, three tendrils shot out from the mist and grabbed every single pony by the hooves and flipped them on their backs. The tendrils then lifted the trio in the air just in time for them to see a terrifyingly large lizard walk out of the mist. Fluttershy covered her eyes in fear as Rarity inched closer to her little sister to give her some comfort. Angel on the other hand, bolted out of here, having not being caught by the tendrils.

“Sorry to come in at the last minute and ruin your entire escape but you should know we don't take kindly to stragglers. I hope you’re not going to take it to heart. Not that I care, I just want to see the disappointment in your faces.” said the large reptile. “Well, since we’re face to face, I might as well introduce myself. I am Lord Balgo, leader of the Scalers and you will be our prisoners now, for an undetermined amount of time at the very least.”

“W-what a-are you going to do t-to us?” said the terrified Pegasus.

“Nothing if you don’t try anything funny, though I wouldn’t mind if you do for your usefulness is rather limited. We’re just going to lock you up inside this town while we prepare for a more bombastic entry in that beautiful city over there by the mountain.” Lord Balgo pointed at Canterlot with a malicious smile resting on his face. However, his smile soon left his face as he looked to the left of the trio with a curious expression. Fluttershy, Rarity and Sweetie Belle looked behind them to see the remnants of a large explosion out in the distance. Lord Balgo slightly frowned. “Looks like the Tanker's causing some problem for the both of us again. I'll see that he is 'corrected' for his mistake.”

Dazed and confused, Applejack struggled to come back to her senses as her vision got slowly clearer. Once she was finally able to see clearly, she noticed the blast sent her far away from the farm. Big however, landed on the roof of the barn. She tried to stand back up but found it nearly impossible due to the pain in her legs. Some metallic debris launched by the explosion had stabbed her in the leg. Suddenly, she heard a group of people rushing down the road, getting closer, closer.

Sadly, it wasn’t a group of ponies that was coming like she had hoped. It was more lizards. “Soldiers look! That's where the explosion happened!” screamed one of them. One of them spotted his brethren amidst the smoke. “Hey look, it’s the Tanker over there! And there's his tank too!”

“Is he alright?” said the first one, poking at him with his gun.

“I don’t think so. Look, he’s in the stock Family Guy death pose. He’s probably dead.” says another one as he was poking the Tanker’s body.

“No no no, he’s still moving.” said another one in an almost disappointed tone.

“Hey! Is my tank alright at least? And what about the rest of my squadron?” Yelled the Soldier to his brethren. He did not really seem to struggle to get back up even though he was at the epicenter of the explosion.

“Forget it! Lord Balgo is gonna be angry at what you just did! Look what you did! You nearly destroyed everything in your vicinity, idiot!” Angerly yelled another Scaler, bouncing around in frustration. “He’s going to punish you for this terrible mistake!”

As Applejack was observing them panic, she noticed another one arriving on the scene, only he was much bigger than the other ones. So big in fact, he was nearly double the sizes of the other reptiles. Every step he took shook the very earth, as if he was causing earthquakes by his mere existence. Every lizard immediately took notice of his arrival and panicked even more. They all simultaneously pointed to the Tanker, telling the newcomer what he had done. The large beast responded by roaring at the Tanker, causing the latter to fall to the ground in shock. In a split second, he crushed the smaller reptile with its large foot.

Suddenly, the pain in Applejack’s leg vanished. Upon realizing this, the mare chose to flee the farm and run-in direction of the city of Canterlot where the princesses and the guardians were staying. Her heart was pounding, and all her bones were hurting but she needed to warn princess Celestia and the guardians of the invaders that had taken over Ponyville and her family’s estate. She ran away with a heavy heart, knowing she would her family behind with the reptilian invaders.

3. Under New Management (V2)

“Hey Lord Balgo! One of them is running away!” pointed out a Scaler. The emperor eyes glew a dark purple, ready to give chase, but ultimately chose not to. He took out his coffee once more and took another sip of it as the other Scalers looked on, horribly confused at their leader’s action.

“Let her go, she’ll announce our arrival to the other inhabitants. We still have a war to prepare, and lots of blood to spill.” decided the gargantuan lizard with an amused expression, slightly shaking his coffee mug at the same time.

“Huh? But ain’t that bad? We still have the element of surprise here.” objected one of the troops.

“Not necessarily, I have a plan yet again. A fun and twisted plan that is for sure going to cause some damage around here. You just relax and let the actual smart Scalers do all the hard work.” affirmed their leader while staring at the sky, imagining how sweet the results will be. “I’m going to need a few days to prepare it, however. But it will be worth it in the end. I assure you.”

He turned his attention towards a little filly that immediately ran inside her house once he saw her. “Guess that must be the little sister. How heartbreaking, we have separated two siblings from each other.” The wind around him began to howl, indicating the arrival of his friend Aruba on his flying carpet.

“Hey good buddy, I just sensed the presence of three ponies heading straight to Ponyville from the forest right over there. We should check it out.”

Lord Balgo raised in eyebrow in interest. “Alright then, Aruba and I will have a look in the forest. You on the other hand, will have to do some cleaning around here.” The Scalers looked at each other in disappointment.

“Why is it always us?”

Balgo and Aruba were in the Everfree Forest in search of the three ponies coming straight for Ponyville. They looked around as they were moving deeper into the dark forest.

“Gee, it will be quite hard to find three ponies in such a dark forest.” said the genie as he took out his pipe.

“Bold of you to make such a statment. Nothing's safe from my eyes.” responded Lord Balgo as his hands began to glow a dark purple. Soon, his eyes glowed just like his hands, and he looked around before pointing in a specific direction. The world around suddenly shifted, taking them right to their targets though they remained hidden with an invisible spell.

“So, we get to kill these ponies, right?” asked Aruba calmly.

“Of course, they’re of no use to us alive and plus; I'd like to create a zombie army...”

However, right as they were about to strike them down, they were surprised by the scene playing out before them. The three ponies they were hunting down were an entire family composed of two parents and a little baby that looked no older than 13 months. They were being attacked by a new species of animal the Scalers haven’t seen before. Wolves made out of tree carvings were viciously attacking the parents as the mother desperately tried to shield her child from the predators. The father was holding his own quite well, bucking the wolves back as they approached him.

"Write that down, Aruba. Write that down." Lord Balgo instructed.

"Aye aye, sir!"

The father was caught off guard when his wife screamed in agony as she was bitten in the flank by one of the timber wolves. This distracted him long enough to be bitten in the throat by one of the predators. At this point, it was over for him, his jugular being torn out, he was thrown onto the ground and died not long after as the others went on to feast on his body. They started biting down on his chest and made quick work of their new snack.

"Ferocious indeed, but wood is flammable. These creatures are useless to us. I suppose I must make my own monsters for this conquest." Lord Balgo commented.

"May I make a suggestion regarding your next creations? I, uh, would like to see some desert themed creatures for once." politely asked the genie.

"Let me see what I can think of."

More timber wolves attacked the mother’s legs, causing her to fall helplessly on the cold forest foliage. She dropped her baby during her fall, and it landed just in front of the timber wolves. The baby began to cry, injured from the impact. The muscles in her legs were torn apart from the timber wolves' strong bite, leaving her unable to get up.

She watched powerless as the timber wolf opened its mouth wide and leaned forward to take a bite out of her baby. Suddenly, a large foot stomped on the wolf, shattering it into a million pieces. Her eyes widened as she saw an enormous bipedal lizard standing in front of her baby. Lord Balgo bent down and grabbed the baby in its arm, looking curiously at it. The other timber wolves growled angerly at him before charging forward. Their assault was cut short by a hurricane of magical sword being flung at them, slicing them all in half. Aruba soon joined Balgo’s side as he looked at the baby before setting his gaze on the mother. She looked at both with a very pitiful expression.

“Please... don’t hurt my filly, she's all I have.” she said weakly. Lord Balgo looked once more at the child in consideration, or lack thereof. After thinking for a moment, he grinned.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt your filly, lady.” The injured unicorn pushed through the pain to tell the duo her last wishes.

“Take her... to Ponyville. I know someone who will take care of her.” The emperor’s face soon turned into a twisted and malicious expression that sent a chill down the pony’s spine.

“Perhaps you didn't understand me correctly. I won't hurt your filly, but it will be your kinsmen who will do the necessary evil. I'll show you what I mean.” The mother’s hope shattered as her face expressed nothing but horror as she tried to plead to Lord Balgo, but it was too late. The little pony was struck by a bolt of dark energy and in a few seconds was transformed into something else entirely.

The pony's body shifted into that of a Scaler covered in bandages, a mummy to be more precise.

"Wh-What have you done to her?!" She screamed. As her head slowly fell on the floor and as she struggled to keep her eyes open, she saw her child turning around to look at her with two swords in hand.

"A test of loyalty for my new beast. Come on now; show me your cruelty."

The mummy lifted its two swords above its mother and brought it down with tremendous force.

“Ok then, its pretty strong. Now what?” questioned the genie, taking another puff from his pipe.

“More. We gather more monsters to turn this war into a monster mash!” answered the cruel emperor.

“Like the townsfolk?”

“Not really. We could transform all of ponykind into obediant monsters but then; what fun would there be left? No rebellions, no adversity... what we need is to let them have some hope so that they can oppose us.” explained the emperor as he started to walk back to Ponyville.

“I think I'm starting to understand your point of view. The fun's in the getting, not in the having so you want to lose only to then reclaim everything back? Funny how you're treating life as a game but hey, that's why I like you.”

“Now that's great to hear. Some of these ponies have stronger magic, these must live so they can provide me a nice challenge.” confirmed a satisfied Balgo.

Filthy Rich ran through the darkness of the Everfree Forest alongside his wife and daughter. Behind them were a small group of Scalers chasing them down. They just needed to lose their pursuers and they will be safe from the invaders. They have been running for minutes and were getting tired, their legs were slowly hurting more and more but the lizards did not show any sign of slowing down any time soon. Thankfully, their pursuers were still far behind; they still had a chance to escape from the forest safe and sound.

Suddenly, they heard a very odd noise coming not too far from their current location. It was the sound of leaves shuffling somewhere in the bushes of the forest. Diamond Tiara noticed their pursuers have stopped running entirely and looked in direction of the odd noises; looking nervous. It didn’t take long for them to start backing away as they muttered something and left quickly.

“They’re... no longer chasing us.” said Tiara, trying to catch her breath. Filthy Rich stopped to take a look back, smirking at the realisation that they have successfully escaped their pursuers.

“Heh looks like they sent a bunch of cowards after us. I can’t believe that’s all it took to take over Ponyville.” arrogantly proclaimed the rich business pony. On the other hand, Diamond Tiara looked quite remorseful.

“Are you sure this was a good idea? I’m leaving Silver Spoon behind with these monsters...” said the sad earth pony.

“Bah, it doesn’t matter. We’ve escaped from Ponyville with a lot of money. I’ll just start a new business over in another city and we’ll filthy rich once more in no time. You can always make new friends when we’ve settled down.” said Filthy Rich, dismissing his daughter’s concern.

He then proceeded to resume his travel down in the dark woods. His wife followed him in a heartbeat as Diamond Tiara stayed behind a little longer to look one last time at where Ponyville was located, thinking one more time about Silver Spoon before quickly picking the pace to not fall behind her parents.

The Everfree Forest was eerily quiet today. There wasn’t a single sign of life around them. It was as if every living creature in this forest was gone. Diamond Tiara looked around nervously as her parents seemed to pay no mind to this odd fact. “Why is it so quiet in here? Isn’t there supposed to be all sorts of danger waiting for us? So far, there’s nothing.” spoke up the filly, no longer able to keep her fears inside.

“I... uh, I have no idea.” replied Filthy Rich, also completely in the dark as to this strange occurrence.

“I-Isn’t that a good thing darling? There’s no manticore coming after us. We should feel relieved, not nervous.” said Tiara’s mother, putting on a smile to hide her nervosity.

Suddenly, the sound of leaves shuffling and creaking could be heard once more from the bushes. This time however, it was closer and accompanied by labored breathing. This scared the entire family who were now frantically looking at the folliage in search of the source of the noise. They were walking at a much quicker pace. Sweat was dripping down their faces now as their legs began to tremble uncontrollably. The shuffling was heard once again, this time at a slightly accelerated pace. The noise was following them, no doubts about it. The situation was a crescendo of rising fear as the noise began to increase in frequency, getting faster as the ponies were picking up in speed. It all culminated in a terrifying otherwordly screech echoing throughout the forest.

It sounded like a moose, albeit sounding much more twisted and unnatural. Leaves began to fall from the bushes right next to them as something large plowed through the nearby bushes. Diamond Tiara squealed and got closer to her father, cowering behind him. The forest was silent once more, until something jumped out of the dark and bit Tiara’s mother in the leg and began to drag her away.

Filthy Rich quickly dove in to take a hold of her wife’s hooves, pulling with all his strength. The earth pony noticed that even in the darkness, he couldn't see anything attacking his wife but her legs was still bleeding badly. He struggled a lot to stop the beast from dragging his wife away. Her screams became so loud to the point that they were hurting Tiara’s ears. Her leg was slowly starting to tear itself off from the pressure of Filthy Rich and the beast pulling in opposite direction.

Suddenly, the beast swiped at Filthy Rich, slicing off his nose, causing him to accidentally let go of his wife and she was dragged away in the forest. The stallion watched in fright as it bit down on her innards and lifted them up. Then, said innards disappeared into nothingness. The monster is invisible!

Diamond Tiara felt a stream of tears running down her face. They came from a mix of terror and sadness at the horror she had just witnessed. Her father was deathly pale, still clutching his missing nose that was bleeding profusely. “We've got to get out of here as quickly as possible!” said the rich pony before gesturing at his daughter to run with him.

They ran was fast as they could through the dark misty forest, constantly looking over their shoulder to see if the beast was coming for them. They couldn’t hear the noise of metal scraping indicating it was not chasing them, yet. Both their hearts nearly skipped a beat when the sounds returned, even faster this time. They were accompanied by the creature’s moan, sounding much more threatening than before. Diamond Tiara was slowing down, her father kept on distancing himself from her. Her heart was racing even faster this time as her entire body began to get hotter and hotter.

“Daddy! Don’t leave me behind!” she screamed in a broken voice. The sounds of the beast were getting dangerously near her. She was crying so much to the point that her vision was blurry. Suddenly, a large shadow ran past her and lunged at her father. Filthy Rich looked back just in time to feel the a strong gust of wind right in his face. He screamed in terror as the monster slashed him with such force that it tore his flank and back legs from the rest of his body. His upper body fell on the ground, and he didn’t even have the time to react to the beast digging its claws into his torso. It ripped out his organs and devoured them right before his very eyes. In his panic, he swung his hooves at whatever was attacking and as it collided with the beast, the monster materialised right before his very eyes with a loud screech.

Tiara came to a complete halt and watched in horror as her father was being eaten alive before her. The beast suddenly threw a quick glance at her, making her snap out of her trance. She turned around to run as far away as possible but was stopped by the beast's strong arm hitting one of her back legs. The strike didn’t just break her leg, it tore the broken bone out of it entirely. She screamed in agony as she fell on her stomach. The beast resumed its gruesome feast as the little filly crawled away. She was screaming and sobbing at the same time as more tears flowed down her faces. After a while, she couldn’t crawl away anymore, she had lost too much strength. Realising that it was over for her, she let her head hit the floor in defeat, crying even louder. Her cries stopped when she heard the metal scraping getting near her. The beast was done with Filthy Rich, and now it laid its eyes on her. Eventually, it walked in front of her, and she could finally get a good look at the monster that took her parents away.

It was a black mass in a humanoid form with the head of a deer's skull. Its muscles and veins were completely exposed, with multiple bodily fluids always leaking from it. The most disturbing of all were its eyes; they were completely empty but with one little catch; two white pupils staring back into Tiara's soul. The thing had a blank stare that chilled Diamond Tiara to her very core.

It grabbed her by the head and lifted her from the ground, up to its face. Upon closer look, she could see the death in its eyes. Its jaw opened slowly, and it kept on opening past the point where it should reach its limit. Its gaping maw was now nearly touching the forest floor with how wide it was opened. A large, muscled tongue came out of its jaw. It slowly wrapped itself around Diamond Tiara’s neck as it let go of her head. The tongue drew her inside the beast’s mouth as the filly closed her eyes in resignation. The bones in its lower jaw began to creak as it slowly prepared to take one big bite out of her.

“I should have listened to you, Silver Spoon.” was the last thing Tiara thought about before the beast closed its jaws in an instant, leaving nothing behind of the little filly.

“Lord Balgo...”

Images flashed inside the beast's mind. That of a Tauren, a Tauren he must hunt down as request by his Lord.

As they were walking to the mayor’s office, Balgo and Aruba noticed something odd in one of the stores in town. Confetti were seen being blown away through a window on the upper floor. “Looks like someone is having a party in there.” said Aruba as he flew closer to the building.

“Let's pop in unannounced, shall we?” exclaimed a jolly Lord Balgo as he too walked towards the shop, motioning at the mummy to follow suit. He looked at the sign above the front door. It read “Sugar Cube Corner”. The genie teleported in the shop first as Balgo squeezed through the small door, bending down as to not hit the ceiling of the place.

Aruba had to step off from his flying carpet since his size was very close to that of the emperor before walking upstairs to look at the source of the confetti. Once he opened the door leading to the correct room, he was surprised to find a party being thrown inside with only one pony present, the rest of the guests being just objects. The pink pony quickly took notice of the arriving giants and quickly hopped to them.

“Ooh! Hello there! Nice to finally have some guests, I've been locked inside my house and have been unable to invite any pony for my party today! So, will you forget about your evil scheme and just have a good time?” blurted out the pink mare rapidly as she bounced around excitedly.

“You’re quite the eccentric type, aren’t you? What’s your name?” replied Lord Balgo in amusement.

“My name is Pinkamena Diana Pie! But ponies just call me Pinkie Pie, and I like that name better! Why don’t you join my party, so I won’t be the only one here?” quickly said the earth pony as she got really close to the emperor to observe the mummy that was following him.

“Woah woah, don’t get that close to us, you’re invading our personal space.” exclaimed Aruba as he pushed off Pinkie Pie from his friend. Lord Balgo however, seemed to get rather irritated. This pony reminded him of the one Scaler he despised. The one Scaler he hopes won't show up to this evil party.

“You remind me a lot of a certain Scaler who loves to call himself my friend, he’s just as talkative and energetic as you are, but sadly he's nothing more than a thorn in my side. If you're lucky enough, this fool will come to this world.” This peaked Pinkie’s interest, who loved to make new friends all the time, seeing as she was the friendliest pony there is in Equestria.

“Wooo, now you’ve got me all excited to meet this Scaler! What’s his name?”

“He’s called Mugen. It’s a name that has something to do with infinity, as he always says so himself. Don't get your hopes up, I'll tear him apart should he dare show his face around here.”

Now inside the mayor’s office that he took for himself, Balgo was sitting down, watching the rotten mummy moving around her new home. The door to his office opened and Aruba came in and moved in next to him.

“Aw, isn't she quite the fierce monster.” said the genie as he looked at the baby-like mummy shuffling around the room.

“Gotta admit, this new beast sure looks strong. It'll provide a good test for my new challengers.” responded the emperor.

“I just have to point this out, but this baby is just a normal unicorn that you turned into a mummy. How can we use this as a test for the more powerful beings of this world?” pointed out Aruba.

“We can't, that's how. I'll just conjure something stronger from pure nothingness. In the mean time, I'd like to see these ponies unknowingly murder one of their brethren.”

“Ho ho! That'll be delightfully sour!” The door opened once more, revealing a stressed-out Scaler coming in. He hesitantly approached the two, throwing a curious glance at the baby unicorn on the floor before setting his gaze back on Balgo.

“I... have something urgent to do. You see, today is me daughter’s bloody birthday and I promised her I would get her a buncha gifts for her. So... look, I really need to get back to me daughter... i-i-it's just for a few minutes, aye?” Lord Balgo looked at the Scaler with a less than pleased look. Before ultimately taking on a friendlier expression.

“Well, if it's just for a few minutes... I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. However, you need to provide payment.” He grinned as the smaller Scaler looked around nervous.

"Wh-What kind of paym-" In a split second, his tail was torn off. He screamed in pain as he clutched the gaping wound in his rear end.

"That kind of payment! And don't worry; tails grow back." He explained as he tossed the severed tail to the ground.

"Argh! Th-Thank you my lord... Thank you." thanked the pained Scaler as he left through a nearby portal summoned by the emperor.

Aruba took a puff from his pipe. “Hey... we don’t even know that baby’s name. And since her parents are dead, I guess we’ll never know.”

“It doesn’t matter what her name was. Her parents gave her a name, but they’re no longer with us. It’s our baby now, and we get to name it. It's pointless overall as she's scheduled to die but hey, doesn't mean we can have fun naming things, ay?”

Aruba smirked. "And since this creature is based upon the theme of the desert, I should have the privilege to name it, correct?"

"Have at it."

"Let's call her; Sayad Sehra, the desert hunter."

A Scaler in heavy power armour was waiting just outside the Everfree Forest. He looked very impatient as he paced around and kept on checking the time, getting more and more frustrated with each passing minutes. Silver Spoon was standing not too far from him, wanting to get any news about her friends escape. She was allowed to remain outside, but only to receive the news about her friend's eventual capture because she pestered her captors to the point that they caved in. Finally, a small group of his brethren arrived. Kryser looked at them, unimpressed. “So? Have you caught them or not? ‘Cuz, I don’t see any ponies with your group pal.” One of them moved closer to the armoured Scaler.

“We didn’t catch them, but-”

“But what? You were supposed to catch a bunch of defenseless ponies! How could you fail at such a simple task?! You’re going to ridicule all of us with your incompetence!”

“They’re dead! That’s how!” Any sign of aggression in the armoured Scaler vanished.

“Oh, really? What killed them then?” he asked curiously.

"Lord Balgo beat us to the punch. A wendigo devoured them all." said a disappointed Scaler. "Now that means the forest is off-limits to us, his beasts aren't one hundred percent harmless to us after all."

“Great. It would seem that the emperor is taking my concerns seriously." And with that said, he quickly left the scene. Silver Spoon nearly lost her balance after hearing the bad news. Diamond Tiara and her have been very good friends for a long time, she didn’t want to believe that she was dead. Her fear of the Scalers has been replaced with desperation to the point where she approached the group with ease.

“Is it true? Is my friend... dead?” asked the filly, her voice trembling with emotion. The Scalers exchanged quick look before settling on an answer, clearly trying not to hurt her feelings too much.

“Well, we didn’t see them die per say... but-"

"They're dead, get over it." finished another one.

Distraught, she slowly lowered her head until she was now looking at the ground and walked away at a slow pace as the group watched on in pity.

After the entire city was secured, ponies were allowed to freely roam outside their homes. They were still guards posted everywhere keeping them from escaping. The Cutie Mark Crusaders chose to have a meet-up on the bridge to discuss about the situation. The three fillies saw the emperor, followed by the genie making their way onto the mayor’s office. On their way, they met up with a skeletal Scaler with a torn cape who then followed them.

Witnessing this sight, they expressed their worries regarding the invaders and what the future held for them. They wished the Guardians, princess Celestia and Twilight would come quickly to rescue them from the reptiles. During their conversation, Sweetie Belle noticed Silver Spoon sitting at a bench by herself. She looked awfully sad which tore at the young filly's heart. “Hey girls, look over there.” Sweetie Belle pointed at the filly sitting by herself.

Applebloom and Scootaloo noticed Silver Spoon, and both reacted quite differently. Applebloom looked at her bully with a mix of pity and satisfaction seeing as Silver Spoon would always bully her for her blank flank alongside Diamond Tiara. Scootaloo, however, was absolutely fucking thrilled at this sight.

“Finally, something bad happened to her. She and Diamond Tiara always got everything they want and always had things going their way. Serves her right for taking her whole life for granted.” said the young Pegasus.

“But what if it was something terrible that happened to her. What if she really needs some pony’s help? Don’t you find it weird Diamond Tiara is nowhere near her at a time like this? They’re practically inseparable!” responded Sweetie Belle, wanting to sway the others in helping out Silver Spoon.

“Come to think of it, yeah that is weird. These two are always seen together!” added Applebloom. Scootaloo objected to the idea of helping her bully, still feeling bitter as to everything she had to endure from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Sweetie Belle looked at her friend with puppy eyes in a last-ditch attempt to convince her friend. Scootaloo didn’t seem fazed at first, but quickly gave in after a mere few seconds.

“Ugh, fine! We’ll see what’s wrong with Silver Spoon but if this is something trivial, I'm not helping her in the slightest!” The Crusaders approached the lonely filly and Sweetie Belle was the first to speak up.

“Uh, hey there Silver Spoon. You don’t look so good... and that’s worrying us.” The silver filly looked at the trio with a rather defensive look on her face.

“What? So, you’ve come to mock me when I'm all by myself?! Come to take your revenge for all the bullying I've done, blank flanks?” Replied the filly with anger. Sweetie Belle was taken aback by this unexpected response. Scootaloo responded in kind.

“So that’s how you see us, huh? Just a bunch of insecure fillies who will take every opportunity to be just as mean as you are? We’re better than this, better than you are Silver Spoon! We don’t bully other ponies just because they don’t have a Cutie Mark!” Silver Spoon looked at Scootaloo with a furious expression, her eyes nearly tearing up in the process before running off.

“Scootaloo! I don’t think that was the right thing to say...” said Sweetie Belle.

“Well, it looks to me like she doesn’t want any help!” shouted Scootaloo. Applebloom wasn’t sure which side to take in the heat of the moment. Her two friends eventually turned their attention to her, their faces clearly telling her: Who do you agree with? After what felt like forever, she finally found her answer.

“I think we should give Silver Spoon a second chance. Maybe she’s really stressed out and didn’t mean to snap at us like that.” Sweetie Belle smile at Applebloom’s decision while Scootaloo looked somewhat annoyed but didn’t hesitate to follow them in their idea to help Silver Spoon out. They just have to give her some time before they’ll make their next move so that hopefully, she’ll be more inclined to listen to them.

“Oh, you’re already preparing to go off somewhere?” Aruba looked at Lord Balgo, who was preparing a small bag filled with various items. Terra was now present in the office, having been called in by the emperor himself.

“It’s nothing much. I’m just going on a walk in Equestria, that’s all.” replied the emperor.

“Ho ho ho ho, man! I see where you're going with this.”

“I'll be back in a couple of days, maybe even more if it's a whole lotta fun.” Lord Balgo placed his bag on his back as he moved towards the exit.

“Don’t worry about it. I won’t forget to take care of her.” The tyrannical emperor walked up to Terra who was standing silently observing the whole scene.

“And what am I supposed to do here? I want nothing more than to take my revenge on this rebel leader back home. None of this is my business!" exclaimed the skeleton.

“Relax for a bit, won't you? Your a little too tense for someone who's been given a second chance. Remember, I GAVE you your undead body. Without me, you're just a corpse, so I'd suggest you play along or else it's back to the abyss for you. Heed your emperor's words, and your revenge shall come in due time.” He growled at Terra before leaving. They watched through the window as Lord Balgo slowly made his way out of Ponyville.

Aruba finally left his flying carpet to stand on the floor of the mayor’s office and took out a pipe from his magical chest. “Your losing your privileges there, girl. Stay on his good side and then maybe your live will be half as good as mine.”

“... You're nothing more than a puppet with no agency, genie. I obey his commands, but I have my own objectives. Can you say the same?”

“My goals are the same as Balgo. I don't need to change who I am just for the meaningless search of identity. He gave me everything I ever wanted, and I forever thank him for it. It's you who should question herself, ex-swordsman.”

“You disgust me, puppet of the emperor...”

4. Sibling's Reunited

Twilight was very nervous right now. Presenting her friends to the princess has always been stressful, but the 3 friends she has introduced yesterday have somehow botched their first meeting with the princess. The meeting started fairly well, but it somehow turned into a fist fight between Drag and Alduin while Pink defenestrated himself in the commotion. Twilight was pacing back and forth through the room, nervously awaiting the princess’s return, for she would then tell her pupil her opinion on her new friends. “Well, that went poorly.” said Drag in a dry voice.

“You don’t say, I thought I was the team leader.” replied Alduin, still angry. Pink decided to share his opinion, albeit with not much confidence.

“Guys come on; we should be at least more respectful in front of the princess. I-I mean, she’s royalty”. Alduin wasn’t very impressed at the meaning of royalty.

“Why should I care much about royalty? I have devoured multiple people of royal blood.” The dragon began to tense up. “I am Alduin, first born of Akatosh, ancient and legendary dragon who has lived for eons. Why must I bow down before a mere steed!”

Drag, however had his two cents to share. “Because she has a lot more respect for mortals than you do, megalomaniac. Besides, why do you look down on her just because she isn’t as high and mighty as you are? You’ve been bested by a guy whose entire talent is to swear in your language like a toddler.” The dragon became visibly angry at the paladin’s remark.

“At least, I am not just a dog on a leash like you, I don’t blindly follow a leade- hey, isn’t your leader named Thrall? Like, his name just means he’s a slave? How pitiful. I guess members of the almighty Horde just have an inferiority complex, which is why they’re always battling the Alliance who, frankly, don’t seem much better than you morons.” The paladin’s uncaring expression slowly turned to heated anger.

“Oh no you don’t! How about we do it right here, right now skull fucker?” said Drag while reaching for his blessed sword on his back.

“Hey! Maybe we shouldn’t fight to the death in the princess’s throne room? That’s very disrespectful, and very illegal!” said a panicked Pink.

“Oh, grow some spine, Pink! The only reason you’re not the team’s leader is because you are too much of a pussy to make a single decision in the heat of the moment! That is why they don’t praise you nearly as much!” yelled the Tauren.

“Oh, that does it for the both of you black sons of bitches!” yelled back the humanoid as he cracked his knuckles in preparation for the incoming battle.

“Guys stop it please!” screamed Twilight in a nervous, panicked voice. “You are not helping your case by getting into a heated argument!”

The argument was cut short once the guards announced Celestia’s arrival. The Guardians quickly took on a more neutral stance, trying to hide the fact that they were indeed about to brawl for the second time in front of the princess. The tall white mare made her way to the throne. There, she stopped to look at Twilight, and then at the three outsiders next to her student. Finally, after a few seconds that seemed like an eternity for the panicking unicorn, the princess spoke up. “I have thought about her meeting yesterday and have concluded, that although our first meeting was rough, I will give the three of you the benefit of the doubt. After all Twilight, I've read all your messages about them. I’m certain that they can do a lot of good for every pony here in Equestria.” The unicorn felt so much relief that she lost her balance and accidentally fell on her back. “Careful not to pass out in front of the princess, it’s very disrespectful and illegal to do so.” said Drag, trying to imitate Pink’s voice.

“Hey! That was uncalled for!” replied an offended Pink.

The princess chuckled at the scene before her. While the group before her seemed dysfunctional, they were strong enough to protect Equestria and most importantly, the Elements of Harmony from destruction.

Now all that remained was for the group to be officially recognised as the Guardians of Equestria. For the time being, they get to stay in the castle, even earning their own rooms, as to avoid any further conflict between these volatile individuals. Eventually, the sun began to set down upon the planet. Twilight was staying in the library with her baby dragon, Spike. She was still trying to find more information about each of the world the Guardians came from. They were after all, living proof that there was more life outside of Equestria. This was a very exciting thought for Twilight who wondered if she could see more lifeforms outside of even the three outsider’s home planet.

“Spike! Have you found anything yet?” Asked the mare to her assistant.

“Nope, I've got nothing on Azeroth, Skyrim or a certain, um, Beef City... as strange of place sounds.”

Twilight was feeling more desperate to find something, anything that could let her learn about these worlds outside of the Guardians themselves, for they were quite busy now.

“Maybe we should just wait until their hands are free, then we’ll get to ask all the questions we want. We’ll just have to note it all down, make our own book about their world that way.” Spike proposed.

“I know, but it will still take a while to get to this point. I can’t wait for a couple more days to even be able to start writing down this book.” replied Twilight, exasperated.

Suddenly, the door to the library opened, nearly making Twilight jump. It was Pink who entered the library, it was a strange sight indeed, for he’s never gone to a library before. “Oh, hey Twilight, I see you’re still in a library even outside of Ponyville. I guess there must be an invisible magnet pulling you into places, with, books... This one was bad.” sheepishly said Pink.

“Pink? What brings you here? I’ve never seen you read a book before.” The unicorn was very curious about the humanoid’s presence in here.

He doesn’t respond however, instead he moved quickly to... the children’s section. Both the unicorn and the baby dragon were visibly confused.

After a few seconds, Pink settles down on a nearby table with a book called “Learn how to do Math”. Twilight approached to get a better of the view of the book. “Why are you trying to learn how to do mathematics?” Pink turns to her, visibly shocked. “Why are there numbers and letters mixed up in this book?!”. Twilight didn’t know how to respond, she was flabbergasted. It was Spike who answered Pink’s concern. “Umm, do you even know what you’re reading?”

“No, I'm trying to learn how to read.” Twilight finally knew what to say.

“How do you not know how to read?! You are much older than me!”

“... I don’t have an education.”

~***~

Heart pounding, nearly about to pass out. Applejack was almost there. Just a few more minutes left before she could get into Canterlot. Then, she had to warn the princess about the lizards that have taken over Ponyville. If she takes too much time, it might be too late to save her hometown. She still couldn’t shake off the image of that big Scaler she saw earlier. Something about him terrified her but she couldn’t figure out what. He felt much different than all the previous evils that have threatened Equestria before.

Finally, she had reached the gate leading inside the city. The guards at the gate saluted her, they have already herd of the elements of Harmony’s accomplishments against Discord and Nightmare Moon. The habitants of Canterlot quickly took notice of the earth pony who was running around town looking extremely tired and injured. “We... are being... invaded! "Yelled the pony between labored breaths. Her message came through, as she could notice the civilians getting more agitated by the seconds. Finally, she could see the castle in sight. She just needed to tell the princess and let her, and the Guardians handle this problem while she could finally get some much-needed rest.

~***~

Yesterday was the last day the Guardians and Twilight would be spending in Canterlot. Now, they’ll have to return to Ponyville. As princess Celestia was preparing to bid her guests farewell, a guard ran inside the castle. “Your honor, we have a very important visitor!” The doors opened more to reveal none other than Shining Armor coming in. Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her brother whom she hasn’t seen in years. They haven’t even sent each other a single letter too throughout these many years. She felt a strange mixture of joy and bitterness by looking at the newcomer. Sure, she was happy to finally see him again, but he did not even try to stay in contact with her. Was it wrong to be angry at that?

“Your honor, I'm sorry to be interrupting you at the moment, but I have some very important news to deliver in person. Very bad news, actually.” started Shining as he moved closer to the princess. “You see, it has come to my attention that Ponyville...”

The doors brutally swung open to the point of hitting one of the guards on standby. “Ponyville has been taken over by an army of bipedal lizards!” Screamed an exhausted Applejack. Everyone turned to look at her, very surprised. “From what I have heard, they are called Scalers.” she finished before collapsing onto the ground. The guards nearby went to check on her, as ordered by Celestia.

“Ah shit, here we go again for the twentieth time.” said an unenthusiastic Drag. Pink looked at the paladin for a moment.

“You keeping scores?”

“No.”

Shining looked back at the princess with a serious look that showed his strong and unwavering composure. “Yes, that was the very bad news I was about to announce. We have to act quickly before they can get a stronger footing in Equestria!”

The princess finally regained her composure “I see, we must reinforce Canterlot’s defence first and foremost. Is princess Cadance already preparing to deal with this new threat?” The guards she sent went on to take Applejack to the nearest hospital. Twilight thought about following the guards to check on Applejack, but ultimately decided that she will visit her later.

“Of course, and if you don’t mind, I'll stay here while we prepare a counterstrike on our adversaries.” concluded Shining Armor.

Alduin, however, wasn’t having any of it right now “Yeah sure. Well princess, if you don’t mind, I’ll see myself out.”

The two other guardians chose to go alongside their dragon friend “We’ll go get some rest to uh, better be prepared for the incoming war. K thanks, bye.” said Drag, before following behind the black dragon.

Twilight though about her friends who were still in Ponyville. “Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity! We must act quickly or else it might be too late for them!” Suddenly, the door busted open once more, revealing this time, Rainbow Dash.

“Every pony! You gotta listen to me! Ponyville-”

“We already know Rainbow Dash! I’m fucking out of here.” shouted Alduin, on the way out.

As for Twilight Sparkle, yesterday’s burning desire came back to mind. The desire to read more about what was outside of Equestria. She needed to go to her room in the castle and find out more about these Scalers that have taken over Ponyville. After all, knowing your enemy is half the battle.

~***~

Time passed by quickly this day, it was already dark outside, most ponies were already going to sleep at such a late hour. This wasn’t the case however for Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike, who were still wide awake, in search of any information they could find on the invaders.

“Spike, have you found anything regarding the Scalers?” said the unicorn to her apprentice in an ever so growing impatience.

“Nope, sorry. I don’t think we have anything about them.” replied the dragon.

“This is really bad Spike! It’s not a good idea to jump in a war without even knowing what we are up against. All the foes the Guardians have fought clearly demonstrate that one way or the other.” said Twilight while pacing back and forth across her room. Suddenly, she heard knocking on her door. Spike rushed to the door to open it. It was Shining Armor who was standing on the other side. “Excuse me Twiley, for coming out of the blue.” He was the first to speak up with a very relaxed smile. “Now may not be the time, but I believe we’ve got some catching up to do.” Although Twilight was still upset at her brother’s unwillingness to stay in contact with her, she nonetheless was happy that he wanted to spend some time with her for once.

“Sure, I'd be very happy to!” The valiant steed slowly made his way inside her sister’s bedroom. “So, I've been meaning to ask for a while now, how is your life in Ponyville going? I heard you made some friends there.”

“Plenty of friends, some more unusual than others.” replied the unicorn.

“I heard of them, the so-called Guardians, right? Strong warriors that came from outside through unknown means, even to them. They have become quite the talk around all of Equestria.”

“Oh, so you were already aware of their presence here in Equestria?”

“You do realise princess Celestia keeps Cadance informed about what is going on in this region? I’ve read all the letters they have sent to each other.”

“Oh, that’s right, you are in a relationship with princess Cadance, last I heard.”

Shining Armour notices the pile of books on the nightstand, he moves in to get a better look. “Encyclopedia of reptiles. I suppose you’re trying to find out more about these invaders, right?” affirms the steed.

Twilight sighed “Yes, but there is absolutely nothing about the Scalers on any of the books I've read. I suppose they must be otherworldly.”

Her older brother tried to reassure her “I can help you with that, I'm sure there must be a book around here that talks about the Scalers. I’m even willing to spend the entire night looking just for you.”

“You will?!” Joyfully exclaimed Twilight.

“Of course, I’ll do anything to help out my little sister!” said Shining with a warm smile on his face.

~***~

Visiting hours were over at this time of the day, but thanks to Rainbow Dash’s exploit as the Element of Loyalty, she was allowed to check in on her friend Applejack. Her injuries were not too severe thankfully, but all the running she had to do to get here had worn her out completely. She was still awake as the earth pony looked at the Pegasus who had just entered her room. “Coming to check in on an old friend I presume?” said Applejack with a weak smile.

“Well... yeah. You had me all worried there when I saw you being taken outside the castle all injured and barely able to stand up on your hooves.” replied the Pegasus as she looked off to the side, somewhat avoiding her friend's eyes.

“I can clearly see something’s troubling ‘ya. You can tell me what’s on your mind, I'm all ears.” Rainbow Dash stood silent for a moment, her face clearly showing her hesitation to speak up. After a long reflexion, she finally told Applejack:

“I don’t want to go back to Ponyville to fight these creatures.”

“What? But I thought you were the brave one in our group; you even kicked a dragon square in the snout once.” said a sceptic Applejack. Rainbow Dash took a few steps forward.

“I remember that, but this time... it feels different. We’re going to war Applejack! We’re not fighting just one or a small group of baddies, we’ll be fighting an entire army! We’ve never done that before!”

“And one with strong soldiers. It was only one of them who roughed me up this bad, although it was mostly because he dropped some sort of bomb in the middle of the brawl.”

“I’ve always herd stories of soldiers going to war and coming back traumatised and depressed because they lost all their friends during battles. Do you think that’ll happen to us too?” Applejack couldn’t keep her eyes on her friend. She looked away, thinking about what Rainbow Dash had just said. It was true, they never went on a war before and since they are the Elements of Harmony, they will have to participate in battles. This will most likely cost some of her friends' lives, even possibly herself.

“Let’s be positive about this Dash. We’ll make it out just fine... I hope.”

~***~

Somewhere on the moon, Luna was ready to visit the dreams of ponies to make sure Equestria was safe for another night. She had started to descend more and more after the events that took place on Nightmare Night. On that night, she had learned an important lesson about friendship with her sister’s pupil, Twilight Sparkle. There, she had met the Guardians and got to understand them better, but their lives are still shrouded in mystery, for they do not wish to talk more about their past. Tonight, she will start by visiting the dreams of these three in hopes of digging more on their past.

Navigating through the dreamscape, she found the first dream she would go in tonight; Drag’s dream. Hoping in, she found herself on a very peaceful landscape completely alien to her. “Thy must be his home world.” thought to herself the lunar princess. On the horizon, she found a peaceful village surrounded by a small river. When she arrived at the village, she noticed a sign with something written on it. It was language she didn’t know, the language of the Tauren’s. Inside the village, there were multiple Tauren’s walking around, minding their own business. Since it was a dream, none of them reacted in any way to the alicorn casually standing in the middle of the town. Luna looked in many of the houses in search of where Drag’s dream self was located in hopes of learning more about his people’s culture from this dream.

Finally, she had found him in an average looking house. He was sitting at a dinner table looking over at a female Tauren in the kitchen. By the looks of it, this Tauren must be his wife. Suddenly, Drag turned around and noticed Luna peeking through her window. He was quite shocked for a moment before eventually calming down. He gestured at the princess to come inside. As she did, the female Tauren evaporated into nothingness.

“How nice of you to invade my personal space without my consent, Luna.” said the paladin unenthusiastically.

“Pardon my intrusion, I was just making sure everything is fine in here.” replied the lunar princess, masking her true intentions.

“Well... everything looks fine to me. You can go into someone else’s dream now.” The Tauren went on to drink a glass of water. “Yep, I'm lucid dreaming now, this water is tasteless.”

“I can see, your wife disappeared the moment I entered.” Drag’s expression suddenly turned bitter. He threw his glass of water at the alicorn in one quick motion. She barely had time to lift a hoof to her face in order to shield herself from the shards.

“Stop trying to pry into my personal life!” His eyes slowly moved down, and his head soon followed. “Sorry, there’s some stuff in there I'm just not comfortable to talk about. I didn’t mean to react this violently.”

“No, it was my mistake to investigate some pony’s life without their consent. I’m sorry.” She then left the Tauren’s dream with more questions than answers.

As she was wandering around the dreamscape, she found a dream that was very odd to her. A dream that belonged to some pony she didn’t know. That is, if that even belonged to a pony. Without hesitation, she entered the dream. She found herself in a very dark world where there was nothing but blood on the ground forming an endless sea of crimson red. Bodies piled up on multiple spots forming small hills of corpses. Luna felt very nauseous at this disgusting sight. The smell inside this world was putrid, it was harassing all her senses at once. It was too much for her and she vomited in the endless sea of blood. Soon after, a malicious laugh echoed throughout the vast emptiness of this dream world. The alicorn looked around her surroundings to spot the source of this laughter, but it sounded like it came from everywhere at once.

The corpses around her began to stand up and wander around aimlessly. Luna looked around in confusion, wondering if the corpses were going to attack her any time soon.

“Oh my, I didn’t know someone could pop in unannounced. Luckily, I've prepared a nice spectacle for you... if you would please follow my directions.” The voice sent a chill down her spine. The feeling she got from it was terrifying, but she couldn’t pin down why exactly. There was definitely more malice behind it than Discord’s voice. Suddenly, more piles of corpses began to rise from the crimson water, forming a passage towards an unknown location. Luna reassured herself that she was simply in some pony’s dreams, therefore, she wouldn’t put herself much at risk if she went along with what the dreamer had planned for her.

“Who could that be? Someone who’s brave and bold. A unicorn, but with wings. With an interesting mane to go along. I’m dying to know more about you.” the voice returned once more. Luna arrived at an arena in the shape of a circle by the pile of bodies around.

“Who are thou? Show yourself!” boldly shouted the princess. A massive whirlpool formed in the middle of the arena and a massive figure slowly emerged from it. It was Balgo himself, coming to toy with the alicorn.

“So... are you gonna say something? Or am I going to speak first?”

“What are thou? I’ve never seen something like this before. If thou wish to endanger Equestria itself, I will have to stop thou.” replied the princess, taking a defensive stance as her horn began to glow.

“Boldly said... but I remain... unconvinced.” Balgo began to walk closer to the lunar princess. In response, she fired a beam of light at his head, destroying half of it entirely. The giant’s body fell in the crimson water. For a moment, the entire world around her was calm. “Nice aim, how about we up the difficulty a bit?” She heard somethings emerging behind her. As she turned, there were five Balgo’s in front of her. She opened her wings and flew away much to the Scaler’s surprise. Far in the sky, she looked down at the lizard who tilted his head slightly to the side in interest. “Why are you so afraid? It’s just a dream, nothing can hurt you... that is unless you are the exception to this rule.”

Suddenly, the entire ground below her rose to her current height and she was standing on the bloody sea once more. She tried to fly away, but something grabbed at her hooves, locking her in place. One of the many Balgo’s approached her and grabbed her by the throat. “Let me see your soul!” His mouth opened wide, revealing a bright green light inside. Luna could see multiple faces appearing inside the beast’s mouth, screaming at her in fear. Balgo began to inhale, this caused the lunar princess to feel very weak. Her soul was slowly being ripped out of her body as she watched in shock. With the last of her strength, she used her magic to wake herself up.

~***~

When her eyes opened, she was back on the moon all by herself. She immediately jumped on her hooves and looked around frantically to make sure no pony was there. Sure enough, the moon was empty as it had always been. She looked at Equestria, still thinking about the dream she had just entered. “I must warn ‘Tia about this reptile!” thought the lunar princess. However, before she could make her way to Equestria, she felt an imposing presence looming over her. She turned around just in time to see none other than Balgo himself standing right next to her. A sharp appendage made from dark energy formed on his tail and it shot straight into her abdomen, badly wounding her. She fell on the moon floor in agonising pain, spitting blood that slowly fell from the low gravity. “The fun has just started, unicorn. Can’t have you spoil it just now, so you’ll stay here for a while and in the meantime, I’m going to play around.” Balgo slowly turned into a purple mist that flew all the way back to Equestria as Luna helplessly watched. She wasted no time using her magic to stop the bleeding, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the planet.

“This monster must be stopped! ‘Tia, be careful...”

~***~

Twilight suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and now, she was unable to go back to sleep. She kept on rolling and rolling in her bed to no avail. After a while, she gave up and got out of her bed. “Maybe a glass of water will help...” though the unicorn as she quietly got out of her bedroom to make sure she wouldn’t wake Spike up. The castle was dark at this time, the hallways were only lighted up by a couple of torches hanged on the walls. After an uneventful walk to the castle’s kitchen, she was surprised to find her brother there, eating and drinking.

“Shining? You are also having trouble sleeping?” The stallion looked at Twilight in surprise, now aware of her presence.

“Yeah, I’m just really nervous and because of that... I couldn’t sleep.” replied Shining with a somewhat forced smile. “I just have a feeling that there’s something really bad out there, in Ponyville. These Scalers are not to be underestimated.” Twilight began to feel nervous herself.

“They are really that bad? H-Have you seen these Scalers in person?”

“No, but I get the feeling that some of them are much more dangerous than any pony we’ve faced before.”

“As long as we have the two sisters and the Elements of Harmony, we should be fine, right?”

“No doubts about it. I’m certain you’ll be able to handle this Twiley. As long as I'm here, I’ll make sure you’re safe and sound.” Twilight smiled at her brother’s affection.

“Thanks Shining, if you don’t mind; I’ll take a glass of water and then I'll go back to my room. Tomorrow is going to be a big day after all.”

~***~

Twilight woke up to a bright sun outside her window. She was still very tired as she went to sleep at a very late hour. Someone came knocking at her door once more. “Spike please tell whoever is coming that I'm going to be snoozing for a while.” said the unicorn in a somewhat raspy voice. “I’m on it” replied the baby dragon. Spike opened the door to be once again met with Shining Armor, looking somewhat tired. The newcomer glanced at the bed where her sister lied in before looking at the dragon. “Oh, is Twilight still sleeping?” The dragon was about to answer, but was interrupted by his sleepy mentor “No, I'm not asleep, but I'd rather stay in bed just a while longer. I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“O-oh, that’s right, we both woke up in the middle of the night. Uh, I was going to ask you to come to the library with me, but since you can’t come for the moment, I'll just go look myself. I’ll show what I found, of course.” said the older brother with an awkward smile, before exiting the bedroom.

A few hours passed before Twilight woke up again, this time from hunger. She was going to miss breakfast if she doesn’t get out of bed. With no other choice, the unicorn got up from her resting place and went out of her bedroom in search of the dining hall. As she was walking down the corridor, she saw a familiar face not too far away. It was Drag, sitting on a chair, looking intently at the window nearby. “Drag? What are you doing here? Said Twilight as she approached the sitting Tauren.

“I’m just enjoying the tranquillity here. Lately, we haven’t really gone for more than a month without something bad happening.” The paladin looks back at the window. “It’s something I've never really got to know. What with the constant war between the Horde and the Alliance back on Azeroth. And then there’s the burning legion, the scourge, the black dragon flight, old gods, orcs from an alternate universe, etc. It’s exhausting just to list it all.” sighed Drag.

“Well, I don’t think this is anything to be too worried about. We’ll defeat these Scalers and bring peace back to Equestria like we always do.” said the unicorn in an attempt to cheer up her unmotivated friend.

“Like we always do? Shit, how long have I been here?”

“Um, it’s been at least a year since you first arrived here.” The paladin suddenly stopped moving altogether. After a few seconds of silence, he got up and walked in direction of the dining room.

“Wait, where are you going?” said a concerned Twilight.

“Thanks to you, I just made a rather traumatising realisation. I’m just going to the dining room to stem real quick and then I'll be good.” With that, the Tauren dashed away. Twilight and Spike both looked at each other in confusion.

“Man, how could some pony spend a full year in a different world without even realising it?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know Spike, I guess deep down, he must still be home sick.”

~***~

Finally, the pair arrived just in time for breakfast. They got to enjoy a nice meal alongside the paladin who seemed to have recovered fairly quickly. But just as they were about to leave, Shining Armor came through the door with his backpack full.

“Oh hey Twiley, that’s a really nice timing! Guess what? I got a very intriguing book that you absolutely need to see.” said her brother excitedly.

“Really? What is it!” replied Twilight as she felt her excitement growing larger and larger by the minute.

“Let’s go to the study, there I'll show you the book in detail.”

Having finally arrived at the study, the siblings sat down at a peaceful table near a window showing a full view of the city below. Shining Armor reached for the book inside his backpack and put it out front of his sister. Her face went from pure excitement to concern, and finally, intrigue. The book her brother had found looked to be a book about soul magic, one whose use was forbidden thousands of years ago due to its brutal methods of casting spells. Soul spells could only be casted by using up a person’s soul, which often made users of this dark art go out of their way to steal other people’s soul to selfishly use theses spells from themselves. After being deep in her thoughts for a while, she realised that her brother was waiting for a response.

“T-that’s a spell book about soul magic. Its usage is completely forbidden.” said the unicorn.

“I know, but I did end up finding something about the Scalers inside it, which is the only reason why I brought it to you. With this, we can learn more about our enemy.” responded Shining.

“Well? Show me, I really want to know literally anything about them!”

Shining Armor opened the book and started scouring through the pages at a rapid pace. After a few seconds of wandering around in the book, he stopped at a particular section of the book titled “The origins of soul magic”.

“Here, let me read it out loud for you. Soul magic is a very powerful type of magic that was first created by one of the mightiest creatures to have ever existed, the Scalers. In particular, one of their gods whose main attribute was to devour the souls of his prey, he was called the devil by many. He was the first to use and refine this type of magic which has been passed down upon civilisations who kneeled before the immortal reptiles. In societies outside of the Scalers reign however, soul magic is forbidden altogether due to its moral transgressions. Should any civilisation be attacked by the Scaler Empire, the best they can do is to surrender without a fight.”

Twilight and Spike froze in shock for a moment once Shining was done reading out loud. They were now going up against an enemy who not only wielded one of the most powerful types of magic to have ever existed, but also invented and refined it. The young unicorn wanted to seek comfort in her older brother “If... they can use soul magic, do you think maybe... the one who created soul magic, this devil... is here? In Equestria?” said Twilight in a frightened voice.

“Probably...” started the stallion in a concerned, yet confident voice. “We’ve got to show this to princess Celestia and the Guardians. They must know what our enemy is capable of! Let’s hurry.”

~***~

As they ran in search of the princess, Shining noticed something beyond the window. “Hey wait a minute!” Twilight stopped dead in her tracks to check out what was concerning her brother. “I believe I can see 3 Scalers just outside the castle! They are entering the cupcake store just over there.”

“That’s bad, we must stop them before they ransack the entire store or even worse, burn it down entirely!” said Twilight in a panicked expression. Spike was worried about this however, “W-wait, we aren’t going to charge in just the three of us, right? We’ll get Drag and the others to help.” Shining objected to this idea.

“No, we can’t, it’ll take too much time! If we don’t confront them right now, they’ll be gone. Come on Twiley, we’re going in!”

And with that, the two ponies and the one baby dragon being dragged into this confrontation sprinted outside the castle and in direction of the shop. Everyone was carrying on their day as normal, unaware of the monsters inside their city gate. The three arrived at the cupcake store just as the Scalers sneaked in. Upon entering, the owners greeted them as usual, asking them what they would like. As Twilight tried to explain the situation at hand, her brother sprinted straight into the back room of the store, much to the surprise of the owners. As he opened the door, he saw knife flying toward him. His magic was thankfully strong enough to stop the knife in mid-air. One of the Scalers complimented his quick reflexes.

“Impressive, I've never seen someone actually stop a knife throw at such a small distance.”

Shining Armor smirked “Heh, maybe you should have just put more effort into that throw if you actually wanted to kill me. Come on Twilight, we won’t let them get away with this.”

The unicorn made her way to her older brother as the owners freaked out and ran out of their cupcake store. They were now in a stand-off against the reptiles but were outnumbered by one. Another Scaler gloated “Hey hey hey, it’s three against two. Those odds aren’t gonna do ya much favors fancy pants.”

“It doesn't matter. Our magic is more than enough to handle the three of you.” started Shining before glancing back at his sister. “Twilight, we’ll need to end this fight quickly, in just one spell. Make it count otherwise they’ll escape.”

“Hey! Don’t forget the part where we kill you two before we hot foot it out of here!”

Twilight prepared her spell, a magical aura formed around her horn. Shining was also preparing his own spell while Spike noped out of there. The Scalers took a cowboy stance, preparing to fire whatever weapons they might have on them. However, as the ponies were about to launch their spell, a Scaler pulled out a jet pack out of his ass and the other two jumped on him, giving their adversaries the middle finger. The three lizards flew upward, smashing through the roof.

“We can’t let them escape! We must catch up to them!” screamed Twilight Sparkle.

“I’m with you on this one ‘sis!” answered Shining Armour.

The two gave chase to the fleeing Scalers. They had just run out of jet pack fuel, forcing them to run on the rooftops to flee Canterlot. Shining looked at them with a look of disapproval “Hey! You can’t just run on the rooftops! With your heavy weight, you’ll just break in through the roofs!”

“Ha! As if I could be that fat!” said one of the Scalers before immediately smashing through one of the roofs he landed.

“Darn, we have to split up now. Twilight, pursue the two remaining Scalers, I'll take on the straggler!” said Shining, mildly annoyed. His sister nodded and kept on running while he waltzed in the house the reptile had fallen into.

Twilight noticed that they were now approaching the edge of the city where the invaders would make their exit. Using her teleportation magic, she got in front of them, blocking their exit from the city. “There’s nowhere left to run! If you want to get out of this city, you’ll have to get through me!” announced the young unicorn with a confident smile.

“Ha ha! Let’s see how fast you can really go if you want to keep up with us!” exclaimed the most confident Scaler. They pulled out a baseball bat and a mace from an undisclosed location, much to the confusion of the unicorn. Just as they were about to fight, they heard a scream coming from the house behind them. Not long after, the third and last lizard jumped out the window with a missing arm, sprinting so fast that Twilight couldn’t react as he jumped past her. The other two soon followed as their expressions turned to intense panic. They had escaped. The unicorn could hear rushing footsteps behind her. It was her brother who had just arrived on the scene, only, he had blood over his face.

“S-Shining? What happened in there?” asked Twilight, failing to hide the anxiety in her voice.

“Oh that? I-i tried to restrain him so he wouldn’t get away, but he somehow broke out of my spell resulting in his arm being torn off. It’s... uh, pretty gross in there.” responded Shining while hyperventilating, though Twilight couldn’t discern if it was from the shock of what had just happened of if it was from something else entirely. It was an odd feeling indeed.

“Anyway, let’s return to the castle. We need to plan a counterattack to take back Ponyville.” continued her older brother.

“Yeah, I don’t want to be lollygagging around while my friends are in danger.”

“And neither do I. I swear on my life and loyalty to Equestria that I will never let you and your friends down ‘sis.”

~***~

Arriving at the castle once more, Shining told the princess that they needed to plan a counterattack immediately now that they gathered a sizable army. They were now standing around a recreation of Ponyville where they will visualise their plan of attack. They however had no concrete plan in mind, everyone but Shining Armor that is. They were waiting for him, as he said that he had a very good plan to push back the invaders. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting around, he came in.

“Fillies and gentle colts, I appreciate your patience for I have come up with a plan to defeat the Scalers once and for all. It is all thanks to this book that I found in an old and abandoned library filled with ancient literature.” He scouts the room, looking at everyone to make sure he got all their attention.

“And of course, thanks to the help of a spy I sent in Ponyville. He gave me a list of all the powerful Scalers and their capabilities. With that, I will now tell you, my plan.” He moves closer to the recreation and starts placing down multiple figurines representing the Scalers and themselves.

“We will send multiple flying troops with princess Celestia and Alduin as their leaders, they main goal will be to take down the flying genie Aruba. He is the second in command of the enemies. The ground troops will charge in through the hill where there is no possible vantage point for the enemy. They will have to make use of ranged weaponries and magic for the Scalers possess strange weapons that can fire from a distance. They will be commanded by Drag and Pink. Meanwhile, Twilight and I will sneak in from the back in the Ever-free Forest where I will cast a spell to rain meteors from the sky once Aruba is distracted. Once that spell is casted, everyone must go near a unicorn to stay in their magic shield to protect themselves from the rain of meteors.”

“Aren’t the meteors going to hit Ponyville too? That’ll just kill everyone in the town too.” pointed out Drag.

“Of course, it won’t happen, the spell will be aimed specifically at the battlefield. Any remaining Scalers inside of Ponyville will be easy to best once their army is down.” said Shining in a reassuring tone.

“Wait, h-hold on!” Everyone turned to look at Applejack, who still wasn’t absolutely sure with the plan. “I think you’re forgetting about the big one. I think his name is Balgo.”

“Yeah, I saw him enter Ponyville before all the other Scalers rushed in. He must be their leader!” added Rainbow Dash.

“Well, I suppose the combined might of Drag and Pink will be enough to overcome him.” responded Shining with admirable confidence.

“Hold on every pony! Where’s princess Luna, shouldn’t she be here to help us?” pointed out Twilight Sparkle.

“I tried to contact her, but I still have no response from her. We’ll have to do Shining Armor’s plan without her. As for the plan, it is a sound plan indeed. Very well, if we are all satisfied with Sir Shining’s plan, then we will begin our counterattack tomorrow morning.”

~***~

The attack had just started, everyone had gotten into position. Though the Scalers were caught by surprise, they reacted fairly quickly, launching multiple aerial vehicles in the air guided by Aruba the genie. “Just as Balgo said, they are launching their counterstrike. All right, let’s give these magical horses a very bad time.” While the battle just began, Twilight and her brother, Shining Armor, sneaked around the entire field, entering the Ever-free Forest. Inside, they ran in direction of Ponyville, hoping to get as close as possible while remaining hidden as to not jeopardise the entire plan. “All right Shining, I believe we’re close enough. Let’s launch the spell.” said Twilight. Ponyville was still far away from them, but also close enough to see it through the foliage.

“You’re right Twiley, this is a very good position indeed. I’m preparing to launch the spell now.” responded Shining confidently. “They won’t know what hit ‘em.” Shining Armor put the book down in front of him, flipping to the correct page. “All right ‘sis, keep an eye on Ponyville, no one must see us while I'm casting the spell or else, we’ll be doomed.”

“I’m on it!” responded the unicorn. Suddenly, Shining Armor looked off somewhere in the woods. Twilight quickly took notice and questioned her brother about it. “What is it? Are there Scalers coming after us?”

“Doesn’t appear to be, it’s just the harmless denizens of the Ever-free Forest. I’m launching the spell now.”

Shining’s horn began to glow a bright white as he was mustering up all his strength to launch this powerful spell. A few seconds later, the air began to crackle as dark clouds filled the sky. Suddenly, the wind began to howl and the owls around the forest were now screeching and flying away in a panic. It didn’t take long before Shining’s horn flashed a bright white light that blinded Twilight for a moment. When her senses came back to her, she could see dark green lightning striking the ground all around her, even reaching out to the battlefield. “Brother, I-I don’t think... that was the... correct spell?” said the unicorn hesitantly. But as she turned her head to look at her brother, she froze in terror. Shining’s body was convulsing and tearing itself apart, but it was also growing considerably in size. His eyes were melting, and his jaw was unhinging, breaking itself apart. His teeth, falling from his gaping maw, as his legs and hooves busted open revealing black clothing underneath. Finally, Shining’s face tore open and fell onto the ground, leaving in place the face of an especially gigantic Scaler, with its body covered in blood and viscera. Twilight couldn’t even muster to the strength to say anything as she fell on her back.

“Well, what’s the matter? Never seen a demon burst out of a fake body? Oh, what am I saying, of course you didn’t. You were too busy worshipping the magic of friendship, right?” said Balgo with an amused expression.

“W-w-who are you? What did you do to my brother?!” screamed the element of magic in fear.

“Primo, I am Balgo, leader of the Scalers, and I am the strongest there is and will ever be. Segundo... absolutely nothing, as of yet. I simply transformed my own body to resemble his. I was very lucky to be honest. You just so happen to be princess Celestia’s protégé and you have a brother whose royalty. Add on top of that the fact that you haven’t seen him in a while and what do you get? The perfect person to impersonate.” responded an amused Balgo.

“T-then, w-what was th-that spell you just casted?”

“Soul magic, my dear. I gave new life to the dead of the region and let me tell you. There have been a lot of death around this region. It’s very surprising, even to me. The dead will walk the earth again and will feast on the living. All except us Scalers of course, for they are in my absolute control.” Balgo smirked as he stared down the frightened unicorn.

“But how? Zombies can’t be controlled; it was stated in the book about soul magic!” Twilight was desperately trying to stand up, but her hooves were trembling too much for her to keep her stance. The horrifying scene she had witnessed was still playing in her mind.

“True, but there is one exception, me. I invented soul magic Twiley, I have more control over all of these spells, it’s only natural that the genius inventor gets more privileges. But now I suggest you run, for the zombies will also rise around you. You’ll be eaten alive if you don’t hot foot it out of there.”

Indeed, his words were true, for zombies were just now starting to dig themselves out all around Twilight and the goliath. They were decaying, dried up corpses rising from the earth itself to feast on the souls of the living. Balgo turned around and walked away, leaving a shaking and nearly crying Twilight Sparkle surrounded by the incoming horde.

“Oh well, I think I'll just go back to my peers now. After all, I’ve spent quite some time as a pony, and I'll be honest with ya girl; I had a really good time back there, being your brother and all. I think this may be the start of something special between the two of us.”

Act 1 : Bitter Defeat

Silver Spoon had been waiting impatiently for the moment the guards would leave their post near the Ever-free Forest. She would use this opportunity to go into the woods to seek her friend and finally get a clear answer as to what happened. The battle was raging on the other side of Ponyville and thus, all the Scalers moved away from the forest, clearing the road for the young filly. As she got near the entrance of the forest, she was stopped by a voice coming from behind her. “Silver Spoon, wait up!” It was Applebloom and her two friends running up to her. She turned around angerly.
“Didn’t you get the memo? Leave me alo-”

“We’re not here to bully you! We just want to help you Silver Spoon.” quickly said Sweetie Belle. Silver Spoon was taken aback by this response.

“Wha- help me? Why would you three even want to help me?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged a quick glance at each other before Applebloom spoke up.

“Because we don’t wish the worst for you, and we know just how important friendship is. We don’t want you to be alone.” Her answer actually got to Silver Spoon, who dropped her apprehensive expression.

“... Well, if that’s the case, you can tag along, but don’t slow me down now.”

“She’s still going to be a jerk about it.” grumbled Scootaloo to herself. Sweetie Belle chuckled.

“Well, at least we’re off to a good start Scootaloo!”

Going deeper into the Ever-free Forest, the four young fillies could hear the sounds of the battle getting louder and louder as the two armies were now colliding with each other. Although it was worrying them, they were more focused on looking around the forest for any trace of Diamond Tiara and her parents as they were running as fast as they could. Suddenly, they heard the strange sound of metal scraping somewhere in the trees near them. They looked around themselves frantically in order to find the source of the unsettling noise. As they were looking around, Scootaloo spotted something on her left. She took a closer look and saw Twilight alongside a stallion she had never seen before sneaking around. “Girls look! That’s Twilight Sparkle and she’s with some pony I've never seen before.” The three others stopped to look in the direction of the two unicorns.

“And so? W-We are supposed to look for Diamond Tiara! Stop getting distracted Scootaloo and help me out since that’s what you are here for!” exclaimed an impatient Silver Spoon, failing to hide her anxiety.
“Gee, I'm sorry. It’s not like we can just ask her for help or anything.” sarcastically replied Scootaloo as she looked at Silver Spoon in annoyance. But just as she looked back at the stallion, she noticed that he was staring right at her. Something about the way he was eyeing her made her feel very uncomfortable and she now wished to leave. The others also felt the same way.

“Maybe we should leave them be, they must be here to fight the Scalers. We wouldn’t want to get in their way.” said an uncomfortable Applebloom. The other fillies agreed, and they resumed their search in the woods. The metal scraping sounds around them moved away from them, almost as if it was running away from something. With this problem out of the way, Silver Spoon bolted further into the forest as the others quickly followed, not wanting to lost sight of her. They suddenly stopped their run when Silver Spoon stopped moving. She was looking at the floor with horrors in her eyes. Sweetie Belle hesitantly approached the young filly and saw what she was staring at. It was Diamond Tiara’s crown that she always wore when she went outside, only now, it had dried up blood on it. Tears began to roll down on Silver Spoon’s cheeks as her hooves began to tremble in disbelief at what she saw. No matter how much she denied it these past few days; the Scalers were right, her friend was already dead, no point in trying to look for her. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at the sad scene with sympathy; the sadness that emanated from their bully overpowered any feelings of bitterness they once had for her for she didn’t deserve this at all. Sweetie Belle moved in to comfort Silver Spoon but was stopped when a flash of lightning lit up the sky, coating it in an ominous green. They stared at the scene in fear as they realised, they should probably go back to Ponyville. Then, a hand busted out of the ground, followed by many more coming out one after the other. Soon, there were zombies digging themselves out all around the little fillies as they screamed in terror at the terrifying display before them.

“Let’s get out of here girls!” shouted Applebloom. The four fillies ran back in direction of Ponyville, but were quickly stopped by a horde of undead blocking their path, forcing them to flee in the opposite direction. Their only hope was to get as far away from the rising corpses as possible.

~***~

As the battle raged on in the air, everyone could notice the dark clouds forming above them. Alduin smirked, thinking to himself that they had won. He will have the pleasure of devouring Aruba’s body and soul once the meteors would strike him down. However, he was left confused as with everybody else when they noticed dark green lightning striking the ground instead of meteors. Worst of all, none of the lightning were hitting the Scalers, they were all aimed directly at them. Rainbow Dash flew next to Alduin to express her worries. “Alduin? I don’t think this is part of the plan.”

“Of course, it isn’t! We’ve been betrayed as always! At least for me, I’ve been betrayed by my own brother once. I can feel it, the feeling of betrayal lingers in the air Dash.” bitterly responded the first born of Akatosh.

“Are you implying that Shining...”

“Of bloody course it must be him! He proposed this very plan! He’s either a traitor, or an impostor entirely! We’ve got to investigate this once we’ve gotten rid of this army in the sky.”

Both Drag and Pink noticed this oddity too. “Hey, that isn’t part of the plan now, is it?” said a worried Pink to his comrade. The Tauren glanced at his friend to express his displeasure. “I don’t like this at all, I smell nothing but death in the air. I’m going to find Twilight and Shining right now, as for everybody else, they should fall back. Can you tell all the ground troops to retreat?”

“I can do that, not a problem!” said the humanoid in an uncharacteristically confident voice.
Drag used his magic to summon a drake to fly into the air. He flew in direction of the Ever-free Forest, being careful not to bring any attention on to himself as the two armies were still fighting above him. Deep into the forest, he could see a dark and foreboding light crackling the sky itself. “That must be where Twilight and Shining are at.” thought the paladin. With no hesitation, he flew as fast as possible in direction of the anomaly. As he arrived near his destination, he took one good look at the ground, only to see an enormous horde of zombies shambling below him in direction of Ponyville. “That doesn’t look like the Lich King’s Scourge. It’s something else entirely!” thought the holy warrior. However, a small amount of the undead were walking in the opposite direction of the town. “These zombies must be going after Twilight!”. Just as that though came to his mind, he spotted Twilight surrounded by the ever so growing undead horde. He swooped down and made his mount vanish in order to land, but the incredibly fast speed at which he was flying made him trip upon landing. He landed face first right next to his friend.

“D-Drag! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” said his friend in a distressed tone.

“I’ve... got to work on my landing. I really suck at this.” replied the paladin as he was dusting off the dirt from his holy armor.

“We need to fly away from here before we’re overwhelmed!”

“Just one second.” Drag said calmly. He then swung his sword in a full 360-degree turn, the powerful emanating from his weapon expanded greatly and cleaved all the monsters in half, their bodies falling to the ground before turning to ash. “Now we go, hop on girl!” The Tauren pulled out his magical drake and Twilight hopped on to it. They flew back in the air, now clearly able to see the whole event going on below them. Twilight was flooded with emotion and began to cry uncontrollably, struggling to speak in between her sobs.

”Th-that wasn’t Sh-Shining Arm-mour, I-I-It was... a Scaler... impersonating him.” Drag nodded. “I figured as much once I saw the lightning striking down our own troops... Don’t beat yourself over the head with this. This isn’t your fault.”

“I, didn’t tell you... that I feel guilty about this.”

“No, but I know for a fact that’s how you feel. I know this feeling all too well. Come on, we’ll go help out the others and then we’ll retreat.” said the paladin, trying to calm down his friend.

As they were flying around the town, they could see the ponies locking themselves in their homes, while others were fleeing towards the Ever-free Forest, seeing this as an opportunity to escape from the Scaler’s grasp.
“Hey! That’s Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and... Silver Spoon? They are running straight into the Ever-free Forest!” screamed Twilight Sparkles.
“Got it, we’re going to swoop down to save them.”

~***~

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and the additional filly were running for their lives. Everywhere they looked, there were zombies. If they ever stopped running, they’ll be overwhelmed and eaten alive for sure.
“Don’t stop running girls! We’re going to be free if we make it out of the forest!” said Applebloom to her two friends.
“I’m starting to... run out of breath!” yelled an exhausted Sweetie Belle. The little filly didn’t see a rock sticking out of the ground and tripped on it. Applebloom and Scootaloo quickly took notice and came back to help their friend up. She had unfortunately landed in deep mud and was struggling to get herself out. The two fillies pulled with as much strength as they could muster to get her out. Silver Spoon watched the scene and felt ambivalent. Should she come to their help, or should she keep on running? After all, the zombies were getting dangerously close to the three fillies. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she ran back and helped the two fillies to pull Sweetie Belle out of the mud. They got their friend out just in time to avoid a lunging zombie who then fell in the deep pit of mud, slowly sinking into it. However, as they were about to start running, a large pack of the undead blocked their path, surrounding them in the process. With nowhere to run, the fillies grouped up in a frightened hug, preparing themselves for the inevitable.
Just as the zombies were about to strike, Drag and Twilight came from above and the paladin stuck the ground with his holy blade, burning all the undead to ashes.

“Drag! Twilight! You came to save us!” said the fillies in unison.

“Of course, one could say that’s something we’re particularly good at.” said Drag in an amused voice. The Tauren then launched a multitude of holy spells to dispatch of the reanimated corpses with ease. “Ha! This doesn’t begin to compare with Arthas’s Scourge all the way back in Northrend.”

“Of course, it doesn’t compare with this Scourge you’re referring to. THIS... is just an appetizer for things to come.”

“Balgo!” gasped Twilight Sparkle. “Be careful Drag, that is undoubtedly their leader as well as the strongest Scaler around. I can feel an immense amount of magic in him.”

“I’m very flattered by your compliments Twilight Sparkles. Indeed, she is spitting facts; I’m hot shit.” responded Balgo, lifting his top hat to greet the ponies and the paladin.

“I guess you must be the big daddy around here am I right?” said Drag in a dry voice.

“No-ow that’s just kinky. Nah, I'm the head honcho here, the boss. Yeah, I'm the devil some would say. Basically, your fight here is futile, you will die, and your soul will be mine.” said the gargantuan lizard, his voice sounding much more threatening than before.

“By the light, I just hope you won’t turn out to be another Silas Mann.” groaned the Tauren.

“Interesting, now you’ve got me hooked up on this, Silas Mann.”

“You’ll honestly just do me a great favor if you kill him. Please just go kill him.”

“Ha! It will be my pleasure my dear, um, bull man?” said Balgo, unsure really of what this paladin was supposed to be, causing the latter to feel offended.

“Tauren. I. Am. A. Tauren. Not a fucking bull man.”

“My bad, I'll make sure to remember what you are. Oh my, I almost forgot to ask you your name.” said Balgo as he reached out a hand to the paladin.

“My name is Drag; I sure hope you remember it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, I always remember the name of my honorable adversaries. That is, if you prove to be one that is.”

“I won’t just prove to be an honorable adversary; I’ll go above and beyond by exceeding your expectations.”

“Hehe, your bravery won’t save you paladin... because I smell fear!”

Balgo dashed at lightning speed towards Drag, getting in melee range in no time. The paladin responded with a flurry of sword slashes. The Scaler already saw the attacks coming and blocked them with his dark power by forming gauntlet of dark energy around his hands. Once he saw an opening, the emperor grabbed the Tauren's horns and delivered a powerful knee to his jaw and followed up with an uppercut to send his opponent flying away, smashing him through a tree. As Drag got back on his feet, spewing blood in the process, he noticed Balgo’s jaw unhinging and a bright purple light emanating from his mouth. “Oh great, he has an energy beam.” he thought to himself before placing himself in a blocking stance with his two-handed sword. As the reptile fired his beam, the paladin deflected it with his blade and fell down due to the kick back, causing the beam to destroy the nearby trees. Having gotten up already, Drag threw a beam of light right at Balgo, hitting him square in the face. The beam tore the flesh off the right side of Balgo’s face. The emperor closed the gap between the two fighters in no time and performed a well-executed round house kick that Drag narrowly avoided. The beast proceeded to slam his fist repeatedly into the paladin who blocked the hits with his sword, slowly losing his balance with each strike he blocked. Before he could be overpowered, Drag plunged his horns into Balgo’s stomach and punched him in the chest with a light infused fist, sending the Scaler flying away into a nearby hill.

“Hahaha! Let’s take it up a notch! To the sky above!” yelled the lizard as he lifted his foot high up in the air. He then brought it down, smashing the ground with such strength that he caused the entire ground around him to be sent upwards in the sky alongside Drag. The beast then fired another energy beam to split up the entire earth above him into multiple pieces. He leaped into the remaining pieces in direction of Drag who was holding on to the falling debris. He landed in front of Drag and prepared a powerful headbutt, but was intercepted by a kick from the paladin, knocking him out of the falling platform. Balgo then created blades made from dark energy with chains wrapped up around his wrist and threw one beneath the platform. He then pulled on the chain to launch himself back up on top of the platform and landed with a mighty stomp on Drag. He then launched his blades at the Tauren who dodged and parried them with his holy great sword as best as he could. However, before any one of them could throw out another attack, the debris finally hit the ground.
Twilight shielded the four fillies from the falling rocks with a magic shield. A few moments later, the two warriors pulled themselves out of the debris. As Drag finally came back to his senses, he stared at his opponent with fear. Balgo had created another pair of arms with his dark energy, and these arms were also holding blade with chains attached to them. He was now wielding four blades against one great sword. “This may just be my final resting place.” thought Drag as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Hey, come back here Tauren, I'm not done with you! We’ve still got a tango to finish... Now here comes the grand finale!” said the reptile, whose eyes have now turned pitch black with pale white irises and they were melting. After what felt like an eternity, the beast pounced on the paladin. He tried as best as he could to block the brutal barrage of slashes coming his way. But he eventually slipped up and was slashed across the chest numerous times, to which Balgo followed up by stabbing in the torso with all four of his blades. He then created a gauntlet made from dark energy and knocked Drag into a nearby hill. The five ponies were staring in fear as their best champion had been defeated in a near one sided battle. The devilish beast then approached the frightened group, stopping by just in front of them.
“That is a feeling you haven’t seem to have experienced often, is it? Yes, it is despair.” Balgo chuckled and simply walked away, leaving his victims in a state of shock.
“We gotta go check up on Drag, he’s hurt!” said Applebloom to her friends.

“Yeah, we’ve got to bring him to safety!” responded Sweetie Belle. The three fillies started running in direction of where Drag had been launched. However, Scootaloo noticed Twilight and Silver Spoon weren’t following them. They were still looking in direction of Balgo calmly walking back into Ponyville while happily humming to himself.

“Could he be... responsible for what happened to Diamond Tiara?” weakly said Silver Spoon.

“I don’t know for sure Silver Spoon, but we need to get away from this place!” said Sweetie Belle to the filly on the verge of tears.

“Uh, Twilight? Shouldn’t you go check up on Drag too?” said Scootaloo to Twilight Sparkles. Suddenly, it’s as if she finally snapped back to reality.

“Sweet Celestia, Drag!” She rushed in to help out the mortally wounded paladin. Once they finally got to their wounded friend, they could see just how bad his injuries were. He was losing a lot of blood, he didn’t much time left. He opened his eyes just in time to see the five ponies looking down at him with a worried and saddened expression.

“Oh sweet Celestia, this is bad! Please don’t leave us Drag!” Said a tearful Twilight.

“We gotta take him to a hospital!” screamed Sweetie Belle. “Help me lift him up.” The five tried their best to lift him up, but he was far too heavy.

“That’s okay, I'll just use my magic to lift him up.” said Twilight, holding back more tears. Finally, Drag chose to say something.

“H-hey hey now, no need for any of that. L-look, I still go-ot s-some mana left... I can just do this. Watch and learn kiddos.” His hands started glowing a beautiful yellow just like the sun and with the might of the light, he touched his wounds, causing them to close. The five ponies were staring in awe of this impressive display of healing magic. “There, all better now.” said Drag as he attempted to get up, but one of his bones cracked causing him to tumble back onto the ground. “Ok, I may need some help here. Twilig-” He was interrupted by a kick to the nose delivered by the unicorn who now looked angry.

“Hey, what was that for?” he said, clenching his nose.

“You could have told me you had healing magic! You’ve got me worried sick for nothing!” yelled Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh right, my bad. Probably should have told you that a long time ago.”

The Element of Magic sighed "Let’s leave now, you surely must have enough strength left to summon a drake to fly us out of here.”

“That, I can do.”

The Tauren summoned a mighty drake out of nowhere and the four fillies alongside the unicorn hopped onto the beast’s back. They then flew out into the sky, looking to go back to their comrades who were still dealing with the undead. “Damn we’re heavy.”

~***~

Smithy was running through the Ever-free Forest for he had heard the abomination was hiding in there. The same abomination that had claimed the lives of many Scalers, the young swordsman had to stop this vile creature before it could kill more of his brethren. He ran past many zombies who didn’t even pay any attention to him. “They must have been brought to life by Balgo.” thought Smithy as he finally arrived in a small clearing in the dark forest. Enough light passed through the trees for the Scaler to see without the use of a special vision mode on his helmet. The clearing was very quiet, a silence that felt soothing to the young warrior. A silence that was broken by creaking metal and leaves falling from the trees just in front of him. His entire body and mind jumped into action; his heat increased as did his adrenaline level as indicated by his visor. His hand reached out to his sword laying on his left hip and he watched as the abomination slowly climbed out of the tree. Once it reached the ground, it stood up and stared at Smithy, not moving an inch.
“A new one.” it said in a gurgled, hushed voice.

“Y-yes, I'm not l-like the others who fell before y-you.” Smithy immediately reprimanded himself for letting his stress leak into his voice. Such a pitiful statement was not going to destabilise his opponent, who sure as hell didn’t seem to care one bit. It lunged at the swordsman who blocked the beast’s swipe and strike back with a well angled slash across its armour. The slash failed to pierce the armour, instead it merely scratched it, leaving a black mark on the otherwise golden metallic plate. Smithy slashed at the creature once more, but it saw the hit coming and blocked the sword and this time tried to stab him with its claws. “Oh shit!” Smithy dropped his sword and redirected the stab off to the side and perform a back kick, sending the abomination into a nearby tree. As the beast was getting up, he noticed one important detail; there wasn’t a single piece of armour covering the monster’s back. He quickly picked up his sword from the ground and thought of a way to get the beast to expose his back.

Much to his surprise however, the abomination looked at him curiously before looking at his back, poking it with its claws. “Oh no... it’s much smarter than I thought. I underestimated it.” thought the young swordsman to himself as he felt the panic intensifying in his heart. The beast chuckled once it noticed how his opponent was feeling. “Stay calm, you got this.” This time, it was Smithy who charged in on the offensive, hacking away at the beast and carefully blocking all its attacks. The abomination was physically stronger than him, so he had to beat it with only his skills. Suddenly, it managed to grab him by the neck and its other hand grabbed his shoulder, digging its claws into him. It lifted the Scaler in the air and started to open its mouth wide. “It’s trying to eat me! Gotta stop him before it’s too late!” Smithy grabbed the monster’s head and lifted to expose its neck. He then threw a strong punch at its neck and felt the creature’s fingers briefly loosen around his neck. He threw another punch, stronger than the last and the abomination’s balance faltered for a split second and its mouth stopped opening. Finally, the last punch he threw was strong enough to break him free from the creature’s grasp. He fell on his feet as the monster grabbed its throat in pain, making choking noises in the process. Smithy round housed it into a tree once more.

“Must try harder...” calmly said the beast as it got up and uprooted the tree closest to it. Smithy watched on in surprise as the abomination swung the tree around like a baseball bat. He narrowly avoided every single hit with his great agility. Landing on the tree mid-swing, he saw an opportunity and ran across the tree and leaped at the beast; drop kicking it far away. The impact was so brutal that Smithy could hear the creature’s ribs cracking. The monster went on to hit a big rock in the way, completely breaking in pieces as the swordsman got up quickly, ready to capitalise on his attack. The beast struggled to get back on its bloodied feet. As it saw his adversary run up to it, it shouted.
“Back me up Whiplash and Pummeler!” Smithy stopped his sprint once he noticed two robots popping up behind the abomination. He was now outnumbered, staying to fight these three at once would be suicide. Knowing this, he ran in the opposite direction before they got to make a move, his quick speed allowed him to create a considerable distance in no time.
“I should get back to the others now or else it will chase me down for as long as I'm on my own.”

~***~

“We’re going to land right about now. This time, I won’t mess up my landing.” said Drag before flying downward. As they got close to the ground, Drag pulled up his drake and dismounted it, this time landing on his feet. Twilight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders however, tumbled down the field, rolling right past the paladin. “Ok, I see this was a bad idea now.” he thought to himself. As he turned to look behind him, he could see Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie making their way out of the battlefield, moving closer to him. “Oh, hey girls! This way now! We’re going to run all the way back to Canterlot!” yelled Drag to the ponies, happy to see them safe and sound. However, as the Tauren turned around, he realized that there were zombies everywhere, blocking the way to Canterlot. The little fillies latched on to the paladin while Twilight stood next to him. “Ok, we’ll need to create a path through them if we want to escape back to Canterlot. Say, where is Pink and everyone else in the air?”

“They’ve already left, we are the only one here.” said Fluttershy who had just arrived.

“Now that every pony is back together, we can finally use the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria again!” said a very happy Pinkie Pie, bouncing around her friends she hasn’t seen in days.

“Yeah, that’s great, we’ll just have to plow right through ‘em.” said Drag with a rather sadistic grin.

“But how are we going to do it? We are not gigantic 9-foot-tall musclebound Tauren's like you. Plus, I don’t want to get dirty, I'm not getting away near these rotten smelly undead!” pointed out Rarity.

“Oh, right; you’re always the buzzkill here Rarity.” said a disappointed Drag.

“Well, I certainly don’t have anything on me to deal with all them zombies running rampant, my hoof is still quite injured. You have an idea, Rainbow Dash?” said Applejack.

“I have an idea, these zombies are made of cardboard, well figuratively at least. I can do a Sonic Rain boom just above them to blow them out of the way.” proposed Rainbow Dash. Twilight agreed to this idea.

“That’s a great idea Rainbow Dash. You just have to make it quick; we don’t have a lot of time before they close in on us. You think you can do the Sonic Rain boom again?”

“Yeah, totally. If I've done it twice before, then I can do it a third time! I’m going in.”

The Pegasus flew high into the sky, reaching for the clouds. She paused briefly, if she messed this up, the blame will be on her. This thought made her feel very nervous. Despite it however, she spiked downward, accelerating at a rapid pace. Just as she was about to hit the ground, Rainbow Dash flew back up creating a massive Sonic Rain boom. The blast didn’t just knock away the undead, it blew them up into smithereens due to their frail body being decomposed. The others didn’t waste any time running as fast as they could, with Drag holding the four fillies in his arms. They ran all the way back to Canterlot where they will have to form another plan if they want to bring down the Scaler threat for good.

~***~

A few hours later, the group arrived at Canterlot’s castle. Alduin, Pink and Celestia were waiting for them inside. Upon entering, Twilight screamed in joy upon seeing her mentor again after this difficult day. “Princess Celestia!”

“Twilight Sparkle! Oh, I'm glad you’re safe.” said the princess with a heartwarming smile.

“Ah, finally! The fresh smell of royalty! I was getting tired of the stinky smell of these reptilian creatures soiling my beautiful shop.” said Rarity in a bratty voice.

“Um, ‘scuse me, but we don’t have time for your family reunion.”

Everyone turned around only to see a Scaler standing by the entrance with a scroll in hand.
“What are you doing here, reptile? I will send you down to Sovngarde myself!” shouted Alduin while getting up from his resting place.

“Woah woah woah, chill out. I’m just a messenger, don’t they tell you NOT to shoot the fucking messenger in here? Buncha primitive assholes.” the entire room calmed down, ready to listen to whatever message this messenger may deliver.

“*clears throat*… *clears throat*… *Spits on the ground* Oh shit, my bad. I have a rather sore throat right now. Um, anyway. This is a declaration of war by yours truly, Balgo. I will strike down your precious capital tomorrow in the afternoon alongside my newly formed legion of undead. We will take the heart of your world for ourselves and make it our very own. For now, enjoy your moment of solace, for it won’t last long you bunch of lesb- Wait wait wait, that last sentence wasn’t meant to be there. Ah, sweet Knoxx! It’s those damn assholes scribbling on my messages again! They’re all a bunch of morons!”
With that, the Scaler left without even waiting to see the opposite side’s reaction to this message. The three reunited guardians all turned to look at each other. “Ah shit, here we go again... yet again.” they said in unison.

Act 1 : Last Stand

It was now the day of the Scalers invasion as they had announced. Everyone in Canterlot was ready for whatever the Scalers might throw at them. Guards were flying high up in the air to spot the incoming army, only they saw a legion of undead approaching the city instead of Scalers. They alerted all other ponies on the ground about the army’s arrival. Many minutes later, the undead were now right at the gate leading to Canterlot. They banged on the gate as hard as they could but couldn’t get it to open. The guards staying atop the walls near the gate were spilling cauldrons filled with magma onto the zombies, burning their flesh and leaving them as nothing more than mere masses of flesh and bones unable to move. Everything was going well, until one guard was hit in the head by a zombie of all things, turning his body into colored rain. The soldiers paid more attention to what was going down below. They could see them clearly; Balgo, Kryser, the Soldier and Smithy were chucking zombies over the city’s wall. The reanimated corpse, thanks to their immortality, survived the impact and were now moving around the city itself in their quest to satisfy their hunger. Multiple reptilians were now digging themselves out of the earth and started throwing zombies over the wall. Then, it all culminated with Balgo charging at the gate, plowing through it as if it was made of cardboard.
“To all those who wish to fight us, enjoy your last stand for your souls shall be all mine!” yelled the giant.
Twilight stood near the castle, watching the battle from afar. “Do you have enough faith in you to fight back, or will you crumble like the others?” She jumped. The unicorn heard someone speak to her, but she couldn’t see anyone who could have said it. That voice sounded just like her, but more... demonic in nature, and it was now echoing through her mind. It couldn’t have been Balgo for sure, seeing as he was still at the city’s gates. Her breaths were getting more and more agitated. “This is a battle you have no chance of winning.”

“Come on girls, we have to go in now.” said Alduin to his friends. The Elements of Harmony were all prepared for this battle, having been blessed by Drag and Alduin’s magic to boost their physical capabilities as well as holding on to their respective element should they ever be needed. Everyone rushed in the city, all except for Twilight. Drag noticed it and gestured at the others to keep going “Twilight? Are you all, right? If you’re not feeling well, you can always stay in the safety of the castle. We won’t get mad at you for that, for you’ve been through a lot of stress recently.”
“I’m fine... I just needed a moment to mentally prepare myself for this.” responded the unicorn in a less than convincing way.
“I sure hope so... Just be careful out there.”

~***~

As the heavy hitters arrived near the warzone, they could notice that there were only zombies near the gate. No sign of any Scalers around, not even Balgo. Soon enough, they heard roaring and screaming all around them. “Oh shit! They are coming in from the sides! They are trying to surround us!” screamed Pink.
“That won’t be a problem, we can deal with it.” said Alduin as he leaped in the air.
“We just have to push in. Every pony let’s each go in a separate direction and help out the soldiers push back the invaders.” said Twilight in an assertive tone. The others all agreed, and thus, each went their own way.

~***~

Applejack went to the main district, where multiple Scalers were already fighting the resistance. Drag had healed her injuries just before the fight began so that she could participate in defending the city. Just as she jumped into battle, she was stopped mid-track by a familiar looking Scaler. “Hello again!” said the Soldier in a strangely happy voice. He was still grinning, his mouth stretching to the very edge of his face.
“Dang nab it! Not you again. I suppose we still have some unfinished business.” responded Applejack.

“This time, you won’t be able to run from me! My gun is faster!” he said as he cocked his shotgun. He took aim and fired in direction of the earth pony, but the mare narrowly avoided the pellets as they hit another Scaler behind her. “Oh, shit.” She jumped inside a nearby house to be safe from the lizard’s weapon. The Scaler wasted no time plowing through the house’s walls just to get inside. Noticing the mare was nowhere in sight, He threw his weapon away and instead pulled out a pickaxe. He was now hacking away at every piece of furniture inside the house, looking for his opponent.

“Ok, think Applejack. This guy is bigger and stronger than you! And on top of that, he’s got a pickaxe! Charging him head on is a bad idea, I just have to find another way to beat him.” thought the earth pony to herself, hidden inside a cupboard big enough to fit a pony of her size.

“I’m gonna getcha!” said the Soldier while slashing away. The pony got out from her hiding spot, bucking the lizard away from her. He landed next to a kitchen counter and accidentally got his pickaxe stuck in a toaster. This caused him to be electrocuted. Once the shock had ended, his body was still twitching as he fell on the ground, writhing in pain. Applejack ran in direction of the stairs as the Soldier got back up from the shock as if it was just a flesh wound. He followed her up the stairs. With no way out, she chose to lock herself in the bedroom, looking for any kind of escape. Before she could do anything, the Soldier punched through the door and was now trying to unlock the door, struggling as he couldn’t see the lock itself. Applejack knew that her only chance of escape was by jumping out the window, but as she opened the window, a Scaler flew right in the window, blocking her escape. The door behind her finally clicked open and her adversary was now merely inches away from her. “Ha! You were loud and ugly and now you’re dead!” said the Soldier as he lifted his pickaxe high in the air. However, before the final blow was struck, a bath fell from the roof and crushed the lizard.
“What in the hay just happened?” Applejack simply looked at the scene, confused but relieved that she survived another encounter with this bloodthirsty reptile.

~***~

Fluttershy was flying around the battlefield, looking for any injured soldiers to bring to safety. She saw a pony lying on the ground with a very bad stab wound on the chest. The Pegasus approached the injured pony. “Don’t worry, I'll take you inside the castle’s infirmary. You’ll be safe there.” However, as she lifted her head to look in direction of the castle, she saw a Scaler wearing a black cybernetic armour just inches away from her face. He lifted a foot in the air and a blade came out of his heel. With this he stabbed the injured pony right in the face, pushing harder to the point of completely crushing his head. Blood spewed all over Fluttershy’s face, startling her. “Cowardly Pegasus, your unwillingness to fight will be your undoing!” yelled Kryser with burning hatred in his voice. He pulled out a knife from his palm and slashed away at the Pegasus who despite her best effort to evade the incoming attack, still got one of her hooves slashed open. She squealed and chose to flee through a nearby house, getting in through the bathroom’s window. Kryser leaped immediately, breaking through the window and started charging towards the frightened Pegasus. She pushed a bath with all her strength in a desperate attempt to slow down her pursuer. The Scaler wasted no time grabbing the bath and throwing hundreds of feet in the air. “Weak!” he exclaimed. But before he could attack Fluttershy once more, he was interrupted by a call from his superior. He paused for a moment, staring at the Pegasus, curled up in the corner of the room before jumping out the window again.

~***~

Pink didn’t have much luck either, he landed on one of the worst types of opponents he could ever fight; the speed demons. Smithy, despite the burly physique of the average Scaler, was extremely agile and lightning quick on his feet. The swordsman dashed around Pink, slashing with deadly precisions at his joint. The guardian was quick to react to his attacks’ blocking them with his diamond shovel and pushing him back with is immense strength. He was bleeding quite badly, and despite his best efforts, blocking Smithy’s attack was quite the arduous task for his attacks were fast. He realised he wasn’t paying any attention to his opponent and immediately pulled his shovel up to block an incoming attack, only to realize Smithy hasn’t move a single inch from his position, having not even taken a stance. “Uh, you could’ve attacked me right there, j-just a friendly reminder.” said the guardian.

“Oh! T-That would’ve been very dishonorable!” replied the swordsman, having just realised he wasn’t paying attention to his stance.

“Huh, at least you have some courtesy.” Smithy placed himself once again in an offensive stance while Pink took on a defensive stance. The blue lights on Smithy’s armour turned to a crimson red, catching the guardian off guard. With impressive speed, the swordsman maneuvered all around Pink, slashing him rapidly, albeit the cuts weren’t all that deep. Pink’s surroundings turned into a confusing tornado of sharp blades hacking away at his skin, turning the wind around him red with his blood. It kept on going until he no longer had the strength to stand. He fell on the floor, as his opponent stopped his attacks to stare at his vanquished adversary. He kept on looking for a few second while wiping the blood off his blade before giving him a small bow and turned around to leave. “Where are you going? I’m not done yet.” Smithy turned around in surprise to see a bloodied Pink back on his feet winding up a big punch.
“Wai- what?! Nooo!” He had no time to dodge and simply opted to block the punch with his arms but the strength behind Pink’s strike was much more than he could have imagined. He was launched out of the city entirely. “Fuck me, I'm gonna pass out.” He passed out on the floor.

~***~

Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Drag were in the town square, fending off the Scalers and zombies trying to breach further in Canterlot. The pink pony used confetti cannons that she summoned out of nowhere to send the lizards flying out of the city while the white unicorn used her magic to throw them away, not wishing to get in physical contact with the reptiles as most of them were covered in dirt. Drag was holding his own very well, his fighting skills and holy magic allowed him to take on the Scalers in masse. “Everypo- Everybody’s doing good so far?” shouted the Tauren to his friends.

“This is atrocious! Why must they all be so dirty?” whined Rarity as she did her best to keep the opposite force at bay.

“Uh oh, my cannon’s run out of confetti!” said Pinkie Pie as a Scaler drew near.

“Fuck your cannon.” He chopped the cannon in two with his axe, causing the pink pony to fall off, landing right in front of the reptile. He pulled out a gun on her and stared briefly at the pony, who giggled at the sight of his weapon. “What’s so funny?” Before he could even do anything, a Scaler was launched into him, sending a pair of lizards into a wall causing it to crack because of the force behind the throw.

“Thanks Rarity!” said Pinkie Pie as she waved off at the unicorn.

“You can always count on me darling.” replied Rarity as she trotted up to her friend. As she was helping her get up, they both saw Scalers in heavy armour marching down the streets, wielding energy-based swords. They were coming for them. Drag quickly took notice of these new foes and started walking up towards them.

“Leave them to me girls. I’m sure you can handle yourself just fine.” The two mares took off to somewhere far from this confrontation.

“Make sure not to stain your armour too much. Do I need to remind you that I'm always the one who cleans all your equipment after battle?” Drag briefly looked over at Rarity for a moment.

“I’ll try my best not to stain them too much, but you best believe you’ll have a lot of work on your hands once this battle is over.”

~***~

Up in the sky above Canterlot, Rainbow Dash and Alduin were locked into a heated brawl with the genie Aruba. The genie’s attacks were unpredictable as he summoned various items to attack ranging from swords, rubies, statues and cabbages. When it wasn’t items being launched at them, it was lightning, magical bullets and strong wind trying to blow them back to the ground. “How are we supposed to beat this guy?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash in frustration.

“I don’t know! All I have is shouting, fire breathing and frost breathing as my techniques. Wait, I remember one shout that he won’t see coming.” The black dragon began shouting in his draconic tongue. Afterwards, his body became transparent and he bolted straight at the genie.

“So, you’re no longer opaque, how terrifying.” sarcastically said Aruba as he prepared to launch more lightning at the dragon. Once the dragon was close enough, the genie unleashed a fury of lightning on his opponent, only for his attack to pass right through Alduin. “Oh... I’m fucked.” Alduin went above Aruba and started shouting in his tongue “Fus... Roh Dah!” The shout launched the genie back down on the city, crashing into the walls. Rainbow Dash arrived at the dragon’s side to express her satisfaction.

“Now, this... was... awesome!”

“This won’t be enough to take him down, he’ll come back in just a few seconds. In the meantime, Dash, make yourself useful and prepare to flank him once he comes back in the sky.”

“You got it!” Rainbow Dash flew quickly away from the dragon and hid in the clouds above. Alduin looked back at the fallen genie, but his attention was rerouted to something being launched above him.

“Holy shit!” yelled Smithy.

Alduin looked behind him in surprise, barely being able to see Smithy flying above him, splitting the clouds open.

“What the fuck happened?”

~***~

Princess Celestia was patiently waiting inside her castle for the inevitable arrival of their leader. The castle was now completely empty, except for the sole alicorn remaining inside as to not get anyone caught in the crossfire of the battle that was about to take place. She looked at one of the windows inside the throne room, the sky was relatively clear of any clouds outside. It was a beautiful day indeed, such a shame it had to be ruined with senseless violence. “Admiring the clear blue-sky princess? Perhaps you should be looking somewhere else.” Celestia’s eye darted back to the front door in surprise, sure enough there he was; their leader. Strangely, she hadn’t even heard the giant doors open.

“Your acts of violence have come to an end, Balgo. I will bring you down myself before you can cause any more harm to Equestria.”

“Ahh, I see you have remembered my name. This pleases me greatly; I don’t like having to state my name for the record every single time I make an entrance.” Celestia was quite wary of this Scaler, for she had heard of Drag’s defeat at his hands.

“I’ve heard you bested Drag in battle earlier this day. I won’t make the mistake of underestimating you.”

“Oh boy, you sure are making me feel flattered. Do you know just how often I get insults thrown at me? They are very damaging to my self-esteem. People just don’t know respect these days, It really is a concept lost to time.” Balgo had a lot of sarcasm in his voice. He didn’t appear to be taking this seriously.

“I said I won’t underestimate you, but I see you are fine with underestimating me.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m just having so much fun! I didn’t really have much fun in these past eight months. It’s such a long time.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Let us put an end to this.”

“Of course, just don’t forget; if I win, this would just be the start of your apprentice’s problems...”

~***~

Twilight Sparkle was handling herself quite well on the battlefield. She was putting her magic to good use against the Scalers who didn’t know how to deal with the unicorn’s power. All was going well until she noticed multiple purple tentacles erupting from the castle where princess Celestia stayed in. “What’s going on over there?!” thought the unicorn. “I must see if princess Celestia is all right!” She ran to the castle immediately, her legs now filled once more with adrenaline. She didn’t even take the time to observe the chaos around her for her mind was only focused on the commotion going on at the princess’s castle. When she arrived at the front door, it opened by itself to reveal an empty interior, only with clear signs of there being a brawl. There were multiple holes on the walls, pieces of furniture smashed into pieces and broken windows everywhere. The only thing that remained untouched was the throne itself where Balgo was now sitting on.

“Where is princess Celestia! What did you do to her?” shouted Twilight as stomp down on the floor with her front hooves in an attempt to seem more intimidating but was unsuccessful as the emperor didn’t seem impressed in the slightest.

“Hey there Twiley! The princess and I had quite the heated argument. So, to make a long story short, I evicted her. Crazy story am I right?” replied Balgo with a calm and relaxed posture betrayed only by his excited grin. There was strangely no hint of malice in his voice.

“That doesn’t answer my first question! Where’s the princess!” shouted Twilight, this time it was even louder.

“Questions, questions, questions. I can answer them all, but at a price. If you give me the Element of Magic, I’ll answer all your questions. That’s a fair bargain, right? A powerful magical artifact for a bunch of words that will be in the long run, completely meaningless.” Balgo slowly rose from his chair while he made the offer. Twilight backed away slowly.

“Never! I will never give the Element of Magic to a tyrant like you!” Balgo’s smile slowly turned into a frown as his eyebrows lowered, giving him a rather disappointed look.

“Hand over the Element of Magic, SLOWLY, and then we’ll talk about your princess. That is, if you really care for her... You do care for her, right?” The giant now showed much clearer hints of impatience. Twilight considered running away, but the way he phrased his demand this time seemed more ominous. If she really cared for the princess, she would give him the Element of Magic?

Ultimately, Twilight decided that giving Balgo the Element of Magic would for sure go against the princess’s wishes. “You’ll have to take it from me then.” said the unicorn before bolting out of the castle.

“Farewell Twilight Sparkle, my new adversary. You’re going to have a bad time from now on.” Balgo grinned as he pulled out his phone. “Kryser, fuck her up if you must but get me the Element of Magic.”

~***~

In the sky, Aruba looked down at the battlefield with Kryser sitting on his flying carpet too. “Over there! There’s the element of magic! Get your gears in gear slow poke!” shouted the genie.

“I see that bitch! Throw me down there!” replied Kryser. The genie grabbed the Scaler and threw him down with all his might. The armored reptile lands not far off from the fleeing unicorn. “Balgo doesn’t seem to be chasing me right now. I must go faster before he rushes in.” thought Twilight Sparkle. “I’LL CRUSH YOU!” yelled Kryser who was now just behind her. He was closing in on her, it was only a matter of time before he will catch her. Thankfully, the unicorn had her magic. Her horn started emitting a bright light from it, before a white flash blinded the pursuer. Once he regained his vision, the unicorn was gone. He stopped running and activated magic vision on his helmet. He could now detect the magical waves in the air coming from the unicorn. “Teleportation magic so it would seem.” muttered Kryser to himself before continuing his pursuit. Twilight turned to look back at her pursuer who was now once again getting closer. Startled, she used her magic to place random objects in the lizard’s way to slow him down. The reptile vaulted over the many obstacles the unicorn had placed in his way. It was slowing him down enough for Twilight to create a much more noticeable gap between the two. Eventually, Kryser stopped pursuing her and instead ran in another direction completely.

She breathed a sigh of relief which was interrupted by the sound of machinery just above her. Out of the flying vehicle’s cockpit came Balgo. “You don’t even know your fate, unicorn.” He then started cackling maniacally for a couple of seconds before lowering the vehicle to get closer to Twilight. He slammed his vehicle into the ground right next to Twilight. The unicorn nearly lost her balance but managed to catch her footing and responded by throwing a nearby Scaler with her telekinetic magic at Balgo. She watched as the reptile landed on the windshield of the vehicle only to be wiped away by the windscreen wiper. “That’s going to cost a lot to fix that cracked windshield ya cunt.” remarked an annoyed Balgo. “Hey hold on. Maybe you should pay more attention as to where you’re going instead?” As Twilight looked in front of her, she could see Kryser charging at her full sprint. She turned around, ready to jump out of the incoming attack but it was too late, the Scaler rammed into her at high velocity.

~***~

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Silver Spoon were hiding in a shelter beneath the city of Canterlot alongside many other civilians. A strong magic barrier was erected around the shelter, blocking all sounds above, leaving the shelter in a troubling silence. All they could hear was the occasional rumbling coming from above.

“You girls think that princess Celestia and the Guardians will be able to defeat these monsters?” asked Sweetie Belle to her friends.

“Of... course? Well, I haven’t seen Celestia lose to any pony that’s for sure! But we did see Drag lose earlier that day.” replied an unsure Scootaloo. It was Applebloom’s turn to voice her opinion.

“Things will go differently this time; the other Guardians are here alongside Celestia. Together, they can defeat this Balgo!” Sweetie Belle looked behind her, alone amongst a crowd of other ponies was Silver Spoon. She had a look of utter defeat on her face to which the others shared. She approached the sad filly to comfort her.

“Are you ok Silver Spoon?”

“... You already know the answer, Sweetie.” the unicorn briefly looked at the floor in sadness, she had all rights to be feeling utterly pessimistic; she had just lost her closest friend earlier this day.

“You don’t have to feel alone Silver Spoon. I’m willing to forgive you for all the bullying you’ve done and become your friend if it will make you feel better.” A faint spark of hope came into the young filly as she heard Sweetie Belle’s words.

“You... would really b-become my friend just so I won’t feel alone?” Sweetie Belle gave the brightest smile she could.

“Of course, I would!” Silver Spoon’s eye began to water; she quickly took notice and wiped the tears before they could stream down her face. Applebloom and Scootaloo went to join the two fillies after the shelter began to rumble again.

“And so would I!” added Applebloom. Scootaloo also had something to add to the conversation.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for us to get a fresh new start and leave behind the mean things we said to each other...” At this point, Silver Spoon couldn’t hold her tears back anymore. Sweetie Belle reached out a hoof in solidarity accompanied with a smile that brightened up the dark shelter.

Suddenly, the hatch above the magical barrier opened, and Drag came down. He landed on the shield and motioned at the guards in charge of keeping the barrier to let him in. Once he landed on the ground, he looked around for the four young fillies.

“I think Drag is looking for us! Why else would he be here?” said Applebloom to her friends.

“We don’t stand out in this crowd; we need to get his attention somehow.” added Sweetie Belle.

“Ha! Leave it to me!” Scootaloo hoped onto the back of the older ponies in the crowd, moving from one to another. Eventually, the commotion this created caught on to the Tauren, who finally took notice of the young Pegasus. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon soon followed, running in between the legs of the adults in order to reach the paladin.

“There you are girls! Listen, we don’t have much time now. We absolutely must leave Canterlot right now.” The fillies were shocked to hear this coming from Drag. He sounded nervous and in a hurry, not really the kind of feeling some pony would have if they just won a war.

“W-Wait, what’s going on above us? D-Did we win?” said an anxious Silver Spoon.

“... No, that’s why we must leave while there is still time.”

“B-B-But what about ever pony in here? What are we going to do about them?” pointed out Sweetie Belle, anxiously looking at the other ponies in the shelter.

“We can’t save them all, Sweetie. We can only save ourselves for the time being.” sadly answered Drag, looking away from the fillies in shame. “Come, before they catch on to the bad news. We won’t be able to leave if the entire shelter falls into chaos.”

~***~

Twilight’s eyes began to open slowly. She was surrounded by darkness. Once her senses finally came back to her, she tried to stand up. However, as she tried, she felt an unbearable pain on her back legs. The pain lasted for what felt like eternity even after she sat down. She looked at her legs to realise that her two back legs were broken, wrapped up in bandages. She turned to look at what’s in front of her. Her eyes were slowly getting adjusted to the darkness and she could make out metal bars just a couple of feet away from her position. She was in Canterlot’s dungeon from what it appears. Worst of all, she no longer had the Element of Magic on her. “It would appear I was right; you never had a chance of winning this battle.” She could hear that demonic voice again resonating within her entire body.

“Now I know whose voice it belongs to; Balgo! why don’t you show yourself and get this over with!” replied Twilight, frustrated at her failure.

“I was going to come up with a snarky remark about your current predicament, but I'm rather intrigued by the fact that you responded to absolutely nothing but silence.” said a mildly amused Balgo. He stopped by in front of the metal bars, behind him was the silhouette of Aruba slowly coming into view.

“Do you think she’s going insane? Did we do it in record time?” questioned the genie mockingly while smoking his pipe.

“I think she’s already insane. Only an insane person would ramble about the magical power of friendship and what not. Even then, she seems like the kind of person who would read a book on how to friendship 101. What kind of person needs to study about how to make friends?” chuckle the governor to his friend. The genie laughed, nearly choking on his own pipe.

“Fuck, I’m gonna die! Oh wait, I'm fine.” He spat out his pipe, landing directly in the cell next to Twilight. The unicorn now only had one burning question in her mind.

“Hey Twiley, look!” Balgo began to search in his pockets for a few seconds. He pulled out the Element of Magic and placed it upon his head. “I may not be a king but I gotta say; royalty suits me. How do you like this new style?”

“You promised you’d tell me where the princess is if I gave you the Element of Magic. Well, there you go. You have it, tell me where Celestia is.”

“One problem, you didn’t give me the Element of Magic; I took it by force. But I'll be nice enough to answer your question anyway. Oh! I have a surprise for you by the way. Just look to your left, you might need a bit of light to see her though.” said Balgo with a strange sense of anticipation in his face.

Twilight hesitated, but ultimately look to her left. She couldn’t make out a thing because of the darkness. She lighted up her horn and cast a small orb of light that she sends in the direction of the corner of the cell. Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor and her eyes began to tear up at this horrible sight. Celestia’s body was lying on the cold floor of the cell, dried up and decayed just like the zombies that attacked Canterlot. Insects were crawling in and out of her. There wasn’t a single hint of life in her body anymore. “Celestia... no...” she said in a broken voice.

“Don’t be sad, I merely borrowed her soul. Here, have a look.” said the giant before opening his jaws, extending so much it nearly touched the ground. A huge and beautiful orb of shining light rivaling that of the Sun came out. “That is your princess’s soul. I haven’t used it up yet. So therefore, if you can get your hands on it; you can bring her back to life.” Twilight expression shifted from despair to a slight glimmer of hope.

“That’s a pretty soul, well that is what I would say if you didn’t just flashbang me. Turn the brightness down, will you?” said Aruba sarcastically as he was now covering his eyes with his hands.

The unicorn finally found the strength to speak once more, albeit in a tearful and broken voice. “How am I going to get her soul back from you? You have the Element of Magic. You are just saying this to bring my hopes up before you trample me again.”

“Nah ‘fam. I AM going to give it back if you manage to do something specific. See, I was originally here to conquer this world in the name of our empire, but there has been a change of plan. I’m just looking for fun now.” The giant got really close to the bars, he tore them open with his bare hands, still holding on to the soul with his dark powers. He moved inches away from the unicorn and kneeled to get closer to her height. “Problem is, no one here can make me feel challenged. But I see the potential in you to be a worthy adversary. If you can put me in a really bad position, and I mean REALLY BAD, then I will return Celestia’s soul to its rightful owner.”

Twilight’s eyes were now filled with determination as she wiped the tears off her face. She still had a chance to set things right.

“Well, good luck with that. You might want to do something about Celestia’s body. Its currently in its first stage of decomposition. As for you, you’re free to leave Canterlot at any time. However, that’s going to be challenging with two broken legs and a corpse to carry along.” finished Balgo before leaving the cell. Aruba was seemingly about to follow the emperor, but he stopped briefly to look one last time at the injured unicorn lying in the now open cell.
“Your insurance isn’t covering your medical bills by the way.” pointed out Aruba before joining Balgo.

~***~

The Guardians and the remaining elements of harmony fled the city on train, returning to Ponyville to take it back from the clutches of the invaders. Upon arriving, they were surprised to find no trace of any Scaler in the town. The townsfolk were now repairing the damages done to the infrastructures.

“Oh boy! Everything is back to normal here! Finally, we can throw another party in Ponyville!” said Pinkie Pie while bouncing around.

“You might want to hold off on the party for the moment. Twilight Sparkle didn’t come with us, we should at least check if she’s here.” objected an exhausted Alduin.

Mayor Mare came to the newcomers, looking very worried. “Wait, T-Twilight isn’t with you?”

“Wait, are you implying that she isn’t in Ponyville?” said a nervous Rarity.

“...Yes.” replied the mayor sadly. The group all exchanged worried glances for a while.

Suddenly, Spike spewed out a message. “Huh? It says it's from Twilight Sparkle!” exclaimed the baby dragon.
“Read it out loud now!” shouted impatiently Drag.

“This message is written to all my friends. I’ll cut to the point immediately, our current situation is dire; the princess’s soul as well as the Element of Magic have been taken by Balgo. To get them back, we must put him in a really bad position if we are to get them back. Otherwise, he will destroy her soul. My legs are currently broken and Celestia’s body is starting to decompose. I will make my way back to Ponyville with her, but I know it will take a long time to make the whole trip since the train stations are down in Canterlot... We can’t give up, even if all hope seems lost, I know we can still turn the tables on Balgo.”

“Huh, put Balgo in a bad position. That’s not gonna be easy, he kicked my ass fair and square last time I battled him.” said Drag to his friends.

“And without the Element of Magic, we won’t be able to use the full power of the elements of Harmony on him.” added a frustrated Rainbow Dash. They were all taken out of their stressful situation when they heard someone clearing their throat behind.

“Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Looks like good ol’ Balgo is at it again!” It was a Scaler, albeit very off putting compared to the others. His eyes were black with no pupils. His mouth was contorted in a huge smile, extending his jaw to an uncanny length. His mouth didn’t really appear to have any fangs unlike any other Scaler, his teeth were strangely human-like. Harsh shadows were casted all over his body despite the fact he was standing in complete sunlight. “Let me help you out in putting a monkey wrench in his plans. Cuz’ that’s what I do best.”

Author's Note

And that's the end of Act 1! The first draft of Act 2 is fully written, I only need to add more to the chapters there, so it shouldn't take too much time to release a new chapter. Act 2 will contain chapter 7 to 11 btw.

Act 2 : The Evil Within

Twilight struggled to get out of her cell. Her broken legs plus the princess’s body made it nearly impossible for her to move much. Using her magic, she could at least move around Celestia, but she had absolutely nothing to heal her legs. If Drag was here with her, he could just heal her legs. “I should stop daydreaming; this is getting me nowhere. I’ve barely made it out of my cell. I still have the entire dungeon to cross, then go through all of Canterlot, and then I must somehow make my way to Ponyville. How am I going to do that?” though the desperate unicorn.
“Abandon this ordeal, you know you can’t do it alone. You’re powerless.” once again, it was that familiar demonic voice spreading more discouraging messages to her. She closed her eyes, her head started to ache terribly to the point of nearly making her feel like vomiting. Once the nausea subsided, she opened her eyes again. Her vision was blurry, but she could clearly make out something hiding in the shadows in front of her. “I see you. There’s no point in hiding in the shadows anymore. C... Come out.” said the unicorn, albeit with a weak voice. The silhouette waited there for a few seconds, seemingly trying to understand the mare’s words before stepping out of the darkness, albeit struggling to do so. Its walk was feeble, nearly looking like it could trip at any moment. As it came out of the shadows, Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise, to the point of nearly breaking before she took on a frustrated expression. “Balgo, you’re trying to mess with me again. Get me to give up, aren’t you? I-I won’t fall for your deception!” In front of her was herself, or at least a dark mirror. A near perfect reflection of the unicorn except for its eyes who were completely black, dripping down its face with pale white pupils. Its mouth was somehow fused to her skin in certain parts, and torn off in other parts. On her flank was a large gashing wound, obstructing her cutie mark. The figure had a look of despair on its face.

“I am not Balgo, Twilight, I am this looming though in the back of your mind; the feeling that you’re not coming out of this alive.” responded the faker.

“I do not think for a second that I will fail princess Celestia. I’ll... get Balgo to return her soul to her body.” said Twilight, desperately trying to hide any weakness in her voice. The figure did not respond and simply stared at her with pitiful eyes before returning to the shadows where it disappeared.
“None of this is of any use. We’re all doomed to fail eventually.” Twilight stayed there silent for a moment, trying to brush off those thoughts the impostor had confronted her with. The unicorn then resumed her slow and tedious mission as she struggled to climb the stairs leading out of the dungeon. Every step she climbed led to more pain as her back hooves would always hit the steps, causing intense pain to her broken bones. These moments of weakness would them lead to her magic nearly failing, causing Celestia’s limp body to momentarily fall down onto the cold stairs.

She eventually got out of the dungeon and was now inside the castle. As she looked on to her left, she saw Aruba hovering on his flying carpet. “Oh hey, these cupcakes are one hell of a treat. Don’t count on me to give you any of them, though. Why? Because fuck you that’s why.” mockingly said the genie before throwing a half-eaten cupcake at her face. He laughed and left, but not before taunting her some more about her deceased mentor as she was wiping off the cream on her face. Visibly annoyed but still determined to reach her destination, she continued to limp her way through the castle who now felt ominous ever since the battle ended. It was now completely dark outside, only fain moonlight illuminated the otherwise pitch-black castle. There was not much sign of life around here too, it was deathly quiet. As she was moving however, a though came to mind “Wait, what would happen if every pony saw me limping out of the castle, dragging Celestia’s body in the streets? Are they even aware that she’s dead? If they aren’t, I can’t just get out through the main door. I’ll have to sneak out of Canterlot. It’ll be bad if they saw what happened to her. Our only chance against the Scalers is to not lose hope, thus, no pony can know about Celestia’s defeat. Easier said than done with two broken legs... Aw, how am I going to do that?” The more she thought about her current predicament, the more hopeless she felt. Her eyes began to water as the entire weight of her situation started to dawn on her.

“Now you’re starting to understand the situation. There is no way out of this Twilight. We’ve already lost, there is no second chance in a war.” It was yet again the faker who spoke, sitting in a similar position to Twilight, her legs seemingly broken too.

“Will you just shut up for a moment! Even if it seems daunting... I-I can do it.” Her voice was on the verge of breaking, even she could feel it.

“’Scuse me but what the fuck are you on about?” Twilight flinched heavily; the Soldier was right next to her, bent down to match her current height. He was looking at the unicorn with a horribly confused expression as he was scratching his helmet with a finger.

“N-None of your business... That is none of your business! Now, leave me alone while I try to figure out what I’m supposed to do!” shouted the unicorn, causing the Scaler to lose balance in surprise and trip on his own tail. However, the violence of that shout seemed to have made her incredibly dizzy. Her vision was getting blurry, and her head was spinning. She felt nauseous, so much so that she even vomited on the cold tiles of the castle floor. She realised that she was about to lose consciousness. The last thing she remembered before passing out, was hearing another familiar voice, but not one that felt reassuring. It was a deep raspy voice that brought a primal fear into the unicorn’s heart.
“Did you really think you got me for good? Death was merely a setback. Now, I’ll make your life a living hell.”

Everything that happened afterwards was now just a confusing mess of images looming at the back of her mind. She saw herself sneak around Canterlot, carefully avoiding the gazes of the Scalers and ponies around. It was impossible to clearly remember anything that happened afterward as the images in her mind were blurry. Eventually, she woke up in the middle of a grassy field. As she finally took in her surroundings, wondering how she even could have got here, she realised that she felt no pain in her legs anymore. Strange indeed, for one quick glance at her back legs confirmed something rather bizarre; her legs were now completely healed. They were perfectly functional, but Drag was nowhere in sight. Even stranger was that she was now outside of Canterlot, far away even. The castle sitting high up in the mountains was now far away from her, confirming that she had traveled a considerable distance from her starting position. She suddenly remembered that she was also carrying Celestia’s body with her. She looked around, afraid that her mentor’s body was left behind, only to find it just inches behind her. She stared at the princess’s corpse in sorrow, knowing that she wouldn’t be there to help her in her darkest hours. "Why did you have to die Celestia? Why couldn’t you just beat Balgo and put an end to all of this? Why put me through all of this! You’re useless!” Twilight froze in shock for a moment. Why did she feel disappointment, hell, even frustration when looking at Celestia? It was almost as if she was starting to resent her very mentor. “No way, this isn’t what I'm actually thinking. I must be getting tired. Yeah, I'm just... tired. That’s all... I-I don’t know what happened back there, b-but I know for a fact that I can get to Ponyville easily n-now. It will just take some time...”

Balgo was sitting on the newly redesigned throne inside of Canterlot’s castle, wearing the Element of Magic alongside his usual top hat. It was remade to better fit his gargantuan proportion, and to be very comfortable for him. The castle was dark and gloomy, but Balgo didn’t mind the peace and quiet it brought with it. He had spent a lot of pretty exhausting days recently, so this change of pace was much to his liking. He looked at the room around him, now rebuilt ever since his glorious fight with the alicorn princess. “What more can I say? Royalty suits me.” His attention was quickly brought to a knock on the huge castle gates. The emperor opened his mouth to ask one of his employees to open the door for him, but he remembered that barely anyone was still awake at this time. There wasn’t a single Scaler but him in the throne room. “Fine, I’ll just have to open it myself...” He slowly stood up from his throne and made his way to the gates. Just as he reached a hand out to open it, a sudden beam of light blinded him.
“What’s going on Balgo old buddy! Didn’t see ya for quite some now, I really missed ya. Cuz like, every time I go up to you in hope of getting to play games and what not, you always reply with stuff like: I’m too busy to screw around with you or get the fuck off my propriety. But now, I don’t think you have a valid excuse to turn me down! Also, nice hat.” It was Mugen who popped up in front of him, looking to play games with him.

“Oh, for the love of Knoxx, Mugen! Is this really the time to be bothering me? As for the hat, I was thinking about taking it off. It looks too girly for my taste...” grumpily replied Balgo. Mugen strikes back with an unexpected response, fitting his very nature as a wild card.

“I joined the opposite side in this conflict, so I'm your enemy now! Therefore, you can’t ignore me buddy! You have to play checkers with me!” He pulled out a box of the game checkers and lifted it up to Balgo’s face. The giant pushed the box away from his face with a look of malicious compliance.

“Bloody hell, it’s one of these things again? He he he. Fine, I’ll PLAY checkers with you... This will be the perfect opportunity for me to have a few words with you.”

“Hah! Truth be told, I’ve actually come to bargain Balgo.”

“I believe you’ve come for an ass-whooping, jester.”

Not much happened during her long trip in the landscape of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle was deep in her thoughts, unable to let go for even a moment. Her mind was now a swirling mess of conflicting thoughts. She had a nagging thought in the back of her mind as to what could explain her bizarre situation, but the implications of that thought led her to refuse to believe it was the reason why this was happening.
“We can’t keep lying to ourselves! We must face the truth... and it’s a hard pill to swallow. You know he’s here in you. It’s only a matter of time before we succumb to his power.” It was once again walking by her sides; Twilight tried her best to ignore it for its treacherous words would only break her resolve if she gave in.

She was however taken out of her intense daydreaming once she realised, she could spot some torches off in the distances. It was still terribly dark outside, so those torches helped to light the path nicely. The unicorn just needed to find a place to rest, now and just as luck would have it; she came across a small town on her way. She was just about to go in before she remembered she couldn’t be seen dragging around Celestia’s corpse. She put her mind to work on finding a quick solution for this issue. “Got it! I’ll just place her in a pocket dimension and retrieve her the next day once I'm out of town!” She summoned a portal leading to a pocket dimension with her magic and placed the princess inside, looking around to make sure no one saw her in the middle of her act. Once the mare was sure no one saw her, she closed the portal and headed into town. Above the entrance of the town was a huge sign with the name “Ponyholm” written on it. She had heard a bit about this town located not too far from Ponyville and Canterlot.

Inside, the townsfolk appeared to be quite on edge, surely because they weren’t in the dark regarding the whole Scaler situation. She eventually found what she was looking for, an inn to spend the night in. Twilight Sparkle entered the inn and asked for a room. Once she got the keys to her room, she wasted no time getting inside. Before she could hop on her bed, she felt the urge to pee. She had been holding it in for most of the day after all. So, she went in the bathroom, sat on the toilet and relieved herself, enjoying this feeling of peacefulness that the inn brought to her. After she was done, she flushed the toilet and trotted to the sink to wash her hooves. However, she froze when she took a look in the mirror. Her right eye was bloodshot. She wondered if it was already like that when she entered the village, but seeing as no pony gave her any weird look, it must have appeared right as she got in her room. The worst of it however, was that she could see a large imposing figure slowly forming in the mirror. A familiar figure that she thought was gone for good. “It’s finally time for you to pay the price.” said the figure. She looked back in shock only to find nothing standing in the bathroom itself; the silhouette was only in the mirror. Now, Twilight couldn't ignore the facts; she was being possessed by a demon she thought Drag and herself had vanquished months ago.

“You can’t keep on ignoring the truth anymore. Without Drag, we cannot cast out this demon. This is it; our time has come.” the dark mirror came back once more to torment Twilight. She tried her best to ignore its words even though she couldn’t get them out of her mind.

“Drag’s not here this time... I have no one to help me out with this! W-wait, th-there is a priest in this town. Yeah, a priest! The ponies of Ponyholm have built a church in honor of princess Celestia, and it is run by a priest named; Father Grigori.” Twilight took out some bandage from the cabinet and used some to cover her bloodshot eye. The unicorn then bolted out of her room, going down the stairs and passed by the receptionist who was surprised to see her leave already. Twilight got outside and looked around in front of the inn. “I’ll have to ask the ponies around if I want to get to that church as quickly as possible!”

“You’re much better than I anticipated at checkers. Mugen, for how long have you been playing?” Balgo and Mugen were sitting at a table in the dining room of the castle. They have been playing a few rounds of checkers, and Balgo won them all. However, he couldn’t help but notice the smart plays his opponent was making at times, even if he did blunder on other occasions.

“I don’t know, I just really like playing games like this. It’s great to just have a nice discussion during a simple round of checkers. After all, there’s nothing at stake here, even though I'm supposed to be threatening you... I don’t think I'm doing a good job at that.” Balgo threw an amused glance at the Scaler before setting his eyes back on the game.

“You’re far too goofy and friendly to scare anyone really. The funny thing is, you’d probably be scaring people more if you didn’t say a word. Your appearance is... off-putting to say the least.”

“What? Is it the smile?”

“Mostly, but keep it; it’s a part of your charm.” Mugen’s smile grew even wider at the emperor’s response.

“Ha! Thanks buddy! Say, you’re pretty good at checkers! I suppose you must often play this game, am I right?” Balgo took his eyes off the game once more to look at Mugen with a smirk.

“I am the biggest champion of checkers, chess and so much more Mugen. When you live for billions of years, you get good at a lot of things. But I must admit, there is a lot of value in these games. Dare I even say, they are much more than just mere games.” Mugen raised an eyebrow an interest.

“Oh, really? Wait, let me guess. It’s because these games require a great deal of strategy to be good at, right?” Balgo’s smirk turned into a large grin.

“Right on the money. These games sharpen your mind, improve your decision making under pressure, help you become a better strategist. Thus, the finest minds in our empire often come from chess tournaments. There is a reason why these tournaments always end with the victor being challenged to a game by me in person; it’s a test to see if they can be of great use in our military endeavors. Most chess masters end up as generals in our army. Now you see why I value these kinds of games.”

“Yeah, I always had that feeling that I've seen these generals somewhere before... Hey, speaking of chess; You up for a game of chess?”

“Sure thing.” chuckled the emperor.

“The church? Yeah, I can lead you there. It’ll be my pleasure.” The stallion was kind enough to lead Twilight to the church where she could find the only pony around to cast the demon away. She followed the stallion closely as he walked at a rather slow pace, too slow for the unicorn’s liking.

“Hey... wouldn’t you mind picking up the pace? I absolutely must speak with the priest in there as quickly as possible.” The stallion looked at Twilight with an apologetic look.

“Oh! Sorry if I'm going too slow, I’ll go quicker if it’s that important. The church is not too far off from here.” The stallion began to trot at a quicker rate and Twilight matched his new speed. As they were making their way down town, the unicorn couldn’t help but notice that something about her was bothering the stallion; surely the bandage covering her eye must have piqued his curiosity. “Umm... sorry if that may sound rude but... I was just wondering what happened to your eye? I can see that the bandage itself is clean, no trace of blood on it.” Twilight grew uncomfortable, her only real option was to put an end to this conversation immediately. No way was she going to say that a demon was in her body.

“It’s... something I'm just not comfortable talking about.” The stallion took his eyes off her, visibly regretful.

“Sorry about that... I shouldn’t have asked.” He suddenly stopped and looked slightly upwards. Twilight stopped soon after and followed his gaze; there it was, the church. “There’s the church, I believe Father Grigori is still inside. Don’t worry about any form of scheduling, he’s kind enough to help you out even if it’s night time.” The unicorn thanked the stranger for his help before making her way to the front door. Being just inches away from the entrance, she could hear a muffled voice coming from inside.

“For it was said, they had become like those peculiar demons, which dwell in matter but in whom no light may be found.” Twilight opened the doors and went inside the church, it was empty at this hour, but the priest was still present, mumbling to himself the many verses he had memorised. “Draw for the sword, and sheath it in those who afflict me, say to my soul, I am thy salvation.”

“Umm, e-excuse me Father? I have come for your help.” hesitantly said Twilight. As the priest turned around, she noticed the horn on his head; he too was a unicorn. Albeit, an old one. He had no mane left on his head, having shaved himself many years ago. He sported a moustache and a black beard resting on his chin. His clothes looked old and dirty and sure enough, on his neck lied a gold crucifix. Twilight Sparkle had heard of the story of Grigori. A unicorn who witnessed his entire town turn into flesh eating ghouls. Placing traps all around the once lively town he lived in, he took down the undead that were once his friends, one by one. During his purge, he also helped many survivors make their way out of the zombie infested zone and, after many months of hard work, he cleansed the town of evil. He was however, left mentally scarred of this traumatic event that turned his entire life upside down and thus, he left on his own pilgrimage in hopes of finding salvation from his heartache. He eventually found it in the town of Ponyholm, a village in which the inhabitants were struggling to live with the poverty. This was where the story ended, at least what was told of it. However, the stories somehow didn’t mention that Father Grigori was a unicorn, which was strange seeing as he is after all, a priest.
“Welcome to Ponyholm, sister. I am Father Grigori; you have already heard the stories about my... congregation.” Upon finishing his sentence, he started to laugh in ever increasing intensity.

“Yes, indeed I have read about it in fact. You see, I have a big problem on my hooves... and I have no pony to help me. I thought... maybe my only option was to come to you.”

“You have come to the right pony then; I will end your torment.” Father Grigori approached the young unicorn and looked at her bandage in curiosity. “I believe I already know what is the cause of your torment; you are not hiding an injury; you are hiding your shame with this bandage.” Twilight took a step back in surprise but the priest quickly closed the distance.

“Y-Yeah... There is... there is a demon inside my soul!” screamed the young unicorn, wanting to get if off her chest.

“Do you really think this old unicorn has what it takes to save your soul from this demon you once banished? He is no paladin; the demon will consume his soul after he is done with us.” once again, the bane of her existence was spreading more hopeless messages in her ears. She looked back at the dark reflection of herself, who was standing closely behind her, once more looking desperate and sad. Twilight quickly remembered that no one but her could see and hear this thing and thus, she looked back with an anxious expression at Father Grigori.

“Hmm, I see. Take off your bandage, sister. I must see the stain the evil within you has left on your body.” The priest motioned at her to take it off. After a few seconds of hesitation, Twilight removed the bandage covering her right eye. Father Grigori’s eyes briefly widened which only served to increase her anxiety as she could feel her heart beating faster.
“W-What is it? Has it gotten w-worse? O-or is it still bloodshot?” said Twilight in a panic. The priest’s eyes took on a more serious and determined expression.

“The beast inside you is growing stronger, your right eye is cursed with its dark desires. You’re better off keeping the bandage on, lest the entire town will fear your very presence; they will banish you for it.” Twilight listened to his suggestion and covered her right eye yet again.

“You heard him, right? The demon is growing stronger, we both know who it is; it wants nothing but vengeance for this beast is vindictive in nature. Grigori won’t be able to save us in time, it is the cold, hard truth we must come to terms with.” Twilight Sparkle shook her head in response to the dark reflection’s treacherous words.

“I have no other choice; he is my last hope right now. I must have faith in him.” Although it was weird for her to speak out loud like that to some pony that wasn’t physically present, Father Grigori didn’t seem to be fazed one bit.

“Very well, normally I do not provide my services at such a late hour, but seeing the urgency of your situation, I will give you shelter inside the strong walls of my church. The holy atmosphere of the church will keep the demon at bay for as long as you stay in it for these very stones were blessed by princess Celestia herself! Hehehe, rest now sister, for we will cast the beast out tomorrow.” Father Grigori motioned at the young unicorn to follow him deeper into the church. As she was following him, her dark reflection taunted her one more time.

“The demon is a ticking bomb hiding inside us, its detonation is inevitable. Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...”

“Alright, it’s about time I stop beating around the bush; I don’t like what you’re doing in here. You’re trying to bring this place to its knees, and you’ll surely succeed at that. That’s what’s irking me... Can’t we just leave a world be and simply enjoy the beauty it has to offer? Like a, like a vacation!” Balgo paused briefly before making his next play, of course this was the main reason why Mugen came to his door. He was now stuck between two contradicting choices; to either please the Scaler before him and give up all his goals here, or to pursue and see this story to the end.

“Even if I choose to go back on my previous decision; the damage has already been dealt. Mugen, in taking over Canterlot and assassinating their goddess, we’ve reached the point of no return. Although, once our conquest is over, I'll try my best to preserve this world and not let it fall under destruction.” Mugen’s smile completely faded away, leaving in place a saddened look on the Scaler’s face.

“Try as best as you can, but you’d still have taken the wonders of this world away with all this violence you’ve brought. This time, I won’t sit by idly; I’ll oppose your ways, Balgo. You can try to end this world all you want, but you’re wise enough to know there is one thing you will never be able to put an end to... You can’t end infinity, and do I need to remind you what am I again?” For the first since his arrival in Equestria, Balgo felt nervous. Nervous enough to be slightly sweating at Mugen’s threat, for he knows what the Scaler really is; a shared consciousness moving between an infinite number of Mugen. Killing him won’t make him disappear, he’ll just come back with a fresh new vessel. The emperor finally moved his piece.

“... Checkmate, Mugen. And, since you’ve relayed your message to me, this conversation ends here.”

A sudden flash of light woke Twilight up from her deep slumber. She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them; Father Grigori had opened the curtains in the room she was sleeping in. He was still muttering to himself as he moved around the room.

“Thy will be done oh light of lights, I bless the glory of thy greatness through the day and through the darkness of this night.”

“U-Uh, good morning... Father Grigori.”

“Ahh... You are finally awake. Come now sister; I've already prepared our breakfast. We will speak more about your current predicament once we’ve filled our stomachs. He He!”

“Why not no-” the priest had already left the room before Twilight could finish her sentence. “Argh, fine. I’ll just have to wait after breakfast then...” Just as she got out of bed, she spotted in the corner of her eye a familiar figure. “You again.”

“We still haven’t reached our lowest point yet. You know it. Soon, we will hurt those around us, and we will have no pony but us to blame for it.” Twilight’s eyes widened in surprised as she spotted another figure hiding in the darkest corner of the room, hiding behind a mirror. This figure was big, just as tall as Balgo even. It was muscular, with razor sharp teeth, and its eyes were wide open, but it looked rather, emotionless. Terrified, Twilight dashed out of the room and ran down to the dining room where Father Grigori was waiting for her.

“Ahh! So you are finally ready for breakfast. Though I wonder why you refused to brush your mane, for it is... Hehe... quite messy.” The young unicorn didn’t respond, opting simply to sit down and eat the omelettes the priest had prepared. She used her magic to pick up pieces of the omelette with a spoon and was pleasantly surprised at just how tasty it was. The priest sure was a good cock, so it would seem.

“Say... can't you just tell me what we must do in order to banish the demon inside me?”

“Ah, fine, I will tell you immediately. There is an ancient book in the town’s library; I need you to get it since it contains the incantation needed to cast the beast out. It is located in the far back of the library, you’ll recognise it rather easily. While you’ll be out on your mission, I will prepare all the ingredient necessary for the ritual.”

“Got it. I’ll go get that book right now.” Twilight stood up from her seat, ready to get out.

“You might want to finish your breakfast first; you don’t want to go hungry before we perform... hehehe, the ritual.” Twilight sat down again to finish her breakfast, after all, she had no idea how long this was going to take...

Standing before Ponyholm’s library, Twilight looked around nervously. The demon was growing stronger inside her body, she could feel it; her right eye was starting to hurt. “We’re outside the safety of the church, the demon is not going to let us take the book this easily. Our entire quest is futile, we cannot beat something this powerful, not even with the help of this crazy old pony!” Twilight clenched her teeth in frustration.

“Ugh! You are becoming the bane of my existence! Can’t you just be silent for at least an hour? Now then, how about I just call you Bane?”

“Whatever name you give me is pointless; I am not a separate entity like that demon. I am still you Twilight...” The unicorn noticed the citizens of Ponyholm were giving her weird stares. Feeling quite embarrassed, Twilight entered the library, so to avoid drawing more pony's attention. Her mane was already messy, which already attracted too much unwanted attention onto herself, so it's better to get on with her task at hoof.

Inside the library, there were only two ponies. A young-looking unicorn, probably still a teenager who was the librarian, seeing as she was sitting by the counter and an old earth pony scouring through the many books, she had set on a table she was occupying. “Ok, Father Grigori said the ancient book I'm looking for is in the back of the library. So, it should be... this way.” She walked through the many aisles of the library before stumbling on a back room. There was a door labeled “Ancient Books. Staff only.” Twilight looked behind her to make sure no pony was observing her. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she used her magic to unlock the door and snuck in.

Since there were no windows inside the room, it was dark in there. Thankfully, there was one lantern resting on a wall to the left of the door she had gone through. Using a match, she lighted the lantern and closed the door behind her. “That must be the book we’re looking for. Look, it has the crest of the sun on it.” Bane materialised once more, but this time, his words were helpful.

“I suppose so... It does look very worn down though. I hope it's still readable.” She flipped through the pages quickly and was relieved to find that, although the book was damaged on the outside, the pages themselves were still in good shape.
“Hey, what are you doing in here? This room is for employees only!” Twilight jumped in surprise; the young unicorn had indeed noticed she was in an area she wasn’t supposed to be in. Twilight had to convince her to leave with this book, as it was her only salvation.

“I’m sorry if I went in there, but you see; I really, really need this book! Uh, F-Father Grigori asked me to get it for him.” The young librarian seemed to hesitate on what to do, seeing as she was slightly disturbed by the bandage covering Twilight’s right eye.

“I can’t allow you to get out with that book still intact. It must be exterminated, alongside that pesky little brat.” Twilight’s heart stopped when she heard that dreadful voice once more. A calm and collected raspy voice that belonged to no one but the beast inside her soul. It had fully materialised inside the back room and slammed the door shut before the librarian could even react.

“Wait Wha- Who... What are you?!” screamed the librarian in terror as she saw the giant figure looming above her. The demon was towering over every pony in the room. A giant ape with messy brown fur, beige skin, a military hat on and a red tie with the initials “DK” written on it. Its teeth were sharp and massive and its eyes were a bloody crimson red with blood dripping from them. It stared at Twilight with a gaze that pierced her very soul. The other unicorn backed off and huddled onto the nearest wall, her mouth wide open in horror.

“This is it, just like I told... Our inevitable death is coming. We can do no more than to embrace it.” said Bane in a desperate voice. The demon turned its attention to the librarian, and it slowly approached. Black smoke began to form around the demon’s left hand, turning into an explosive device.

“N-No! Back off! S-S-Stay away from me!” The unicorn kept on screaming in fear, her eyes tearing up in the process, as the beast grabbed her by the head and stabbed her with the explosive device, getting it stuck inside her abdomen. It threw her on the ground, right next to Twilight. She yelped in fear, and took a step back from the injured librarian, who looked at her with tearful eyes. In her face was a look that screamed only one thing; “Help me”. The beast pulled out a detonator in his right hand.
“She has seen me, and I can’t allow that to happen. I must kill everyone who learns of my existence, so that I may live an easy life, devouring the flesh of all ponies in Equestria.” stated the demon in a matter-of-fact voice. Feeling completely powerless, Twilight had to help the poor unicorn bleeding on the floor.

“Please! Don’t do this! I am all you want, so leave her alone!” The beast squatted down, sitting on the floor like a perched owl.

“I already stated my intentions; I’m not going to go back on my decision.” The bleeding unicorn spat more blood on the floor, crying in pain as the metal lodged in her abdomen was putting her in a state of agony.

“No... Don’t do this. I... I have, my parents and my siblings waiting for me at home... They need the money I make in order to eat.” she said in a broken, tearful voice. Bane spoke once more to Twilight, this time sounding terrified and agitated.

“This is it! This is the end of the line! We’re next, forget about her and save your skin you fool! We must get out of here! RUN!” The demon looked one final time in the eyes of the injured unicorn.

“Oh, where are my manners. All this time and I still haven’t properly presented myself. My name... is Devil Kong. Endure the pain.” He pressed on the button, activating the detonator.

“N-No! Save m-” the young librarian couldn’t finish her sentence as the bomb exploded in her chest, melting her entire body into a pile of boiling blood on the floor. Twilight watched the scene in horror, unable to take her eyes away from the gruesome remains of the unicorn. She was now breathing heavily and shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes were now starting to tear up as she fell on her back, unable to move her body anymore due to the paralysing fear and sorrow she was now feeling. Devil Kong approached her slowly, his expression still completely detached from any emotion. He reached a hand filled with deadly claws out to the ancient book now lying on the ground, wanting to destroy it.

Suddenly, the door busted open, and Father Grigori came in with a weapon Twilight had never seen a pony wield; a lever-action rifle that was floating in the air thanks to his magic.

“Draw for the sword, and sheath it in those who afflict me, say to my soul, I am thy salvation!” He fired a shot, hitting the demon right in the eye. It groaned in pain and turned into black smoke. The smoke entered Twilight’s body, leaving behind no trace of Devil Kong. The priest ran up to a broken, shaking and crying Twilight Sparkle lying pitifully on the wooden floor. “Come quickly sister. We must return to the safety of the church before darkness takes over you.” She vomited on the floor and this time, there was blood in her vomit. Her legs were getting far too weak for her to stand on her own. Her eyes, far too heavy for her to keep them open. Thus, she fell into unconsciousness...

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, she was back at the church. She was shocked to see that it was now dark outside already. For how long as she been unconscious? Her entire body was aching, so getting up from the bed she was laying on was an arduous task. Not wasting any time, she left this room and returned to the entrance of the church, where Father Grigori was waiting for her with. He had his lever-action rifle on him alongside a filled-up bag. “Ah, you have awakened yet again sister. It is good to see you are still among us. Come, we must go now before it is too late.” Twilight simply nodded and followed the priest out of the church. They were walking through the dark streets of Ponyholm and noticed that every pony in sight was actively avoiding her, taking a few step backs whenever the duo got close to them.

“Are they... aware of what’s going on?” Grigori briefly looked at her.

“Not entirely. They are suspecting you of having something to do with the murder of that young unicorn. Do not worry, I’ve defended your innocence in the matter, so they shouldn’t think of you... hehe, as the culprit.” The two eventually arrived at a road that led outside the small town. The priest stopped trotting and turned to face Twilight. “Follow me on this trail sister and thread lightly... for these are hallowed grounds.”

The road was dark, only lighted up by lanterns placed on nearby trees. It was in the middle of two small hills forming a crevasse where they were currently walking in. They eventually reached a broken fence with a wooden pole placed on it, forming a slope to pass over the fence. “After me, sister.” said Father Grigori shortly before jumping down the slope, reaching the other side of the fence. Twilight followed soon after, and she could now see where they were heading. Just ahead of the fence was a graveyard.

“We... are going to banish this demon in a... graveyard?”

“Of course, the church may inhibit the demon’s strength, but the beast can only be banished in hallowed grounds such as this one. That is why I’ve chosen this place.” Without further ado, the old priest walked towards the graveyard, oddly calm about the whole thing. Then again, he had fought his way out of a zombie infested city all by himself, nothing really fazes him anymore. Twilight suddenly felt her strength coming back to her, she was relieved at first but then remembered the implications of this sudden change.

“Devil Kong has left my body! He’s here!” she shouted. Father Grigori noticed Devil Kong standing on the far end of the graveyard, glaring at him with malicious intents. Once it noticed that the two ponies have spotted it, it shouted in an ancient demonic language. Lightning stroke at the exact moment he finished its incantation. The corpses of all the deceased in the graveyard came back to life as the two unicorns heard the undead moaning in the dead of night. Father Grigori looked at the zombies with a sad expression before loading his rifle.

“I remember your true face.” He began firing at the zombies as they rose from the ground while Twilight used her magic to launch rocks with great accuracy at their heads. “We must push forth! The crypt is where we must go in order to perform the ritual sister!” The priest began to run through the graveyard, still firing at any living corpses getting near him while Twilight followed closely behind. Down in the distance, Devil Kong realised that the zombies were not going to be enough to stop them.

“I should still save my strength for the time comes to face the one true danger in Equestria; Drag the paladin. I should throw in something more to stop them. Oh, I know... my little homing bomb, Heat Seeker.” the bomb jumped off his hand and began to roll on the ground, navigating around the metal fences of the graveyard in direction of the duo.

Twilight and Father Grigori were too busy battling and running by the zombies to notice a small bomb rolling around the fences, getting closer to them. Suddenly, they both heard a new voice breaking the monotony of the zombie's moans. “Look over there!” Twilight spotted the bomb jumping right at her. In her panic, she summoned a magical shield to protect herself. The bomb exploded, scorching all the zombies around her and knocking Father Grigori on a nearby fence. When she came back to her senses, she saw the priest being overwhelmed by many zombies. He was using his gun to hold the monsters back as they were desperately trying to bite him.

“I require your assistance sister!” Twilight Sparkle got back on her hooves and with her magic, she lifted a gravestone and threw it at the many zombies pinning down the priest. The throw killed all except for one who was still trying to snack on Grigori, but he wasn’t having any of it now. He grabbed the corpses head with his hooves and pulled his head back before stabbing the zombie in the eye with his horn, piercing its skull. It dropped dead on the ground as the old unicorn got up and wiped the blood off his face. “Rest now brothers and sisters. You will be disturbed no more...” After fighting their way through the undead horde, they reached the crypt, but so did the demon. Behind the duo was a metal gate that led to the nearby mines.

“I cannot allow you to reach that crypt, I still have so much to do here.” spoke Devil Kong in a voice that still showed no sign of aggression. He looked behind him at the crypt, and with one swift motion, he elbowed the stone door in pieces. A horde of zombies were heard slowly shambling up the stairs of the crypt. “I believe I’ve also woken up the dead in this crypt. They will overwhelm you before you can perform the ritual. Come back to me Heat Seeker.” The bomb seen earlier came back in the demon’s hand.

“No way are we just going to turn back! We are going to fight our way through the crypt no matter how many hurdles you send our way!” shouted Twilight in opposition.

“With that weak body of yours? I don’t think so.” The beast turned into black smoke once more and returned inside Twilight’s body. She instantly felt much weaker than before and fell on her knees, struggling to stand up. Father Grigori looked at the weakened unicorn before him and back at the crypt, before making his final decision.

“You are in no shape to fight through this horde. Without the strength to use your magic, you must flee through the mines!”
“But... how am I going to banish-” Before she could finish her sentence, Father Grigori ran up to the wheel controlling the gate and began to turn it with all his strength while the zombies were just now coming out of the crypt.

“Hurry while I hold the gate!” Twilight was torn between staying with Grigori so to not leave him by himself to deal with the zombies or to go through the gate. The zombies were getting dangerously close to the priest and faced with no other choice; Twilight passed the gate leading to the mines. Father Grigori finally let go of the wheel and the gate fell on the floor, now separating the two unicorns. The priest ran up to the gate to bid farewell to Twilight.

“Farewell sister! I fear I deliver you to a darker place. May the light of lights illuminate your path. Look to your own, salvation. Hehe.” The priest began to laugh maniacally as he ran back to the crypt and shot some nearby gas tanks, causing the entire infrastructure to go up in flames. He then started shooting the zombies coming from him and he pushed through the flames to go deep into the crypt as his laughter could still be heard even from outside. Eventually, the echoes of his laugh began to die out as he got further and further down the long stairs.

Now Twilight was all alone again, with nothing but a small group of zombies sticking their hands through the gaps in the gate, trying to get a hold of the unicorn. Bane materialised once more to express her thoughts. “It’s over this time. Just like I said, we will not succeed in banishing the demon. This... is our fate.”

Balgo was sneaking out of the castle, making sure to not be noticed by anybody around. He was carrying Golden Plate in his hands, looking go out on a walk with her.

“Hey Balgo. You, uh, going out on a walk again?” Balgo froze for a moment, thankfully it was Aruba who spotted him. He was the only one who won’t be questioning him too much if he just waltzed out the castle with a baby filly in hand.

“Why yes! I’m also taking Golden Plate with me, for some... sightseeing. Of course, the future empress must be familiar with the land she will one day rule.” Aruba took a smoke from his pipe with a pleased expression.

“Oh nice, you’re always thinking ahead of everybody else I see. You know, I was also about to do the same thing. By that I meant sneaking out the castle to just explore this new world. Eh d-don't worry about management and stuff; I told Kryser he was in charge whenever we were both gone.” Balgo caressed the filly in his hand as she giggled and grabbed one of his fingers, trying to put it in her mouth.

“Why that’s very good. Well, without further ado, let’s go out and have some fun.”

Stumbling through the mines, Twilight was barely able to keep herself standing while she was moving around. The entire earth below her hooves felt it was spinning at a rapid rate. Father Grigori’s last words still resonated within her.
“Farewell sister! I fear I deliver you to a darker place. May the light of lights illuminate your path. Look to your own, salvation.”

She was now hearing Devil Kong’s voice whispering dark thoughts, now accompanied by Bane’s whining. “All I want is an easy and peaceful life far away from the darkness of the Abyss. Far away from the other pesky, pathetic demons that are constantly disturbing me. You know of my powers and identity; therefore, I cannot allow to call your friends from help.” The unicorn was getting tired, very tired. She eventually stumbled upon a small body of water in the mine and approached it to take a look at her reflection. It became so hard for her to stand still that she was now collapsed on the cold floor of the mines. She crawled closer and took a good look at the water. Twilight could no longer see herself in her reflection, only Bane.

“Now, you know what’s it like to give into despair.” spoke her reflection. Now, she couldn’t keep her head straightened, causing it to fall on the floor. She was now trying her hardest to stay awake, for she knew what would happen if she ever passes out again. The demon spoke out to her once more in his usual calm and patient voice.

“No, no, no, no. It’s useless to resist any longer, for you’ve reached your limit. It’s better if you make this quick and just find acceptance in your current predicament.” The unicorn’s eyes felt heavy, so... heavy. Her eyes were slowly closing despite her resistance. The last she saw was Bane standing in front of her with a saddened look in her eyes.

“Hey hold on you! You went to the graveyard with Father Grigori; where is he? Shouldn’t he be with you?” questioned a stallion. Lots of ponies saw Twilight walking alongside Grigori to the old graveyard. It was weird indeed to see her return alone.

“He... lost his life back there. The demon summoned a horde of zombies and they overwhelmed the both of us. He sacrificed his life to help me escape!” The townsfolk were shocked to hear the news. Some of them avoided any eye contact with Twilight, overwhelmed with emotions while others busted into tears upon hearing the bad news. The stallion before her finally looked back at her to give his response.

“Oh... I see. D-Don't worry, we won’t blame you for what happened. You’re also a victim in this tragedy after all. Just know that you’re still free to stay here if you want to.”

“T-Thank you. I’ll return to my room now. I just... need a moment to myself.”

Back at her room, the first thing she did was go up to the bathroom’s mirror to check on her right eye. She was surprised to see it was normal again. She rubbed her eyes just to be sure she wasn’t hallucinating, but sure enough; there was no hint of evil in her eye anymore. Happy by this discovery, Twilight opted to go out for a walk. The Sun was rising after all, better admire the beauty that the dawn has to offer instead of wallowing herself in guilt. On her walk, she saw a rich stallion in town that reminded her a lot of Filthy Rich. This damn rascal that was always looking for ways to screw over every pony he came across in Ponyville. This rich fellow looked to be no different in attitude from Filthy Rich. He was acting all high and mighty before the other habitants of Ponyholm. Most ponies in this town were poor, so seeing him being such a jerk about it rubbed the unicorn the wrong way. Twilight suddenly got an idea; it would be quite fun to pull a mean prank on this rich stallion, so that he may learn an important lesson in respect.

“Heya there! You look like quite the rich stallion. Let me introduce myself; I am Twilight Sparkle, a merchant who recently traveled here. I was just wondering if... you were interested in my wares?” The rich stallion looked at her with dismay.
“Twilight Sparkle? Oh yeah, the newcomer who came in town, possessed by a demon and got Father Grigori killed. As if I’d want to stay anywhere near such a pathetic excuse of an outsider such as you!” He turned his back on Twilight and began to trot away.

“Just so you know, I have a friend who is especially good at finding rare jewels. I brought some of them along my travel to Ponyholm. If you’re ever interested in rare jewels, you know where to look.” The aristocratic stallion stopped immediately upon hearing the mention of jewels. He looked back with intrigued plastered all over his face.

“You’re serious about this? You really have... jewels?”

“Oh yes indeed! I’ve left them all at the inn. If you want to, I can take you there so you can purchase them!”

“Fantastic! Take me there immediately!” Twilight nodded and gestured at him to follow her.

After a short walk, they have arrived at Twilight’s room. The rich stallion looked around the room, growing more and more impatient.

“Alright, we’re here. Now, show me these jewels you told me about. I’ll buy them at a reasonable price. After all, I'm the only one around here who’s got the bits to buy such luxury. I want to show them all just how mighty I really am!”
“Don’t worry, I got them right... here.” Before the stallion could even react, Twilight bucked him with an unusual amount of force behind her kick. Strength that only an earth pony could have...

He eventually came back to his sense's moments later, he noticed that he was laying on the floor of the unicorn’s room. His nose was broken due to the impact of the kick. He looked up, his vision still blurry, and saw Twilight looming above him, only she looked somewhat different now. Her eyes were pitch black and bleeding, and her mouth was now filled with jagged teeth.

“Wh-What are in the hay are you?”

“Dear goodness you sound so damn insufferable. I’m going to be so much happier with a full stomach.” She lunged at the stallion’s throat, her teeth piercing his neck and in less than a second, she tore out his jugular. He didn’t even have the time to scream or feel any pain, for it all happened so fast. “This... is the taste of Heaven. I’d give anything to stay out of the Abyss for all of eternity. To me, this place is like Paradise... I must have more... More.”

“Woe is me! How much longer do we have to walk through these dirty roads.” Rarity was getting tired of walking through the long roads leading to Canterlot during this chilly night. Drag was more patient than her, but she sure as hell was getting on his nerves at times.

“Until we find Twilight. So, I can’t really give you an approximation. A few days have already passed since the Scaler’s takeover of Canterlot. So, she must be close to Ponyville, hopefully.”

“I hope she’s doing fine without any of us to help her. It’s getting more and more dangerous outside of towns, even more with these horrible Scalers who know nothing about fashion.”

“You do realise the same can be said about ponies, right? Both of you are barely wearing any clothing at all and the only times you do is for special occasions. In a way, you’re not that different from them when it comes to fashion.”

“Perhaps... but you don’t see them making fancy dresses now do you?”

“But they do have fancy suits, at least Balgo seems to be the only one properly dressed. You know, it’s quite weird being the only one in all of Equestria to wear clothes all the time.”

“Well, you don’t see our... private areas dangling, now do you?”

“Fair point.” The Tauren’s face illuminated when he spotted something not too far away from the road. “Hey, I see a town over there! Let’s give it a look.” The duo has just arrived at Ponyholm, although the atmosphere has changed dramatically over the course of just a few days. There was a feeling of oppression enveloping it thoroughly. All the ponies inside were constantly looking over their shoulder nervously. It was as if it was dangerous to even step foot outside.

“Oh dear, what is going on in this town? I’ve never seen ponies so worried before in my whole life!”

“Something’s wrong, I can feel it. And so does the Light; it is expressing its discontent with this town. We must investigate what’s underneath the seams.”

“I’m with you. Chances are that we’ll probably find Twilight in here.” Drag looked around him briefly before setting his gaze back on Rarity.

“We should split up and ask the locals around. Then, we’ll meet up at the church to discuss what we’ve learned.” Without further ado, the paladin began his investigation as Rarity looked at the church curiously. It was quite big and beautiful compared to the rest of the buildings. However, the villagers gathered mournfully before the church and said their quiet prayers before going on with their day. The unicorn walked up to one of the villagers as she was just leaving.

“Excuse me miss, I have a few questions for you.” The old pony looked at her with a lot of dismay.

“Go away, we don’t like outsiders in here. Ever since an outsider got Father Grigori killed, there has been nothing but trouble in Ponyholm.” She turned her entire body to face Rarity, which surprised the unicorn. “You are not welcome here, leave.” Rarity was taken aback by the old pony’s aggressive response.

“Well, uh. You know, if you answer my question. I could maybe help you with this whole outsider situation, he he.” The old earth pony stared at her for what felt like an eternity before finally agreeing to cooperate.

“Fine, the outsider is a purple unicorn. Do you know her perhaps?”

“Why yes darling! My friend and I are looking for her, do you know where she is?” The old pony scoffed.

“Heh, your friend is one hay of a weirdo. Every pony in this town is freaked out by her odd behavior... We blame her for bringing more misery to this already miserable town.”

“Wh-What? That doesn’t quite sound like my friend, Twilight.”

“I don’t know what else to tell you but hey, she’s still in Ponyholm. Keep on looking and you’ll see for yourself, but I advise you to stay far away from her. Ponies have gone missing around lately.” On that note, the old pony left, leaving Rarity speechless. Could Twilight truly be responsible for the town’s misery? No, that doesn’t sound like Twilight at all.

“Really? A purple unicorn is who you believe to be the culprit behind all your troubles?” Drag refused to believe the young filly's words. If Twilight truly was responsible for all the missing ponies in Ponyholm, then that could only mean that Devil Kong was right; he’ll come back one day to kill them both. “Do you know where she is? If you tell me, I can promise you that I will free you from the evils haunting your town, little filly.” The filly looked very nervous, seeing as she never truly saw a Tauren in person, the paladin’s size was very intimidating for her.

“I t-think I saw her enter the library... sir.” Drag looked at the library; it wasn’t all that far from his current location.

“I see... Thank you for your help.”

Finally, she regained control of her body. But she knew that it happened on purpose, for the demon was far stronger than her. The reason why he even allowed her was not important, all she felt was immense guilt. So many ponies went missing, but unbeknownst to the townsfolks; the missing ponies are all dead, she killed them. As long as she would continue to live, Devil Kong would just use her as a vessel to lure in unsuspecting victim to devour them. Twilight Sparkle now had a tired look on her face, contrasted by her mane which was still maintained nicely to keep up appearances. With the little time she was allowed, she knew what she had to do. “I can’t live with this guilt... I must do what’s right, even if it will hurt those around me...”

She looked around the empty library. It was empty ever since the death of the young pony a few days ago as the town itself became deathly afraid of this place. It was also very dark in there, the lights present in the building have died down, leaving the whole place in darkness. She went over to the librarian’s desk, and started searching the drawers. She fumbled through the various items in the drawer until she finally came across a pen, a sharp, pointy pen. She used her magic to lift the pen and oriented it towards her. “I’m... done being your vessel!” The pen flew straight into her throat, piercing it. The pain it caused was horrible. She was choking on her own blood while spitting more out. However, she still wouldn’t die. Any pony would have already died by now, but she was still standing in agony. Suddenly, a shadowy formed behind her and ripped the pen out her throat. She fell on the floor, clutching her bleeding neck with her hooves, writhing in pain. The demon busted out laughing, finding much amusement in her failed attempt at taking her own life.

“Still don’t get it? My powers are leaking in your body, that is why your legs have healed in a matter of hours. As long as you have some use to me, I won’t let you die.” Twilight was finally able to breathe again as the wound she had inflicted upon herself had already closed. She understood now; Devil Kong only wanted to watch her fail her attempted suicide. He relished in being the architect of her misery. A sound suddenly caught her attention; the door to the library creaking as it opened. Entering the darkness of the library was Drag himself. The simple sight of the Tauren sparked hope in Twilight Sparkle, who stood up from her feeble position to greet her friend. But her heart stopped when she realised that she was no longer in control of her body once again. She was now slowly trotting over to the paladin who took notice of her.
“Twilight, is that you?” He said in a hesitant voice. Once she finally got close enough for the moonlight to light up her body, the Tauren’s expression shifted to joy. “By the Light! It really is you!” Drag knelt down and hugged the purple unicorn. Twilight looked happy on the outside, but in reality, she was terrified.

“This is not me! I can’t control myself! Please, be careful Drag!” Twilight suddenly felt herself regaining control of her body. She looked up only to see Devil Kong standing behind the Tauren with a sword in hand. “Drag! Look out!” The paladin didn’t have enough time to react to the sword being quickly plunged through his chest. He spat out blood as he looked at the blade in surprise and just as quickly, the sword was removed just as a strong, muscular foot took a hold of his head and smashed onto the floor.

“Damn it, I should have seen this coming.” said Drag as he turned his head around to look at the demon who was now preparing to deliver the killing blow.

“And to think it was that easy to kill you...” Just as he was about to plunge his sword into the Tauren’s head. Twilight leaped onto Devil Kong and stabbed him in the guts with her horn. “Too weak!” The impact however, caused the demon’s foot to lose its grasp on Drag and he immediately hit Devil Kong with a strong backhand, launching his opponent out of the library.
The beast landed on the muddy ground of Ponyholm. It was now raining heavily outside and every pony in town had locked themselves in their houses, for lightning was accompanying the hard rain slowly flooding the town. Drag and Twilight got outside just as Devil Kong got back on his feet. The paladin healed the massive wound on his chest before taking out his holy great sword. The beast looked furiously at the duo. “Urgh, Come here!”

The demon pounced on the Tauren, but he reacted quickly by slashing his sword upward, cutting off the beast’s hand. Angered, Devil Kong retaliated by uppercutting Drag through the library’s roof. Ignoring Twilight’s presence, he jumped on the roof to keep the pressure on his opponent. Landing just before Drag, he was stopped by the roof beneath him suddenly collapsing due to the purple unicorn’s magic. He got back up relatively quickly and took a small look at its hand, who just finished regenerating, and looked at the hole on the ceiling, expecting another assault from the duo, but nothing happened.

“They’re waiting for me to make a move. I see they’ve learned from their previous mistake. Heat Seeker! Seek the paladin! Seek the unicorn, and blow them to smithereens!” The magical bomb flew from his hand and went into the hole. Outside, Twilight and Drag were waiting to see what the demon’s next move will be.

“We need to play it safe this time. We don’t stand a chance against him on our own, so we’ll have to make the most of each other's abilities to overcome the demon.” said the Tauren. Amidst the darkness of the rainy night, Twilight noticed something flying out of the hole on the roof.

“Something’s coming out of the roof! It’s a homing bomb!”

“As to be expected...” Drag used his judgement ability to strike the bomb down with holy magic, causing it to blow up in a fiery explosion. However, while the two were distracted by the explosion, Devil Kong had turned into a dark mist and he flew out the library, picking up the Tauren in the process before smashing him into the ground, creating a small crater in the process. He then regained his physical form, appearing behind Twilight and back handing her into a nearby house. Before she could come out of her staggered state, the demon closed the gap, being mere inches away from her and materialised a revolver made from dark magic.

“Goodness gracious! What is this monster?!” Twilight saw Rarity on her right, having just arrived on the scene.

“Rarity! That’s a demon! Stay away from it!”

“Hu Hu Ha Ha!” Devil Kong turned his gun to point at Rarity, but just before he could fire, he was rammed into by Drag. The Tauren then followed up with multiple strong punches delivered to the beast’s face and ended his combo by grappling its head and hitting it with his knee.

“Oh my, Twilight! We’ve been looking for you for quite some time now. Am I glad to see you’re still holding up well by yourself.”

“Well... I wasn’t doing so well without you, especially with Devil Kong stalking me at every turn.” The entire house behind them suddenly crumbled due to the continuing battle between Drag and Devil Kong. The house’s owner screamed in fear as he saw the demon mere inches away from him and ran away quickly. The paladin was put into a very bad position as the demon opened its gaping maw, ready to bite down on his face as it pushed onto the Tauren’s sword, making him slowly lose his balance. The demon roared in rage as it was slowly getting closer to delivering the fatal blow.

“I need some help over here!” Twilight looked at her surroundings, laying her eyes on the pieces of broken wood on the ground.

“Rarity! See these sharp debris on the floor? We’ll use our magic to throw them at Devil Kong’s eyes. Got it?”

“Y-Yes! I won’t miss my shot this time.” Using their magic, the two unicorns each lifted the sharp debris off the ground and took aim. In a split second, the debris hit Devil Kong right in his eyes, blinding him.

“Ruargh! Damn you cowards!” Having finally regained his balance, Drag repositioned himself and slashed the demon across the chest, nearly cutting it in half. It fell on the floor, writhing in pain as it took the debris off his eye. The paladin lifted his sword once more to deliver the killing blow, but hesitated for a moment once the monster began to laugh. “Ha Ha Ha! Do you really think I haven’t prepared an emergency plan in case I would be losing? Once I hit the point of despair, my new ability will activate on its own.” Drag took a step back in fear of what was going to happen.

“A... And what is that new ability you speak of?” said a nervous looking Rarity.

“I’ve hit the point of despair! Time to make my getaway!” Devil Kong’s legs began to inflate much to the surprise of the trio. They kept on inflating until they’ve reached their limit, and exploded into a shower of blood, coating the trio in the demon’s bloodied bits. The resulting explosion launched Devil Kong far into the sky, effectively pulling him out of the battle entirely.

“What the hell was that?” responded Drag, horribly confused at that bizarre ending.

Drag, Twilight and Rarity were sitting, their backs leaned against the walls of the broken library. They were sitting in silence, far too exhausted by the difficult day they had just endured. Twilight was the one to finally break the silence.

“Boy am I glad to see you two again. I just can’t wait to finally return to Ponyville, I suppose the others must be pretty worried about me too.”

“Oh darling, you have no idea just how much we’re worried about you. Your message didn’t really help to ease her worries.” responded Rarity.

“I’m happier to see that you’ve still kept your spirit. I was worried you would have lost all hope after seeing that Celestia... yeah, you know where I'm going with this.” Twilight expression shifted to sadness as she avoided the gaze of her friends. Rarity looked at her with pity.

“Honestly, I don’t even know how I was still able to carry on. I’m surely just clinging on to the false hope that Balgo will return her soul if we can fulfill his wish. I just... don’t know what I'll do without her.” Twilight’s voice was hitching more and more as she went on.

“I know that feeling all too well. I was also unfortunate enough myself to see my whole life crumble before my very eyes and yet... here I stand, talking to unicorns and fighting gorilla demons. Just like you, I didn’t know what I was clinging on to, why I was still fighting for my life even though I had nothing to lose. But recently, I believe I may have finally found new purpose in being a guardian of sort... to the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight looked at the paladin with curiosity.

“Hey... you never told us much about your life before arriving in Equestria. Do you mind... telling us what happened?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“I also want to hear your story. You’ve always worried me when you’d just show up some days looking, uninterested in absolutely everything.” added Rarity. Drag looked very unwilling to share his story, but eventually caved, mostly because of Twilight’s grief.

“I... used to have a wife before in Mulgore. We had a nice shop in Thunderbluff, nothing special but it was very comfortable in there and business was good. Back then, I used to be just a warrior, not a paladin. I joined the Horde’s fight against the Alliance. Then, I helped out with the invasion of the Burning Legion in Azeroth. I was thus far away from my home... Everything went downhill after the threat of the Burning Legion was taken care of. Sailors arrived in multiple major cities in Azeroth including Orgrimmar. Unbeknownst to everybody back then, the food they were selling were infected with the plague. Those infected showed no symptoms for the first few days, allowing them to unknowingly infect many other with the plague before they caught on to the danger, but at that point it was too late. The infected have turned into mindless flesh-eating zombies, slaughtering those unprepared to fight the incoming horde. The plague had sadly reached Thunderbluff at that point and my wife... was one of the many casualties during the outbreak. Thankfully, we managed to put an end to the infection by creating a cure to save those who had not yet turned. Once I arrived at my home, I realised I had nothing left anymore...” His voice hitched, but he carried on sternly.

“I joined the Horde and the Alliance’s battle against the culprit behind this outbreak; the Lich King. After may months of battling through the cold lands of Northrend, we finally sieged the citadel of Icecrown, where the Lich King was waiting. With the help of the paladin Tirion Fordring, we slayed the Lich King and thus, my vengeance was over...”
“Afterwards, you chose to become a paladin. Was it so that you could find peace within yourself as well as being out of honour for this Tirion?” asked Twilight, still shocked by her friend’s story. Rarity leaned in closer in curiosity.
“Right on the mark. It didn’t really help that much all things considered. But hey, at least I feel better today than I did back when I finally defeated the Lich King alongside my comrades. And I can safely say... It’s all thanks to you Twilight.”

Author's Note

That was the longest chapter by far. What made even worse was that I wasn't satisfied with the original version of this chapter, so I deleted like 60% of it to basically redo it. I don't think that will happen for any of the other chapters, so they shouldn't take as long to be released hopefully... Also I did add some art to this one. I'm still trying to improve the quality of my art since I've only just started drawing back in August. So, don't expect every chapter from now on to include art.

Act 2 : Meanwhile, in Ponyville

Looking to get some relaxation from all the terrible new brought by the war, Fluttershy returned to her cottage, hoping that spending some time with her animals will calm her down. She stayed in her backyard, tending to her animal’s needs for this made her feel calmer and less on edge. She still had the horrible images of the Scaler coming down her chimney and of the stallion whose head was crushed right before her very eyes haunting her. She suddenly heard birds singing from the woods nearby and this piqued her interest. The Pegasus saw a nice opportunity to clear her mind from all its worries so, she started singing too to catch the birds attention. They sang back, inviting her to come to the woods to meet them. She kept on singing to locate their current position, eventually making her way to a small clearing with a pond in the middle. As she arrived, she squealed in surprise once she saw an armored Scaler sitting by the pond looking down at the water. The reptile flinched and turned around; his hands were clutching his sword. He stared at the Pegasus for what seemed like an eternity before returning to his initial posture, seemingly not caring about her presence at all. Fluttershy was now intrigued by this strange behaviour. Last time she saw this Scaler, he was fighting Pink in a brutal duel that nearly got her friend killed. Now, he was sitting peacefully in the forest, staring at his own reflection, meditating quietly as if he never partook in this war.

“Oh, um... the forest is quite beautiful... isn’t it? I-I often come here to relax after a stressful day, as often as they come.”
sheepishly said the Pegasus. The swordsman didn’t respond for a moment, causing Fluttershy to feel even more nervous.
“Yeah... It’s a wonderful place. Don’t you agree?” Her nervosity left quickly afterwards. It was now clear that this Scaler harbored no aggression whatsoever, just like Mugen. Fluttershy hesitated to say what was on her mind for a moment, but she was far too curious to let that chance slide.

“W-why were you fighting us back at the battle in Canterlot? You don’t look willing to fight me at all even though I'm supposed to be your enemy.”

“...” Smithy hesitated to answer. He looked away from the Pegasus for a moment, before turning back to look at her. "I was just doing as I was told. Balgo told me I needed to take down one of their strongest warriors in an honorable duel. But now... I don’t know what to do! I’m stranded from all my peers and my leader! Oh, I’m supposed to be Balgo’s bodyguard, but I don’t even know the way to Canterlot! I failed at my duty! How am I supposed to regain my peers respect after that!?” The light on Smithy’s armour began to glow red, before they turned blue again and his agitation dissipated almost instantly. “Stabilising vital signs.” said the suit.

“I know that feeling, to be all alone, separated from your friends. It really scares me to think about it. But at least, I know that they’ll never give up on me no matter what. I’m sure they must be looking for you right now.” responded the Pegasus in an attempt to comfort the agitated Scaler.

“I suppose you’re right. But I can’t just stand there, waiting for them to come find me. Everyone always looks up to me in high regard. They all think I'm this super confident warrior who never cracks under pressure, but that’s just not true! Outside of my comfort zone, I don’t know what to do in the slightest! I just pretend I do, but that can only take me so far... I just don’t think I’m cut out for this in the slightest.” Once again, the lights on his armour started to glow red, before immediately turning blue again and Smithy’s agitation dissipated in an instant. “Stabilising vital signs.”

“Well, if that makes you feel better, a Scaler just came into Ponyville and he seems rather um... eccentric.” The Scaler turned to look at Fluttershy with renewed hope.

“Eccentric? Could that be Mugen?” Smithy was now standing up, towering over the Pegasus. She flew up to match his height.

“Yes, come with me. I’ll take you to him.” said Fluttershy with a warm smile.

“I suppose that’s all I can really do for now...”

~***~

“And to think I could have bested this damn genie had it not been for this damn Balgo!” Alduin was still bitter about their loss back at Canterlot. Well, it wasn’t so much the fact that they lost the city that angered the dragon. It was more so the fact that he couldn’t devour Aruba’s soul that really got to him. Drag was quite irritated by the black dragon’s priorities. Alduin always seemed to be only on their side as an excuse to keep doing what he loves; to devour powerful souls.
“That’s really all that’s bothering you? Many people died in this fight and you don’t seem to care at all.”

“You should know better than these delusional fools Drag. You cannot truly reform everybody. Everyone here is so stuck up their own friendship worshipping arses that they believe everyone can be a good person if they just try. Heh, try telling that to the Devil himself.” The Tauren looked at Alduin dead in the eyes.

“You could at least pretend to care. Remember this you arrogant douchebag; if I see no reason to keep you around on this ‘team’, I’ll kill you.” The black dragon reared its head back in indignity.

“As if it will go down like last time. You got lucky, but it won’t be the same next time we fight.” Drag smirked at his ally’s response.

“As if I’ll fight you alone. If you go down the path of evil once more; Pink, the Elements of Harmony and the princesses will oppose you alongside me. Those odds don’t seem as favorable now do they?”

“... Tss.” Drag took his eyes off the dragon and looked off in the distance.

“I don’t understand while you’re still acting this way after all this time. I gave you a new home here, new friends, a community that has accepted you in it.” Alduin took a few steps forward to get in the way of the paladin.

“You speak as if you belong here, but we both know that’s not the case. You should know why I feel this way. This... isn’t our H O M E. We’ve lost everything and you just act like it’s not that big of a deal!”

“I’ve already lost everything before I arrived here. I was thinking about killing myself before I mysteriously got here. From my perspective, I got something in here that I’ve lost back in Azeroth. I believe you’re the one who still has yet to adapt to his new life in Equestria. As long as you can’t come to terms with your current situation, you’ll never feel whole again.” And then, there was silence between the two. They avoided any eye contact who what felt like an eternity until Alduin was willing to break the silence.

“I’m getting hungry. I’ll head off to Sugar Cube Corner.”

“So am I. Let’s go together, shall we?”

~***~

Today was a heated day at Sugar Cube Corner. Demands were high for delicious treats; the line grew so big that there were now ponies waiting outside the store. Pinkie Pie was working hard to prepare the treats on time. As she was baking some cupcakes, she realised that she couldn’t find the flour necessary to bake them. “You’re looking for this?” Pinkie jumped at the unexpected voice coming from behind. She turned around to see Mugen standing there with a bag of flour in his hands.
“Wowie! Thanks for helping me find the flour! Say, wanna help me bake some cupcakes? No, help me bake all the treats for the day!” she said as she bounced around in excitement.

“But of course! I love baking treats!” The Scaler and the pony both got together to fill in all the orders until the store almost reached its closing hour. “Man, that sure was one helluva day! Do you know what we should do once our shift is over?”

“Oh, I know! We should totally pull some pranks on people! Rainbow Dash and I love to pull pranks on people! Surely you must love to prank people!” quickly said the earth pony as she bounced all around the Scaler.

“Sounds good to me! We’ll prank everyone in this town! Let me get my gear first.” Mugen dropped on the floor, passing through the ground itself much to Pinkie Pie’s surprise. She heard lots of banging and clanking behind her. She looked back to see Mugen already back, his hands full with all sorts of extravagant objects. “Now we’re ready to prank!” The bell on the counter suddenly rang, urging both of them to check out who is ready to order.

“Oh hi there Drag and Alduin! It’s a nice day, isn’t it? I was just wondering when you’ll come down by to pay me a visit on my shift!” The Tauren gave the pink pony a warm smile as the black dragon pressed its face on the glass.

“I want the biggest treat there is on the menu.” ordered Alduin.

“And I'll just have a muffin, you can choose what flavour to offer me.” added Drag. Pinkie Pie bounced around joyfully.

“No problem! I’ll bake alongside my new friend! He’s really good at baking treats you’ll see!”

~***~

Once their shift was finally over, Mugen and Pinkie Pie were now ready to pull some pranks. First, they chose to prank Rarity with the good old bucket filled with water on top of a door trick. They placed the water filled bucket and knocked on the door before running to hide inside a nearby bush. There, they watched in amusement as the unicorn slammed the door open, only for the bucket to land on her head, dripping her in water from head to hooves. Only, the water looked yellow. Rarity screamed in horror and ran back inside her house to clean herself.

“Woops, that wasn’t the water bucket... That was the Australian piss bucket.” nervously said the Scaler.

“Why would you have a bucket full of piss?” questioned the pink pony.

“It was offered to me in a dream by a sniper, I just had to keep it.” responded Mugen, his smile growing more nervous.

“Anyway, let’s doot our way on to our next prank!” He pulled out a trumpet out of thin air and started going ballistic on it.
For their next prank, they chose to prank Applejack. This time, Mugen had a very elaborate idea. He pulled out numerous materials and started crafting something as Pinkie Pie watched on in awe. Once he finished his craft, the mare got to admire his creations. It was a bunch of fake apples made of sour treats. “Now, watch and learn. Here’s the deal; Aj will buck the tree, realise that the apples seem strange, so she’ll take a bite out of it and won’t be expecting it to be super-duper sour!”

“Wow, you’ve got some really really cool ideas for prank!” said the pink pony while vibrating literally every single atom in her body in joy. Man, she’s quite the eccentric pony. Oh, hey there! I’m usually not supposed to do anything else other than narrate, but I just really want to say something. I’m Mugen, and coffee... is just bean soup. Suck it down Balgo! Well, back to it!

So, they put their plan in motion, savoring every last bit of enjoyment out of the earth pony's reaction to the sour apples, until she ran to the bathroom.

“Oh shit, these were the laxative filled apples.”

“How do you even have all this stuff? Was it given to you in a dream too?”

“No. It was offered to me by a merchant dressed in black.”

As they got back into town, looking for who they should prank next, they stumbled across Fluttershy and Smithy who were looking for them. Every pony around town was hiding in fear of the armored Scaler. “Holy molly! Smithy, nice seeing ya again!” exclaimed Mugen excitedly.

“Thank Knoxx I’m not alone in here! Um, are you lost too perhaps?” replied Smithy with clearer hints of joy in his voice.

“Ha! Absolutely lost, I don’t even know how I got here in the first place.” Mugen turned to look at Mugen who was standing right next to the group. The two mares looked incredulously at this newcomer. “Oh, hey! Is that my mail?” said the Scaler to his clone. The latter nodded and gave a letter to Mugen before climbing into seemingly nothing, resulting in him disappearing.

“Even after knowing you for quite some time, I still remain surprised at the kind of shenanigans you do on a daily basis.” said Smithy, having gotten somewhat used to the Scaler’s strange powers. Pinkie Pie’s began to glow with excitement that Fluttershy had never seen before.

“You can clone yourself?! How do you do it? I wanna know! I wanna know!” The reptile slowly opened his largemouth in order to create more suspense at his eventual answer.

“I don’t know how; I can just do it.” Fluttershy looked at Mugen with upmost confusion.

“That only makes it more confusing.” said the Pegasus.

~***~

Earlier this morning, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, now joined by Silver Spoon, were trotting to school, disappointed by the fact that they still had to attend it despite the circumstances. “Why do we have to go to school again? I thought it would be closed since we are literally being invaded.” spoke out Scootaloo.

“Maybe because they must really value our education. After all, we have been to school while catastrophes were literally happening around us, as odd as it is to think back on it.” replied Applebloom, while rubbing her eyes. “Oh... maybe we shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night.” Silver Spoon, on the other hand, was perfectly fine.

“Ha, told you you girls shouldn’t have gone out Cutie Mark hunting this late in the night. "Added the filly. Scootaloo grumbled in irritation.

“That’s got to be the first thing I agree with you on. The result, or lack thereof speaks for itself.” Sweetie Belle preferred to stay optimistic in this matter, seeing as it was easy for them to be discouraged at their repeated failures to obtain their Cutie Mark.

“Let’s not be discouraged this easily. The Cutie Mark Crusaders will achieve victory one day, I’m sure of it!”

Unbeknownst to them, somewhere in the sky was a robot flying through the clouds. It hid behind a cloud and observed the town below. “Multiple Pegasi detected. Sending information to mainframe.”

~***~

On the outskirts of Ponyville loomed the great evil itself, Balgo... and his newly adopted baby. He was spying on the town, making sure to tell various advices to his child in the process.

“The first step to winning your wars is to know your enemy, Goldy. See what kind of technology or magical talent they have. Observe their behavior and always prepare your next move.” Although the filly didn’t listen to his advices, Balgo kept on going, already aware that she’s not understanding him. She was still brushing herself against his large fingers, trying to make herself comfortable in his hand. Doing this made him feel strangely, good. He couldn’t quite pin it down at first, until suddenly a thought came to mind. He took out a device that can produce holograms and called a group of Scalers. “Bravo Team, how’s the search going?” The Scaler on the other end responded to him, albeit with some interference due to the lack of signal in Equestria. They had to place down some portable satellites to even be able to communicate with their gadgets.

“We still haven’t found him lord Balgo. Who knows, he may have gotten out of the perimeter in an attempt to get back to Canterlot.” The emperor frowned at his last sentence in particular.

“I doubt it. Smithy knows what to do in this kind of situation, I taught him myself after all. Keep searching Bravo Team.”

“Hold on for a moment, my emperor. We have some important information to relay to you.”

~***~

Canterlot was now his responsibility, quite a lot for the commander Kryser, who never had to command such a large group. The entirety of the Scaler army was now under his command for the first time in his career. Although the task seemed daunting at first, the commander gave it his best. It was at this moment that he finally felt what the emperor and his right hand felt when they were commanding the Scalers. It was, quite exhausting indeed. Don’t eat their babies, don’t commit arson, don’t shit outside of bathrooms, it was quite difficult to get them to listen to the lawbook written by Knoxx on how to treat conquered worlds. Failure to keep any of them from breaking these sacred laws will result in the biggest punishment of all; to be judged by Knoxx, the Light himself. Kryser sat on the throne in exhaustion from all the work he had to do until he was called back in action by the buzzing of a hologram. He was surprised to see Balgo calling him directly.
“Lord Balgo!”

“Kryser, Bravo Team has reported unidentified movement coming from somewhere up north of Canterlot. We don’t know what it is but we sure as hell won’t ignore it. Tell the guards to keep an extra eye out on the north. Over.” Just like that, the emperor’s hologram shut off. Kryser stayed in silence on the throne for a moment before finally standing up.

“Well, the moment has passed. Back to work!”

~***~

The great genie Aruba was hovering around the Everfree Forest in search of something interesting to do. It was not often that he got to spend his vacation in a world outside of the one he lives in so he had to make the most of it. “Ay come on. I’m in a magical land filled with talking ponies and friendship magic. Surely, I'm going to land on something cool eventually.” He eventually stumbled upon a massive cave that caught his attention. “Hey, big caves mean big monsters or other crazy stuff. Alright let’s check it out bag myself a trophy perhaps.”

He entered the cave and wondered around before the passage got too dark. He opened his chest and pulled out a set of torches that he levitated in front of him to light up the way. “Holy shit...” In front of him was an ursa major. “That thing’s huge! Good. Let’s fight it.” He hurled one of his torches at the giant bear to wake it up. As it stood up and noticed the genie, it growled in anger and began to charge at Aruba. Just as it got close enough to him, the giant Scaler karate chopped it in the head, crushing the ursa major’s brain, killing it instantly. “Oh, fuck me. I should have dragged out the fight...”

“Wow! You took out an ursa major all by yourself! Amazing!” Aruba nearly jumped at the voice coming from behind him. He looked back only to see two young colts standing before him with admiration in their eyes.

“I once saw Twilight saving Ponyville from an ursa minor, but I never saw any pony take on an ursa major!” added the other colt.

“Uh, who the fuck are you two?” responded Aruba in confusion. The slim one spoke up.

“I am Snails, and this is Snips. We were just wondering through the Everfree Forest because we lost a bet.” The genie raised an eyebrow.

“Why are they just letting kids wonder in the woods, that seems extremely dangerous. Hold on a minute... since you’re talking to me, do you mind telling me what are Cutie Mark supposed to be?!”

“Cutie Marks are supposed to represent your special talent! You get one when you finally discover what your specialty is!” responded Snips. Aruba looked at Snails Cutie Mark for a moment and contemplated whether he should tell them what’s on his mind or not. That was until he finally gave in.

“Then... why is your Cutie Mark a snail?”

“Uh... I don’t know.” replied Snails.

“Well, it’s just that. Uh... being mentally retarted doesn’t really count as a special talent.”

~***~

Drag was standing outside of Rarity’s house, his bags filled with food and supplies for their trip to find their missing friend Twilight. He knocked on her door and awaited a response... but nothing came. Surprised, he knocked again, but louder this time as he thought the unicorn didn’t hear the first time. The door finally opened, but it wasn’t Rarity who was on the other side. It was her little sister, Sweetie Belle. “Drag? What is it?” said the little filly to the Tauren.

“I came here to see if Rarity was ready to go.” responded the paladin, going straight to the point.

“Well, you’ll just have to wait for a moment...” Drag grew more curious as he wasn’t expecting this answer
.
“Wait? Has Rarity still not packed up her stuff? I told her yesterday we were going to go on this journey. What’s taking her so long?”

“A bucket full of piss landed on her head earlier, she is taking a bath to clean it off...” awkwardly responded Sweetie Belle.

“What, the fuck?”

Author's Note

This chapter took a little longer to make. I've got a lot of exams on my schedule, which leaves me a lot more exhausted to work on this project. Thankfully, I'll have a lot more time on my hands during the Holidays.
In the mean time, enjoy this small preview of the ninth chapter : The Repurposed Factory

Act 2 : The Repurposed Factory

Rainbow Dash was soaring through the clouds around Ponyville, performing her usual routine to keep herself in good shape. While she was doing her usual loops around the town, she saw Drag, Rarity and Twilight out in the distance, not too far from Ponyville. Happy to see Twilight again, she flew down to greet them. “Twilight! You’re back! Every pony was worried sick about you!” said the Pegasus. However, now that she was close to Twilight, she could clearly see that she wasn’t doing so well. Her eyes looked very tired, and her mane was messy. The same could be said for the paladin.

“I’m happy to see you too Rainbow Dash.” responded the tired unicorn.

“Are you ok Twilight? You... don’t look so good.” Twilight was about to answer her friend’s concern, but Rarity spoke first.

“Oh no, she’s not ok! What she needs is a beauty sleep and some time to relax just like me! I have just the right place for her.” Drag wasn’t sure about Rarity’s idea.

“Are you sure now’s the time? Maybe we should just leave her in the hospital with Spike until she gets better.” Twilight interjected.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital; I'm just tired, that’s all. A good night sleep is all it will take to fix me up. Don’t worry about me.”

“All right then, I suppose I'll just let Rarity proceed with her idea. I’ll just go and do... stuff in the meantime.” With that, the paladin parted ways with the three ponies and entered the Everfree Forest, looking for a calm place to meditate. He found a nice, calm place where there was only the sound of chipping birds breaking the silence. “Good, that should hit the spot.”
thought the Tauren as he sat down on the floor and closed his eyes to meditate.

“’Well well well. If it isn’t the Tauren I beat up a couple of days ago.” Drag flinched at the sound of Balgo’s voice resonating behind him.

“Hey! What the fuck!? Can’t I just get one damn minute to myself?” The Tauren got back on hist two hooves and turned to face the Scaler, weapon drawn in hand.

“Ho ho ho, chill out. I’m just here to ask you a question.” The first thing Drag noticed was the Element of Magic placed upon Balgo’s head. Then, it was the baby the emperor was holding in his hand. He focused on both for a moment before delivering his response.

“Ugh, fine. Just make it quick?” The paladin sheathed his weapon as his entire body showed sign of disinterest.

“I’ve heard there was a “demon” roaming around Equestria. He’s going around possessing people and causing chaos, suffering and death. I just want to know if you had any knowledge on his whereabouts. Ya see... I’ve got a problem with that.” He grinned at the last sentence.

“Hate to say it, but I have no idea where he could be right now. He blew his legs up when we fought him. No idea where he’s at right now.” The Tauren stared silently at Balgo for a moment. The emperor knew what he was thinking.

“I know, it’s the baby, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is! What are you doing with a baby?!” Balgo briefly looked at Golden Plate before setting his gaze back on the Tauren.

“Pa... renting.” The Scaler turned around and walked away much to Drag’s surprise. He contemplated whether he should do something about it, but remembering how the last fight went, he begrudgingly chose not to.

~***~

Rainbow Dash watched as her two unicorn friends went on their way to fix Twilight’s worrying looks. She had no interest in following them along for this endeavor for she’d rather go back to her usual routine in the sky. Tomorrow, she will come and properly greet Twilight again, once she’ll feel better. She flew back to the clouds above and was preparing herself to resume her routine, that was, until she saw a wounded Pegasus coming down with a panicked expression. “Hey hold on sir! What’s wrong? You’re badly injured!” The Pegasus stopped his current trajectory to look at Rainbow Dash with hopeful eyes.
“Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia I was able to reach you! Listen, Cloudsdale is in trouble! Something took over the entire Rainbow Factory as well as the cloud city itself! Every pony in there is trapped and those who try to leave are hunted down by living flying machines! Some are taken to the Rainbow Factory and they are never seen again!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she had just heard. That could have been the Scalers who took over Cloudsdale, but only Pegasi can walk on clouds. And judging by his description, there are nothing but robots up there. Just what was going on in the cloud city she had grown up in?

“Don’t worry, I’ll get my friends to help out everyone in Cloudsdale! Come with me, I’ll take you to the hospital.” She flew back to Ponyville at a slower pace so the wounded Pegasus could keep up with her. Once she delivered him to the hospital, she flew around the town in search of the Guardians as well as the two Scalers around, they are certainly the ones best equipped to deal with this problem.

~***~

Then, the Pegasus arrived in front of Alduin’s cave and loudly shouted his name in it. The echoed eventually reached Alduin and he arrived, looking annoyed once he saw that it was the Element of Loyalty who came in. “Your problems interest me none, brat. Thank you, and goodbye.” He turned around and walked back into his resting place before Rainbow Dash even got the chance to explain herself. She flew up to his face to get his attention once more.

“This isn’t just my problem! It’s the entirety of Cloudsdale who's in danger!” The black dragon pulled its head back and looked at her with mild curiosity.

“What’s the danger here? It better be good enough to warrant my help.” said the dragon in a mildly interested voice.
“An army of machines supposedly took over the entire city as well as the Rainbow Factory! We’ve got to free the Pegasi trapped in there! Thas is indeed a danger good enough for you to help us! Surely you can get Drag and Pink to help me out?” The dragon sighed in exasperation.

“Fine, I’ll get them on board for this mission. But do be warned, if this mission turns out to be a waste of my time, the consequences will be greater than you can imagine. Gah! I wanted living beings, not machines, they don’t have souls.” the dragon flew out the cave in direction of his teammates down in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief; Alduin is always the hardest one to convince to help Equestria.

~***~

Sitting idly and watching as time passes by, Pink was staring at the clock inside his home in complete boredom. “Man, I really don’t have anything to do with my life other than to put it at risk? God damn! I’m seriously wasting my life right now! I’ve got to find a hobby or something before I grow too old to do anything...” He was suddenly woken up by knocking at the door so strong it broke through his front door.

“Are these damn doors are made out of cardboards or what! Everything is so weak in this puny world!” Pink immediately recognised Alduin’s shouts on the other side.

“Oh, it’s you.” He started with clear signs of disdain in his voice. “What’s it going to be this time? A full critic of my very life, or a dangerous mission that will most likely get me killed this time? Because that’s literally the only thing you say to me.”

“It's the latter. However, do keep in mind that I'm not thrilled to go on this mission either, but Drag will most likely force us in anyway.”

“Guess there’s not much choice.” The guardian picked up his helmet, his brass knuckles and his diamond shovel before leaving his home. “Maybe what I need is a Cutie Mark...”

~***~

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were trotting up to Ponyville’s cemetery. They walked past the numerous tombstones, eventually reaching those of the Rich family. Just as they expected, Silver Spoon was standing by Diamond Tiara’s grave, grieving. “Hey, Silver Spoon.” said Sweetie Belle as she approached the lonely filly. She did not respond to her but she did give her a brief glance.

“We’ve come to show our respect to Diamond Tiara.” added Applebloom.

“Yeah, we’re uh... worried about you. You act like you’re fine but we know you really aren’t. You just don’t want to appear weak before the other fillies, right?” continued Scootaloo. Silver Spoon kept on watching the grave before finally speaking up.

“Every day, I wake up and feel simply, miserable. It’s like I didn’t just lose a close friend; I also lost a part of myself. And I just feel so frustrated to be powerless before everything that is happening around us. Don’t you feel the same way?”

“Of course we do! Sometimes, I wish we were older so that we could not be as powerless as we are now. It feels like we are lucky just to still be around as of late.” responded Sweetie Belle.

“I just... want justice for Diamond Tiara. I want to find who murdered her and watch this murderer get its comeuppance.”

“Target Spotted!” The four little fillies froze in surprise at the sound of this voice that sounded like it couldn’t come from a living creature. They looked at the sky only to see a robot land on the ground right next to them. Before they could react, it grabbed Scootaloo by the neck and flew back in the sky right as Sweetie Belle jumped in a fruitless attempt to stop the robot in time.

“Scootaloo!” screamed Applebloom. Sweetie Belle got up immediately and ran back in town.

“Quickly girls! We must warn the Guardians before it’s too late!”

~***~

Drag was rapidly convinced to join the team once more to stop the new evil tormenting Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash came back, now prepared to lead the team on to the city of clouds. There was just one thing they needed for this mission. “We can’t walk on clouds since we’re not Pegasi. We’re gonna have to ask Twilight to cast that spell on us. You know the one.” said Drag to his peers.

“Yeah but, wouldn’t that cause her more stress if she finds out what’s going on in Cloudsdale? Maybe we shouldn’t let her know about this mission.” voiced out Pink in a hesitant voice. Alduin proposed a solution.

“That’s not a problem, we just have to lie to her. We tell her we just need to do a quick security check on the city above and voilà, problem solved.” Alduin couldn’t help but voice his scepticism.

“Are you sure she would even buy this pathetic excuse of a lie? Twilight always over analyses everything, she’ll catch on rather quickly that you’re lying to her face.”

“Ok then, someone will have to come up with something better if we’re to do it.”

“We should tell her bluntly. So what if she stresses out too much about this? Everybody here is a damn softie who worships friendship. Out of all these men-children, Drag, you have proven to have been the only one who can do the unspeakable should push comes to shove. You’re the only one I can safely say I respect.” said Alduin. “In the meantime, I’ll fly around town until you’ve gotten this out of the way.” The black dragon proceeded to lunge in the air and started flying around Ponyville as Drag looked on, somewhat speechless.

“That’s... the first time he admitted to liking someone since we got here. I suppose that’s progress, right?” said the paladin to his friends. Rainbow Dash, however, wasn’t so sure.

“You’re right. It only took at the very least an entire year for him to make this much progress.” sarcastically said the Pegasus.

“We’ll talk about this later! We have an entire city to save remember?!” shouted Pink. Drag and Rainbow Dash turned to look at the beauty salon. They couldn’t afford to waste any more time. It was now or never.

~***~

The team moved on to the beauty salon where Rarity and Twilight were currently resting in. They arrived just as the pair was relaxing in a spa. Rainbow Dash wanted to speak first but Drag gestured her to leave him do the talking. “Hey Twilight, are you having a good time right now?” The unicorn turned to look at the four.

“Yes, I haven’t been able to simply sit inside of a spa without worrying about anything for quite some time now.” she turned to look at her friend Rarity and smiled. “Thanks Rarity, I really needed that.” Rarity answered with a smile of her own.

“No problem, I’m always here to help you out Twilight, especially in the beauty department.” Drag took on a more affirmative position to mask any nervousness that may betray him.

“We came in for another reason in particular. You see, with all the problems the Scaler have caused, we want our towns to be as secure as possible. Problem for the three of us here is that we can’t walk on clouds, so we can’t really check out Cloudsdale for ourselves to make sure everything is fine and dandy there. So, we just need your help to cast that one spell on us, you know the one.” Twilight eyes looked away for a moment as she was trying to remember the exact spell. She then looked back at the Tauren with confusion in her eyes.

“That’s odd now that I think about it. You three never did any sort of security check-up during any of the other crisis that we faced. Is there something happening in Cloudsdale that I should be worried about?” Rainbow Dash moved forward with a joyful smile, contrasted by a worried look in her eyes.

“It’s nothing, really! I asked them myself to check-up on Cloudsdale, what with Drag’s ability to detect unholy magic and what not. I, of course failed to get Alduin to join us. You know how he is.” Twilight still appeared sceptic as to the truthfulness of Rainbow Dash’s statement, but was nonetheless willing to do it anyway.

“Oh! I remember the spell now, I’ll cast it for you right now. It’s always a pleasure to help my friends!” Once she finished casting her spell on the two Guardians, they’ve expressed their gratitude to the unicorn before leaving the two friends to continue with their relaxing day. Now, they were finally ready to go to Cloudsdale and take a closer look at the problem there. Pink took on a more confident pose as he pointed up at the sky.

“Let’s go gang! Time to pound some nuts... a-a-and bolts. Shit, that sounded awkward.”

~***~

Twilight and Rarity were now in the hair salon, getting a make-over for their hair especially since Twilight’s mane has gotten quite messy during her demonic misadventure. Both unicorns closed their eyes, fully living in the moment, not worrying about a thing. “Isn’t this just the best place ever?” said Rarity to her friend.

“Yeah, I could stay here for hours on end.” Twilight rested in her chair as her mane was being cleaned up. Slowly but surely, she started to think less and less about Balgo, the Scalers and her mentor.

“This is no time to be relaxing! We’ve avoided death’s door many times in the last few days. If we drop our guard for even a moment, we’ll face a most horrible death!” Twilight jumped at the sound of this voice she had started to dread. It was Bane! She looked to her left and saw the pitiful unicorn, mere inches away from her, staring deep into her soul. In her panic, she fell from her chair much to the surprise of every pony in the hair salon. She stared at the faker before her with wide eyes and sweat dripping down her face. “Don’t look surprised, I am a manifestation of your anxieties, your worst thought coming to life. Even I don’t know how I came to be, but one thing’s for certain. As long as you feel this way, I’ll be there.” Twilight Sparkle ran out of the hair salon in fear, bumping into the staff on her way out, leaving every pony in the hair salon confused as all hell.

Rarity looked at the pony who Twilight was staring at with a strange amount of fear. The pony in question looked horribly confused and felt guilty, as if she believed she was the cause of Twilight’s strange outburst. “Oh no, don’t worry! I don’t think... she was... uh, s-staring at you necessarily. I’ll go check-up on her to see if she’s alright.” The unicorn then ran out of the salon in search of her friend.

~***~

The team consisting of the Guardians and Rainbow Dash were now ready to go to Cloudsdale in order to save all the trapped Pegasi in there. But just before they could depart, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Silver Spoon ran up to them with fear in their eyes.

“Guys! We need your help!” Shouted Applebloom.

“What is it! Did something happen to any of you!” said Drag as he was getting agitated by the worrisome looks in the fillies faces.

“A flying machine kidnapped Scootaloo! It took her in the sky!” screamed Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash’s heart nearly skipped a beat.

“Sc-Scootaloo has been kidnapped?” She started to panic immensely, but shook her head to calm herself down. “Alright, we can’t afford to waste any time! We’ve got to save Cloudsdale and Scootaloo now!”

~***~

The team of four finally arrived near the city of Cloudsdale. Alduin and Rainbow Dash were slowing down to allow the remaining two to catch up to them as they were flying at a slower pace on a drake’s back. The problem was that there were far too many robots patrolling around the city. They could never sneak in the city and taking on such an army by themselves will most likely get them killed. “So, what do we do now?” asked Rainbow Dash. The Guardians looked at the city and its invaders for a moment, thinking about a plan that might get them inside without sounding an alarm.

“I have a great idea.” said Alduin. “I will fly in the city and cause a distraction. Ince the robots start chasing me down; you will sneak inside and go do your... thing.”

“Are you sure you can handle this entire army of robot coming after you?” said Pink, concerned about his teammate’s plan.
“Insolent swine! Do I need to remind you yet again who I am?!” shouted the black dragon, offended that no one seems to treat him with more respect.

“Okay then, go on and do it.” sheepishly replied Pink.

“Hey Alduin” said Drag to the black dragon. Alduin looked at him with a slight hint of impatience. “I’m not worried about you in the slightest, because I have faith in your abilities.” Alduin was greatly pleased at the Tauren’s comment, grinning widly in the process.

In no time, the black dragon flew up to the city, catching the attention of multiple robots in the vicinity.
“Ven Mul Riik!” He shouted in his ancient draconic tongue, creating a lot of fog in the area. He then proceeded to breath fire down on the incoming robots. “Zu’u Alduin, zok sahrot do naan ko Lein.” However, he found himself quickly overwhelmed and decided to fly away from the incoming horde, using the might of the unrelenting force shout to throw off his pursuers. The other three took advantage of Alduin’s distraction and flew into the clouds, landing on them. The fog that the dragon had summoned concealed them, allowing the trio to hide in a nearby building while the remaining patrolling robots left.

“Alright, we’re in Cloudsdale now. Anyone know where we should start looking first?” said Drag to the others.

“The Rainbow Factory should be the place where we can find the source out of all this robotic boogaloo. That’s what the injured Pegasus told me.” proposed Rainbow Dash.

“Sounds good to me, lead the way, Dash.”

The Pegasus led the two remaining Guardians to the Rainbow Factory, being careful to avoid the robots still patrolling the city. Finally, they have arrived in front of the factory, hiding behind a building. “This place is quite huge, and most likely filled to the brim with robots of all kinds. This isn’t going to be easy y’all.” affirmed the paladin.
“We’ve got to give it our best if we want to free the people of Cloudsdale. Although, I wouldn’t mind getting to wallop some of these machines! They’ve asked for a fight by taking over my hometown and trapping all the Pegasi in there!” said Dash in an energetic voice.

“Holy shit guys look! Is that Scootaloo?” loudly exclaimed Pink to the point of nearly shouting. The other two turned to look back at the factory. Their expression now showed nothing but shock and fear as they saw a robot carrying Scootaloo by the neck, going inside the factory.

“Scootaloo! What are they going to do to her in there?! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” said a panicked Rainbow Dash.

“Looks like they must be after Pegasi if they’re willing to fetch them this far from Cloudsdale. This is weird, isn’t it? Let’s not waste any time if we want to save Scootaloo. We’re going in now.” concluded the Tauren.

~***~

Twilight ran all the way back to the library where she shut herself in. She still hadn’t gotten herself rid of Bane and to make it worse; Drag was now in Cloudsdale leaving her with no one that can help her out. She started going quickly through all the books in a desperate search for one that may help. She eventually stumbled upon a book about all sorts of creatures. The unicorn took it with her magic, placing it on a table and started flipping through the pages. “Ho oh my, you really are one freaky bookworm, aren’t ya Twiley?” Twilight’s entire body froze in terror at the sound of the one voice she dreaded the most. Balgo was perched on top of the staircase, holding an unconscious Spike by his horns. “I gotta say, that’s one cute little baby dragon you’ve got there. I’ve always wanted to have a dragon for a pet, but it would most likely grow up to become quite unruly. Oh well, you can’t have it all I guess.” He hurled the baby dragon at the unicorn who thankfully caught him with her magic, gently placing him down on the floor.

“W-why are you here Balgo? What do you w-want from me this time?” said the unicorn, failing to mask her fear.

“I just came here for a very simple reason, but while we’re at it. I’ll put the fear of God in you.” He grinned as he plunged into the air, creating a portal leading to a pocket dimension. Twilight mouth dropped once she saw that it was her pocket dimension that Balgo was reaching into. He pulled out Celestia’s corpse and dropped to the floor. “What an amusing trick. It's... brillant. Hiding her body in a pocket dimension so no one would be able to see their fallen princess. How thoughtful of you girl. Unfortunately, nothing can be hidden from a God.” Just as he finished speaking, Spike started to wake up from his slumber. The unicorn took her eyes off the giant reptile to look at her assistant in concern. Realising that he’ll see Celestia’s corpse, Twilight acted quickly, using her magic to hide the corpse from Spike, wanting to spare him from this terrible truth. The baby dragon started to look around the room with his half-closed eyes.

“Oh... What’s going on... W-wait! Have I been sleeping on my duty? Oh, I'm so sorry sir! What kind of book are you looking for?” Twilight was very confused by this response, she turned to look at Balgo; he was still there, with absolutely no change in appearance. So why was Spike acting like he was just a regular pony?

“Oh, me? I’ve just been looking for a book talking about demons and possessions.” said the emperor.

“That’s... not weird at all, sir.” hesitantly replied Spike.

“Oh no! He did something to our Spike! We’ve got to do something about it!” Bane has materialised once more beside Twilight Sparkle.

“I’m sorry if this came across as weird. You see, I have my suspicions that the leader of the Scalers may be in fact, the Devil himself. I just want to know how to protect myself from him if he ever comes back to Ponyville. I just, like to make myself believe that everything will be fine and dandy in the end, even if sometimes you have to face the facts.”

“That’s understandable. Ok, I think I know where it is.” finished Spike. Twilight stared deeply into the giant standing before her with increasing anxiety.

“Why is Spike acting like this? It doesn’t make any sense?! What did he do to Spike?!” thought the unicorn much like Bane. Her entire body was on edge, waiting for the Scaler to make any funny moves. Spike went on and got the book that Balgo was looking for. The baby dragon gave the book to him, the emperor thanked him and looked back at Twilight with a smug grin.

“Confused still? Do I need to explain myself?”

“Yes! Tell me how you can make these weird things happen.” The emperor chuckled.

“Shining Armor is the captain of the Royal Guards. You knew this, right?” asked Balgo. Twilight shook her head.
“No, I completely lost contact with him ever since I left for Ponyville.”

“But of course. I entered your brother’s mind and looked at his recent memories. With this information, I was able to better impersonate him. I waited for him and his girlfriend to leave for their vacation to Manehattan. At that moment, I warped your precious Princess Celestia’s mind to make her forget about this crucial fact. Thus, she did not question why Shining was here instead of at Manehattan... Do you get it now? I can control your minds to make you perceive things differently or even to make you forget.” Balgo cackled as he got to watch Twilight’s horrified expression.

“Hmm? What’s going on here?” asked a confused Spike. It was as if he didn’t hear the exchange between Balgo and Twilight.
He was now about to leave when two unexpected guests came in the library even though the door itself was locked. Balgo’s eyes widened in surprise, then turning immediately into extreme anger. Mugen and Smithy were now standing next to the front door, staring at the stranger. It was hard for Twilight to tell what kind of emotion the two Scalers were feeling as Smithy’s face was masked completely by his helmet and Mugen face was still frozen in a permanent smile. The latter was the first to break the silence.

“We really need to stop meeting like this Balgo.”

“You are an annoying little shit who just can’t seem to stay out of my way!” yelled Balgo as his mouth twisted into a large toothless frown and his eyes turned to black. His eyes then took on a more crimson, demonic look once more. Smithy remained silent however, unsure of what to say or even what to do.

“Oh, come on. We’re just having fun here, right?” jokingly said Mugen in an innocent tone.

“I don’t find it fun when you come in out of the blue and destroy everything, I've worked so hard to build. You are nothing but a nuisance to me Mugen. But this time, you will stay out of my way.” said the giant Scaler as his entire body exploded with anger. A purple aura was coming out of him as his eye colors changed to match that of the aura. Twilight felt that Balgo was somehow much, much stronger than he was before. The emperor then calmed himself down, taking on a more neutral expression as he looked at Smithy. “Smithy, I’ve been looking for you ever since the assault on Canterlot. It's good to have you back. Now come, we have much work to do.”

“... I’m not so sure. I... don’t think we should be doing this. I-I don’t know what to choose right now...” Smithy looked down at the floor in uncertainty, his eyes were now exposing his conflicting thoughts. Balgo eyes widened at this response. He opened his mouth to say something, but much to everyone’s surprise, especially Twilight, he turned his head away from Smithy as his eyes now expressed a bit of sorrow. Twilight could see some faint movement coming from the emperor’s top hat. Was there something inside his hat? Before she got to see anything else, the giant Scaler left the library without even saying a word as the remaining occupants looked on in shock.

“Gee, he must really like you, Smithy. He never reacted this way to me at all.” said Mugen in an amused tone, the other Scaler simply responded by shrugging his shoulders. Twilight was now deep in her thoughts once more; this moment showed another side of Balgo she hadn’t seen before. If she could learn more about her adversary, she could find a way to defeat him.

“There must be a weakness in him somewhere!”

~***~

Scootaloo had passed out ever since she was taken away from her friends. When she finally regained consciousness, she could barely see anything. The young Pegasus looked around in her cell. There were multiple bodies of Pegasi on the floor. Some were eviscerated, others were decapitated and missing entire limbs. Every one of them looked to have been brutally slaughtered before being thrown in. This macabre show of violence nearly made her gag. She cuddled up in the corner of the cell far away as possible from the corpses, crying. What if the Guardians and Rainbow Dash couldn’t make it in time? Would she end up just like those unfortunate Pegasi? She was all alone, and with barely any light to illuminate her surroundings. She jumped when she started hearing large footsteps outside the cell, locked up by a large metal door that couldn’t be open from the inside. Then, there were sounds of metal creaking coming from the other sides accompanied with moans that sounded otherworldly, almost impossible for them to come from a living being.

After what felt like an eternity, the heavy metal door began to open, creaking loudly in the process. The sound was so abominable that Scootaloo had to cover her ears. Once the door was open, there was finally light that shined through the dark room and a monster reared its ugly head from the other side. A Scaler with no skin, only exposed muscles. Heavy plates of armour etched into its body as blood mixed with saliva was dripping from its mouth. It looked around the room, clearly searching for her for she was the only one alive in this gory room. Scootaloo tried to remain as motionless as possible in hopes that the abomination wouldn’t see her, but it was to no avail. It locked its dark, empty eyes onto hers and slowly made its way to her, elegantly walking by the mass of corpses on the floor.

“I adore Pegasi... I always crave for more.” said the monster as it got to Scootaloo’s position. She covered her eyes in fear and looked away from him, too scared to look at the beast in the eyes. She was in this position for quite some time now, yet nothing happened. The beast still hasn’t made its move. With much hesitation, she took a peek only to notice that the abomination was now looking above her. After a few seconds, it backed off while still keeping its gaze on something above Scootaloo before exiting the room and shutting off the heavy door in mere seconds, leaving the room in complete silence once more.

The young Pegasus was now wondering what compelled the monster to leave her be. She didn’t have much time to think before the silence was broken with quiet, painful sounding wheezing coming from mere inches behind her. She freaked out and ran away from the corner she was huddled in and turned around to see what was making the wheezing.
In the darkness of the room, she could barely make out a ghostly white figure standing in the corner of the room. It was a Scaler, only he was heavily mutilated. The right side of his cheek was torn off, revealing many sharp teeth, his torso was torn open with many ribs poking out of his skin. He was missing his entire left arm and right leg.

“Do... not fall... to the temptations. Don’t... eat the meat.” said the ghostly Scaler in a painful, whispery voice. Scootaloo was trying to understand the meaning of his words before he vanished instantly without a trace, leaving her alone once more in this dark room. She looked down at the corpses decorating the room.

“Is this... the meat he’s referring to?”

~***~

Approaching the side of the Rainbow Factory, the team looked up at the great walls of the factory in search of a way to sneak in.

“So... do you know of any way to get in Dash?” asked Drag while searching himself for an entrance.

“I know of one; the ventilation system. These robots are quite big by the looks of it. I doubt they can even fit inside the vents, so it should be a safe way to get in undetected.” responded Rainbow Dash while pointing to a vent.

“Oh... damn, I hope I can even fit in those.” Drag looked at the size of the vent with uncertainty.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you can squeeze yourself in. Well, that is if you went on a diet.” said Pink mockingly.

“I’ll have you know my weight is average for Tauren standard. This is just a race issue...”

Rainbow Dash was the first one to get in the vent, seeing as she knows the layout of the factory better than the two Guardians. “Ow! What's poking me in the flank? It really hurts!” complained the Pegasus.

“Sorry, that’s my horns. I can barely even fit my entire head through this narrow vent!” answered the paladin.

“Stop waging your tail in my face! You’re gonna make me sneeze!” added Pink, swiping Drag’s tail away from his face. After a very unpleasant journey, they finally found a good place to leave the ventilation shaft.

Now inside the Rainbow Factory, the trio was sneaking around, carefully avoiding any and all robots patrolling in their vicinity. The factory felt much different now. It was dark and gloomy inside, with the walls, floors and ceilings being a dark red now. The whole place had a sinister aura around it. They eventually arrived at a large area containing massive machineries, the likes of which Rainbow Dash has never seen before. “I don’t think these machines in particular were here last time I visited. They don’t look like they're made to create rainbows. H... How long have the robots been here without our knowledge?” said the somewhat confused Pegasus.

“With all the robots roaming around, I’m betting my money these machines were built by them or whoever is in command. We’ve gotta find the source of this madness.” spoke Drag to his companions.

“Hey look! Is that a Pegasus up there?” pointed out Pink with his finger. The other two looked up to see a strapped Pegasus being moved above a strange looking contraption. She was screaming and crying for help so much that her sentences were barely even coherent. The loud industrial sounds of the contraptions stopped momentarily, leaving the entire room in silence. After a few seconds, a robot came in the large room and pulled on a lever to activate the contraption in which the Pegasus was trapped in. The infernal noises of all the nearby machines began to echo in the room. The arms, legs and head of the trapped Pegasus were slowly being pulled in opposite directions. It kept pulling, and pulling, and pulling... The poor victim began to scream in agony as her bones began to break one by one, with the trio being able to do nothing but watch in horror. Eventually, the screaming stopped once the Pegasus was torn apart, the straps began to open to leave the remains to fall down on a conveyor belt.

“Oh no, why did that happen?” said Drag in horror. “Where are they taking her remains?” They watched as the remains of the dead Pegasus was moved to different machines, each making unbearable sounds while working on the body parts. Eventually, all they saw leave out the conveyor belt at the end was a nicely cooked steak.

“Must take this to the kitchen, quickly!” said the robot who was handling the machines. It picked up the steak and put it in a bag before returning to the door it came out of.

“You’re smaller and much nimbler than the both of us, Dash. You’re going to follow that robot through this door. Pink and I will go look elsewhere for Scootaloo.” ordered Drag, having already regained his composure.

“J-just give me a moment.” replied Rainbow Dash, still traumatised by the gruesome fate of that unfortunate Pegasus.
“We’ve got to stop them before they kill any more ponies!”

“This place is dangerous, Dash. Take your time but remember that Scootaloo is in danger as well as everybody else in Cloudsdale. We’ve got to act fast on this one.” The Pegasus silently nodded, her face taking on a more determined look, before flying on to the door the robot went through. The Tauren and the humanoid sneaked in another direction, landing on two different doors that each lead to their own way. “Looks like this is where we split up too. I’ll take the left; you take the right.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ve played a lot of stealth games in my life; I can do this.” responded Pink.

“Uh yeah sure, whatever the hell that is. Oh look, a vent. I hope my fat ass can fit through this. Here goes... Oh fuck me!” The paladin began to attempt to fit his massive body inside the vent, much to Pink amusement. The latter started snickering at the embarrassing sight before him. “Oh, fuck off, will you? Aren’t you supposed to go save Scootaloo too?”

“Yeah yeah yeah. I’ll go on my way now.” Pink opened the door to his right and quickly disappeared from Drag’s view, still trying to hold his laughter much to his friend's dismay. The Tauren sighed and resumed his attempt to enter the vent. He eventually succeeded and was now crawling through it.

~***~

“Do you girls think Rainbow Dash and the Guardians are going to be able to save Scootaloo in time?” Silver Spoon was for the first time, worried about another filly she used to bully so much. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were walking around in circles, unable to contain their stress.

“Wait girls! We still have the two Scalers in Ponyville! We can ask them for help!” proposed Applebloom.

“Are you sure they will be willing to help us? They don’t even know us, unlike Dash and the Guardians...” pointed out Sweetie Belle.

“It can’t hurt to try.” Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle agreed to ask Mugen and Smithy for help. It wasn’t really hard to find them, everypony in Ponyville was talking about them. Wherever they went, the townsfolk would talk about it. The fillies eventually found out they were currently at Sugar Cube Corner.

They arrived at the store and found the two Scalers eating by themselves at a table.
“Mr. Mugen! And Mr. Smithy!” said Applebloom, short on breath from all the running around town she did to get here. Mugen turned his attention to her with a clear smile.

“Oh hey little girl! Guess I'm already popular around here if kids are running up to me!” he said to Smithy who simply responded with a brief look at him before resuming his meal. “Alright, what do you want? I’m all ears!”

“Our friend Scootaloo was kidnapped by a machine! We already asked Rainbow Dash and the Guardians for help, but we were hoping you’d be willing to help us out too.” asked Applebloom.

“Oh sweet Merry, Smithy! A kid’s life is in trouble, we gotta go now!” said Mugen as he knocked over his drink and grabbed Smithy’s arm, much to the swordsman’s surprise.

“Wait, what?”

“Follow me fillies! We’re entering the Corridors of Infinity!” He opened a blue portal right next to the table and gestured at the fillies to go through the portal.

Once they’ve passed, the group found themselves in a large world with nothing but darkness in the sky. There were large, blue pillars everywhere and a blue floor that seemed to go on forever.

“Whe-Where are we?” asked Silver Spoon.

“The Corridors of Infinity. It’s how Mugen travels around all of existence.” answered a still saddened Smithy. Mugen looked around for a while as they were walking until he eventually stopped and pointed a finger at a door in particular.

“This one! Right here!”

~***~

Inside the library, Twilight was now questioning Spike to find out what exactly Balgo had altered in his mind.

“Do you remember who was in the library a couple of minutes ago?” Spike looked at her curiously before responding.

“It... was just an average looking stallion. I’ve never seen him before, so I can’t say I know him.”

“But you did see Mugen and Smithy entering, right?” pressed the unicorn.

“Yes.” answered Spike, still confused as to where Twilight was going with this.

“Do you remember what Mugen and the stallion said to each other?”

“I...” Spike stopped for a moment, realising that the memory of the exchange between the two is very blurry. He does not remember a single word they said.

“Spike... Your mind has been fiddled with. That stallion you just saw was none other than Balgo!” Spike’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What? But... I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was him.” Twilight calmed herself down and reassured her apprentice.

“You don’t have to be. You’re not at fault for anything Spike.” The conversation was cut short by a knock on the door. A familiar voice called out to Twilight; it was Rarity, coming to check-up on her. She walked up to the front door and opened the upper portion to greet her friend.

“Hey Twilight... We need to talk about what happened back in the hair salon. I feel like you’re hiding something from me.” said Rarity, worried at her friend’s odd behaviour. Twilight opened the rest of the door to let her in without saying a single word as Spike was observing the scene out of curiosity.

“Back there, you were just staring down at another pony like they were some sort of demon. Surely, it wasn’t actually that pony that warranted such a strange reaction, am I correct?” asked Rarity. Twilight looked away for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain the existence of Bane to her.

“I... don’t know what’s happening to me recently. Ever since I was imprisoned in Canterlot’s dungeon, I keep seeing this strange, mutilated version of me. Everywhere I went, it followed me and said nothing but discouraging and pessimistic messages to me every time something went wrong. It got even worse when Devil Kong possessed me; this dark reflection kept appearing all the time and never left me alone for more than a few minutes. I've called it, Bane.”

“Oh my... Could this Bane, have been created by Balgo?”

“Perhaps. But even he isn’t aware of Bane’s existence. Either that, or he’s gaslighting me.”

“I wouldn’t rule out the latter, dear. If anything’s wrong, let me know. I’ll do my best to help, though I don’t know what I can do for you here.” Twilight felt much better now. She had to get it out of her chest one way or another. Keeping it in herself would have only made it worse in the long run.

“Thanks Rarity.”

“Well, I haven't done anything really.”

“That’s not true. You’ve listened to what I had to say. That helps a lot.” Rarity was moved by Twilight’s words.

“That makes me hap-” A sudden scream coming from outside interrupted her. The two unicorns looked outside the window but couldn’t see what was frightening the townsfolk. They ran outside as fast as they could and looked around to spot the source of the problem. It finally came in view once they saw Snips and Snails walking around, followed by none other than the almighty genie Aruba. He quickly took notice of the two just has they saw him.

“Yo, what’s up. Enjoyed that cupcake I gave ya?” mockingly said the genie. “I would understand if you didn’t; I ate half of it.”

“Aruba! What are you doing in Ponyville!” shouted Twilight as she readied herself for a fight.

“I don’t know.” replied Aruba sternly. The unicorn was caught off guard by this genuine response.

“What?” said Rarity in utter confusion.

“No, I'm serious. I was just wondering around the Everfree Forest, killed an ursa major and these two kids were so impressed that they started praising me for it. Next thing I know; I'm being led to Ponyville.” Twilight stared down the two colts with anger.

“What?! You led one of the strongest Scalers right to Ponyville?! Have you learned nothing since the ursa minor incident?!” Snips and Snails looked down in shame before apologising.

“Sorry Twilight... I should have thought about it.” Aruba looked around Ponyville, seemingly looking for something.

“Say, would that bother you if I snoop around for a while? I’m off duty right now, so I’m not doing anything in the name of Balgo.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Rarity.

“Whenever we’re not following Balgo’s order, we are free to do whatever we want. It’s at that time that Scalers are at their least dangerous. At most, they can cause accidental destruction in their free time, but nothing ever goes above that. Don’t question it, that’s just the legal system we’re forced to follow.”

“Who created this system?” asked Twilight, trying to gather more information from Aruba.

“Knoxx, the Light himself. Or you could say, Balgo’s brother if you want.”

~***~

Weaving through the tight ventilation, Drag was just now realising that he was stuck. “Son of a bitch! If only someone was behind me just to give a slight push, I'm sure that would be enough to free me.” Suddenly, something bumped into the vent, hitting him in the stomach. This was enough to free him. Close to him was an opening. Out of curiosity, he approached the opening to see what could have hit the vent. He could see multiple robots gathered around in a room, talking about their task at hand.

“So... We’re just called the SSSSS squad? What the hell does that even stand for?” said a robot.

“I have no idea why I'm here, why I even exist. I only know one thing for sure; We must eliminate any intruder who steps foot in this factory. Thas is the only line of code I was offered.” responded another robot.

“If one of them comes in, that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m listening to heavy metal right now, so I'm already in demon mode.” spoke a third robot. It raised his arm; he had a tennis racket in its hand.

“So, we’re gonna wack them to death with this?” questioned a fourth one.

“Hell yeah, we’re gonna fuck them up real quick. That’s the idea.” Drag watched on in surprise, he had never seen robots who could hold entire conversations as if they were real living beings. These machines were on a whole other level than those the goblins have built for the Horde back on Azeroth. These machines had to be piloted in order for them to get anything done. Those in the Rainbow Factory were on autopilot, so it would seem. The paladin was taken out of his thoughts when he remembered what he was supposed to do in the first place.

“Oh shit! I’m wasting my time!”

~***~

Kryser had posted more guards on the northern end of Canterlot as requested his emperor. He spent most of his time dealing with small issues going on across the city, much to his irritation. He was more concerned about the unidentified threats located somewhere up north. It wasn’t long before he got another call from Balgo. He pressed on a button located on his wrist and a hologram formed before him.

“Kryser, castle schematics show a portion of the dungeon is dedicated only to imprisoning a special type of prisoners. They are referred to as changelings. We don’t know what the hell these things are, so approach their cells with caution and try to get any information out of them. There is a good probability that the changeling prisoners have something to do with the unidentified threat located north of Canterlot. I wouldn’t jump to conclusions, but I suspect that there is a changeling army up there. Over.” The hologram disappeared just as he finished. Kryser didn’t need to respond, for he knew Balgo had much faith in him.

Without further ado, Kryser descended down in the dungeon. He chose to bring the Soldier along with him, for he was the second strongest Scaler currently in Canterlot. If something went wrong and the prisoners tried to escape, he at least had the Soldier to help him eliminate the escapees before they got away. His biggest was always to disappoint the great Balgo he had spent hundreds of years serving. He had earned his emperor’s trust, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to throw it all down the drain. “Soldier! If any of them escapes their cell, I give you full permission to gun them down.” The Soldier grinned with a malicious amount of glee.

“Nyeh he he! That sounds wonderful! Now, I just hope that they try to get out!”

They followed the castle’s schematics to arrive at the Changeling’s holding cells. Kryser motioned at the Soldier to stand behind with his rocket launcher ready while he approached one of the cells. He looked inside and found just a regular filly in it, much to his surprise.

“W-who’s there!” said the startled filly. Kryser didn’t answer, instead trying to comprehend the bizarre situation at hand.
“Changelings...” He thought to himself. “Change...lings.” He came to the conclusion that the Changelings are most likely shape-shifters, as judged by their name. He thus had to test this theory out for himself before doing anything stupid. It was true that Knoxx’s ultimate guideline to world conquering that was imposed on Balgo dictated that prisoners that were once unfairly abused by the conquered specie had to be freed. However, was this filly truly imprisoned unfairly? Better play it safe.

“I’m Kryser, a Scaler. We took over Canterlot and claimed it as our base of operation. It came to my attention that there was a special section of this dungeon reserved for a specific group of prisoners.” started the Scaler firmly. The prisoner looked at him with hopeful eyes.

“You... took over Canterlot? Does that mean, you defeated Princess Celestia?” asked the filly.

“Our emperor did, quite easily in fact.” responded Kryser in a quick, firm voice that didn’t show any emotion whatsoever.

“Does that mean... we can finally go?” Kryser wasn’t having it, however.

“No, we’re not letting you go until we’ve got the information we seek.”

“What information? Why can’t you just let us go!”

“You are a changeling. I know what you can do, so don’t think I'm foolish enough to let you go so quickly.” bluffed Kryser who was now shoving more aggression through his red visor. He only assumed what the changelings were capable of, but it’s better than to admit he didn’t know a thing about them. “We’ve identified multiple movements coming from somewhere north of the city. I assume these must be your changeling brethren preparing an assault on Canterlot.” The filly’s expression turned to anger as she reverted to her true form. Kryser was surprised to see the changeling’s true appearance before him. A strange insectoid looking pony with dark skin, insect-like wings and blue eyes.

“You are not as foolish as I had hoped. But it doesn’t matter, we won’t tell you anything!” shouted the changeling. The Soldier grew impatient.

“Come on! When do I get to do anything?” he asked. Kryser turned to face him.

“We’ve at least confirmed the identity of the creatures in there. We should get specialist Wilson to interrogate them. He’s our best interrogator so far.”

~***~

Taking the door Mugen had pointed, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Smithy and Mugen had arrived in the Rainbow Factory. They were surprised to find the place to be so... sinister.

“Has this place always been kind of a mood killer?” asked Mugen curiously.

“I don’t think so... At least, not from what I’ve been told.” responded Applebloom. Smithy was on high alert now. He felt that something was seriously wrong with this place and so did his suit.

“This factory has a particular feel to it, it’s like I already know who’s in there, but not at the same time. I have a bad feeling about this operation Mugen.”

“There are three fillies and two of us. I suppose it would be better if we split up to find Scootaloo.” proposed Mugen before rolling away into a ball.

“Wait!” tried to object Smithy but it was too late; Mugen had already gotten away. He was now left with three fillies to look after while having to find their missing friend. Add on top of that his lack of knowledge regarding what exactly is in the facility and it's easy to understand why the young swordsman was about to have a nervous breakdown. Silver Spoon looked at her two friends with a worried expression.

“Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea Applebloom.”

“We should stay as close as possible to Smithy. He’s currently the only one protecting us from any danger.” advised Sweetie Belle, wiping off the drops of sweat dripping from her forehead. Their terrible situation only worsened once they heard the sound of metal scraping across the floor.

“The abomination is here! I should have seen this one coming!” said Smithy, alarmed by the unexpected presence of the beast. “Let’s hide behind these boxes!” he then ordered to the fillies.

The four of them hid behind a couple of boxes and watched as the sound came closer to them. Eventually, the abomination’s shadow revealed itself on the wall and then, it came into view. The monster was being followed closely behind by two robots, each looking like a different animal. It stopped when it heard its stomach rumbling.
“The kitchen... Show me the way now.” it ordered to its robots. They threw their arm up in a salute before leading him to his destination. The four left their hiding spot, now realising the danger they’ve accidentally put themselves in.

“So that... thing is what took my friend.” whispered Silver Spoon in a mix of horror and anger. Smithy looked at her with pity.

“I’m afraid so... The abomination is known for its insatiable hunger and cannibalism. It has taken the lives of countless Scalers and other creatures alike.” responded the swordsman. He felt something pulling on his leg and looked only to see Sweetie Belle trying to get his attention, looking very scared. She pointed to the direction opposite of where the abomination went. On the far end of the corridor lied the ghost of a mutilated Scaler.
Once the ghost noticed it had gotten their attention. It pointed to the hallway on its right.

“Follow me... and beware Caesar.”

Applebloom turned her head towards Smithy, wanting to know his opinion. “S-Should we...follow him? I-I mean, it’s a ghost! It surely wants to harm us!”

“I don’t know for sure. Not all ghosts are bad. Some of them exists because they are unable to let go of a certain feeling or emotion. Perhaps this ghost IS trying to help us.”

~***~

Pink was sneaking around the factory, looking around him all the time just in case a robot would bust out unexpectedly. He found himself in front of a steel door, he thought about busting it open with his fists but that would make too much noise. He decided that a much quieter alternative would be to force it open with his bare hands. So, he tried but found himself having a hard time getting a grip on the door’s hinges. “Fuck me, I’m going to need a crowbar for this... There surely is one around here.” Just as he was about to leave, a door on an elevated platform opened just on his right. He pulled out in shovel in preparation to deal quickly with the guard that was going to come out. “Uh, Mugen? What the hell are you doing here?” The Scaler turned to look at Pink below him.

“Pink, my buddy! I felt that you needed help, so I came.”

“Great! A crowbar would come in handy-”

“But first, oh boy I gotta tell you about my day and the stuff I've done with my friend Pinkie Pie.” The guardian raised his non-existent eyebrows in confusion. “I went over to Sugar Cube Corner to work part time with Pinkie Pie like I did yesterday because, I-I don’t know if I've ever told you this; I love baking treats. So yeah, I went to Sugar Cube Corner to bake treats with Pinkie Pie, and it was fun but, oh you know, there’s so much exciting things to do outside of baking treats. So, after I was done in Sugar Cube Corner, I went in town to look for fun things to do.”

“... A crowbar-”

“Oh man! Yeah, I almost forgot! Smithy and I were approached by three little fillies who came to ask us for help. You see, their friend was kidnapped by a flying robot, so I was like, damn bro that sucks. Then I brought Smithy along as I led the fillies in the corridors of infinity so we could reach the factory without having to fly all the way over there. So then, once we got here, I decided that splitting would be the best way to find that missing friend fo sho.”

“A crow-”

“Oh yeah, and then I went to the library in Ponyville because I felt Balgo’s presence in it.” Pink started to lose his patience, fast. “So, I confronted him, and funny thing is, when Smithy turned down the offer to resume his duty as Balgo’s personal bodyguard, our great and mighty leader looked quite sad. Heh, and here I thought I knew him pretty well, guess I still have much to learn about him. Oh... but if only he would stop seeing me as a nuis-” Mugen was interrupted in his unending speech when he was hit in the face with a big pipe thrown at him by Pink, who looked extremely angry. The Scaler dropped his massive smile to give place to an irritated frown. “Ok fine, take your fucking dildo and leave.” He threw a crowbar down at Pink. The guardian dropped his entire angry demeanour and quickly went back on his task.

He inserted the crowbar and began to pull with all his might. The crowbar was much tougher than he could’ve anticipated as he succeeded in opening the heavy steel door open with the tool still intact in his hand. “All right! Time to see what’s inside.”

~***~

Rainbow Dash weaved her way into the hallway the robot was walking in. The machine eventually stopped in front of the Rainbow Factory’s restaurant. It knocked on the door and waited for a response. The door opened to reveal a Pegasus in a chef’s uniform, staring at the bag with excited eyes. The robot looked at the sign above the restaurant. “Title” he read out loud.

“Yeah, I still haven’t found a name, and screw you.” said the chef before taking the bag and returning in the restaurant he owned. The robot began to pace endlessly around the entrance, almost looking nervous, as Rainbow Dash hid behind some steam pipes to spy on it. She looked at the window on the right of the door to see what was inside. She could only make out one figure, sitting on a dinner table. It was a Scaler, but horribly mangled. His entire skin was missing, leaving only muscles, bones and veins sticking out like a sore thumb. His eyes were completely black with not much sign of life in them. Around his arms, legs, feet, hands and chest were rusty golden armour screwed into his skin. The armour on his hands and feet contained large claws to allow to make up for his lack of natural claws, having most likely fallen off. The chef walked into the kitchen as the abomination looked on with an excited expression.

“Ah! I awaited you, Caesar.” said the chef to the abomination who looked even more feverish. He walked into the kitchen and came out with a giant plate of cooked boar. He placed it down at the table in which Caesar was waiting.

“Cooked boar. I hate it. It’s stingy” said Caesar as he smashed the cooked boar in pieces. The chef looked rather surprised at the guest's response and took what was left of the boar and the plate back in the kitchen.

“Petty amateur.” He came out of the kitchen with another plate. “The titan’s omelet! The bathrooms are in the back!” He placed the dish on the table and immediately ran back in the kitchen as the abomination started to devour the meal by opening his mouth to an unearthly extent. The chef came back just in time to serve the next dish. “The calves! I’m going to fucking barf.” He placed down the dish on the table and continued to follow his routine. “The geese! It’s making my balls itchy!” Coming out of the kitchen again. “The ox! You'll see, it gets your mouth higher than weed! Screw you by the way.” He tripped and smashed the plate all over the floor. “Meatballs!”

“The caviar mountain! I’m pissing my own ass. Oh, and here’s the little poison that comes with it!” The doors swing open once more as the chef returns with yet another impressive looking dish. “The sheep’s herd! Yes, we are hitting rock bottom.” He trips yet again and smashes the plate all over the floor. “Oh, fuck.” Caesar was eating every single oversized dish brought to him by the chef without showing any hints of slowing down.

“More!” it shouted.

The chef ran out of the restaurant and started shaking the robot pacing outside violently. “I’ll have his head!”
He walked back in the kitchen. “And before we move on to the rest; the bill, hey it’s not given.” The abomination finished taking the last bite of the chef’s meal in front of his eyes. “Shit.” Rainbow Dash watched as the Pegasus shambled outside his restaurant, seemingly crying. The robot turned to look at him.

“He ate everything?” it said with a complete lack of enthusiasm, almost as if it wished for this charade to end.
“No. Alright! We’ll move on to the rest!” The robot went back to pacing back and forth endlessly, occasionally looking inside the restaurant as the chef was throwing everything he had on the table. “The chairs, my own hat, a bit of dirt, a bit of lava, my own shit, some fucking skittles!” The robot glanced over to the restaurant for a bit, looking surprised at this unorthodox menu. “I still haven’t said my last word yet.”

Caesar left his table and walked up to the robot waiting outside the restaurant. “This cook is crazy. Is this really the best you could have found for me? If he can’t satisfy my hunger, he’ll be next on the menu.” He then proceeded to sit back at this table, ready for the incoming meals.

“Even more fecal matter, a bit of cow dung, the forks, the Eiffel Tower, the dog’s fleas.” The cook peeked out the front door of the restaurant, looking at the robot. “I am in deep shit.” He grabbed the robot and started shaking it violently screaming in a foreign language before running off in shame. The robot looked on in surprise before looking back in the restaurant at his master who had just left his seat.

“Did he quit? I’m still so hungry...” questioned Caesar.

“By the looks of it, yes.” replied the robot unenthusiastically. “You’re not thinking of eating me?”

“... Why would I?” replied the beast in disdain.

Caesar walked back in the restaurant, gesturing at the robot to follow him inside. They stood near the window where they were whispering about something that Dash couldn’t quite hear. She decided that she should get out of her hiding place and tell her friends about this Scaler. She carefully took her step to exit the mass of steam pipes she was laying in when she could finally make out what they were saying.

“I’m still so hungry! All I want to eat now is this Pegasus I saw soaring through the sky, this Rainbow Dash. I want to get my hands on her so that I could make the best dish of my life. Oh boy! I’m gonna make some Pegasus stew today!” blurted out the Scaler in a slow, yet methodical pace.

Rainbow Dash was too focussed on the abomination, causing her to trip on one of the steam pipes. She landed on the ground, grunting loudly from the pain of the impact. As she lifted her head, she saw both the robot and Caesar staring at her. The Scaler had his black eyes wide open, as saliva began to drip uncontrollably from its mouth.

“It’s her! We must not let her get away!” He grabbed a phone out of nowhere and began yelling in it. “SSSSS Squad! Stop her before she escapes the factory!” The Rainbow’s Factory alarm activated, and Caesar leapt through the restaurant’s window, smashing it in pieces. Rainbow Dash was not going to leave without a fight. She flew up to the abomination and kicked it as hard as she could. The kick made lose its balance slightly, but Caesar quickly regained his composure. The monster grabbed her back legs and smashed her onto the floor. Before she could get up, she was thrown into the wall at the end of the hallway, nearly breaking one of her ribs. The beast then proceeded to charge at her. It was much quicker than she had anticipated. Dash was left with no choice but to fly away. As she did, she looked back to see Caesar jump onto the ceiling and tore open a vent to which he then hopped in.

Somewhere in the factory, a large steel door opened. Two special robots ran out of the door. “Get you gears in gear slowpoke!” shouted the first one. He was extremely thin, with razor sharp blades planted everywhere on his back, giving him a porcupine look.

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” responded the second one. This robot was ape-like in appearance, even down to running on his knuckles.

~***~

Rainbow Dash was flying at lightning quick speed, avoiding all the obstacles on her way. None of the robots were even able to catch up to her speed. She smirked in arrogance as she started to nag her pursuers who, despite their best efforts, couldn’t lay a finger on her. Her sweet moment of dominance was foiled by a knife flying right near her face, cutting her right cheek. She looked behind her in surprise to see an extremely fast robot running, climbing and jumping all over the factory while catching up to her. It took aim with its arm, shooting another knife towards the Pegasus. She narrowly dodged the second projectile, flying even higher in an attempt to create more distance between the two. This attempt was only met with failure as the pursuer got right next to her in a matter of seconds. Having finally caught up with the shocked Pegasus, the robot pounced on Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus dodged the incoming attack at the last second, only for the robot to reach out for her legs, grabbing onto them. Despite its paper-thin appearance, it was still far too heavy for Dash to keep flying. She tried to shake off the machine, but it dug its claws into her legs to get a better grip. Her legs were now burning with an intense pain as she tried even harder to shake off the robot, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Eventually, she knocked the metal monstrosity off her legs and flew into a nearby vent to get away from the rest of her pursuers.

The thin machine got up from the fall, looking at the vent in which its prey escaped in. The ape-like robot finally arrived a few seconds later. “You didn’t catch her?” It questioned.

“I nearly got her! If only I was a bit faster on the draw, I could have brought her down.” Caesar arrived shortly after to look at its two best robots' failure.

“That does it! I never should have played around with my food! Whiplash, Pummeler! I need you two to help me out and if you bring me victory; I’ll give you a brand-new paintjob!” Said the Scaler to its two inventions.

“How are we going to do it?” said the two in unison.

“Just catch Rainbow Dash! I don’t care what it takes, just find a way to get that damn Pegasus! Now, go!” shouted Caesar, having finally lost his patience, breaking the stone-cold expression he always had. The two robots looked at each other in fear, they nodded to their master before running off in the factory, determined to bring Rainbow Dash back to their inventors.

~***~

The alarm suddenly blared throughout the factory, scaring Smithy and the fillies. It was clear that something was going on elsewhere, but it won’t be long before they would be spotted by the abomination. The ghost materialised once more and pointed to somewhere on a nearby map.

“The boss’s office...” mumbled Smithy as he mapped out the path leading to their destination. “Ok, I got it! Stay close to me girls!” They then ran in the direction of the office. While running on a long catwalk, they noticed a large number of robots being deployed, thankfully not noticing them as they were heading somewhere else themselves. They finally reached the boss’s office without a hitch thanks to the commotion. Smithy closed the door and stayed close to it, ready to cut down whatever may try to breach in. Silver Spoon, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked around the office, wondering why the ghost even wanted them to come here. It materialised itself once more.

“In the drawers... Find the heirloom.” Silver Spoon opened the drawers beneath the desk. She found nothing eye-catching for the first few, but soon found something truly out of place; a bloodied whistle accompanied with a bloodied sheet.

“A... whistle and a music sheet?” she said, confused. Smithy turned his back on the door to watch the scene, curious himself.

“What is it supposed to do? I don’t see how a whistle is going to help us.” questioned Applebloom. The ghost remained silent, however. Suddenly, a large claw busted from the door, impaling Smithy in the chest. He was then flung onto the large painting decorating the back of the office.

“Smithy!” screamed Sweetie Belle. Caesar had just entered the office, placing his gaze on the three fillies.

“Fresh meat.” Silver Spoon shouted at the ghost in a panic.

“W-W-What should I do?! It’s coming to get us!” The ghost’s face finally started to crack in a saddened expression.

“Blood Whistle! Hear its cry!”

Applebloom looked at Silver Spoon and shouted “Play the sheet! You know how to play a whistle, right?” Without hesitation, Silver Spoon placed the sheet on the desk and prepared herself to play the whistle. Caesar charged forth, ready to devour the fillies.

With great success, Silver Spoon perfectly plays what’s on the sheet. A beautiful, yet sorrowful melody that brimmed with elegance all the same. Much to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle’s surprise, the abomination stopped in its tracks and its expression soon regained its usual lack of emotion. Caesar was now in a trance. The ghost spoke up once more after Silver Spoon was done playing the sheet.

“Quickly, leave with the whistle and the sheet. Take them... to Balgo.” At the same time, Smithy got up, his wound now healed thanks to his natural regenerative ability.

“Let’s do as he says. We just need to have faith in the Guardians. They’ll surely save Scootaloo.”

~***~

With the army of robots tailoring him taken care of, Alduin could finally make it to the Rainbow Factory. Judging by how much time he took to fight off the flying machines, the others must have surely found Scootaloo he thought to himself. “Time for a more direct approach!” He flew as fast as he could in direction of the factory and smashed through its walls, finally entering inside. The impact made him lose his balance and he tumbled down, smashing through many machineries as he fell. Thankfully, his tough, spiky armour protected him from the impact. He got back on his feet, using his wings as arms to balance himself. The alarm was blaring throughout the facility, which let the dragon know their mission here was soon to be over.

“Alright, while they’ll look around for Scootaloo. I’ll fight the strongest tin can there is on this factory!”

~***~

Scootaloo looked around in her cell. There were bodies of Pegasi on the floor. Some were eviscerated, others were decapitated. Every one of them looked to have been brutally slaughtered before being thrown in. Some were missing their eyes; others were eviscerated, and some were torn apart. She cuddled up in the corner of the cell, crying. What if the Guardians and Rainbow Dash couldn’t make it in time? Would she end up just like those unfortunate Pegasi? She was all alone, and with barely any light to illuminate her surroundings. There didn’t seem to be any hope in store for her. The alarm was blaring throughout the entire Rainbow Factory at that point, filling the silence of the cell with its muffled sound. She jumped when she started hearing large footsteps outside the cell, locked up by the large metal door that couldn’t be open from the inside. Suddenly, something started banging violently on the door, scaring the filly even more. She thought that the abomination was coming back for her. It kept on going until the door burst open, so hard in fact, it hit the wall on the opposite side of the cell. Scootaloo’s fear turned into joy as she saw Pink on the other side, looking down at the bodies with shock.

“Pink! I knew Rainbow Dash and the Guardians would come for me!” joyfully exclaimed the little filly while dashing toward Pink. He still couldn’t take his eyes off the pile of bodies.

“Jesus Christ... I mean, of course, we’d come for you! You’re very important to us Scootaloo.” Their celebration was cut short when they heard banging noises coming from above them. The vent above busted open and Drag fell on the floor. The paladin got back up, wiping off the dust from his armour.

“Oh, come on! How did you get here before me?!” said Drag in confusion.

“I got some help from Mugen. He gave me this crowbar right here. Its seemingly unbreakable.” said Pink as he pointed at his crowbar. Drag looked at the corpses surrounding him in sorrow.

“Damn, looks like you’re the only one alive in there, Scoot.” Pink tried to shed some light on their situation.

“Well, at the very least. We only have one person to escort out of there, we should manage just fine.”

“Whatever, I already hate this place. Let’s go.” The trio left the cell area of the factory, now looking for an exit as many robots came their way. “This is bad. We’ve got to find Dash quickly and get out of here!” They ran around the factory, smashing through the robots blocking their way. They found themselves on a long bridge connecting two sections of the factory. Before they could make their way on to the next section, the abomination appeared out of nowhere, coming from below the bridge.

“This Pegasus is mine.” it gurgled out. Drag pulled out his sword in preparation for this incoming battle.

“You two go on ahead, I’ll get this abomination out of the way.” The Tauren charged at the abomination as the two collided. Using his strength, Drag lifted the abomination above the ground and jumped off the bridge with it, wanting to fight it away from Pink and Scootaloo. Once they were both out of the way, the remaining two ran away in search of Rainbow Dash.

Falling down through what felt like an eternal chasm, Drag and Caesar finally hit the ground in a rather painful impact that broke many of their bones. Once the pain started to fade away, the paladin began to heal his broken bones. He looked as the monster began to shake uncontrollably before getting back on its feet. It too, had healed its injuries. Now all alone, Drag could finally let his holy magic loose on the creature before him. He slashed away at Caesar, holy magic enveloping his weapon, extending the range and power of his slash. The abomination parried the attack with a powerful claw swipe, enveloped in a reddish kind of electricity amplifying his power. It pounced on the paladin, grabbing his arms to leave him open for its bite. Its mouth opened wide and it lunged forward to take a bite out of Drag’s head, but he countered the attack by the hitting the beast in the face with his horns. The hit was strong enough to knock it away from him, but it quickly caught its landing perfectly.

“Try all you want. But I won’t be defeated so easily by your pathetic devotion to the Light.”

~***~

They could not find a suitable exit no matter where they looked. Every exit found was sealed one way or another. Smithy, Silver Spoon, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were now completely lost without the ghost’s guidance. Thankfully, it reappeared and pointed at a specific room, wanting them to go in.

“But... there’s only explosives in there!” shouted Sweetie Belle, confused as to what the ghost actually wanted. Smithy knew where it was going with this.

“You want us to blow the whole place up? Won’t that also kill the Guardians and Scootaloo?” The ghost shook his head.

“They’ll have time to flee. Trust me, I have eyes everywhere. I know all the things that happens in the vicinity of Caesar. Arm the explosives, his army must be destroyed.” Smithy was hesitant at first, but ultimately chose to trust his brethren and he went to arm the explosives. He easily recognised the model of explosives in there, they were all made by Scalers. It would seem that the abomination was far smarter than he could have ever imagined if it built not only an army, but also several bombs by itself.

“And what about us? How are we supposed to escape? Do we need to find the Guardians and flee with them?” asked Applebloom to the ghost. Suddenly, a flash of blue filled the room and Mugen was back.

“Hey what’s up everybody! Good news, Pink and Drag found Scootaloo! That means we are pretty much ready to bugger off. Oh, are these explosives?” he blurted out rapidly.

Silver Spoon was relieved to see that they finally have a means to escape this cursed factory. “Oh, thank Celestia you’re here! You have to get us out of here! The Rainbow Factory is going to blow up in a few minutes!” Mugen placed a hand on his chin.

“Oh, so that’s why Smithy is arming up a truck load of explosives.” He turned around to face the two Scalers in the room. “Hi there Mr. Ghost! Don’t think I've seen you before!” He grabbed the ghost’s hand, much to everyone’s surprise and began to shake it. “Nice meeting ya, buddy!”

The ghost itself was equally surprised by Mugen’s ability to touch him. It was common knowledge that ghosts are intangible.

“The feeling of being touched... It’s something I've forgotten. It’s been... so long since I've last felt it.” Mugen moved closer and hugged the ghost, his smile growing even larger with excitement.

“I think you and I are going to be best fr-?!” The ghost disappeared, causing Mugen to lose his balance and he fell on the floor face first. “Oh nyo... I’ve been... ghosted!” Smithy chuckled lightly at this joke, before quickly covering his mouth and pretending to cough seeing as no one else was amused by this joke.

“Can you... just lead us out of here with the Corridors of Infinity?” asked the swordsman. Mugen got up from his fall, rubbing his injured nose before exclaiming.

“Fo sho buddy!”

~***~

The battle raged on between the paladin and the monster. They exchanged blows, with Drag healing himself when he had the time to do so while Caesar’s natural regeneration already did the job for him. Due to a faulty block, the abomination was able to get a clean slash on the Tauren’s face, slashing through his right eye. Drag retaliated with his judgement ability, knocking the beast back a few meters away.

“Shit! I’m partially blinded now!” he thought to himself as he prepared to cast his healing hand once more. As he looked at his opponent, who had just gotten back on its feet. He saw Alduin mere inches behind it.

“Hin sil fen nahkip bahloki!” shouted the dragon as he bit down at the monster. He then lifted his head and started to shake it violently before letting go of the beast, tossing it into a bunch of machineries. However, right next to where the monster landed was a flying ship. As Caesar got back up, he looked at the machine next to him.

“Abandon this facility...” The abomination jumped on the cock pit of the ship and smashed through the glass, entering right after. Alduin was ready to chase it down, but stopped when he noticed multiple turrets popping up from the ship.

“Drag, bubble! Bubble! Bubble now damn it!” shouted the black dragon as it ran behind the paladin. Drag immediately used his Divine Shield to form an impenetrable orb of light around him. The turrets fired at him, but couldn’t break through the shield as Alduin hid behind, making sure that not a single part of him went beyond the shield’s limits. The ship took off as the two Guardians were still locked in place by the gunfire.

“Damnation! The beast got away.” shouted Drag in anger. Alduin got out of his cowering position once the gunfire ended.

“We’ll get it next time.” Suddenly, a voice came through the factory’s intercom.

“Tactical nuke incoming! Tactical nuke incoming!”

“Oh shit, that can’t be good” said the Tauren, feeling like he already knows what that meant. The elevator behind them opened revealing Pink and Scootaloo. They joined the two Guardians quickly.

“Oh my Goooood! This place is gonna blow up to hell! Summon your drake and let’s get us the hell out of heeeeereeee!” yelled Pink in his panic attack. Drag summoned his drake as Alduin took off, but waited for them nonetheless. Scootaloo looked around herself briefly only to realise that Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.

“Hold on! What about Rainbow Dash!” she shouted.

“Forget about Dashie! She can handle herself. After all, isn’t she the one of the fastest Pegasus alive?” replied Drag, a bit too harshly he noticed. The filly looked down in sadness as they hopped onto the drake’s back and flew through the exit the ship had taken. They got out of the factory and out of Cloudsdale just in time as the whole Rainbow Factory blew up in a massive explosion, casting fire in the sky.

“I suppose we haven’t won the war against this abomination just yet.” said the black dragon in a mocking tone.

“We’ve got Scootaloo at least, but sadly we couldn’t do anything about the Rainbow Factory. We’re gonna need a big team of workers to rebuild the place from the ground up.” responded the Tauren in a disappointed tone.

“Guys look! It’s Rainbow Dash! I knew she would come out okay!” shouted Scootaloo as she pointed a hoof towards the incoming Pegasus. She had barely out flown the explosion herself. The Guardians looked at their friend, their reliefs quickly turning into concern as they noticed she looked pale.

“She’s bleeding quite badly; her legs are in bad conditions.” affirmed Alduin as he got closer to take a good look at her back legs. “I believe she may have some physical trauma in certain regions of her body.”

“Dash, y-you should just stay on Alduin’s back for the rest of the flight. You don’t look to be in a good condition to fly right now.” proposed Pink. The Pegasus wanted to protest but caved in once she realised that she now had a hard time to even see properly, much less respond to them. With that, the Guardians returned to Ponyville, disappointed that things didn’t turn out all that great. But hey, at least the robots are gone and so is the abomination. The Rainbow Factory can always be rebuilt in the end.

Author's Note

Geez, that was once again much longer than expected. I sure hope not all chapters are going to be this long...

Act 2 : Vindictive

It's been multiple hours since the Guardians mission in Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash was sent to Ponyville’s hospital to treat her wounded legs. Drag and Pink returned to their respective home to rest, tired from the exhausting day they’ve had. Alduin, on the other hand, was still very much ready to brawl once more. He flew away in search of a challenge, hoping to fight against a worthy opponent. Aruba didn’t stick around for much longer, still looking for some thrills and thus, wandered around the region. As for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they were happy to see Scootaloo alive and well. They were especially happy since; they have been finally really anxious these recent times, what with all the horrors they’ve had to face.

“I don’t think fillies of our age have avoided death at least three times in just a week.” told Sweetie Belle to her friends. Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

“I’m starting to believe we’re just incredibly unlucky. That, or Equestria has gotten a lot more dangerous ever since Drag arrived.”

“Now that I think about it, ever since he came...” Applebloom paused for a moment, trying to remember all the events that happened since Drag’s arrival. “We’ve had a giant black dragon, a skeleton with a pumpkin head and now the Scalers. Nopony seems to know how and why this keeps happening. At the very least, we know that there is life out there, just that we’re probably never going to come to them...”

Silver Spoon noticed Fluttershy in the distance, she was looking around until she spotted the fillies, at which point she made her way to them. “Um, girls. I think Fluttershy is looking for us.” The group turned around just in time as Fluttershy arrived.

“Hey girls, I’m sorry to bother you, but I need help with something. My friends are all busy at the moment, so I thought maybe you’d be willing to help me.” started the Pegasus. Sweetie Belle was quick to respond on behalf of the group.

“Sure thing! What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to harvest fruits in the Everfree Forest. Winter is slowly coming and I want all of my animals to be ready for this season.” Applebloom saw this as an opportunity for them to get their Cutie Marks.

“Oh! Maybe harvesting is how we’ll get our Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got equally as excited, much to Silver Spoon’s amusement.

“You can always hope, but I don’t see it happening any time soon.”

~***~

“Alright girls, remember that the Everfree Forest is home to many dangers. We should never lose sight of one another.” cautioned Fluttershy to the young fillies. They were following closely behind, nervous as to what could be hiding in the dark forest. Each of them was carrying a basket in their mouth. The older Pegasus eventually stopped in front of a tree, up there in its branches lied many delicious looking fruits. Exactly what they were looking for.

“So... How are we going to harvest these fruits? None of us can fly, except for you of course. Normally, my sister would just buck the tree and take what’s fallen from it.” started Applebloom.

“I know exactly how we’re going to do it! I’ll fly up to the tree's branches and I'll shake them until the fruits fall off. You’ll be in charge of collecting the fallen fruits.” Fluttershy placed her basket under the tree and flew up to the branches. She started shaking the branches and the fruits began to fell off one by one, eventually falling in masses.
The fillies were running around, trying to catch the fruits in their basket as they were falling, making a game out of it.

“I got it! I got it!” exclaimed Applebloom as she was starting to reach perhaps a little too far for this one fruit.

“Applebloom! Watch where you’re going!” screamed Scootaloo, but it was too late. Applebloom wasn’t' paying attention to her surrounding and thus, tripped and slid away below the road they were currently in. The tumble was quite painful, lightly scratching her entire body. Once she finally hit even ground, she struggled to get back on her hooves, trying to brush off the pain her tumble has caused her. Her mane was also messy now and her bowtie was damaged too. However, this moment was short lived as the sound of something big hitting a tree took her out of her pained state. She saw not too far away from her, a large gorilla with brown fur. The gorilla was wearing a red tie, which was definitely odd but apart from that, nothing seemed really all that strange with it. The animal went to harvest the fruits that fell from the tree and quickly ate them, a sudden cough from Applebloom caught its attention and it turned around to look at the little filly.

The gorilla looked at Applebloom with curiosity. Then, it approached her, scaring the little filly. Thankfully, the ape only poked at the wounded filly and then licked its hand and began rubbing it in her mane, trying to comb it. After a few second, it stopped combing her mane and looked at her with satisfaction.

“Nyeh he!” The ape didn’t appear to be capable of much speech, but did not sound like a normal gorilla either, at least from what Applebloom had learned in school.

“Applebloom? Applebloom!”the sound of her friends calling out to her finally caught her attention and she responded.

“I’m alright! Come down there! I’ve found something interesting for you Fluttershy! It’s a gorilla!”

A gorilla? Thought the yellow Pegasus. That is extremely strange; gorilla don’t really live in this part of Equestria, much less a single one. She flew down the hill with the three other fillies grabbing onto her hooves so they too could descend safely. Finally, she arrived down the hill and was face to face with this unique gorilla. She still couldn’t believe her eyes, even when the ape approached close enough for her to feel its breath caressing her face.

“Wow, there really is a gorilla in the Everfree Forest!” She looked at the red tie around the ape’s neck. It had “DK” written on it. This got her wondering if it had a name. “Do you have a name Mr. Gorilla?”

The gorilla stood up on his legs and began beating his chest triumphantly. “ Ronkey Hong!”

“Donkey Kong you said?” tried to confirm Fluttershy.

“Yeeah.” replied the ape as it lifted a thumb up.

Thanks to Fluttershy’s talent, the group got Donkey Kong to help them with their harvesting. The gorilla would punch the trees hard enough to knock all the fruits down, allowing the ponies to simply pick them up without a hassle. After a while, Fluttershy announced to the fillies that it was time to return to Ponyville. Once they finally exited the forest, they noticed Donkey Kong’s reluctance to leave the Everfree Forest. He simply stayed behind and waved goodbye at them with a bright smile before running back in the dark woods.

“Well, that sure was one helpful gorilla. Never thought I’d ever see one in my life.” stated Silver Spoon as she watched him leave.

“Aww, I was hoping he’d at least stay at my cottage for just a little bit.” added a disappointed Fluttershy. Although, she did understand why a gorilla she’d just met was not going to follow her home. Though this one did appear much smarter than any other animal she’s interacted with... “Come on girls, we’ll take the baskets back to my cottage and then you’ll be free to continue on with your day.”

~***~

It’s been a few days since their harvest with Fluttershy. Since then, the Cutie Mark Crusaders have always felt a constant feeling of dread. No matter where they go, they always have this ominous feeling looming in the back of their minds. A feeling that they are being watched constantly, but they couldn’t pin down the root cause of this strange phenomenon. At least, it was nice to still have friends around to bring them comfort, as well as a nicely populated town to make them feel safer. It was almost as if danger loomed just outside of Ponyville.

“Something seems really off don’t you think girls?” said Sweetie Belle, her eyes darting in every direction around Ponyville. The city itself was still as bright and lively as always, despite the stress the citizens are clearly showing in response to the recent invasion.

“Yeah, I feel like I'm always being watched, even inside my own bedroom! But sometimes... this feeling goes away for a while.” answered Applebloom with a worried expression.

“D-Do you think we may have somepony stalking us? O-or, maybe it’s not even a pony!” said a nervous Scootaloo. “I didn’t have this feeling while I was inside the Rainbow Factory! It came shortly after our harvesting with Fluttershy!”

“We should really tell other ponies about this. I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep this to ourselves. Is Silver Spoon also affected by this? We should ask her too.” proposed Sweetie Belle.

“You’re right, I'll tell this to Big, Granny and Aj.” said Applebloom.

“And I'll tell this to my big sister Rarity as well as Silver Spoon.” added the little unicorn.

“We should also let the Guardians know about this; they will take this seriously... hopefully.” said Scootaloo while looking over her shoulder. Even in the middle of Ponyville the fillies didn’t feel safe. Nowhere felt safe to them, it's as if death itself was always somewhere watching them. Like if they’ve been marked for death.

“Then let’s not waste any time! We’re going now!” concluded Applebloom, having unconsciously raised her voice. The Cutie Mark Crusaders split up, each going their separate ways. An earth pony, not too far from them stopped by to look on in curiosity before resuming his walk. The stallion, however, tripped on the floor, coughing up a bit of blood in the process. Nervously looking around him in hopes no one saw that, he started wiping the blood off the floor with his hooves before leaving the scene.

~***~

Applejack was working harder at Sweet Apple Acre ever since she got back from Canterlot. Her brother Big Macintosh was far too wounded to work on the ranch because of the Soldier’s bomb that blew up near him a week ago for he was still recovering. Thus, she had to do everything by herself. While she was taking a break from her exhausting day just out on the porch, she saw her little sister running in direction of the house.

“Hey there Applebloom! Thought you were hanging out with your friends for the day?” questioned Applejack as her sister arrived in front of the porch.

“I gotta tell you something ‘sis! It's really important!” said the filly in a hurried tone.

“Alright then sugar cube but make it quick; I have a lot of work to do for today.”

“Well, recently I have this feeling that I'm always being watched no matter where I go. My friends also have this feeling, a-and its scaring all of us.” explained the filly, trying to be as brief as possible.

“I can understand why you’d be feeling this way. Nowhere feels safe ever since the Scalers have arrived. I’m sorry, I don’t really know how I can help you, but I'll see what I can do for you four.” The mare looked around the area, trying to find a solution. “Maybe you could spend the nights at Drag or Pink’s house? You’ll be safer there with them. I’m sure Granny Smith won’t mind.”

“Alright, I'll go to his house then. See ya later Aj!”

“See ya sugar cube! Stay safe.” she waved off to her little sister as the filly ran back into town. She had to get back to work immediately, but she couldn’t get what her sister told her out of her mind.

~***~

Applebloom finally arrived at Drag’s house. It was bigger than the other houses in Ponyville, notably since its inhabitant is much bigger than the usual Equestrian. She got up on her back legs and reached out a hoof to ring the doorbell, then she waited for a response. The door opened shortly after, revealing a tired looking Drag standing in front of her. He looked down to see the little filly at his doorstep. “Yeah, what is it Applebloom?” He asked calmly in a curious voice. The filly looked at the ground for a moment before lifting her head to look at the paladin, who was wearing simple clothing instead of his holy armour and divine great sword.

“Well... It's that, lately, the girls and I have been feeling really anxious. We always have this felling that we’re being watched, and it doesn’t seem to go away no matter where we are. We don’t feel safe even in our homes, so that’s why I came to ask you if we could spend the night in your house.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can be of much use. I’m out of mana and I'm really tired from my day. I’m not really in fighting shape right now. I’ve been feeling like that ever since I took my morning coffee. But hey, there’s plenty other people you can ask. Try asking Pink or Smithy or even Mugen I guess... I’m sorry I can’t make myself more useful.” He stayed still for a moment, still looking at the filly. She understood that he was waiting for her to leave through his tired eyes.

“Right, I'll go ask them. Bye.” The Tauren waved goodbye as Applebloom left his property.

~***~

Sweetie Belle had trotted up to Silver Spoon’s house in order to ask her if she also had this feeling of constant dread spoiling her days and nights. She knocked on the door and Silver Spoon’s mother opened the door to greet her.

“Hmm? Are you a friend of Silver Spoon?” She spoke firmly. Sweetie Belle felt nervous speaking to him but still responded nonetheless.

“Yes. I’ve only come to chat with her. "She answered. The mother’s expression immediately changed to relief as she revealed to the young unicorn the source of her concerns regarding her daughter.

“Oh thank Celestia you’ve come! My poor Silver Spoon hasn’t even dared to leave her own bedroom as of recently and it’s making me worried sick. I’ve tried everything I could but she wouldn’t leave the house without a fight... Do you think, perhaps you could convince her to go outside at the very least?” This confirmed Sweetie Belle’s suspicions regarding the possibility that Silver Spoon might be affected by the same feeling of dread as her other friends.

“I’ll try my best ma’am!” she said, putting on a confident smile.

“Thanks goodness, you’re such a kind soul little filly. Tell me, what’s your name?” The older mare asked joyously.

“I’m Sweetie Belle! Nice to meet you Ms, um...”

“Emerald Glass. Follow me, I’ll lead you to my daughter’s bedroom.” she responded immediately. Without skipping a beat, the mare gestured at Sweetie Belle to follow her. They walked throughout the house before arriving in front of a closed door. The mare knocked on the door and shouted.

“Silver Spoon! Your friend Sweetie Belle wants to speak to you! Don’t keep her waiting!” The door opened and Sweetie Belle saw just how bad Silver Spoon’s situation was; she was shaking uncontrollably and her eyes reflected nothing but fear. These intense feelings quieted down once she Sweetie Belle and without even saying anything, she dragged her into her room.

“Sweetie Belle! Oh sweet Celestia, I'm so happy you came! You’re... feeling this too? This feeling of dread, like we’re being watched!” Started the filly in a panic.

“Yes! That’s exactly why I came to see you. I was worried you’d be feeling the same way. Applebloom and Scootaloo are also affected by this. We think it’s better if we stay together until this feeling finally disappears.” answered the young unicorn.

“Do you have a plan? Please tell me you have a plan.” pleaded Silver Spoon. Sweetie Belle sadly shook her head.

“No, we don’t... The best idea we’ve had so far was to spend the night together at a safe place where our safety is guaranteed. Other than, we’ve got nothing...”

“I see... can I join you three?” politely asked Silver Spoon.

“Heh, of course you can! You’re one of us after all.”

~***~

No luck for Scootaloo too, the entirety of Ponyville didn’t seem to be affected like them by this strange phenomenon. While they were showing concern, it wasn’t enough for them to justify taking drastic action. The Scalers were still on everyone’s mind, especially for Twilight Sparkle. They were now standing near the well in the middle of the town, for it was the safest place to them. “M-maybe we could have a sleepover at your house Applebloom? At least that way, we won’t be alone.” proposed Sweetie Belle, failing to mask her anxiety while Silver Spoon was holding tightly onto her, still shaking uncontrollably. Scootaloo looked over her shoulder in direction of the woods nearby before looking back at Sweetie Belle in approval.

“I’m with you on this one. I don’t want to be alone right now.” Applebloom took on a more confident stance to mask her fear as well as to ease her friend's stress.

“Then it’s settled! We are going to spend the night at Sweet Apple’s Acre!”

~***~

Far away from Equestria, Luna was still recovering on the moon. The wound Balgo had inflicted on her spread a sort of disease throughout her body, slowing her recovery. Thankfully, she was nearly done. Approximately, one day was all that was left before she could finally exit the moon and return to her people. Though, at least more than a week has passed since she encountered Balgo, she wondered what could have happened in Equestria during all this time, fearing for the worst. She only hoped that her sister was doing well, despite her absence. She blamed her curiosity for getting her in this bad position in the first place.

“Heya, do you know a thing or two about demons?” The alicorn’s heart nearly skipped a beat once she heard that familiar voice.

“Balgo! What are you doing here? You’ve come to finish me off?” she snapped at the Devil.

“What? No, I just came to ask about demons. You see, it has come to my attention that a demon is causing some mayhem around Equestria. I just want to get a few things straight with this demon if you know what I mean.” responded Balgo in his usual calm and patient voice.

“I’ve never heard of there being demons in Equestria. I have nothing to say to you.” bitterly answered Princess Luna.

“What a shame...” The emperor turned to face Equestria, ready to leave.

“Hey hold on!” shouted Luna. She wanted to know what was happening in the world her sister was ruling. “Please, tell me what has happened in Equestria since then.”

“I... don’t think I really owe you anything. I’ve stabbed you after all, don’t see why I need to- Well, I can actually tell you one important piece of information.” His mouth contorted into a grin of pure sadistic malice. “I’ve taken over Canterlot, your sister has been bested by the better ruler. Me!” Before she could even say anything, Balgo teleported back to Equestria. Leaving the lunar princess in a state of shock.

“Celestia, no...”

~***~

It was starting to get dark in the city of Manehattan. The whole city lived in bliss ignorance of the horrors that had transpired over at Canterlot and Ponyville, unaware that it would be next on the list. For this afternoon, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were going to have dinner in a nice restaurant, enjoying their peaceful vacation together.

“What do you think of this one? I think it looks nice enough.” proposed Shining as he pointed a hoof to a nearby restaurant. Cadance contemplated whether she would like to try it out, or keep looking for another one. A sudden growl in her stomach pushed her to choose this one.

“Sure, why not? As long as the food is good.” They crossed the street and made their way to the restaurant. However, before they could enter in, something caught their attention. It was a news delivery pony, speaking loudly to get the attention of everypony in the vicinity.

“Terrible news everypony! Canterlot has been taken over by a new enemy completely unknown to Equestria! Get your journals to learn more about this new threat!” Shining and Cadance both exchanged concerned glances before running up to the mare.

“Excuse me, I would like to buy one journal right now!” announced Shining to the pony.

“Oh my... Princess Cadance! And Shining Armor! Here, you can take this one for free.” said the pony, surprised to see these two here in Manehattan.

“We’ll pay for it like anypony.” objected Cadance before reaching in her bag to take out a bit and gave it to the mare. In return, she handed over the journal and Shining wasted no time opening it.

The journal spoke of the invasion of Ponyville and then, of Canterlot. Though it did not specify what happened exactly to Princess Celestia, in fact, nopony truly knew what had become of her since the defeat of Canterlot’s forces.

“Sweet Celestia...” started Cadance. “What are we going to do now? We can’t just take the train back to Canterlot to gather our forces. The royal guards are probably gone by now...”

“If these foes have taken over Canterlot. Then I do not doubt they will come for Manehattan eventually. It will be best if we stay here and prepare some defences for the city as a whole. Your status as a Princess will be more than enough to convince the city to follow our plan.” proposed Shining Armor.

“It sounds good to me, but I wonder where is Princess Luna in all of this? The journal doesn’t say a word about her.” pointed out the princess.

“I have no idea what’s going on out there. Things are looking pretty grim for us...” he was interrupted by the sound of his stomach rumbling. “We should continue this conversation after a nice meal. I’m terribly hungry right now.”

“Right, let’s get inside.”

~***~

Today didn’t seem like it was going to be very exciting for Twilight Sparkle, but considering all that had happened prior, she didn’t mind. She spent her day studying the many books in the library and occasionally went outside to get some fresh air. Someone knocked at the door, which took her out of her studies. Surely somepony was coming to rent a book. However, her enthusiasm died down when she saw none other than Aruba at her door.

“Heya Twilight. Mind if I come in?”

“No. I don’t want to be anywhere near you.” she slammed the door shut on the genie, but he simply phased through the entrance, entering without her permission.

“I WILL go away if you simply help me out just a little. Surely that’s what you want?” he added, trying to persuade her. Twilight caved in.

“Fine, just as long as you leave Ponyville.”

“Exactly what I intend to do.” Twilight sat down, ready to listen to Aruba.

“Okay, I’m ready to hear you out.” Aruba took out a pipe from his chest and took a puff out of it before starting.

“I don’t know how long Balgo is going to take before he’s done with his secret mission. Don’t ask me about, I don’t even know what he’s looking for. Anyway, before he forces us back into work, I want to at least visit an interesting place just to snap some pictures. Since you’re such a bookworm, I was thinking maybe you’d know of a good place. And don’t send me into a fucking volcano too, I want you to give me an honest answer.” Twilight thought about it for a moment, before coming up with a good idea.

“Well, if you go up north; you’ll find the Crystal Empire. I haven’t heard much about the Crystal Empire, except that it’s a great place to visit for a vacation!” she exclaimed with a bright smile on her face.

“Crystal Empire... Oh! I’m sure Balgo is going to love this place! I’ve got to head there now! Well Twilight, I gotta thank you for your help and just like I promised; I won’t come back, at least not on my free will.” Aruba waved off as he phased out of the library and flew in direction of the Crystal Empire as Twilight giggled to herself.

“Oh, I’ve heard nothing but bad things about this place...”

~***~

Kryser was immensely satisfied by Specialist Wilson’s work. He had gotten all the necessary information in a matter of hours. Now, they knew who these enemies were. Should they attack them, they’ll be ready to fight back. A sudden buzzing in his wrist snapped Kryser out of his mind as he responded immediately. Balgo’s hologram took form as he began to speak to him.

“Kryser, it has been hours. I hope you’ve got some good news to deliver now.” Kryser smiled in satisfaction.

“Of course, Specialist Wilson has gotten the information we need sir. The changelings are shape-shifters who behave much like insects. They have a hive and a queen that rules over them. This queen seems to be the only thing we should be concerned about, for she rivals Princess Celestia in terms of magical prowess.” Balgo chuckled happily at the soldier’s success.

“Great work Kryser. I knew I could always count on you.” He took on a more serious expression before continuing. “I don’t know how long my mission will take, for I am hunting down a demon. A sneaky one at that, but once I’ve dealt with him; I will come back to Canterlot so that we may expand our empire here in Equestria. Over.” The hologram disappeared before the Scaler as he looked over at the Soldier, who was cleaning his dusty rocket launcher.

“Soldier! We must prepare our defences now, we can’t let these changelings take us by surprise, not until Balgo has returned.”

“Nyeh he he! Then let them come! We will kill them all in legal self-defence!”

“Yeah... something like that...... Get to work already.”

~***~

The sun was setting down on Equestria as the Cutie Mark Crusaders stood by the window to watch the beautiful sunset, knowing that the night was creeping around the corner. Applebloom was staring blankly into the sunset while Scootaloo kept on darting her eyes around the horizon. Sweetie Belle was more focused on keeping Silver Spoon calm for she was still trembling. The fireplace was lighting the living room, casting shadows all over the walls. “The sunset sure is beautiful ain’t it girls?” asked Applejack as she approached the four fillies. They all looked back at the approaching mare before setting their gaze back on the horizon.

“It’s beautiful, but the night that’ll come with it sure ain’t.” responded Applebloom. The older mare was unsure of what to say, she was worried about her sister’s as well as her friends' growing feelings of anxiety and fear but wasn’t sure if it was something to be extremely concerned about or not. After all, the mere knowledge of the Scalers being free to roam about the entire region has gotten everyone in Ponyville to look over their shoulder every once in a while. It could be just that, but she also couldn’t shake the feeling that there could be so much more to the fillies worries.

“I have an idea to make you feel better. How about we ask Granny Smith to read you a nice book before bed?” finally said Applejack in an attempt to cheer up the group. Her attempt didn’t seem to have worked all that much judging by their lack of enthusiasm.

“Oh, come one, as if we’re still young enough to be read bedtime stories.” brushed off Scootaloo. It was of course to be expected coming from the small Pegasus who idolised Rainbow Dash out of all ponies.

“Let’s not rule out this idea just now. I think we should give it a try. Who knows? Maybe this can help. Especially if it’s another one of Daring Doo’s adventure! I’m sure you’ll like them Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle looked at Applebloom to get her approval. She nodded back in response. Silver Spoon was still clinging onto her as hard as she could, but she too nodded in approval. Surely a nice book can get their minds off this feeling, right?

“Ok then, let’s prepare ourselves for the night now. I’ll go tell Granny Smith about it.” concluded Applejack before leaving. The four fillies looked back at the window. The sun had practically left the horizons completely at that point, casting the land in darkness. The Cutie Mark Crusaders left the window they were staring at, too scared to stay anywhere near it now.

“... and thus, the day was saved once again by none other than Daring Doo!” Granny Smith had just finished reading her book to the young fillies. The story worked; the group was noticeably calmer now than they were before. They were also very tired, barely able to keep their eyes open.

“Heh, I guess books about Daring Doo aren’t so bad after all.” said Scootaloo, being the one who’s listened the best out of the four. Sweetie Belle looked to her left and noticed that Silver Spoon was now sleeping peacefully.

“I guess it worked, Silver Spoon is sleeping now and she was the most anxious out of all of us.” Applejack was visibly pleased by how well her idea turned out.

“Well shoo! I guess nothing really beats a good bedtime story. I’ve always adored when Granny Smith would tell me stories before I went to sleep. Nice to see we’re still keeping this tradition.”

Now that Granny Smith had finished telling her stories to the fillies, she turned off the light in their bedroom and left to get herself some sleep. Applejack left the bedroom too so that she could wander around the house, holding a lantern in her mouth, to make sure all the doors and windows were closed. Even though it has been something she had done for years now, she couldn’t help but feel like something was different this time around.

The night felt much scarier than usual, almost as if there was something looming around their propriety. She looked outside the front door to make sure there was truly nothing wandering outside. As she was standing on the porch, the mare noticed that it was very quiet out there. There weren’t even the usual sounds of crickets in the night. This alone compelled her to immediately get back inside, closing and locking the door behind her. “Nah, there’s nothing out there. I’m just imagining things, letting it all get to my head. Stay calm Applejack; there’s probably nothing but woodland critters outside.” thought the earth pony as she slowly walked upstairs to her room. A sudden figure in the hallway caused her to squeal in surprise, before realising it was just her brother.

“Woah! Big Macintosh, you sure did scare me good.” she said, holding a hoof to her chest.

“Sorry ‘sis. I was just thirsty.” replied the wounded stallion.

“It’s alright. Goodnight Big.”

“Goodnight Aj.”

Finally arriving in her bedroom, Applejack placed down her lantern on her nightstand and blew out the light. She hopped on her bed, happy to finally get some rest. It did take her some time, but she eventually chased the worries away and was able to fall asleep.

~***~

Applejack was rolling around in her bed, unable to fully go back to sleep now that she woke up in the middle of the night. She couldn’t understand what was concerning her to the point of not being able to get any rest. Eventually, after a couple of minutes, she finally found a good position to fall back to sleep in.

But she was taken out of her slumber by a deep, raspy voice singing quietly near the side of her bed.

“Wretched earth pony, such a shame you wouldn’t take... the signs remotely seriously, not even just a bit. I hate all you filthy horses, and I will exact... my... revenge on all those your friend Twilight holds dear to her heart.”

Applejack’s eyes swung open, she turned around and stood up only to see a very large gorilla standing right next to her, looking down at her. The moonlight shined just enough throughout her room to make out the gorilla’s appearance. Its fur was brown, it was wearing a red tie and a general’s cap, though Applejack did not recognise what it was. Its eyes were not visible thanks to the darkness the room was plunged in, though the darkness didn’t feel natural. “Wha- a giant gorilla?! What are yo- Guark!”She couldn’t finish her sentence before the ape’s hand grabbed her neck and lifted her up to his height.

“Goodbye.” The gorilla’s teeth turned into fangs as it began to apply more pressure onto the mare’s neck, slowly strangling her. She couldn’t see his face, for it was masked by the shadows. She could only make out his left eye, a crimson red eye staring back at her with burning hatred. She started kicking back at Devil Kong in a desperate attempt to free herself from his grasp. However, the demon barely even budged, that was until one of her kicks landed right in his left eye. The demon winced in pain and in response, smashed the mare onto the nearby nightstand, still holding onto her. He then proceeded to hit her on her bed, breaking it in the process. Then it was the windows, the floor, the walls, he trashed the helpless mare around her room, roaring in rage until the door behind them swung open.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were horrified to witness the brutal scene unfolding before their very eyes. Devil Kong turned to look at the fillies, staring them down with such intensity that they froze in horror. He proceeded to throw the helpless mare at the kids, hitting them all out of the room. Applejack struggled to get up now that her body was severely bruised and battered. “Everypony run! We gotta get out of here!” yelled the mare as the demon slowly approached them, its footsteps making the entire floor creak due to its large size.

The group ran down the stairs as Devil Kong followed closely behind, growling angrily. “The front door! We can make it out!” yelled Applebloom. However, as they ran in direction of the front door, the demon quickly turned to smoke, flew past them and rematerialized to block their exit. The ponies turned around and ran in the opposite direction, heading towards the kitchen. As they arrived, they noticed that their only escape route was through the windows. The beast got in the room and looked at a nearby frying pan. It poured water into the pan before heating its hands and plunged into the water until the liquid became hot to the point of splashing out of the pan. It smirked as it grabbed the handle and splashed the burning liquid towards the fillies. Applejack quickly reacted and got in the way to shield the kids. She let out a yelp of pain as the water burned off her fur. She looked back at the demon standing before her only to receive a frying pan thrown straight into her sides. She fell on her knees and barely had time to see the monster wind up a punch aimed straight at her jaw. She spat out blood as she hit the cold hard floor of the kitchen. The beast completely ignored the fillies to focus on her instead.

“Get up, you’ve got three seconds.” said the demon in a deceptively calm tone, betrayed by its raspy voice and its entire body displaying raw aggression. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were now cuddled up in the corner of the room, too scared to go to the older mare’s rescue.

“I-I-It's him! The r-r-reason why we’ve had this feeling for days!” screamed Silver Spoon in terror as she held on tighter to Sweetie Belle. Eventually, Applejack got up as Devil Kong walked away. He started opening the drawers in search of something.

The earth pony gestured to the fillies to run in direction of the front door now that the demon had taken their gaze off them. The children sprinted past the beast as it didn’t even pay attention to them. “Let’s try to make it right.” said the demon as he looked at the knife he picked up. He immediately turned around and slashed Applejack in the neck as she was running after the fillies. Despite the injury, she made it outside but quickly found out that she had no strength left to flee. The cut was too deep. “Wait, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith are still in there!” thought the Element of Honesty as she fell on the ground.

“Applejack!” yelled out her little sister in concern. She tried to run back to her sister but backed down when she noticed Devil Kong exiting the house, looking even angrier than before.

“Run! Run and hide in the forest! You won’t make it to Ponyville in time!” shouted Applejack with the last of her strength left. The monster looked at the injured pony on the ground and plunged its claws into her torso. The mare let out an ear-piercing scream of agony as the beast took its claws out and started licking the blood off them. Sweetie Belle vomited on the floor, unable to take it anymore as Silver Spoon was trying her hardest to drag her away from the scene. Devil Kong quickly took notice of this and immediately sprinted her way, catching the filly by the throat and lifting her off the ground up to his shoulders. He pushed off Silver Spoon with his foot and turned around to look directly at Applejack in the eyes.

“Watch this, Mrs. Honesty.” He began to apply more pressure on the filly’s neck, slowly strangling her. “I’ll keep on going until I severe her head. Go on, come and stop me, hero of Equestria.” he added with more hatred pouring onto his voice as he relished the earth pony’s look of terror and despair. His grin soon faded as he realised that her life had already faded away. Applejack had died too soon for his liking. Deception filled his gaze as he stopped strangling Sweetie Belle, instead opting to simply devour her and use her soul to further push his vendetta against Twilight.

He lifted Sweetie Belle up to his mouth as he opened it as much as he could. “Let her go!” screamed Scootaloo as she kicked Devil Kong in the leg with all her strength. The demon didn’t even budge as he took a bite of the filly. Applebloom fell down at this horrible sight, her eyes getting watery. The beast however, looked confused. He looked at his hand only to realise that he wasn’t holding on to Sweetie Belle anymore.

“What?” shouted the demon in frustration.

“Let’s try to make it right. We don’t wanna start a fight here.” Devil Kong looked at the newcomer incredulously.

“M-Mugen!” said Scootaloo in relief. The Scaler was holding Sweetie Belle in his arms and gently put her down just as Silver Spoon came running at her friend to embrace her.

“You’ve made quite the ruckus here mister, uh... who are you again dude?”

“Devil Kong. I do not appreciate your disturbance.” replied Devil Kong between his clenched teeth.

“Oh right, I've come here for a complaint. You see, I don’t like what you’re doing... I think you deserve every ounce of pain I’ll send your way, demon.” The shadows around Mugen obstructed his features even more as his smile turned into a grin. A small white pupil appeared in his left eye, showing a hint of malice in the jester’s face. The fillies wasted no time running away in the forest, hoping to hide and wait the whole battle out. The demon lunged at the Scaler and swiped its claws at him to which the reptile narrowly avoided. Mugen curled into a ball and with impressive force, launched himself at Devil Kong, smacking him away and drawing blood at the same time. The beast got up to realise its nose has been broken by the impact, it snarled and summon an assault rifle with its dark powers. It then began to fire wildly at the Scaler who once again formed into a ball and rolled around the rain of bullet coming his way. The Scaler jumped high into the air and charged towards the demon on the ground. It however, intercepted the attack by stabbing the lizard right in the guts with a sharp sword it had summoned.

“Missed me!” Devil Kong turned around in surprise only to get hit by another spin dash, courtesy of the Scaler. “You’ve murdered my clone, not the original. Care to try again?” Kong had figured it out; Mugen can summon clones at will to take the punishment at his place. All he has to do is to figure out which one is the real Mugen. Then, he will tear him apart.

“Come at me then, I won’t miss you this time, funny man.” The beast summoned a gauntlet with a chainsaw attached to it and got into an offensive stance.

“You should look at your tie. I think there are a few items on it that shouldn’t be there normally.” Perplexed, Kong did as he said only to notice a grenade attached to his tie. He was surprised for a second, but quickly took on his usual wrathful expression.

“Bah, child’s play.” He knocked the grenade off his tie before it could explode only to notice tons of small threads attached to the now activated grenade. Multiple sounds of grenades activating could be heard from behind him. He looked at his back only to be with an extremely stressful sight. Dozens of grenades were placed all around his back and they were now ready to explode. Mugen had indeed distracted for too long. His clones had the time to set up this elaborate trap and now it was too late for the demon to react. Blinded by anger, he left himself open to his adversary, something he knew he would have to work on if he ever hoped to accomplish his ruthless vendetta.

With no time to react, Devil Kong simply looked at Mugen in burning hatred as the flames began to engulf him causing agonising pain until it all ended with a giant explosion launching his charred body far away in the forest.

~***~

The sound of the explosion alerted nearly everyone in Ponyville. Soon, The Guardians and many other ponies arrived on the scene. Twilight looked around worried until her gaze set on Applejack’s body lying outside near her porch. “Aj!” she screamed as she ran over to her friend's bloodied corpse. Tears began to run down from her eyes, and they kept on raining down as she sat down in defeat. Mugen’s smile slowly turned into a frown as he looked on in sadness for, he knew he could have done something about it had he just arrived sooner. Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie soon joined Twilight’s grieving as the unicorn held Applejack in her hooves.

“Applejack...” weakly said Rarity as she got closer to sit next to Twilight.

Drag arrived on the scene and started examining Applejack’s body with his eyes. Twilight looked at the paladin only to notice a visible lack of sadness on the Tauren’s face, he looked like he was thinking of something. Drag noticed that the unicorn was staring at him, and his face quickly turned into one like that of a guilty child trying to hide something. “Is there something we don’t know again Drag?” said Twilight with a hint of anger.

“I... may have not told anyone that I... have a resurrection spell.”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell anyone about this?!” she screamed.

“That is totally uncool to just fiddle with our emotions like that!” added Fluttershy as she glared at the Tauren.

“Friends don’t hide secrets from each other.” said Pinkie Pie, clearly hurt by Drag’s omittance of such an important fact.

“And why didn’t you use it on any of the deceased before?” added Rainbow Dash.

“Well... it has its limitations. Notably if the body is far too damaged, it won’t work. Such as the head being severed from the body. Luckily, Applejack’s body is still salvageable. I’m sorry y’all, for not telling you this before.”

Twilight raised a hoof as if she was about to hit the paladin, but ultimately put it down and laughed quietly. “It’s okay, I forgive you this time. Now, can you resurrect her?”

“Of course. But we’ll need to take her to the hospital. We’ve got to stich up these wounds before I can safely cast the resurrection spell, otherwise she’ll die moments after I bring her back.” The paladin picked up Applejack’s body and the others followed as he made his way to the hospital. “Don’t worry Applejack, we’ll bring you back soon enough!” thought Drag to himself when they arrived in front of the hospital. Pink was running to Sweet Apple Acre, but stopped once he noticed the group in front of the hospital.

“Woah, what the hell just happened?!” he shouted in a panic when he spotted Applejack.

“We’re bringing her back to life! Come with us Pink!” ordered Twilight.

“Uh? Wha- Ok?!”

Rushing in, their sudden arrival shocked the staff once they saw the corpse of Applejack being held in Drag’s arms.

“We must bring her to an operating table now! Her wounds need to be stitched up quickly!” shouted the paladin to the receptionist.

“I’m sorry sir, but... I think your friend is dead... I-I don’t see how-” she was quickly interrupted by the Tauren slamming his massive fist on the desk.

“Do as I say!”

~***~

Now standing outside the operating room, the remaining Elements of Harmony and the two Guardians watched the surgeons work through a window above. A nurse arrived at the group, looking nervous and confused as to what is going on.

“We’re stitching up her wounds like you said. Th-This will take some time however, our surgeons are rather tired at the moment.” Fluttershy looked at Drag with worry in her eyes.

“Is this going to be problematic? Can it b-be too late for the spell to work?”

“I doubt it's going to happen. Her entire body isn’t going to decay before the surgeons finish their job. It should be fine, Fluttershy.” He sighed. “We just have to wait now...”

~***~

Far away in the Everfree Forest, a mutilated body on the ground was slowly reforming. After a matter of mere seconds, it took on the shape of Devil Kong once more. He cursed Mugen’s name under his breath after having fully healed his body. Looking back at the way he was sent flying earlier, he was eager to try his luck again, but chose not to, deciding to try again at a more opportune time. So, he walked in the opposite direction of Ponyville, looking for a calm place to plan his next move in complete discretion. He was however, stopped in his tracks by a large silhouette standing before him. A humanoid and reptilian silhouette at that; It was Balgo.

“Another one looking for a fight. Just when I thought this night couldn’t any more unbearable.” angrily said the demon.

“And just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better; I finally found you, demon.” said Balgo with a clear hint of anticipation.

“Looking for me? I thought no one outside of Twilight’s friends knew of my existence.” He stared even deeper at the Scaler before him, analysing him from top to bottom.

“Oh, don’t worry. You didn’t mess up or anything. It’s just that... nothing much can be hidden from me, especially when it comes to demons. You’ve done quite a lot of damage to Twilight and I don’t appreciate it at all for you see; She is mine.” He readjusted his hat with his index while keeping his gazed locked on the ape.

“So, you must be this Balgo fellow Twilight kept on thinking about? You don’t seem as strong as I thought.” replied Devil Kong as he licked the blood off his teeth.

“Then how about I show you why she fears me so much? I’m sure you’ll find yourself begging for death once I’ve shown you the meaning of pain.” Balgo’s eyes darkened as his grin grew larger.

“You think this is going to be this easy? How bold, I've grown pretty accustomed to pain. It is how I've risen above all other demons in the Abyss. And it is how I’ll get my way in this world.” The demon materialised a combat knife out of black smoke.

“Oh, right. The Abyss, my awful attempt at creating a world like those of my older brother Knoxx. The Abyss is nothing but a failure I abandoned. I'm quite frankly surprised something remotely interesting even came from it, Devil Kong.” The demon looked surprised for a moment once it heard its name. How did Balgo learn his name?

“We’ll see how much the failure of the Abyss reflects on my success once I usurp you, devil.”

“As if I can be undone that easily. You know, the longer I spend in Equestria the more I realise; I am a part of this place. So much of the evil that lies inside this world is of my doing one way or another. My influence over this land is already quite considerable. So go ahead then, let see you best me. Usurp these nuts.”

Devil Kong lunged at Balgo, stabbing the Scaler in the throat. The Scaler responded by hitting the demon square in the jaw with his knee. He then followed up with a hook and an uppercut, knocking Kong on the ground. The ape performed a back flip in order to get up, kicking the emperor in the face in the process. The Scaler clutched at his chin as a smile began to draw on his face. “Heh, you’re pretty good. But that won’t cut it.” Devil Kong wasted no time lunging at the lizard with two daggers in hand, ready to shred his opponent, but before he could strike him, Balgo dashed backward at an impressive speed using his dark energy. “You still don’t get it do ya? Then let me show you true terror...”

Devil Kong noticed a change in the current of the air. A dark purple light began to emanate from Balgo. Soon, the lizard’s skin began to turn purple, much like the dark energy surrounding him. Two large horns grew on his head, pointing upward while two smaller ones were pointing downward as well as two other pointing forward. A large shell made from purple crystals began to grow on his back. Crystallised kneepads were forming on his knees, his eyes turning black with small red pupils staring deeply into his soul. The Scaler began to grow even larger than he already was, now towering over the demon. Finally, crystallised armour began to form on his fore arms, legs and all around his skin, but mostly his chest. His tail grew multiple sharp appendages as his teeth grew even sharper and bigger. Devil Kong dropped his daggers in shock as he quickly realised, he was indeed staring at the true Devil. A being that surpassed him in every way imaginable. The one being he would never grow to overcome. The voice that spoke to him sounded much deeper than before and strangely robotic as well.

“You’re in my ring now!”

~***~

Somewhere along the road that led to Canterlot, Trixie was sitting in her carousel, being moved by two magical animals. She stared into the dark forest on the side of the road slightly worried, the townsfolk from the town she had left earlier this day had heard rumors of an invasive species that made its way into the city of Canterlot itself. She tried her best to brush off these rumors, but they kept looming in the back of her mind. The worst of it all was the fact that it has gotten dark outside. In these recent times, being out in the dark was a death sentence. What with this demon supposedly roaming around the region, the axe wielding undead maniac who could rise from anywhere, the bloodthirsty barbarians that had a bone to pick with the city of Canterlot and now with these reptilian bipedal creatures taking over parts of Equestria. Anything could come out of these woods to kill her. The magician’s carousel stopped when she heard a loud demonic scream of agony pierce the silence of the night. Once the scream stopped, the forest was swallowed by silence once again. The unnatural serenity that the woods were plunged into sent a chill down her spine. Suddenly, large thundering footsteps could be heard, nearly making her fall from her seat. Whatever was coming her way was much bigger than she could even imagine. It might even rival an ursa minor in size and she knows very well that she can’t handle such a beast. There was only one option now.

Without hesitation, Trixie leaped off from her carousel and ran into the woods in hopes of finding a good spot to hide from it. The beast’s footsteps were getting louder and louder. Now, she could hear the two animals moving the carousel whining in fear before hearing the sounds of trees falling down. It was at that point that she knew; the beast was aware of her presence, and it was now hunting her down. No matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t seem to create any distance between her pursuer and her. In fact, it was getting closer to her. It was going to catch up to the unicorn in no time. When all hope seemed lost, Trixie found a small hole below a tree, just big enough for her to fit in. Wasting no time, she hopped into hole and watched in fear as the tree around her were shaking with each step the monster took.

After what felt like an eternity, she saw the monster arrive at her current location. Two large, crystallised purple feet were standing by her hiding spot as the monster stopped its pursuit. This scared the unicorn as she thought the monster had spotted her. For a while, the beast simply stood still, before dropping something big onto the ground. Trixie nearly let out a yelp as she saw none other than a demonic looking ape, missing entire limbs, an eye and with his intestines leaking from his body inches away from her hiding spot. Thankfully, it appeared to be dead, causing the magician to close her eyes and breathe a sigh of relief. But just as she opened them, she noticed that the demon was staring right at her, it’s frown of agony slowly turning into a malicious smile.

“Lookie here... a frightened little unicorn hiding under ground like a scared rabbit.” Trixie’s eyes widened as she now knew that there was no escape for her this time. The beast turned in direction of the tree she was hiding under and with one slow and gentle motion, turned the entire tree to atoms. She looked up to see a very large bipedal lizard with dark purple skin covered in a crystallised armour staring right at her. She tried to beg for mercy, but the creature swung his arms at lightning speed before she could even utter a single word.

“...What? You didn’t kill her? Didn’t even take her soul.” grumbled Devil Kong in anger. Trixie’s expression turned from fear to admiration in barely even a second.

“You are far too blunt and primitive with your approach demon. It is what kept you from defeating the Guardians and the Elements of Harmony.” responded Balgo while smiling in satisfaction. “This unicorn is far more useful to me alive than dead. Of course, I just need a bit of brainwashing for it to work, but you’ll see. I’ll do everything you failed to do in less than a month.” Balgo picked up Devil Kong’s mutilated body from the ground and motioned at Trixie to follow him.

“It is so exciting to finally be able to serve you ‘o’ great Balgo! Where are we going now, mighty master of the dark arts?” asked the unicorn.

“To Canterlot of course, we’ll prepare the next step in our plan for conquest tomorrow, perhaps even today.”

Author's Note

Merry Christmas!... Eve... I hope you'll enjoy this little present I cooked up.

Act 2 : Sleepy Holl0WND

A shiver overcame her, everything around her has gotten cold all of a sudden. Applejack woke up in surprise only to be find herself in an unfamiliar location. She was on a small boat and in front of her was a figure who was rowing the boat, its face hidden by a dark robe. They were on a large river inside of a gigantic cave which glowed a bright green on the far end. The water looked ethereal, and there happened to be no ceiling to the cave, as if it didn’t have a limit to its height. “What- Where am I?” uttered the mare in confusion.

“Hmm? What do you mean by where am I?” said the figure as it lifted its head. Its face was just a skull with blue flames on its eyes which startled the earth pony. “Are you perhaps still in denial? Or are you just a clueless idiot? And geez, you look like shit. I guess you must have had it rough back there.” Applejack felt offended by the skeleton’s rude and unhelpful response.

“Just tell me where I am already sir.”

“You are in the Underworld my dear. In other words; you’re dead, get over it.” bluntly responded the skeleton. The pony’s eyes widened in shock and looked at her hooves only to realise that they are deathly pale and bloodied. She looked at her reflection in the water to see just how maimed she looked. Her face was burnt and an extremely large gash was present in her neck, though she could still breathe with ease. The images of Devil Kong’s attack flooded her mind as she finally pieced out what happened. Defeated, she fell back on her rear and looked around the Underworld. “Now don’t be sad, you’ve got a new life ahead of you. I’m taking you to the nearest city here in the Underworld. It’s called Ghost Town, there are a few ponies in there. You should do just fine. Though I don’t really like the Manns who rule over this place.” The mere mention of the Manns sent a strong shock through the earth pony’s body. “They’re a bunch of crazy bastards who have no notions of how to be rulers of anything. From what I’ve heard, in their lives, they’ve owned nothing but a useless land of nothingness that they fought their whole lives over. Doesn’t feel reassuring to live in a town run by these buffoons... but hey, I don’t care, I'm not living there, you’ll live there.”

Suddenly filled with determination, Applejack got up from her seating position and prepared herself to jump down in the river. “Woah woah woah! Don’t do that! These waters are frozen in temperature and filled to the brim with sea monstrosities and ghosts who don’t take kindly to zombies like you. If you go in there, you might suffer a fate even worse than your death. The ghosts of the rivers will devour your essence, piece by piece.” The mare stopped and looked around the water. She spotted a worryingly large shadow roaming around near their boat, almost as if it knew that she was about to jump in the water. Multiple ghosts were swimming around, each of them looked up at her with a glint of anticipation in their soulless eyes.

“Fine, I'll stay in.” sighed Applejack in defeat. The river was now turning to the left and the pony could finally see the city of Ghost Town beyond the rocky walls of the Underworld. The city looked massive and appeared to go up higher and higher from the river they were on, seemingly built on a hill. There were multiple sailing boats roaming around the docks that served as the entryway to Ghost Town. After a few excruciating minutes, they finally landed on the docks of the city. Applejack looked on in awe at the scale of the city. The buildings were mostly made from wood and stone and the inhabitants were all zombies, each appeared to be in varying stages of decomposition. Some were even just skeletons, their bodies haven fully decomposed.

“Get the fuck out of my boat!” the skeleton kicked Applejack out of the boat, and she landed face first on the docks. She got up and looked back in annoyance at the boat that was now sailing away as its sailor was giving her the middle finger.

~***~

Somewhere, in the most prestigious establishment in Ghost Town lied the Manns. They lived in a manor titled “Mann Manor”, a place ruled by the one and only Silas Mann, a.k.a, the Horseless Headless Horseman. Someone who was once human but now, his appearance looked anything but human. A completely skeletal body with torn black clothing shining a bright purple light on its surfaces. And to complete his look, a pumpkin acting as his head ever since he’s lost his real head. Silas got up from his bed, though he wasn’t actually sleeping for sleep was something he simply couldn’t find no matter how hard he tried. He walked to the door that led out of his room only to be thrown out of his thoughts by his own reflection in the mirror. “Ding de ling cock sucker! Okay, we’ve got a lot of shit to do today! We’ve got souls to reap, ‘cause you know, we’re been incredibly far behind on schedule for a couple of months! Then it’s finances and other political shit we don’t know a damn thing about, sounds good? Alright, let’s do it all!”

Silas groaned, then responded. “Oh come on! Can’t we just... I don’t know, take the day off and spend some time with the family?” The reflection didn’t appear pleased in the slightest.

“That’s the 50th day off you’re going to take Silas. We’ve had enough don’t you think? It’s time we get back to what we must do! Remember what will happen if we don’t do our job... We don’t want THAT to happen.” The reflection walked away, leaving Silas with an empty mirror.

“Yeah, maybe I should do something about it.”

~***~

The city of Ghost Town was rather intimidating to the young mare who never once got in a city this big before. Well, she did go to Manehattan once in her youth, but that city wasn’t filled with zombies. There were tons of people wandering around the docks, lots of stores nearby and lots of ships arriving at the port. With nothing else to do, Applejack decided to venture further into the city. The streets were deceptively narrow despite Ghost Town’s size, hordes of zombies were roaming these narrow corridors making it feel even more claustrophobic. The inhabitant's expression varied wildly, some looked happy and content with their lives in here while others looked very miserable. She looked around in a panicked confusion as her eyes laid on multiple stores, bars and houses decorating the streets. She was lost in an unfamiliar place, with no one to help her out. There wasn’t even a single pony in sight. Eventually, her gaze was fixated on a sign with the image of a pony on it. It was a bar, a type of establishment Applejack had never gone to before, but it there were ponies in there, she had to go in. Inside the bar were only patrons who were ponies, unicorns or Pegasi. The mare noticed a sign on her left that clearly indicated that only ponies from Equestria were allowed in this establishment. It was a relief to find herself surrounded by her brethren in this maddening world.

She sat on a stool near another earth pony who was nothing but bones at that point. The bartender greeted her and asked her what she would like to have. “Uh, just give me an apple cider please.” He nodded in response and filled a cup with apple cider. She took a sip of her drink. The cold beverage tasted really good and despite her bruised and battered body, the drink eased her pain. Then, the earth pony next to her spoke in a tired.

“You must be new here; I see you still have your skin.” she said in a matter-of-fact voice.

“Yeah, I just got here a couple of minutes ago. I don’t think I've fully recovered from the shock of knowing I'm dead.”

Applejack sighed as she thought once more about her life in Ponyville. “I still had so much to do in my life.”

“Yeah, I totally understand that feeling. It feels like we’ve died too soon. But at least in here, you have all the time in the world to do something truly worthwhile. You just have to let go of your previous life first, as hard as it is.” The other pony started chugging down their drinks, the beverage falling and leaking through her bones, making a small mess on the bar’s floor. The bartender didn’t even look annoyed in the slightest, he must have gotten used to this happening all the time.

“I don’t know what else I can do here. I’ve spent my whole life working at Sweet Apple Acre, selling apples and making a profit for the Apple family. Am I supposed to give up everything I've learned in Ponyville?” The skeletal mare looked surprised to hear that she’s part of the Apple family.

“Oh, so you’re part of the Apple family? I’ve heard there were some of them here in Ghost Town. They must be your family.” Applejack’s interest had now peaked. She got up on the edge of her seat.

“Where could they be?”

“Somewhere on the northern part of the city. Keep looking and you’ll find them eventually. But be careful, this place is home to the rich folks of Ghost Town, they’ll hate you on first sight.”

“Thank you miss. I’ll be careful.” finished the mare as she took one last sip of her drink. She reached for her hat and took out a coin that she placed on the counter before leaving, this time heading in the north.

~***~

The earth pony was relieved to finally get out of the narrow streets located in the south of Ghost Town. The streets in the north were much bigger, feeling less claustrophobic. Although she could notice that the resident of this hemisphere wore fancy clothing and looked bizarrely at her, much like the skeletal mare warned her about. The mare tried her best to ignore their gazes, but it would only become harder and harder to act as if they weren’t staring her down. One of them moved in front of her, blocking her path.

“Um, excuse me sir, I think you’re standing in my way.” she asked, trying to put on a more confident expression. The fancy skeleton looked at her with heavy distaste.

“Where do you think you’re going newcomer? We don’t take kindly to seeing your filthy hooves dirtying the roads in the north. Come back once you’ve got some gold on your hooves.”

“Uh, I’m sorry sir, but I really need to see somepony here. I-I won’t be here for long.” The undead glared at her even further, before taking out a cigarette from his pocket and moved out of her way, cussing her in the process.

Eventually, after a long, long walk, she saw a big ranch just outside the main road. “This must be the place!” thought Applejack as she picked up the pace, excited at the idea to meet her family in the Underworld. She got up to the ranch and spotted two skeletal earth ponies bucking the apple trees around their estate. The two paused for a moment when they saw the mare approaching. Once Applejack finally got close enough to recognise them thanks to their mane, her eyes started to tear up.

“Mom... Dad...”

“Sweetie!” said the two of them in unison. Applejack ran up to both and hugged them. She struggled to form a full sentence in between her sobs.

“I-I’ve missed you both...”

“And so did we.” responded her father. “Why don’t you come inside? There’s a lot of catching up to do.” Applejack nodded silently and followed her parents inside their home.

~***~

They were sitting around the dinner table, the other members of the Apple family were still out working in Ghost Town, so they were the only ones present at the moment. Although her parents were happy to see her at first, they didn’t seem to be now that they were sitting in silence around the dinner table.

“What is it mom?” asked Applejack.

“It’s just that... We never thought we’d be seeing you here so soon. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see you again Aj but I would have rather waited a couple more decades if you know what I mean.” answered Pear Butter.

“Yeah, it makes me feel bad to leave Big, granny and Applebloom all on their own up there. I was the one who worked the hardest in the family.” sadly replied Applejack. Her concerned father got closer to her to look at her wounds.

“You look awful sweetie, what happened to you back in Equestria?”

“We were attacked by a demon, Devil Kong it called itself, he tried to kill Applebloom and her friends. I had to get in the way to save the fillies and in the end... I was far too injured to keep on going. I just hope they’re alright...”

“That’s horrible... I’m sorry you had to go through this.” muttered Bright Mac in sorrow.

“Hold on, the Reaper Silas Mann can travel in and out of the Underworld at will. Do you think he could send our daughter back to Equestria?” asked Pear Butter to her husband.

“Yeah, it’s worth a shot.” Bright Mac turned his head towards his daughter. “What do you think of this idea sweetie?”

“Uh... there’s just a big problem with this. Silas has some beef with my friends and I. He really wants us dead. I don’t think he’ll want to help me in the slightest.” Her parents looked at each other in sadness for a while until something clicked in the father’s head.

“I know! We’ll have you put on a disguise, so Silas won’t recognise you!” Before anyone could express their opinion. He ran upstairs up to his bedroom and started making a lot of noise upstairs. He came back with a high-quality skeleton costume. “Here, put this on.” he said with an excited smile. Applejack hesitated at first, but ultimately decided to put it on. After all, if she could get out of here and go back to her family in Equestria then it’s worth it.

“Wow, that looks surprisingly convincing. Where did you get this costume honey?”

“I got it at a cheap price from a strange wizard who claims to be hunted down by the uh, Japanese mafia as he told me.”

“Alright! I’m ready to go!” exclaimed Applejack, renewed with determination.

~***~

The trio have been walking up north yet again. They’ve eventually arrived at the Mann Manor, the place where Silas Mann resided alongside his family. The place looked archaic in comparison to some of the other buildings in Ghost Town. It was supposedly built somewhere in the 1900’s when the Mann’s first arrived in the city. They walked up to the front door and knocked, awaiting a response. No one answered and they waited for a few minutes before deciding to simply go in anyway seeing as the door wasn’t locked. The interior looked destroyed in some places, with cobwebs being in nearly every corner of the mansion. Pumpkins were littered around the entire manor, some even had bombs attached to them, which was a security hazard. The Manns didn’t appear to care much about the manor’s integrity, that’s for sure. As they were wandering the corridors of the mansion, they noticed a couple of the manors resident through a window talking to each other.

“God dammit Blutarch! For the last time, you didn’t outlive me; my body was sent a millisecond before yours to the Underworld all those years ago!”

“I don’t believe you for one second Redmond! You were sent to the Underworld before me! Therefore, I’ve won!” A strange, robed figure sitting in a chair on the other side of the room turned around to look at the two undead in irritation.

“Please quiet down while the great Merasmus reads the Bombinomicon in silence! You’ve been having this argument for over 30 years at that point. Please shut up.”

Applejack looked at her parents in confusion, hoping for some clarification. They, did seem to know what was going on in between these two. Finally, Bright Mac spoke up.
“They’ve spent their entire lives fighting over a land bought by their father. It’s something they just can’t seem to let go, even after 30 years. Ever since we first arrived in Ghost Town, they’ve been at it.”

The ponies resumed their walk towards the Reaper of this manor. Eventually, they came across a big room with a control point surrounded by a broken floor that led to nothing but complete darkness, with a few glowing eyes staring back at them. To their right was a window showcasing the adjacent room where Silas was currently in. On his back was his famous Headtaker axe that he used to decapitate his many victims. The tall and imposing skeleton was looking at his reflection in the mirror in front of him, talking to it.

“Weewoo weewoo, hey I gotta talk to you again!” said the reflection. Silas looked rather annoyed, but nevertheless, he approached the mirror.

“Ok, what is it this time?”

“What do you mean by what is it this time!? You’re falling behind the others in your fucking quota! You haven’t reaped many souls recently, much less any at all!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m working on it. Just cut me some slack! I can easily make a comeback... I’ll show you!”

“Doubt it. You’re still ashamed you were beaten by a bunch of little ponies who are worshipping friendship like it’s the Holy Grail or some shit...” The reflection’s hand lunged out of the mirror to point at Silas. “You’ve lost your confidence!”

“Nuh uh! I was beaten by a stupid fucking paladin! A god damn black douchebag of a dragon and a roïded up guy who acts like he has a small dick!” replied the Reaper as he spun around and struck a pose at the mirror.

“You forget that one time where you got rainbow boomed by the Elements of Harmony. You were defeated by the skittles my man.” The reflection took out a pack of skittles and began chewing on them.

“No! See I- Ok ok, that one was legitimately pretty embarrassing. But I'm telling you, this time, I’m going to reap their souls for the great cause that I'm supposed to be supporting in the Underworld.” he said as he pointed up at the sky. “Come to think of it, do you ever wonder who benefits from all these souls us Reapers keep stealing?”

“Come closer and I’ll tell you.” Silas took another step closer to the mirror. “I don’t know and I don’t care to know!” His shout startled Silas and he fell down on his back. “We have a job to do, and we do the job effectively. That’s all that’s expected of us. For fuck sake, we are the most powerful Reaper in the Underworld and we’re somehow at the bottom of the charts in terms of souls to reap! That’s extremely embarrassing!”

“Oh bummer, and here I thought you had a lot more knowledge than me.” replied the Reaper as he stood up.

“The fuck do you mean? I’m literally just your reflection. I’m not an omniscient god who can tell you everything, otherwise we wouldn’t have been humiliated by a bunch of ponies.” Silas contemplated the mirror’s words for a while before turning around only to be face to face with three ponies standing in front of him.

“Oh shit!” He cleared his throat and made his introduction while striking an extravagant pose. “Hello everybody! My name is welcome... What?” His face turned to confusion for a moment before he turned his back on the three ponies. He then turned to look back at them once more, striking an even more extravagant pose. “Hello everybody! My name is Silas Mann and welcome to the Mann Manor! What brings you in here? Oh! Are you new in town? Don’t think I’ve seen you before girl! It’s great to see new faces around!” Applejack didn’t want to answer out of fear that he may recognise her voice so her father, Bright Mac, stepped in front of her to speak up.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Silas, we’ve come for a request. You see, our daughter has died too young, and we were thinking if you could, uh maybe, send her to the realm of the living?” The Reaper looked suspiciously at the trio for a moment before his expression turned to joy.

“Hmm, oh I remember you two! You’re part of the Apple family!” Applejack began to feel nervous; Silas is for sure going to catch on to their trick. Her parents exchanged worried glances before Silas resumed. “I love your apples! They are simply fantastic, but uh, I'm sorry. I can’t really do that even though I have what it takes to do so.” Pear Butter was taken aback by his response.

“Why can’t you do it? What’s stopping you from sending our daughter back?”

“The people that end up in the Underworld are there for a reason. Their souls are to be used for a higher purpose when needed, but no one here knows what that higher purpose is. All we Reapers know is that if you ever go against the mainframe... we’ll wish we didn’t. Well, there’s no escape but then, who would wanna leave? This place is a fantastical paradise and it sure ain’t make-believe!” The tall undead bent down to stare directly into the eyes of Applejack but thankfully didn’t seem to recognise her. “Come, it’s going to be dinner soon. Since you’ve walked all the way here, I believe I should treat you to a nice feast!”

Silas Mann quickly dashed past the three ponies and gestured at them to follow him. They obliged and walked throughout the nicely lit hallways of the Mann Manor. Silas was very eccentric with his movement; jumping on chandeliers on the ceiling and cartwheeling his way while still maintaining a good conversation with the trio. “Oh my, I don’t believe I’ve asked your name young Mrs. Apple.” Applejack looked at her father with worries, he understood and spoke up to Silas.

“Her name is... Bright... Apple.” He said hesitantly. Pear Butter responded with a face palm, but thankfully Silas didn’t seem to think much of it.

“Oh? You’ve named her after yourself?” He chuckled briefly as he jumped at a chandelier and held onto it with his legs. “That’s adorable!” He swung towards Applejack. “Nice to meet you! I’ll make sure your stay in Ghost Town will be wonderful!” He reached out a hand and shook her hooves before swinging back and let go of the chandelier, landing on his hands and proceeded to walk in a hand stand, much to the two parents' amusement. Applejack couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. She had never seen Silas Mann like this. Usually when he was out in Equestria, the Reaper had a rather deep and zombie-like voice. He sounded much more threatening, and he wasn’t moving around in such an extravagant manner. Could he have always been like this? Or perhaps, something changed in him over the course of these months. Could he have gone insane.... Maybe.

~***~

They arrived in a large room with a dinner table in the middle. Sitting at the table were a ghost, Redmond and Blutarch and lastly Merasmus with his Bombinomicon close by. They were waiting at the table for the new guests to arrive.
“Finally, the great Merasmus can enjoy a nice turkey. You sure took your time.”

“Why are you inviting strangers in the Mann’s proprietary?” said Redmond as he went out to take a piece of the turkey.
“Hey! Don’t try to eat before me!” shouted Blutarch as he slapped away his brother’s hand.

“Boo!” added the ghost of Zephaniah Mann, the patriarch of the family. However, due to his inability to speak, control of the manor and the town was relegated to Silas Mann. The ponies sat next to each other as Silas chose the seat on the far end of the table since he is the ruler of the manor. He backflipped off the floor and landed on his seat perfectly and the Apple family applauded this little spectacle while his brethren only responded with tired grunts.

“Today, the great Apple family who has been selling us some amazing apples have received a new member to partake in the community of Ghost Town! Cheers to them mates!” announced the tall axe wielding undead in celebration. The others reluctantly raised their glasses of wine to please Silas. Applejack tried to smile in order to hide her nervousness. The other zombies then drank their glasses of wine after the cheers with the three ponies following suit.

After Applejack finished her sip, she noticed Silas’s gaze was now locked onto her. His face was expressing distrust. She only realised now that unlike the other skeletons in the room, her wine didn’t spill on the floor. “What is that I spy with my flaming eyes? I think I see a bit of flesh inside this skeleton over here. Time to investigate what’s underneath the seams!” He got up from his seat and rapidly approached the frightened mare on all four. He was inspecting her top to bottom with a very serious look that contradicted his earlier attitude.

“Forgive me for not telling you earlier Mr. Silas. Our daughter is very shy which is why she’s wearing one of our skeleton costumes.” said Pear Butter. Silas turned to look at her with a surprised look.

“Oh, is that so? Well forgive me for being suspicious. I just thought that you were trying to hide something from me since you’ve refrained from telling me this earlier. Well, in any case, I should apologise for my overly aggressive response.” said the pumpkin headed skeleton in a much nicer tone. Applejack simply smiled and nodded, trying to hide her shaking. Merasmus face palmed at that exact moment.

“Did you seriously not notice this earlier? It’s pretty obvious she was wearing a skeleton costume. I’m just saying.”
“We all make mistake, don’t we?” said Bright Mac in an attempt to further deescalate the situation. Silas laughed happily before walking back to his seat in a goofy manner once more.

“Ok, I may be super on edge right now. So, excuse me if I'm like fucking exploding upon literally anything happening. Anyway, let’s continue our dinner.” The dinner went on without a hitch, that was until Applejack began to feel her stomach turn inside out. She absolutely needed to go to the bathroom. She whispered into her father’s ear to let everyone know.
“Oh, um, please excuse our daughter. She just needs to go to the bathroom quickly.”

“Oh, that’s no prob- Hey stop fighting you two!” Silas threw a fork at the two brothers who were fighting over their food. He looked back at the two parents with an innocent smile contradicted by his occasional stares of discontent at the two Mann’s. “Wait come to think of it, you are not dead anymore Merasmus! Why are you still here?” The wizard looked at the Mann with an unimpressed look.

“The great Merasmus is in quite the deep end I'm afraid. Let me tell you, there is one group of people you do not want to mess with! The Japanese mafia! They are going to break my legs if they find me, so therefore, I'm hiding in Ghost Town where they’ll never reach me! Ha ha ha ha.... help me.”

“You always get yourself in this much trouble? Last year it was the Soldier evicting you from your castle of doom by turning it into a raccoon sanctuary and now this? Gee, you really have it rough.”

“Don’t forget the part where the Soldier killed Tom Jones and I was blamed for it. I hate Soldier.” added the wizard. Bright Mac joined in the conversation.

“My daughter told me there was another Soldier in Equestria now.” Merasmus looked completely defeated after hearing this statement.

“Dear Bonzo no... I think I'm staying here forever.”

~***~

Applejack finally found the bathroom she was desperately looking for. Inside, she took off her costume to sit on the toilet and relieve herself. It was quite painful seeing as her digestive system was damaged, but she pushed through the pain to let it all out. This indigestion must be a cause of her body decaying. Minutes passed by until she heard a knock on the door.
“Are you alright in there?” It was Silas who came to check on her. Applejack panicked, she couldn’t answer him or else he’ll figure out who she really was. “Don’t be shy, you can take your time to answer me. You see, I'm just worried something is wrong and I don’t want my guests to have a bad time in my domain. J-just say yes if you don’t need any help.” The mare was surprised to hear this much concern in Silas. All her memories of him have always been of his more unhinged and bloodthirsty side. It felt nice to see other emotions from him. She cleared her throat and spoke in a higher voice so he wouldn’t recognise her.

“Yes... I’m done.” She got up from the toilet and flushed it.

“Oh ok! I’ll wait close by to escort you back to the dinner table, if- if you don’t mind, Mrs. Bright Apple.” Applejack left the bathroom and followed Silas as he walked in direction of the dinner room. He was still cartwheeling his way across while trying his best to get a smile out of her, with great success. However, as she was walking, her flank got caught on the sharp wooden edges of a broken wall. She tried to pull the costume out but ended up ripping a part of it. She looked to see the damage and her entire body froze once she saw that her Cutie Mark was exposed. She looked in horror at Silas as he froze in place when he saw the three apples on her flank. He looked at a nearby mirror.

“Three apples on her flank! Applejack! It’s her, we’ve been bamboozled! Kill her Silas! Kill her!” said the reflection. Applejack ran away from the axe wielding skeleton as he approached the mirror.

“She died! This is something I never thought would happen anytime soon! What could this mean?”

“I don’t fucking know! We shouldn’t be standing idly now! We are being offered a golden opportunity! We must kill her! After her!” Silas walked right through the wall as if it didn’t exist so he could retrieve his axe and hunt her down.

~***~

The young earth pony ran through the haunting corridors of the Mann Manor in search of an exit. Suddenly, the lights around dimmed. The corridor was now shrouded in complete darkness. A ghost came from a nearby room as started slowly making its way towards her. “Boo!” was all it could say. When she got close to the ghastly apparition, she avoided it by sliding underneath it. However, as she did, an overwhelming fear assaulted her senses. She was terrified to an impossible degree, courtesy of the ghost’s ability. The world around her began to twist into visions of unimaginable horrors, making her escape even harder. Suddenly, Silas phased through a wall in front of her, blocking her route in the process. His face was now contorted in an expression of pure insanity as his smile stretched well beyond the size of his pumpkin head.

“Come here lad!” He lifted his axe high in the air and swung downward towards the pony. She narrowly dodged the axe swing but the sheer force of it knocked her into the wall. Silas took the axe out of the floor and aimed another swing at the mare. She jumped above the axe swing and ran up the stairs that were on her right.

“Hey! Hey! Come back here, I’m not done with you!” Applejack arrived at the top of the stairs and looked around. There was a balcony in front of her and another hallway to her left. She chose to run to the balcony as she could see the city from there. She stopped when she realised that there was no way out from this place other than the direction she came from. In front of her was a very nice view of Ghost Town and the giant river connected to it, but the drop would almost certainly break all of her bones and leave her defenseless. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she heard the maniacal laughter of Silas Mann who had just arrived at the balcony, his thundering footsteps announcing his arrival.

“Heeeeyyyyy. It’s me, the Horseless Headless Horseman! If only you would have taken the hallway that led to the entrance of the manor, you would have escaped from me. But at least, you’ll have a nice view before you die... uh, again.”

Applejack, refusing to give up, bucked Silas as hard as she could in his chest. He clenched his teeth in pain before swinging his fist down at the mare, violently knocking her to the ground, snapping one of her hooves. “Goodness gracious how long have I waited for this?” casually said the Reaper before lifting his axe above his head. Applejack closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable.With tremendous force, he brought it down on Applejack... only to be knocked back. He looked at the earth pony in confusion. “Aye?” Applejack looked at her hooves and was surprised to see them glowing a bright yellow. Silas fell in a hunched position, looking very unamused.

“Oh great, just as I finally get to do it. You get resurrected. Must be that damn Drag again! Aw, why can’t I win just once?” Silas fell on his rear in a foetal position.

The glow around Applejack’s body got stronger to the point that it was now lifting her up in the air. In a matter of seconds, she disappeared completely from Silas’s view.

Applejack’s parents came rushing upstairs after hearing the commotion. They looked around but could only see Silas standing by himself in the hallway. “Where’s our daughter?” asked Bright Mac. Silas fixed his posture and turned around to face them.

“Back to the realm of the living. I hate to say it but... dinner’s over, you two will have to go home now. I’ve got some important business to attend to. We’ll catch up later guys.” He ushered the two ponies out of his manor. The parents looked sad, yet happy at the same time. The Reaper stopped by at a mirror once he got back inside. “She escaped...”
“I know, we fucked up good... yet again. Isn’t this getting tiresome to you? Because it is to me. We gotta do something man! We’ve lost all our confidence! Became the laughing stock of the other Reapers!”

“... Ok fine!! I’ll go back to Equestria and I'll finish the job myself instead of waiting for them to come back to the Underworld!” replied Silas with a look of wrathful determination.

“You better do it! You haven’t gone there in two months and that’s way too long and you know it!” Silas grabbed his head and lifted it as high as he could. A portal formed underneath him, and he slowly sunk into it.

~***~

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were hiding in the Everfree Forest. Suddenly, they heard a large explosion and saw something fly high into the night sky.

“Girls, what was that?” said a scared Applebloom.

“I don’t know, you think Devil Kong is gone?” responded Sweetie Belle. Silver Spoon held her even tigther.

“I sure hope so...” The three fillies could clearly see the sadness in Applebloom for she had witnessed her sister’s death at the hands of the demon.

“I-I don’t think we should stay in this forest any longer. Bad things always happen in the Everfree Forest. Come on girls let’s go!” quickly spouted Scootaloo who was trying to mask her fear and sadness. It was best to keep Applebloom somewhat distracted to take her mind off this traumatising event. They walked in direction of Sweet Apple Acre. Minutes felt like hours to them, it’s as if time has slowed down tremendously after the traumatic event that nearly resulted in their deaths. Out of nowhere, a bright purple light shined behind them. A familiar evil laughter echoed behind the fillies. They turned their head hesitantly to see the silhouette of Silas Mann standing before them. He squatted down to get a close look at them.

“Oh boy! You’re not Applejack, but you four will do.” He raised his axe high in the air, masking the moon with it. Before he could bring it down however, a sword impaled him from behind. “Wai-What?” He looked behind him to see a giant Scaler on a flying carpet.

“What the hell are you supposed to be?” said Aruba. Silas took the sword out of his torso and tossed it away.

“I’m a Reaper. I reap souls for the betterment of the Underworld. Wait wait, what the fuck are you?” Aruba tilted his head to the side in intrigue.

“I’m a Scaler. We are invading Equestria right now.”

“Invading?!” screamed Silas, taken aback.

“Yes, we took over Canterlot. Go check it out if you don’t believe me. Personally, I just came back from a shitty place called the Crystal Empire. I was told that it was a nice place, but apparently, I was trolled pretty heavily.” Silas looked back at the four fillies only to notice that they were already gone. He took on a disappointed posture before setting his gaze back on the genie.

“Aw nuts. Oh well, guess I got nothing better to do.” He took his head out and teleported himself away much to the genie’s surprise.

“Oh damn, I was expecting a fight.” He took out a pipe from his chest. “Man, there’s a lot of weirdos in this world... Gotta go back to Canterlot now.”

~***~

Having just arrived at Canterlot’s doorstep, Silas was bewildered to say the least. There were Scalers mixed in with ponies walking around the city while it was dark. The ponies ran inside their home at the sight of the undead while the lizards were staring at him out of curiosity. Impressed by this sight, a thought came to his mind; what about princess Celestia? Where was she in this invasion? His mouth contorted into a large grin. “Oh yes, please be dead.” He ran up to the princess’s castle and slammed the doors open. “Ding de ling cocksuckers! OK, I just got back from a two-month hiatus, and I'm really hyped up for some shenanigans...” He stopped his bombastic introduction once he noticed that the castle was much darker than he remembered. There were no ponies in sight and the throne was gone. In place of it was Devil Kong, missing all his limbs, his right eyes and his intestines were leaking on the floor. There were hooks coming out of the ceiling, lodged deeply into his missing limbs, suspending him above the floor.

“Oh, oh my god! You got fucked up good buddy! And here I thought you were always better than me at this whole killing thing. It’s quite hilarious honestly, to see a demon being crucified in a castle of friendship.” Devil Kong lifted his head to look at Silas with disdain.

“I fucking hate you, Silas.”

“Ha! I love you too Devil Kong.” replied Silas Mann, unfazed by the demon’s anger.

“You have step foot into the territory of a bigger monster than me you fool. He will find you... and he will rip you to pieces just like he did to me.” His threat didn’t scare the Reaper in the slightest.

“Bah, unlike you I can teleport back to the Underworld if I ever need an out of jail free card! I’ve got nothing to fear.”

“Keep up that precious confidence, it won’t last long.” The two monsters both heard the sound of the front door opening slowly. Silas turned to look at the newcomer. It was Trixie who had just came in through the door. His entire demeanor changed to express malice.

“Hey ya Trixie! Fancy seeing you here.” The unicorn’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh um, t-the great Trixie wasn’t expecting you to be back already... Much less when I'm serving the even greater Balgo.” Silas titled his head to the side.

“Balgo? Now who could that be?” Devil Kong lowered his head again and pretended to be unconscious. A big figure made its way into the castle. Silas could only notice the two bright yellow eyes piercing the darkness until it got close enough for him to make out more of its features.

“What a surprise, a tall axe wielding zombie here in Canterlot. I don’t think I've seen you before now, have I?” said Balgo. “Please enlighten me as to what you are.”

“Ho ho ho! I am Silas Mann, a cursed spirit and a Reaper that stalks the realm of the living in search of souls to reap! I am here to kill the Elements of Harmony, as well as the Guardians of Equestria!” answered Silas, lifting his axe high up in the air in the process.

“Cursed spirit? Interesting, do you know who sent that curse onto you?”

“A... book.” said the Reaper as he frowned and lowered his axe.

“What...” said Balgo, unimpressed.

“Ok! ok! I read a book of like, super magic and shit and I stumbled upon a page that was a spell that will get you fortune and fame. So, I kinda did not fully read the whole page since I was pretty desperate and that led to me not noticing the fact that I was selling my soul to someone... I did it to save my family form bankruptcy!” Balgo first started to chuckle, and then it turned into an uncontrollable laughter.

“Oh, sweet Knoxx! Don’t tell me that my little trolling attempt actually fucking worked!” Silas unknowingly dropped his axe.

“Trolling what?”

“I wrote that entire page as a troll ‘cuz I was pretty bored at the time. Didn’t actually think anyone would fall for it since I pretty obviously wrote down the entire catch to that spell at the bottom of the page.” Balgo pulled an exact copy of the book he was talking about. He started waving it mockingly in Silas’s face. “Well, since your soul belongs to me. I guess that means that the Underworld is still active, right?”

“Yes, there are still a lot of Reapers collecting souls for the higher purpose. I guess you must be that higher purpose.” said Silas Mann while pouting. “I can’t believe I was working super hard for a guy that didn’t even know that we still existed.” He took out a small mirror and whispered sadly into it.

“If it makes you feel better, you no longer have a quota to meet. You can just join me in my quest to conquer Equestria. You and I are gonna have whole lotta fun.” The undead frown turned into a smile in barely even a second as he putted away his mirror.

“Ok mate! Sounds good to me!” Trixie moved in closer to her master.

“Ok, so I guess he won’t try to kill the Great Trixie now?” Balgo looked at the unicorn before returning his attention to the skeleton.

“Oh right, Silas don’t kill her, she’s a part of the team.” Devil Kong lifted his head once more to express his anger.

“You gotta be kidding me. I get torn to shreds and he gets to team up with him!” Balgo walked over to the impaled demon.

“You know what? We can’t forget about our whole beef Devil Kong. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind if you join the three of us in the conquest of Equestria. Surely, you’d benefit from siding with us instead of remaining against us.” Devil Kong nodded in affirmation.

“I see no reason to oppose you Balgo. Fine, I will join you.” The Scaler grinned in satisfaction; he raised his hat in acknowledgement of the demon’s decision.

“Why that’s very good! Yes, I like that. Our first target will be Manehattan. Now, all we need is a name for this team...”

Act 3 : The Midnight Ride

“So... are we going now or what?” Silas was getting more and more excited for this venture. Balgo, however, had to get a few things done before he could leave.

“In a couple of minutes. I have a few things to do first before we take off to Manehattan.”

“Make it quick. I hate waiting.” added Devil Kong as he was stabbing away at the critters roaming the floor of the castle.

Balgo walked up to a room protected by multiple magical barriers. It was impenetrable for all but him. Using his full power, he passed through the barriers and entered the room. Inside was just a simple bedroom. The most eye-catching feature of this bedroom was the crib in the right corner. In it rested Golden Plate, peacefully sleeping despite the rocky days she’s had with Balgo on his search for Devil Kong. The emperor walked up to the sleeping baby and looked at her for quite some time, making sure nothing was wrong. After a while, he bent down and caressed the baby’s mane before snapping out of it.

“What am I doing?” His thoughts once more diverged towards Smithy. He thought about him for what felt like hours before finally deciding to get a move on. “I’ll have to tell him eventually... looks like it’ll come sooner than I thought.” He exited the room and went back to his newly formed team.

“’O’ Greater Balgo! The Great and Powerful Trixie assumes we are ready to move to Manehattan?” asked the enchanted unicorn.

“But of course. Follow me everyone, I’ll show you all how we’ll get there.”

~***~

“Holy. Shit. That is awesome!” yelled Silas Mann in admiration at the sight of the imposing vehicle Balgo had showed them. It was a big four-wheeler, but without any interior. It was big enough to fit these three giants as well as the additional unicorn in it.

“I’ll drive us to Manehattan.” proclaimed Balgo as he took out the keys from his pocket and jumped inside the driver’s seat. Devil Kong kept on examining the vehicle before exclaiming with a slight hint of disdain in his voice.

“An admirable four-wheeler...” Trixie was very thrilled with how her night was going, hopping in the seat next to her master.

“Oh sweet Celestia! Don’t tell me we’re going for... a Midnight Ride?” Balgo’s face suddenly sparked upon hearing Trixie’s words.

“A midnight ride... Yes! We should be calling ourselves the Midnight Riders!” Silas took an immediate appreciation to the name.

“Sounds good to me!” Devil Kong, however, didn’t care in the slightest.

“Sure...”
Balgo briefly looked at the demon with caution before leaning closer to Trixie. “We should keep an eye out on him.” The unicorn nodded.

“The Great Trixie will keep that in mind.” Silas went on to sit behind Trixie while Devil Kong sat in the far back of the vehicle, pouting in his corner. The emperor started the engine, and waved off at the Scalers to open the gate. The lizards pulled on a large lever, opening the gate that led outside of Canterlot.

“Let’s get moving chaps!” The engine roared before the vehicle sped out of the city in no time.

~***~

Driving through the nightly landscape of Equestria, the newly formed team of baddies found themselves face with one small issue; it was going to take some time to arrive in Manehattan. Add on top of that the fact that they are acquaintances at best and it only results in a sub-par atmosphere built around them. Silas leaned in closer to Balgo and said.

“Are we there yet?”

“No.” replied the Scaler firmly.

“But are we close, to being there yet?” Balgo instantly knew where this was going, causing his patience to dwindle.

“N-O.” This time, Devil Kong joined in.

“Stop acting like a child Silas and be patient. You are annoying everyone in this vehicle.” Silas turned his head around to face the demon and he approached him on the back seat.

“Hey! I take offense to that Dev- Oh wait, I gotta do something important back at Ghost Town...” He turned around to shout at Balgo. “Stop the car! I have something to do!”

“Bloody hell, what is it?!” yelled Balgo, having fully lost his patience. He hit the brakes, causing the four-wheeler to stop instantly, launching the Reaper out of the vehicle. He landed head first on the ground and got back up as if it was nothing.

“Some guy didn’t pay his taxes, I gotta go fuck him up real quick. Okay, be back soon!” He took out his head and teleported back to the Underworld, much to the Scaler and the demon’s irritation. Trixie looked at the two nervously, wondering if a fight was going to erupt any time soon.

“T-The Great and Respectful Trixie will abstract from commenting.” Devil Kong jumped on the seat next to Trixie, causing her to shriek in surprise and he began to shout at Balgo.

“Can’t fucking believe this! You brought this moron onto the team without much hesitation and then you proceed to treat me like shit!” Balgo’s face contorted into a look of irritation and he looked at the demon before shouting.

“And you know next to nothing about strategy. All you care about is the short-term victory, winning the battles, but I care about winning the war which is why you’ll never surpass me Devil Kong.” Trixie felt that she needed to calm the tension between the two.

“My Lord, the Great Trixie does not believe that such a fight is necessary, you have already proven your superiority. Anything Devil Kong might say now is irrelevant.” Balgo lowered his head, staring her down intensely. Trixie felt fear like never before, keeping a smile on her face in hopes it would calm him down. The tension was broken when the Scaler chuckled.

“Heh, that is factually correct. I’ve got to keep my cool now as the leader of this dysfunctional team... I’ll make it work.” Silas finally busted out of the ground a couple of minutes later.

“Hey sorry it took a while guys. Anyway, I believe we shouldn’t be interrupted anymore!” He backflipped off the ground and landed gracefully in his seat. This prompted Balgo to start the vehicle once more and it took off the Manehattan. They drove in silence for what felt like an eternity to Silas, prompting him to lean in forward, this time to ask Trixie a question.

“Hey Trixie?”

“Yes?”

“You’re a magician. So, are you like, really good at magic and stuff?” Trixie remained silent for a moment, looking to her left where Balgo was sitting. He kept an eye on the both of them, though didn’t seem to care all that much.

“N-No... I’m fairly better than the average unicorn, but I'm not exceptional.” she answered in embarrassment. Her answer got the attention of Devil Kong, who lunged from his back seat and landed on the front of the vehicle.

“Are you kidding me? You’ve chosen this unicorn?! You could have picked literally anybody else!” Balgo simply activated the wipers on the windshield to try and push off the demon, to no avail.

“Hey, mind not getting in my field of view? I’ve got to focus on the road.” he responded without much emotion in his voice. Devil Kong jumped back on his seat, taking on a pouting position. Silas leaned in even further once he stopped some lights in the distance.

“Hey! Is that Manehattan?” Balgo pushed him back with one hand before responding.

“Yes! Yes it is! Now sit down and wait until I park.”

~***~

Now parked atop a hill looking over the city, the Midnight Riders got to see the entirety of Manehattan before them. In the night, the light of the lanterns illuminated the city, giving it a beautiful look.

“Well Riders, this is it. Our goal here is to convert the citizens of this city into the Scaler’s Empire. This does not necessarily call for violence, but you are free to act vicious if the situation calls for it. At exactly 1 AM, we will meet up at the casino. Don’t be late.” announced Balgo to his team. Devil Kong grinned at all the thoughts that were running through his head.

“I sure hope it will come down to that...”

“Hey, don’t go around killing everyone in sight. What good is an Empire without people to rule over?” interjected the emperor. Silas cackled, then, he struck a pose.

“That should be an easy task for the legend of Sleepy Hollow! Everybody fears and respects the mighty Horseless Headless Horseman! Just watch.” Trixie mouth slowly opened in realisation.

“Ah! So that is why you require the help of the Great Trixie! A unicorn will have an easier time convincing the ponies of Manehattan to join your empire!” Balgo patted her head in response.

“Indeed, I trust you will accomplish your mission with ease my dear Trixie. You are one of our greatest assets in this endeavor.” Devil Kong grew impatient, he couldn’t wait to get in the city. He spoke with a very calm and collected voice that Balgo hasn’t heard as of now.

“So, are we done with the nice little chatting? I believe we should be acting quickly before the night fades away.”

“Of course, Devil Kong.” responded the Scaler. “Now everyone; strike a pose! We’re going in now.”

Balgo focussed his dark energy in his legs to leap hundreds of meters in the air in direction of Manehattan while Devil Kong turned into black smoke, leaving behind Silas and Trixie.

“Uh... Oh right! I have some spells to help me navigate around. And you’re a unicorn, so you can use your magic to just teleport in Manehattan.” spoke Silas as he knelt down to match Trixie’s height. “Well, I wish you good luck Trixie! Off I go! Ipsum instantarium!” Before Trixie could say anything; Silas casted the Shadow Leap spell and teleported off somewhere in Manehattan.

“I... don’t really have a teleportation spell...” Trixie sighed and pressed onward. “The not so Great Trixie just walk down this hill and make my way to Manehattan.”

~***~

After he had disguised himself as a stallion prince, Balgo infiltrated a prestigious event at an hotel so to convince some of the guests there to join his cause. He was a rather big stallion, a figure that inspired nothing but respect from the other guests as they wondered just who was this fancy looking stallion that came out of the blue. He walked around for a while, looking for any group or individuals he should strike up a conversation with first. That was, until a beautifully dressed mare approached him, piquing his interest. “Hey there, I don’t think I've ever seen a stallion as fancy looking as you.” started the mare. “What’s your name?”

“I’m prince...” His eyes darted around the room until it landed on the buffet behind the mare. “Blueberry Jam. And you are?” Spoke Balgo with the voice of a gentleman.

“I’m Mrs. Strawberry Jam, of the Strawberry family. Our names are quite similar, it’s almost as if we were meant to meet eventually.” responded the mare, quite amused. Prince Blueberry Jam chuckled.

“Well, ain’t that a funny coincidence!” The prince gave a warm smile as he looked into the mare’s eyes. Balgo hasn’t experienced love at all throughout his life, but he had seen it happen all the time during his many conquests. He could tell simply from looking into her eyes that she was interested in him, well at the very least in his stallion form. This was good, for it would make the arduous task of convincing her to join his empire much easier. “Why don’t we sit down at a table? I’m sure it will be much nicer that way.” The mare smiled back at him.

“Of course! You lead the way Prince Blueberry Jam.”

The prince took her to a small table, just big enough to fit the two of them and they sat down. They got to know each other better, however, most of Blueberry Jam’s information about himself was made up on the spot. It was very hard to tell he was lying however, as Balgo was the king of deception; it has been something he was always born to do to perfection.

“...So, since I saw that business was pretty good around this city. That’s pretty much why I chose to come to Manehattan, for her sake.” finished Blueberry Jam. His story was a mixture of truths and lies of Balgo’s story, but it worked. Strawberry Jam was enthralled by the stallion’s tale, being even more excited to learn more about him.

“What a fantastic story! You really are a charitable soul for taking care of that baby.” replied Strawberry Jam. The prince chuckled in amusement.

“Well, that’s enough about me. I wouldn’t want to sound narcissistic, so I think it’s about time you tell me about yourself.”
Somewhere outside the hotel, a particular Scaler was hiding on the rooftop of a nearby building, spying on the whole event with some binoculars. It was Mugen, unsurprisingly.

“Oh boy! Balgo’s back at it again with the deception tactic! I just need to know what he’s doing in particular... just to make sure he’s not breaking the rules. Or else, I'll have to bring Knoxx in there.”

The mare was in the middle of talking about her life in Manehattan when she suddenly started to quiet down and looked very uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong Mrs. Strawberry Jam?” asked the prince out of concern.

“I think I just... need to go to the bathroom.” replied the mare before she got up from her seat.

“Mind if I accompany you?” proposed Blueberry.

“That won’t be necessary. I just hope I won’t be taking too long. Hehe.” she nervously added. The prince watched on as she quickly made her way to the mare’s bathroom on the other side of the dining room. Blueberry didn’t want to sit idly without getting anything done, so he chose to go to the stallion’s bathroom to get some privacy.

Inside the bathroom were a few stalls, but nopony was inside any of them, leaving him all alone in there. “Good.” he thought to himself as he took out his phone to make a few important calls.

“Hey what’s up dawg?” Blueberry nearly dropped his phone when he heard that familiar voice. His face distorted to look more demonic.

“Damn it Mugen! What’s the matter with you?!” The Scaler kept his usual nonchalant smile as he joyfully answered.

“Just keeping an eye out, on request of your dear brother after all.” The prince’s eyes widened.

“Knoxx is in on the whole thing?”

“E-yup. How about I just tell him to come in now?” Blueberry objected to this idea.

“Not no-” The door opened slowly behind the Scaler, revealing an old looking stallion. He had an eyepatch on his left eye and his front right hoof was completely covered in bandages. And on top of that, he sported a short white beard going nicely alongside his white mane. “No doubts about it. This is my brother Knoxx.” thought Balgo.

“Hello again brother. It’s been a while since we last spoke to each other. I hoped you would have had the time to chat for even just a few seconds. So, pardon me if I intrude on your personal projects.” spoke out a disguised Knoxx in a rather happy tone.

“So, that’s it? You’re just here to chat?”

“Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have showed up this nonchalantly.” Balgo felt more relaxed now. “Mugen, you can leave us now.”

“Okie dokie! Bye guys!” The Scaler disappeared in an instant, leaving the two disguised deities on their own.

“How about we talk somewhere more fitting for the both of us?” proposed Balgo.

“How about the roof? There should be enough space for us to find ourselves a nice corner. We don’t want anyone hearing us after all.” added Knoxx as he made his way out of the bathroom, followed closely by his brother.
Just as they exited the stallion’s bathroom, Mrs. Strawberry Jam came out of the mare’s bathroom, looking quite surprised at the newcomer.

“Who’s that Mr. Blueberry Jam?” she politely asked.

“That’s... my brother.” he answered, giving a quick glance at the old stallion before setting his gaze back on the mare. “I’m sorry, but my brother and I absolutely must talk in private, I’ll get back to you once I'm done.” Strawberry Jam looked quite disappointed, but accepted to leave them be nonetheless.

“That’s alright, there’s still quite a lot of time left for this night after all.”

~***~

Now standing by themselves on the roof, the two brothers could finally talk without worrying about anyone overhearing their conversation.

“So, I see you’re still going on about expanding the Scaler Empire. Don’t you think we already have enough?” started Knoxx, having just regained his true form, keeping his eye patch and bandaged right arm.

“There can be no wrong in strengthening our Empire. The stronger we are, the safer the Scalers will be.” defended Balgo, now back to his true self just like his brother.

“But it can also increase the risk of being attacked, from within I mean. There will always be those who will rebel against their oppressors, brother.” pointed out the Light.

“I can deal with simple rebellions quite easily.” answered the emperor.

“When there are 256 worlds to keep an eye on? Brother, I'm starting to think you might just be overworking yourself, and I don’t like it at all. We’ve grown distant ever since you’ve taken on this endeavor... and I fear it’ll only get worse with time.” Balgo looked in the eye of his brother. He was expressing that same look that the emperor was always weak to. The expression of a worried relative begging him to reconsider. After a few seconds of silence, Balgo caved in.

“Fine, how about I make this the final world I’ll conquer? Then, I’ll spend more time back in our home planet.” Knoxx was very happy to hear it, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“That’s wonderful to hear.” He then turned around, ready to leave him be. “I’ll leave you to your work now. As long as you’re not breaking the rules, I’m fine with it.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon Knoxx. I'll come visit you once I'm done here...”

~***~

After drifting through a black void for a couple of minutes, Applejack was finally awakened by blinding lights. Before her eyes could adjust to this brightness, she heard multiple voices calling out to her. She couldn’t make out who were exactly there as the sounds were heavily muffled. Her ears were still ringing and her vision was still extremely blurry. Now, she could also feel her head spinning and her stomach turning inside out.

“Applejack?” The earth pony turned to face the voice but was incapable of answering. Instead, she vomited on the floor.

“Eeek!” Rarity quickly backed away from her friends and looked at her hooves. “Oh no no no. I have vomit on my hooves! Ugh, it’s so disgusting!” She heard laughter behind her coming from Drag. She looked back at him, visibly angry.

“This always happens when you are resurrected that way for the first few times. We call this feeling: Resurrection Sickness.”

“So, is it bad?” asked Twilight.

“She’ll be very weak for a couple of hours, maybe days. But it will go away soon enough and she’ll be back to normal, as if she never even died.” answered the Tauren.

“D-Died?” said Applejack weakly. Twilight Sparkle turned her head to look at her friend laying on the hospital bed.

“You don’t remember Applejack? You were killed by a demon earlier that night. It was thanks to Drag that we were able to save you.” The earth pony took a moment to let it sink in.

“So... It wasn’t a dream after all.” Rainbow Dash got closer to her friend, curious at her statement.

“Hmm? What happened while you were... you know, gone?” Applejack slowly turned her head to face the Pegasus. She looked terribly worried.

“I was in the Underworld. I... ran into Silas there. He’s probably in Equestria looking for me now.” Rainbow Dash nearly flipped out when she heard the name Silas.

“What?! Are you kidding me? Now, we not only have the Scalers and a demon to deal with, but we also have Silas Mann hunting us down!”

“I hope nothing bad ever happens to any of us again.” added Fluttershy, having just swept away her tears. Drag placed a hand on her head and gave her a warm smile to reassure the Pegasus.

“I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”

“And so will I. I’m a part of this team too, right?” added Pink. One of the surgeons came into the room and was astonished to see Applejack alive.

“Sweet Celestia, you were not joking! It worked! You’ve brought back a pony from the dead, Mr. Drag!” He exclaimed out of shock.

“Yeah, but I'd rather not have to use it at all. But something tells me I should reserve my mana just in case...” The Tauren took a seat next to the hospital bed. “Just to be safe, I’ll stay here for the night with Applejack. We should keep watch until she’s fully recovered. Pink, you’ll be on guard for the day.”

“Oh come on! I had plans for that day!”

~***~

Pain, humiliation, frustration, all feelings and emotions going on through the mind of Devil Kong. On top of that, feelings of inadequacy kept on looming above him every time he compared himself to Balgo. It was all so frustrating to him. He was focussed entirely on finding a way to one-up the mighty Balgo. However, his mind inevitably swung back to thinking about Twilight Sparkle and Drag. He was now stuck between two problems that were swarming all his thoughts. “I need more power, more magic, but where can I obtain more?” he calmly said to himself, perched on top of a building. The demon looked on the horizon, juggling a few knives in his hands to keep himself somewhat entertained. “Equestria is a gold mine for magic, that is a fact. Surely there must be some sort of power source, or something akin to that. If I can find something that can give me more power, then... I’ll become strong enough to break through any opposition.” He grinned at the thought that ran through his head. “Including Balgo.”

His eyes quickly darted back down the alley he was overlooking, a small group of ponies were taking this dark alley, seemingly thinking they were sneaky. “Tss... As if I’ll ever help you Balgo. I’ll usurp you soon enough.” Devil Kong got up on his feet and jumped down the building.

“Are you sure the guards won’t see us? Cuz if they do, we’ll be in a whole lotta trouble.” said a stallion to the leader of this small group.

“Oh come on, nopony ever takes this alley. We’re pretty much invisible as long as we stay in there. Now just follow me and shu-” the mare’s response was cut short by the sound of something big landing in front of her, completely blocking their path. They could see nothing but a large figure with glowing crimson eye staring them down. The group tried to run away in the other direction, but they were blocked by two dark figures. One of them was that of a stallion with fancy clothes on and the other one was that of a young-looking mare. They could barely see that these two figures were severely mauled and bloodied.

“Wha- What is going on? What is this thing?!” screamed a pony in the small group. Devil Kong looked at them with indifference, trying instead to replace them with mental images of Twilight Sparkle so he could at least imagine the satisfaction of finally flaying her alive.

“Time for a rehearsal I say.”

~***~

Now that he had teleported into Manehattan, Silas waltzed inside a library, ready to begin his mission. He phased through the entrance and began to cackle manically in his Horseman voice as fog filled the entire store. This got some nervous glances thrown at him, but nobody seemed to panic at the sight of him, much to Silas’s confusion. He walked right up to the librarian, wanting to know why no one seemed to care much about his presence.

“Hey hey hey! What a dark and gloomy night this is, I'm quite surprised a library is opened this late. You should have stayed home, for now you shall witness the coming of the legend of Sleepy Hollow!” The librarian looked at him with confusion.

“Sleepy Hollow? Don’t you mean... Sleepy Holl0WND?” His Horseman persona quickly faded away as his jaw nearly hit the floor and the fog quickly dissipated.

“Sleepy Holl0WND? What the hell is this?!” Silas shouted, feeling insulted.

“Well, ever since the Horseless Headless Horseman has been vanquished by the Elements of Harmony, the legend got renamed in an attempt to ease the kids out of the region into not fearing you anymore.”

“Bleh! As if that’ll work.” replied the Reaper in disgust.

“It did sir...” Silas slammed his hands on the counter, startling the mare.

“What?! It did?! But how? I’ve slain so many ponies, made the night scarier than it already was! How come people no longer fear me outside of Canterlot?” The librarian examined Silas from top to bottom before answering.

“Aside from your appearance, you don’t really seem that scary.” Silas hunched over, trying to say something back, but all he could let out were small gasps of air before he ran off to the bathroom.

~***~

Silas Mann was now hunched over in front of a mirror, staring down his reflection with strong emotions filling his head.
“They don’t fear me anymore! This is it, all that I've tried so hard to do has crumbled right before my very eyes! I’ve cursed myself and my entire family all for nothing!” His reflection took on a life of its own once again.

“We can’t let ourselves be humiliated like this Silas! Sleepy Holl0WND? Bullshit! We’ve lost our spark, but it can never be too late to get it back!” Silas fell down on a foetal position, clawing at his pumpkin head.

“How? They don’t even care about our status! We’ve done so much and just one name change seemed to have undone it all! Oh God, I’m so sorry I cursed you all!” The reflection jumped out of the mirror and grabbed Silas by the collar.

“There is one way! Only one way to make it right! Just imagine... if we kill Princess Celestia...”

“She’s dead.”

“Right, if we instead kill Princess Luna... or hell, maybe even Princess Cadance and then we show everybody their decapitated heads and scream something like “You’ll all be next!” They will come to fear us once more!” Silas’s face showed some hope now.

“Why yes... That will surely work. Equestrians really value their princesses! If we can cut ‘em up, and make a work of art of their carcasses... We will be respected!” The Horseman got up on his feet as his reflection jumped back into the mirror. “We shall do it, not just for ourselves, but we will do it for our family. For the Manns!”

Silas was taken out of his rambling once a toilet flushed behind him. Out of the stall came a young stallion who looked rather annoyed.

“Hey! Do you mind keeping it down? I was trying to relieve myself in there!” He then went on to wash his hooves and left the bathroom as Silas was staring him down.

“My God, no one really cares about what I say huh? What a fucking douchebag, I’ll show him soon enough!”
With renewed determination, Silas left the bathroom in search of the princesses. But first, he’ll have to meet up at the casino like Balgo instructed.

~***~

Silas was walking through the streets, however with his confidence being completely absent, his walk was much more subdued, losing all its flair. It took a couple of minutes for him to realise he didn’t know where he was going. He’ll have to ask for directions now...

Luckily, there was a lonesome mare just ahead of him, surely, she can tell him where the casino was. His entire body began to twice and crack as he took on a spider-like posture and began running on all fours towards the mare, jumping over her and landing on his feet, startling her.

“Well, hello there young lady! I am quite lost in this city and hope that you will tell me where the casino is.” The mare quickly got irritated at the scare that Silas gave her.

“You know, you could ask nicely instead of landing inches away from my face. You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Silas bent over and got up in her face.

“Tell me where the damn casino is!” The young pony was now scared for her life as she could feel the Horseless Headless Horseman’s growing aggression and thus, she reached out for something in her bag. Before Silas could see what it was, she sprayed him with it, momentarily blinding him. She took advantage of this moment of weakness to run away from the Reaper.

“Oh fuck me! I can’t believe that bitch pepper sprayed me!” His eyes quickly set themselves on a puddle of water near the sidewalk. His reflection rose out from the puddle to rub the wound in further.

“God damn! Do you see just how much nobody respects you! THAT, is why we must kill an alicorn. Or else, we’ll be the laughing stock of monsters for the rest of our eternal existence! There is no fate worse than this!” Silas nodded in agreement.

“You’re right! This shit can’t keep on happening to me.” On that note, he resumed his search of the casino, this time in a very bad mood. His walk was very erratic, sometimes nearly tripping but he caught himself just before he could fall. It was clear he wasn’t paying much attention to where he was going, and the ponies walking around didn’t pay any attention to the undead amongst them. Eventually, Silas reawakened and his eyes spotted a stallion in a dark alley, seemingly guarding something inside the building next to him. Nopony even dared to look in his direction, but Silas did without any fear or hesitation.

The Reaper nonchalantly walked up to him, stepping on a magician’s hat that he did not notice at all. “Hey. You busy?” The stallion quickly turned back to face the tall axe-wielding undead.

“Hmm? What do you want?” he asked in a rude tone. Silas answered with an ominous voice.

“What do I want? Oh, not much really. I’m just a tourist here, so all I'm going to ask of you is to tell me where the city’s casino is. Oh boy, ain’t that simple?” The stallion remained quiet for a moment, before responding.

“It’s right next to the city’s hotel. You can’t miss this building, it’s so tall that you can practically see it everywhere you go in Manehattan.” Some strange sounds coming from the building behind the stallion caught the attention of Silas Mann.

“Oh? What’s that? You mind telling me what’s going on?” asked the undead as he approached the stallion, bending over in the process so he could stare at him in the eyes.

“That is n-none of your business you undead freak! The Gaping Maw Clan won’t take lightly to intruders.”

“Oh am I intruding now? You see, I absolutely HATE, HATE, HATE when people don’t show me the respect I DESERVE!” shouted the undead as he moved in closer, causing the stallion to back up right into the door.

“Hey... St-stay back you freak!”

“St...Stay back? How about no! How about you kneel before me and beg for mercy!? Huh?! HUH?!” yelled Silas, this time even more unhinged that before. The stallion did exactly as he was told, but Silas still wasn’t satisfied.

“... Is this really the best you can do? Am I a joke to you?”

~***~

It took a while, but Trixie finally got in Manehattan. Fully determined to complete the mission she was assigned, she wandered around looking for ponies that’ll be easy to convince into joining the Scaler Empire. Of course, being just a unicorn without any meaningful status, Trixie knew that the average citizen of Manehattan wouldn’t accept at all if she were to ask. Instead, she’ll have to go to the ones that shares more in common with the Scalers, those that have a certain knack for violence; criminals. The night is the perfect moment to find them roaming about in the darkest corners of the city, there’s just one group she should avoid however, seeing as she’s got a bad history with them.

“Better avoid the Gaping Maw Clan at all costs...” she thought to herself as she walked in the dark alleys of the city. She then tried to brush off her fears by reminding herself who she was working with. “Well, I have the Great and Almighty Balgo on my side, I should be safe. Hopefully.”

She took a sharp turn and used her magic to levitate herself to the roof of an old warehouse. Up there, she looked down at the glass ceiling to spy on the ponies looming inside.

“...Do you think they know we’re here?” said one of the stallions.

“The chances are high; we should be prepared just in case. The city guards are quite good at sniffing out criminals.” replied a female unicorn as she calmly barricaded the door. Trixie could just barely make out the huge scar on her left eye indicating she was quite the veteran in this business. However, she had to see their Cutie Marks just to be sure they weren’t part of the Gaping Maw Clan. Members of that clan always branded their Cutie Marks so they can instantly recognise one another. Well, it was a common practice in the various gangs around Manehattan, but Trixie just had to spot what kind of motif they had branded on their flanks before she could make a move.

“No sign of the Gaping Maw’s in the area?” added another stallion. One of the mares peeked through the window for several seconds before exclaiming it.

“Don’t seem to be any.” Thankfully the stallion’s words confirmed their identity to the hidden unicorn; they are not the Gaping Maw Clan.

“Ok, this is the moment to make my entrance!” thought Trixie before she snuck in the building.
The scarred mare used her magic to take something out of her bag. “Now, I want you all to take a look at this.” She lifted the item in full view of her comrade; it was an ordinary blood bag. But the blood inside it was anything but normal. It was an extremely dark shade of red, almost black and it appeared to be boiling.

“I’ve never seen that kind of blood, and I've spilled so much blood in my time here.” commented one of the stallions in the room.

“What kind of creature in Equestria could have that kind of blood, Mama Scarface?” asked one of the mares.

“It’s quite simple, this blood does not belong to an Equestrian, or at least, something inside Equestria. This, is demon blood.” answered Mama Scarface.

“Demon blood?! You have seen a demon roaming around in Equestria?!” nearly shouted a stallion.

“No, but I know for a fact this blood belongs to that of a demon; it perfectly fits its description in many of the books I’ve read on them. There is a demon on the loose, and it’s somewhere around Canterlot and Ponyville.” clarified Scarface, this time with more worry in her voice, though she hid it very well to her peers.

“Darn, I suppose we should be even more careful at night now. First, it was the enemy clan we had to worry about, then there was a psychopathic axe-wielding undead and now we have a demon?!” blurted out one of the mares in a slight panic.

“Seems like it. We just have to play things smart and everything will be alr-” Their leader was cut off by a sudden burst of smoke popping up behind them on a slightly elevated platform.

“What an interesting conversation you were having. Mind if the Great Trixie chimes in?”

The criminals were now prepping themselves for battle as Mama Scarface’s horn began to glow.

“Woah! Hold on a moment! I’m not here to cause any trouble!” shouted Trixie in a panic. Scarface’s horn started to lose its glow slowly before she took on a more neutral expression.

“Then why are you here magician?” The unicorn let out a sigh of relief before she gave them a proposition.

“The Charming and Charismatic Trixie come to give you a great offer for your clan, Mama Scarface. I see that this demon is worrying you terribly, but with my offer, he won’t be a problem at all. I can guarantee you protection against this beast.”
Their leader raised an eyebrow in interest. “Go on, you’ve got my full attention now.”

“I, am allied with the even Greater than me Balgo. The most powerful being I've ever seen! He has bested the demon without breaking a sweat and has forced it to obey his orders. If you choose to join the Scaler Empire, you’ll have Balgo’s protection from any and all threats in Equestria!”

“This sounds great, but how can we be so sure you aren’t just lying to us?” replied Scarface. Trixie scoffed and lifted her hat, revealing a dark purple crystal hiding inside her mane. She took it out and approached the leader.

“This is a mere fraction of the master's power. Touch it and feel it’s power, feel the Great Balgo’s presence through it.” The scarred mare hesitantly reached out a hoof to touch the dark crystal but when she touched it, she could feel a power so powerful it dwarfed those of the princesses themselves!

“You... aren’t lying.” she said before she nodded in agreement. “Very well, you can count on the Scarface clan to support this, Balgo fellow.”

~***~

Trixie walked out of the abandoned warehouse, satisfied of her success. She had no doubts Balgo will be pleased to hear her news. She trotted happily through the dark streets of Manehattan, ready to head out to the casino as the great one had ordered. Though something felt off about this block of the big city, there wasn’t a single pony in sight. Strange, considering there are still at least a few presents even during the night. Manehattan is a city that never sleeps as some would say. So, this was definitely an oddity. She was taken out of her thoughts by a worrying feeling that she was being followed.
Trixie stopped and looked back; nothing. Nopony was following her, or so it would seem. She’s definitely being stalked right now; she can feel it. The unicorn used her magic to light up her surroundings, even then she couldn’t spot anypony in sight. She felt more and more uncomfortable now. She wanted to get to the casino as quickly as possible now before something bad could happen. But before Trixie could walk away, she was suddenly hit in the back of the head. Dazed and confused, she could only watch as she was being dragged away, unable to do anything about it.

When the pain started to go away, the unicorn could finally use her magic to defend herself. But her aggressors were already prepared and placed a device on her horn, completely inhibiting her magic. Then, they tied up her hooves, leaving her defenseless and at their mercy. Once her vision readjusted, she could finally make out who her aggressors were. One look was more than enough for her to realise that they were part of the Gaping Maw Clan. A stallion was keeping her pinned down with one hoof to her neck.

“Oh, h-hey there. I-I-I was just passing by.” she fearfully said to the stallion pinning her down.

“Save any excuses for the boss. You know what you’ve done, it’s gonna take a lot more than an apology to get yourself out of this one, magician. You should know what awaits you.”

~***~

They putted a blindfold and a gag on Trixie so that she couldn’t see where they were taking her and so that she couldn’t call for help. The ride took a few minutes, but she could hear them opening an old creaky door and she was taken inside what she believed to be their hideout. Trixie was suddenly dropped onto the floor. Her gag and blindfold were removed so that she could finally see what was about to happen.

She was surrounded by multiple stallions and mares around the darkened room. In front of her was a desk and a recognisable figure stood behind it, at least to her this stallion couldn’t be anypony but the one who’s deal she had backed out of. The leader of the Gaping Maw Clan. Needless to say, she was in a lot of trouble.

“Ah, so you’ve finally brought Trixie, the pathetic magician back to me. How long have I been waiting for this moment again? Hmm, must’ve been for months.” spoke out the stallion, his voice was deep, old and perfectly calm regarding the situation. Though Trixie could notice he was still somewhat excited to have finally caught her.

“Oh, M-Mr. Shank, fa-fancy seeing you again.” she replied with a nervous smile.

“Indeed, it is quite nice to be seeing you again. You left without saying goodbye last time, I hope that today would be the day we get to make amends you and I.” Although the stallion’s words didn’t sound harmful at all, she knew that he wanted to see her suffer horribly for what she had done.

“O-O-Ok, wh-what's the p-price I’ll have to p-pay for this?” hesitantly asked the unicorn.

“Hmm, I have spent a lot of time thinking what should be the punishment. I couldn’t think of one for the longest time, but then, I simply thought of what had happened to me and it finally gave me the answer I was looking for.” Mr. Shanks got up from his seat and approached Trixie. She was quite startled at the sight of what had happened to this once mighty looking stallion. He had lost one of his legs completely as well as one eye, now an empty socket that he covered up with an eyepatch.

“...” Trixie remained silent before the now pitiful looking gang leader.

“An eye for an eye as they say. If you hadn’t backed out of the deal, this wouldn’t have happened to me. I think it’s only fair that you get the same treatment as I had so nicely received months ago.” He then chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry my dear Trixie. I won’t kill you, I’m not as cruel as they say. But I hope you know where the nearest hospital is once we’re through with you; You may die of blood loss.”

“W-W-Wait!” tried to object the unicorn. “What if I tell you that I know somepony who can fix your missing leg and eye? Won’t that be good enough to get you off my back?” Shank paused for a moment, contemplating the idea, but he quickly rejected it.

“I’m sorry Trixie, but even that can’t erase what I had to go through. You can go to this pony once we’re done with the procedure. You must at the very least endure the pain I was given.” He turned his head to look at a mare awaiting his orders. “You know what to do.” he said sternly.

The mare nodded and went into the adjacent room to fetch the tools necessary for Trixie’s torture. She later came back with multiple nightmarish looking tools. The poor unicorn was terrified and tried desperately to free herself of her bonds to no avail. The mare approached an old and grizzled stallion and handed him the tools. He grinned at the sight of them, which only made Trixie’s fear worse. The old stallion then trotted up to her and knelt down to start his work. He took out what looked like a sharp spoon to scoop out her eye and started moving it closer to her. Trixie began to shake her head around in distress, much to the irritation of the stallion.

“Hey, hold her head down, will you? I can’t do my work if she keeps squirming!” One of the gang members nodded and placed a hoof on Trixie’s head, pinning her to the ground. “Much better.”

The old stallion then moved his horrific instrument closer to her... but was interrupted by an ear-piercing scream coming from the outside followed up by maniacal cackling. Then, the scream suddenly stopped.

“Wh-What was that Mr. Shank?” asked one of the gang members.

“This is not good. Prepare yourselves for an attack, we’ll deal with Trixie later.” spoke Mr. Shank, this time with irritation in his voice.

Loud stomps could be heard from the other side of the door leading to their room. Then, it was followed by the screams of the many members of the clan outside battling this threat. It kept on laughing manically as it seemingly took them all out one by one. The stomping got closer until it stopped, leaving all the ponies in the room with nothing but silence filling the atmosphere.

The door suddenly went flying, crashing into two of the Gaping Maw Clan’s members. The surviving ones looked back at the entrance only to see the Horseless Headless Horseman stepping foot inside the room, laughing uncontrollably as he brandished his Headtaker.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... Nine of you!” he said in his Horseman voice, a deep, echoing voice that shook all the ponies in the room to their very core.

“Kill him! Kill him!” shouted Mr. Shank in a panicked tone. A stallion bravely charged at the undead, but he bent down and lifted his two arms in the air.

“BOO!” Suddenly, Trixie’s vision was now invaded my horrible, incomprehensible images of untold horror. Monsters, bursting into bloody rain before her eyes as many other horrific imageries accompanied them. This kept on going until the unicorn couldn’t take it anymore and she let out a terrified scream.

“Huh, wha- Trixie?” The effects finally worn off and the mare could see Silas Mann standing before her with his axe high up in the air. He lowered his weapon and knelt down to get a closer look at her. “What are you doing here? What am I doing here again?”

The entire room was now covered in blood, with decapitated ponies littering the floor. Silas had massacred them all, to which he apparently ignored it even happened.

“Oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter. Here, let me help you with those bonds.” He tore off the ropes holding her hooves together with ease and then took off the device covering her horn, allowing the unicorn to use her magic again. She got up and thanked the Reaper for his aid.

“Th-Thank you Silas. If it weren’t for your sudden interference, the Great Trixie believes she would have ended up mangled at the hands of these monsters.” A thought came to Silas’s mind. A thought that made him feel something he wasn’t familiar with.

“So, what you’re saying is... I saved you?”

“Uh, yeah, pretty much.”

“... So, I’m, a hero?”

“The Great Trixie will call you her hero from now on.” said Trixie while giggling.

“A hero...” repeated Silas while in a trance. The thought of being someone’s hero never really interested him. But having saved Trixie from a horrific fate made him reconsider his view. He was appreciated and most importantly, respected by a pony. This felt great to him.

“Well then, the Endurant and uh, Athletic Trixie will go to the casino now on hoof... Um, she’ll appreciate if you stay close by.”

“Oh, b-but of course! I’ll keep a close eye on you!”

~***~

Trotting around the mayor’s office, princess Cadance and Shining Armor were waiting for any news regarding the Scaler situation outside of Manehattan. The city’s guards won’t be enough to deal with the invaders, so the two knew what they had to do, but they didn’t like the idea at all.

“This city is home to many different clans, each at war with one another. As much as I don’t like it, we’ll need their help to protect the city from these Scalers.” affirmed princess Cadance. Shining agreed reluctantly to this idea as well.

“Yeah, they know how to fight, and that’s exactly what we need in order to combat this enemy.”

“The problem is, that these criminals avoid alicorns like they are some sort of contagious disease. Ever since we’ve arrived in Manehattan, crime rates have dropped.” Cadance stopped by in front of a window and looked outside. “They are laying low for as long as we stay in here. It’ll be hard to convince them to fight with us, much less even get in contact with them.” Shining approached his lover and nuzzled her.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll just have to come to them directly, they’ll be forced to listen to what we have to say.” He then looked out the window too, but with a worried look. Cadance knew what he was thinking about.

“I do know that Ponyville is close to Canterlot. I hope nothing bad happened to that lovely town.” Shining looked down with worry, for he has heard of what had transpired in Ponyholm.

“The adjacent town had it rough. But I haven’t heard anything regarding Ponyville... I hope she’s alright.” Princess Cadance reared her head closer to her lover in an attempt to comfort him.

“I’m sure she is, Shining. For the time being, let’s focus on our task at hand.”

~***~

Now that she had finally recovered from her injury, Luna flew back to Equestria on her chariot. Her first stop; the prestigious city of Canterlot. She stepped out of her ride and was shocked at the sight of the city being filled with Scalers and Ponies alike. The reptiles stared at her with anxiety, their stares were cut short when they started screeching into the night. The lunar princess watched in confusion as their screech went on for a few seconds. She finally understood what they were doing once she saw a big Scaler appear out of the castle, riding a magical flying carpet.

“Wings... and a horn. Oh, so you’re an alicorn. Princess Luna, ain’t it?” started Aruba. The alicorn took on a battle stance, her horn lighting up with magic.

“What did you do to my sister Celestia?” The genie took out a pipe from his chest and took a puff from it.

“So, that’s why you came here I see. You’ll get your answer in Ponyville. If you stay here any longer, I'll have to exercise some “self-defence”. We both don’t want this to happen, trust me.”

Princess Luna was hesitant to leave, but if she had to go to Ponyville to find out what happened to her sister, then so be it. She had made up her mind and thus, left Canterlot using her wings to fly through the dark skies of the night.

It didn’t take her long to arrive in Ponyville. She thought to visit the hospital first, as it made the most sense to her that her sister had to be in there. The staff was very surprised to see her, mostly because she had been absent from the war for quite some time.

“Princess Luna! What brings you here? Are you here to see Applejack?” asked the mare sitting behind the counter. The alicorn looked at her curiously.

“Applejack? What happened to her?” questioned the lunar princess.

“She... um, died and was brought back to life thanks to the Tauren. She is currently resting at the hospital because she’s very sick.” answered the mare.

“Bring me to her room.”

“R-Right away!”

She arrived in Applejack’s room where she immediately spotted Drag sitting by the bed. The Tauren quickly took notice of Luna and got up from his seat.

“Princess Luna. I’ve been wondering where you where this whole time.”

With one simple gesture, she got the mare to leave the two of them alone. “I’ve been injured and had to stay on the moon to recover. I wish I had been here sooner though.” She looked at the sick-looking Applejack sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed. “Seems like I’ve missed a lot.”

Drag took a quick look at the sleeping earth pony and then looked back at princess Luna. “Yeah, you did.” His face suddenly shifted to a grim one. “I assume you’re here for Celestia.”

The alicorn nodded. “Of course, do you know where she is?”

Drag sat back down next to the bed. “I won’t leave Applejack unsupervised, but I can tell you where to go. She’s in the Golden Oak Library, you just have to ask... Twilight for that.”

~***~

Twilight was just about go to sleep after this very emotional roller coaster of a night. However, this night wasn’t over yet for her as indicated by a sudden knock on her door.

“Spike, can you open the door for me?” she politely asked to her awakened apprentice.

“Right away Twilight!” Spike hurried himself to the door and opened it only to be greeted by an unorthodox sight; Princess Luna herself was there. “Twilight! That’s Princess Luna!”

Twilight Sparkle nearly tripped when she heard the name of the lunar princess.

“L-Luna?” She looked back at the door just as Spike let her in.

“Twilight, Drag told me I could find Celestia in the Golden Oak Library. Is it true?”

Twilight’s heart sank. Celestia was dead for quite some time and it was still hard for her to accept it. Now, she had to show Luna what happened to her sister.

“Y... Yes. Well, what’s left of her actually.” She lifted her eyes to look at Luna, but the princess’s horrified expression only made the pain inside her heart worse.

“W-W-What do you mean, what’s left of her?” she asked in a trembling voice.

“Follow me downstairs, I’ll show you what happened to Celestia.” spoke Twilight with tears in her eyes. Her eyes were now red due to all the tears she’s shed during this single night.

~***~

Luna nearly fell over on her knees once she saw the sorry state her sister’s body was in. Princess Celestia’s corpse was locked in a glass container preventing her body from decomposing any further. She looked dried up and her body was covered in lacerations and bruises.

“T-Tia...” said Luna, barely able to even speak her sister’s name as she approached the glass container and looked at it with tears in her eyes.

Twilight looked at the stairs behind her and saw Spike looking over the whole scene in sadness.

“Spike, go upstairs. You don’t have to witness any of this.” she told the baby dragon, not wanting him to stick around. He nodded and slowly made his way up.

“Balgo is a real monster. Somepony you can’t just convince with simple words to do better. We have to fight him, but we’re not stupid. We know we don’t stand a chance.” there she was again. Bane, back again to speak her hopeless thoughts out loud to the unicorn.

Finally, Luna spoke up once she was done crying over her sister’s death. “It was Balgo, wasn’t it?”

Twilight quickly took her eyes off Bane and looked back at the alicorn. “Yes, it was Balgo.”

“Where could he be?” followed up Luna.

“Well, Mugen said he was in Manehat-”

The lunar princess wiped off the tears on her face and quickly walked out of the room, moving towards the entrance of the library.

“L-Luna?! Where are you going?” asked Twilight, but she knew what Luna would do.

“I’m going to make him pay for what he’s done to my sister.” answered Luna, her teeth clenching out of anger. Before the unicorn could say anything, she flew off to Manehattan.

“Oh no... We can’t let Luna fly off to her death!” Bane appeared once more behind her with an idea in mind.

“We can send a letter to princess Cadance and Shining Armor to warn them. They are in Manehattan remember?” Twilight looked at Bane with surprise. The dark reflection had indeed said something helpful to her.

“Right, Spike!” called out the unicorn.

“Yes, Twilight?” responded the baby dragon.

“We’re sending a letter to my brother right now! Get your pen and paper!”

~***~

“That’s the casino alright!” Silas Mann and Trixie have finally arrived at the casino where the group was supposed to meet up.

“I can’t wait to see the Great and Undefeatable Balgo again!” exclaimed the unicorn in excitement. “I can only imagine just how proud he’ll be when I’ll tell him that I’ve accomplished my mission!”

“The mission...” muttered Silas under his breath, realising he didn’t even try. “Oh shit.”

“Come on Silas! Let’s go in.” spoke Trixie as she walked in the casino.

“Right behind you Trixie! Also, I like the way you speak.”

Inside the casino, every pony in sight were looking in one direction; a table in which sat Devil Kong and Balgo. The demon had possessed one of the patrons, so to hide his true identity, while the Scaler didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Nopony dared to even approached these two.

“’O’ master Balgo!” shouted Trixie, getting the attention of the Scaler.

“Ah, so you’ve finally made it back. A bit late, however...” responded the emperor.

“Sorry, we ran into some trouble on our way there. It wasn’t our fault, I swear.” pleaded the unicorn.

“No matter, I hope you two are bringing good news.” Silas sprang into action, pointing his two hands at Trixie.

“Of course we are! Trixie has convinced an entire gang to join the empire! Ain’t that great news!” Balgo smiled and took a sip out of the beer laying on the table.

“Perfect, we’ve made some progress. You have done well, unlike a certain someone over there.” continued the emperor as he pointed a thumb at the demon sitting beside him. “Say, why don’t you come with us and play some games? It’ll be fun.”
The two nodded in agreement and sat to the right of Devil Kong, where as Balgo was sitting on the left side of the table. Before they could start anything, Balgo’s phone rang.

“Hmm, wait here for a moment. I’ve got an important call.”

Positioning himself on the roof of the casino, Balgo answered the call. It was Aruba on the other side, speaking to him.
“Hey buddy, I’ve got some big news for ya.” Balgo waited for a few moments. Expecting the news to come. “ Uh-”
“Don’t wait for a response. You can just tell me straight away, I'm listening.”

“Ah, okay, great. Um, Princess Luna came earlier that night. She was looking for her sister, Princess Celestia.” Balgo smirked once he heard the name of the princesses being mentioned.

“Ho ho ho! You told her what happened to Celestia?”

“Well, I told her to go to Ponyville to get her answers. By now, she should have figured out that you murdered her sister. She’s coming for you Balgo.” Balgo cackled now, excited for this new turn his night has taken.

“Perfecto! I’ll give her a warm welcome into Manehattan. You have done well Aruba, be seeing you.”

“Hmhm, see ya buddy.”

Once the call was over, Balgo looked over the city. Princess Luna was going to arrive any time soon. For the time being, he should just enjoy himself. After all, the best has yet to come.

Wait, what’s that? Everything around Balgo suddenly disappeared, leaving him all alone in the darkness. Somewhere in the distance, he could spot what appeared to be a Scaler. But he immediately recognised who it was. This Scaler was just as big as him, but it was horribly deformed. There were tentacles around his body, his chest was split open, his ribs acting as teeth for this gaping maw that was his chest. His eyes were black with bloody red pupils that expressed nothing but hatred with one of them being much bigger than the other one.

“You... are neglecting your promise, old friend. The promise you’ve made to a dying friend.”

“No... I didn’t forget about my promise Siegfried. Never will I.”

“Even before you’ve arrived here, you’ve neglected it. You’re afraid, Balgo. But you refuse to admit it. Tell him everything...” His last words echoed throughout the emperor’s very bones.

The darkness dissipated and so did the mutated Scaler. Everything was back to normal now.

“My mind must be playing tricks on me again.” tried to reason Balgo. But deep down, he knew that Siegfried’s words were not hollow. “Smithy...”

~***~

Having returned to his seat, Balgo pulled out a set of cards.

“Let’s play a game, shall we?”

...

“Ha ha ha ha! Balgo, draw +4!” shouted Devil Kong in a malicious amount of glee.

“Alrighty then” the Scaler drew four cards. “Take that! A royal flush combo!” Silas slammed his own card on the table.

“I choose you! Mega Mewtwo X! My Mewtwo beats your royal flush combo!” Trixie also had a plan of her own.

“Ha! You all lose for I, the Lucky and Skillful Trixie, summon Exodia the Forbidden One!”

Everypony in the casino looked at the table in sheer confusion.

“What in the hay are they playing?” asked one of the patrons.

“I don’t know, they all have different set of cards.” responded another.

“We’re playing Uno damn it!” yelled Devil Kong.

“We’re playing Poker you dimwitted monkey!” shouted Balgo.

“We’re playing Pokemon! It’s the hot new shit on the block!” added Silas Mann.

“We’re playing the... the Yu Gi Oh, g-game!” yelled Trixie.

“Nobody knows what the fuck they are doing! How can we even play anything like that? This is bullshit!” screamed Devil Kong as he slammed one fist on the table.

Balgo took another look at his set of cards, only to notice Devil Kong trying to peek at his cards. Irritated, he slammed his fist on a button underneath the table. When it didn’t work, he kept on hitting it, only to miss the button repeatedly.
To the others, it looked like Balgo was... um, pleasing himself.

“Balgo what the fuck are you doing?” asked Silas, looking very disturbed.

Finally, the Scaler hit the button and an anvil dropped on Devil Kong’s head, smashing the demon on the table, breaking it in thousands of pieces.

“Ha! Take that, pussy!” Balgo then began to laugh out loud, only to be interrupted by the chair breaking on him. “Woah?!” He fell on his back. Silas found this hilarious and he attempted to get up from his chair to walk to the bar, but he tripped on Devil Kong.

“I, liked the game actually.” said Trixie, looking at the three monsters, all on the floor.

“I hate you all.” announced Devil Kong as he threw the anvil away, scaring multiple patrons of the casino as it nearly crushed them. Trixie looked at the demon for a few seconds before deciding to say what was on her mind.

“Uh, D-Devil Kong?” The demon looked at her with disdain. “The Kind and Honest Trixie just wanted to tell you that I saw a gang of criminals that had your blood in their possession. They seem to know that there is a demon in Equestria.”

Devil Kong looked very displeased through his host. “I see, I’ll have to do something about it soon enough.”
Balgo got up and looked up for a moment before his entire demeanor changed to show excitement.

“Neh he ha ha! Princess Luna is coming!” He looked at the Midnight Riders, it was clear that he had an idea in mind. “Listen gang, here’s how we’re gonna deal with the lunar princess.”

~***~

Luna stormed in the casino in search of Balgo for he had made his presence in there known to all the locals. She stared deeply into the Scaler’s soul once she spotted him, sitting by himself at a table. Her eyes were throwing daggers in his direction and he quickly felt her arrival.

“Ah, Princess Luna. Fancy seeing you again, why don’t you take a seat? We’ll play a little game.” started the emperor.
“I’m not here to play games with you! I’m here to avenge my sister!” shouted the lunar princess as she stomped towards the Scaler.

“Oh, what a shame. I just wanted to play poker with someone.” he responded as he placed his cards on the table.
Luna’s horn began to glow with hatred which surprised Balgo. He looked around the casino to find that there were still ponies inside.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to get aggressive in a place like this. You could hurt innocents if you let loose in this casino. But I’ll be kind enough to let you have you retribution, outside.” With one swing of his arm, Balgo summoned a portal and he jumped off his chair, going into it.

Without skipping a beat, Luna went outside too. She quickly headed to the back of the casino, where she figured he’d be waiting for her.

“So you’re finally here to-”

“Enough talk! You’ll pay for what you’ve done!” interrupted the angry alicorn.

“Assclown...”

Luna opened up the fight with a magic beam heading straight to Balgo’s face. He shielded his face with his dark energy just in time and stomped on the ground, causing a huge column of stone to hit Luna, launching her in the air. She quickly regained her composure and saw the Scaler scaling up the walls of the casino to get in range of her. Using her wings, she stopped herself from being launched too far.

Once he arrived at the top, she used telekinesis to throw the column right at him but he saw it coming and opened his jaws to an impossible length to swallow the whole column of stone. He then turned his attention towards the alicorn. His entire chest tore itself open and his intestines turned into sharp tendrils launching straight towards her heart. She avoided the tendrils by carefully manoeuvring around their attacks.

“My whole body’s a weapon! Let’s get creative now!”

Balgo’s ribs began to orient themselves onto Luna and then, shot out of his body as if they were spears. The alicorn formed a shield with her magic, completely stopping the tendrils and the ribs from getting to her.

“Hmm, fuck. Change of plans, close quarter combat it is.”

The Scaler’s heart shot out from his body and wrapped itself around the shield. Balgo then began to pull on it to bring the princess into melee range. Alicorns are pretty strong with magic, their bodies are fairly resistant to magic, but not blunt force. If Balgo can get a good hit on her, it's going to hurt. Luna undid her magic shield and rammed straight into the emperor, impaling him with her horn. Balgo was quite surprised, but reacted fairly quickly by attempting to close his entire chest on her to crush her neck, but the lunar princess fired a beam of magic into him, launching the monster back. She felt immense satisfaction in pushing the beast back.

Luna washed the blood off her horn as Balgo spat blood on the floor, then he got up as if nothing happened, swiping the viscera off his suit with an indifferent look. It was as if her attacks barely hurt him.

“You’re far more aggressive than your sister.” A large grin formed on his face. “I think I like you better. Hmmm, I just can’t shake off the feeling that there’s something familiar in you. I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

He then loudly snapped his fingers multiple times. Luna watched confused, but prepared herself to attack again when she felt something jumped right next to her.

“Bark bark! Time for lard princess!” It was Silas Mann who punched her in the face, sending the alicorn into an alley.

Slowly opening her eyes, Luna found out that she must have passed out for a moment. She got up and felt very dizzy. The blow must have given her a concussion. Her head was now bleeding and she could taste her own blood.

“If I kill you, Princess Luna! Your people will fear me again! Respect and admiration, all the things that I deserve, I think. Oh well, no sense in telling you this since you’re going to die tonight!”

The alicorn looked behind and saw Silas slowly approaching, his axe already drawn. The ponies around all fled in fear as the undead reacted with glee at this sight.

“Mirror me, you’re right! Just injuring her seems to work well enough. I can’t imagine how good it will get once I take off her head!”

Luna wasted no time, seeing as the zombie was distracted and threw a nearby dumpster at him, transforming it into a large boulder.

The boulder crushed Silas, but he threw it away, looking angry.

“Oh you asked for it now! Caputus, crepitus!”

Silas Mann launched a powerful fireball at the princess. She tried to intercept it with her magic, but found out that the power behind that spell made it difficult to do so. She put even more strength into her magic and successfully stopped it in its tracks. Then, she threw it back at Silas who watched on in shock.

“TF2 Pyro, how?! You can’t reflect spe-” The fireball blew up in his face, but didn’t cause much damage as his entire body is absent of flesh. “Enough!”

Silas threw his axe, flying right past Luna. She looked back instinctively to see the axe hitting a wall behind her and just as she set her gaze back on her opponent, he rammed into her. She flew back, hitting the wall full force and the undead followed up with a strong kick to her abdomen.

He then proceeded to grab her by the throat and slammed the alicorn repeatedly in the wall. Suddenly, a large ball fell on his head, causing him to release Luna.

“Pardon my intrusion, but it seems like someone is in dire need of help!”

It was Mugen who had arrived on the scene.

“Leave me alone! I got an alicorn to kill. Barpo Invisium!”

The Horseless Headless Horseman turned invisible, much to Mugen’s confusion.

“Huh? Where did he g- ?!” Mugen dodged just in time the axe swing aiming straight for his neck. “Hahaha! He can turn invisible!”

Balgo suddenly dropped from the sky, getting in the middle of both Luna and Mugen.

“Jester! You will not intervene in this fight! Stop looking into other people’s business!”

Balgo dashed towards Mugen and knocked him back with a shoulder tackle, then followed up by creating a hammer made from dark energy to knock him high in the air.

“Oh my, guess I felt the wrath of Shao K-” he landed head first on the ground. Silas went back to Luna, placing the handle of his axe behind her head and then proceeded to headbutt her multiple times, drawing blood with each hit.
Mugen morphed into a ball and launched himself at Balgo, but the emperor had faced him so many times he could read him like an open book. This fight clearly bored the mighty Scaler as he had an expression of pure boredom on his face.

“Ha ha! Come on Balgo, lighten up! This can be fun if you just try to make it more entertaining!” said Mugen in a jovial tone. He stopped attacking and took on a clownish pose in an attempt to amuse the emperor, but it didn’t work.
For a split second, Balgo’s eyes became purple and then Mugen found himself on the floor, missing his legs and an arm.

“Ok then, guess you really weren’t in the mood. You’ve used your full power on me for just a split second. I take it you don’t want anything to do with me for the time being?” continued the Scaler, still in a jovial and carefree tone.

“Yes, now go bother someone else.” responded Balgo as he lifted up his foot above Mugen’s head.

“Ha! Will do!” concluded Mugen before he got his entire head crushed into bloody bits. This was not the end for the extravagant Scaler, Balgo knew that but at least, he’ll get some peace for a while. He turned his attention back to the alicorn and the undead.

Silas had grabbed Luna by the mane and was holding her up in the air, then he looked at his axe with shaking hands.

“It’s not as hard as I thought it would be.” he asked as his reflection sprung back to life from a nearby window.

“You still double teamed her, that’s why it felt easier than it should have been. But if you can do this much damage to an alicorn...” started the reflection before he left the mirror and got up in Silas’s face. “Cadance will die at your hands.”
Luna couldn’t take it anymore. To see these monsters who have killed her sister act taking this fight not seriously made her even angrier. Even more so the fact that Silas kept on rambling to himself.

With a sudden burst of magic, she knocked Silas back and shocked Balgo for a moment. Her skin grew darker, armour began to form around her body and her teeth became as sharp as those of the Scaler. In one final attempt to turn this fight around, Luna reverted back to Nightmare Moon.

“Your death won’t be painless, Balgo. I’ll make sure you’ll die a thousand time before peace finally comes to you!” yelled the alicorn in anger.

“Oh, so that’s why I felt something familiar in you. This power, it is related to me one way or another. The Nightmare you draw your power from contains some of my influence.” Balgo grinned, a wide one at that, extending to the very limits of his face. “Now this is getting truly interesting!”

Silas’s jaw dropped to the floor once he saw Nightmare Moon before him.

“Sa mère la pute... Wait, where did that come from?!” Panicking, he ran away from the fight.

The dark alicorn set her eyes on the undead and began firing at him. She was even more powerful now and filled with nothing but wrath. Her focus was taken off Silas however when she saw Balgo following the Reaper on a scooter.

“I’m fucking out of here. Why don’t you stop me from escaping?” he shouted at the alicorn, clearly wanting her to chase him down.

Nightmare Moon flew after the Scaler which amused him greatly. She flew higher in the sky to get a better shot at him. Her shots missed their mark, mostly because the emperor was very good at dodging.

“Be careful now, the sky is about to fall on your head!”

Nightmare Moon lifted her eyes for a second and saw a giant magical barrier made from dark energy forming over Manehattan. In one fell swoop, the barrier fell and hit her back to the ground in an abandoned building.

“You’re not Twilight Sparkle, but you’ll do nicely.”

The dark alicorn stood up and barely dodged a dagger being thrown her way. Bloody crimson eyes were staring her down throughout the darkness of the building. There were no lights in there, so the two fighters were surrounded by darkness with only the hole in the roof shedding some light in the arena.

The eyes suddenly vanished, and Nightmare Moon looked around herself in search of the monster.

“Hiding from me won’t work, I thrive off the darkness of the night. Your attempts at remaining hidden will only be met with failures.” she spoke out loud.

“Fine then, look behind you.” responded Devil Kong.

The lunar princess turned around and saw the demon standing beneath the hole in the wall, the moonlight barely illuminating him. He took out a revolver and spun the barrel by sliding the gun on his forearm and then he pointed it at Nightmare Moon.

“I do not fear the princesses. Your power can’t match mine.” He fired his revolver, but the alicorn reacted quickly; creating a small portal in front of the bullets trajectory and then forming another right next to the demon’s head. The bullet entered the portal and shot straight through Devil Kong’s head.

Blood splattered the floor, but the demon stayed still, barely affected by the bullet. He looked at her with weary eyes.

“Is this all you can do?” mocked the alicorn.

“If that was all I had, I wouldn’t have faced you.” replied Devil Kong in a calm and assured voice.

Suddenly, Nightmare Moon found herself in a jungle. It was still dark, but this darkness felt unnatural.

“Face me, in my jungle of illusions.”

A pony appeared in the corner of the alicorn’s eyes. She looked mutilated, with her right side torn open as if something was forcefully shoved in her sides.

“H-Help me Luna.” begged the pony.

Nightmare Moon was taken aback, and suddenly, she finally came to realise that she had transformed back into her nightmare self. She looked at her hooves in horror, before looking back at the pony.

“L-Luna?” cried out the young mare. “Luna is that y-you?”

It was clear that the mare recognised her, but her Nightmare Moon form scared her. Luna knew that her sister Celestia wouldn’t want her to be taken over by the Nightmare again, she couldn’t stay like this. For her sister’s sake...
She reverted back to her true self as the young mare looked happy.

“L-L-Luna! It’s really you!” she said in a happy tone, but then her face started to contort into a sad and sorrowful expression. “Please, help me, Luna!”

“What happened to you? You look terribly hurt.” responded Luna with much concern. The mare started to tear up.
She then explained what happened at Ponyholm’s library, what Devil Kong had done to her.

“I... I don’t know what my family is going to do without me! I can’t leave them all alone, they need me! I’m scared...” The lunar princess pitied the poor mare and went closer to embrace her. It worked at calming down the youngster.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your safe. Tell me, what’s your name?”

“I’m Honeybrew.” responded the mare.

“Honeybrew, I promise I’ll bring you back to your family.” Honeybrew looked happy now, she smiled at Luna and the alicorn could feel her heart warming up once more. But then, the mare’s eyes turned into horror.

“B-B-B-Behind you!” she cried out in fear. Luna couldn’t react in time and was stabbed in the abdomen by large claws.
“You ponies are too sentimental for your own good. Look where kindness and friendship bring you; at my mercy.” spoke Devil Kong in a triumphant voice.

Luna felt on the ground, writhing in pain and saw Honeybrew fading away. She screamed out for the lunar princess before finally disappearing.

“You can’t save the dead, Luna. She died, and is now at my command. This is what happens when I obtain a new soul to play with. Hmm, wonder what I can do with your soul...”

Devil Kong pinned Luna to the ground with one hand wrapped around her neck. The demon knew she would use her magic to break herself free from his grasp, so he materialised a hammer from his dark magic and smithed down the alicorn’s horn.

Once Luna saw her horn fly away from the impact, hitting the ground right in front of her, she knew her fate was sealed. The demon started to hit the lunar princess with restraint, not wanting her to break too quickly. He beated her senseless until he felt that he had enough blood on his hands. He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up to his face, where he opened his mouth to take her soul away. Having no strength left to repel Devil Kong, Luna had to bitterly accept the inevitable as the demon began to draw his mouth closer to her.

A sudden snap from far away stopped him however, and the beast now looked rather irritated.

“Fine. We’ll finish this later.”

He turned around and threw the alicorn as far as he could.

~***~

Her eyes slowly opened. Princess Luna now found herself on the streets of Manehattan once more, no longer in the demon’s jungle. She looked to her left only to see Balgo sitting calmly on a bench, reading a journal.
“Cuz there’s magic in my bones... Oh! There you are, I feared that Devil Kong would have already killed you by the time I get to conclude the show.” He threw his journal away and stood up, walking towards the injured alicorn. “Amazing, see where rash action takes you? If you had been patient and worked with your allies, you could have killed us all. Well, maybe not me, but the rest of my team wouldn’t have gotten away with this.”

“Just... finish me.” asked Luna, struggling to form a full sentence at this point. Without any warning, she was hit in the back of head by a flying pot.

Balgo turned his head to see Trixie, awkwardly standing there.

“You know you don’t really have to do anything.” pointed out the Scaler.

“Sorry, the Great and Powerful Trixie just wanted to help her master...” replied the unicorn.

Luna looked at the unicorn in a mix of shock and horror that her own kind would betray her. Balgo noticed this fact rather quickly.

“Don’t worry about Trixie. She’s just been brainwashed by me. Yeah, nothing to fuss about. Well, at least you’ll get to witness the last act of this entertaining show I call the Midnight Ride, featuring the Midnight Riders.”

“Is that what you call entertaining?” shouted Luna with all the strength she had left. Balgo stood up and looked at Trixie with a malicious grin.

“Trixie, tell me... Is this entertaining?”

The Scaler lunged at Luna, biting her in the torso and lifted her up all the while Trixie applauded. Just as that happened, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor arrived on the scene.

“Princess Luna!” shouted Shining Armor in horror.

“Let her go you monster!” screamed Cadance as she readied herself for an attack.

Balgo responded by spitting out the alicorn and took on a taunting posture.

“Nuh uh, I don’t think you should be fighting right now. There are more urgent business on the table!”

“Don’t think for a moment that we’ll let you get away with this! You’ll have to pay for your crimes against Equestria!” spoke Shining as his horn lighted up too.

“No no, I’m serious. Luna’s going to die if you waste your time on fighting me. My saliva is filled with a deadly toxin. I call it, the Komodo Venom. Her wounds will keep on bleeding ‘till she’s dry. You should take her to someone who can provide healing, like a paladin, hmm?”

The couple looked at the Scaler for a moment before taking their eyes off him, more worried about the injuries of Luna. She had lost consciousness by the time they’ve arrived. By the looks of it, she would die without the help of Drag’s magic.

“You should go to the train station immediately with her. I’ll join you shortly after. Take her to Ponyville, my sister often spoke of a paladin there. I’m sure he’ll be able to do something about her injuries.” said Shining to the Princess of love. She hesitated to go without with him, but figured she can trust that her lover would make it despite the monster’s present in the city.

“Oh don’t worry about Shining, princess. I’ll let the Midnight Riders off of him just for the night. Hehe, have fun with this.” added Balgo before he left, gesturing at Trixie to follow him but the lovers didn’t think about it for even a second.
Cadance lifted up Luna and placed her on her back.

“We don’t have much time, please be quick Cadance.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Without wasting any time, she flew off into the gloomy sky of Manehattan as Shining ran towards the train station as fast as he could.

Author's Note

Took a while to finally get it done... Mostly because I did spend less time working on it. However, I hope that this chapter was a good start for the third act of the story. So anyway, see you next time on the next chapter... The Merchant.

Act 3 : The Merchant

Somewhere on the outskirts of Manehattan, a portal opened. Out of this dimensional gate arrived a figure dressed in a black coat, hiding most of its feature except for the large reptilian tail sticking out and the yellow eyes that pierced the surrounding darkness. It was indeed another Scaler, though an atypical one at that. The average Scaler does not really wear any form of clothing, except for battle armour or a fancy suit should they work directly under Balgo. This reptile took out a strange device from his coat and turned it on.

“Aaahhh... So there are already Scalers in this world.” The Scaler looked around him and spotted the city of Manehattan not too far off from his current position.

“So, there is indeed a civilisation here. Ye he he he, time to make a profit here.”

This, was the strange Scaler known only to his kin as The Merchant.

~***~

Back at Ponyville, Pink was heading off home to sleep. After all, Drag told him he had to stick by Applejack for the day, so better get some rest before he’s stuck there.
On his way home, he came across Rainbow Dash sitting in a tree, looking off in the distance.

“You’re not going to sleep Rainbow Dash?” said Pink, trying to get her attention. It worked, as the Pegasus turned her attention to him.

“How can I get back to sleep after everything that just happened?! My best friend died and was brought back to life in a few hours! How can you fall asleep after all that?!” she shouted at the humanoid.

“Things are just getting more and more complicated around here, frankly I just try to shut off my brain and it works... somewhat.” He sighed. “I’m not the brightest on the team, I don’t have the coolest powers. I’m just the strongest physically and that’s it. I know my place in this world. Sometimes you just have to not overthink it, and I feel that maybe that’s why I adapted quicker than the others.”

The Pegasus jumped down from the tree and said: “Easy for you to say; you haven’t known Applejack or any of us here for as long as we did!”

Pink felt somewhat offended by this aggressive statement. “Woah! I didn’t say that I didn’t care about what happened to Aj. I’m just saying that it’s sometimes best to just not dwell on the what ifs. The fact of the matter is; Applejack is still alive. No need to think about what would have happened had Drag not been there, this kind of thinking doesn’t help at all.”
Rainbow Dash calmed down after hearing Pink’s thoughts. After all, he was right, what had happened cannot be changed.

“Thanks Pink, I feel much calmer now but I’m still not tired in the slightest.” The Guardian just shrugged it off.

“Well, I can’t do miracles. It’s good to know I've at least done something to help. Welp, I’m heading home now, see ya Dash.”
Dash bid farewell to the humanoid before returning to her initial position up in the tree. She was till filled with energy so sleep wouldn’t come to her.

The noise of a train approaching the station caught her attention, she saw the locomotive coming at a fast pace, much faster than usual. Feeling that something’s wrong, Rainbow Dash flew over to the station to see what was up.

~***~

There was barely anypony waiting at the train station, so Dash didn’t have a hard time getting upfront. The train finally arrived, slowing down to a crawl until it came to a stop. It came from Manehattan judging from the direction it came from. The first passenger to leave the train was none other than Princess Cadance, carrying the battered body of Luna. Rainbow Dash was shocked to see the current state of the lunar princess as blood kept on dripping from the massive bite wound on her torso.

“What in the hay happened to her!” shouted the Pegasus, attracting the attention of every other pony waiting at the station. Now everypony could see their princess in a state of near death. Cadance looked at Rainbow Dash, recognising her thanks to Celestia’s description of the Elements of Harmony.

“You must be the Element of Loyalty, correct?” she said quickly, getting close to the Pegasus.

“Uh, y-yeah. That’s me.” she nervously responded.

“Can you tell me where the paladin is? Only he can save Princess Luna!”

“I know where he is! He’s in the hospital with Applejack!”

The Princess ordered Rainbow Dash to take her to Drag. She agreed and they arrived at the hospital, passing through the reception and arriving at Applejack’s room where Drag watched in surprise as they busted in out of the blue.

“What? Another alicorn and wait, is that Luna?” asked Drag.

“No time to talk! Heal her before it’s too late!” shouted Cadance in between panicked breaths.

The Tauren nodded and quickly got to work on the lunar princess, using his Flash of Light spell to close up her wounds. However, the bite mark on her torso wouldn’t fade away no matter how many times he tried to heal it.

“By the Light... There’s venom inside her!” announced Drag to the others.

“V-Venom?” said a worried Rainbow Dash.

“She’s been poisoned?” added Cadance.

“Sure seems like it, there’s still saliva in this wound... She must have faced off against Balgo alone, right?” Princess Cadance looked down out of guilt.

“Yeah, I’m sorry we couldn’t get there in time.”

“You don’t have to blame yourself. We just need to figure out an antidote. I can keep her alive temporarily with my healing spell.”

Rainbow Dash had an idea in mind. “Can’t we just resurrect her like we did with Applejack?”
Drag didn’t approve of this idea however.

“No. Resurrection is very demanding of me; I can’t do it again for some time. Plus, even if we succeed in bringing her back, the venom will still be in her body rendering the whole thing pointless. We need an antidote.” Cadance approached the paladin and the unconscious alicorn.

“How long can you keep her alive?”

“As long as I’m awake, I can do it. For a few days if my body would allow it.”

“Good, Shining Armor should arrive in a few hours once the next train leaves for Ponyville. At least, I hope he’ll make it here alright.” Dash could clearly see the anxiety in the Princess of love. Feeling like she needed to do something, she planned to head off to meet the unicorn.

“I’ll go look for an antidote in Manehattan.” Cadance wasn’t sure it that was a good idea.

“Are you sure? Balgo is in the city, he’ll see you coming.”

“Don’t worry about me, I can stay out of trouble!”
She looked at Drag to get some sort of approval, he simply nodded and she left.

“We’ll send Alduin over there too just in case anything might happen to Dash. For the time being, let’s focus on keeping Luna alive.”

~***~

Just as Drag instructed, Cadance flew up to the mountain close to Ponyville. There, she arrived at the cave inside where Alduin resided. It was very dark inside so she had to use her magic to light up the area. Trotting along the empty cave, she eventually stumbled upon the black dragon sleeping in a pile of gold. Evidently, dragons can’t resist their hoarding urges, even the almighty Alduin himself. She nearly jumped once she snapped out of her thoughts and saw him staring down at her with a very displeased look.

“I don’t care who do you think you are, get out of my cave.”

“Can I at least tell you why I came here? I’m here because one of your friends asked me to come see you.” Alduin raised an eye in interest.

“Was it Drag?” He asked immediately.

“Yes, it’s the Tauren.” Alduin looked around at his pile of gold before finally standing up before the alicorn.

“Fine, but I'll only listen to you because Drag sent you here.”

What a surprise, the old dragon was rather easy to converse with, despite what she had heard about him. It would seem he had warmed up... to Drag mostly.

“What are you looking at alicorn? Aren’t you here because you have something to say to me? Zu'u Alduin, so make it quick.” Cadance snapped out of her thoughts at once and began to tell Alduin what had happened down at Ponyville. “Hmm, and you say that Balgo is indeed present in Manehattan?”

“Indeed, I saw him there. I doubt he’ll leave the city any time soon.”

Alduin grinned at the idea of finally being able to challenge the leader of the Scalers. He looked rather powerful if he had managed to best Drag in a one-on-one battle.

“Of course, I’ll gladly keep an eye on Rainbow Dash. Though I won’t pretend that I do not have ulterior motives to go to Manehattan.”

“Are you that easy to read into normally?” sarcastically asked the Princess of love.

“Not usually, I just don’t feel the need to remain opaque.”

On that note, the black dragon flew out of the cave and into the night sky as Cadance watched on. Now, she just had to return to Drag’s side and hope that Luna will make it out alive in the end.

~***~

Flying through the landscapes of a dark Equestria, Rainbow Dash finally made her way to a nearby cliff overlooking the big city of Manehattan. The first thing that caught her attention was a massive vehicle parked right there. It was unlike any vehicle she had ever seen before.

“Wow, this looks so awesome!”

Dash took her time to inspect every detail of this large and imposing four-wheeler, gushing at how cool it looked. She touched it to get a feel for its material; it wasn’t unlike anything she had seen before anywhere in Equestria. But then she remembered she came here for a reason. “Oh right, the antidote!”

With no time to waste, the Pegasus flew down to the large city in search of an antidote for Princess Luna.

~***~

“Oh come on Trixie! Can't you at least show me one of your magic tricks?”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie would like to, but she has nothing to work with in here.”
Silas Mann and Trixie were strolling down the streets of Manehattan, having a lot of time to kill. They thought to spend the night together since it would be less boring than to be on their own and plus, there are still members of the Gaping Maw Clan out for her head.

As they were walking, Silas noticed that his reflection wanted to speak with him. He moved in closer to the windows of the stores around and asked what it wanted.

“I just noticed; we never really had any friends before. Not in our lives and certainly not in her undeath. This Trixie girl might be our friend ever! You know what to do.” started the reflection.

“No I don’t.” replied Silas.

“You idiot... Friends tell each other compliments. Say something nice to her and she will like us more!” continued the reflection, not wanting his true self to miss this opportunity.

“Ahhh... I get it!” The Reaper turned his head to look at Trixie, who was walking in front of him. “I like your ass.”
Trixie turned around in shock. “Wai- W-W-What?” She covered her flank with her hoof, blushing out of embarrassment.

“What the hell was that?! That’s not how you compliment a friend!” shouted the reflection, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Silas looked at his reflection in confusion. “But. But... I complimented her? Why doesn’t that work?”

“You’re threading on borderline sexual harassment at this point! You could have complimented literally anything else!” spitted out the reflection.

Trixie was weirded out by the fact that Silas was looking at a window, talking to himself. “W-Who are you talking to?”

The undead looked at her rather casually. “Oh, it’s just this asshole who keeps appearing in mirrors telling me to do stuff.” He turned his attention back to the window. “Yeah, I'm talking about you, jackass.”

Not really knowing what to say, Trixie opted to just thank Silas for his rather strange attempt at complimenting her. “Uh, th-thanks for the compliment, I guess. The beautiful and luscious Trixie, uh, appreciates your kindness.”

Silas Mann laughed, finding her way of speaking amusing. “Ha ha! I like the way you speak!”
“Oh? See, that’s how you compliment a friend, Silas. You’re making progress.”

The Reaper stopped walking for a moment, realising he had done it.
“I did it. I made a friend...”

“And he does it by accident! You gotta be FU-”

~***~

Back at the four-wheeler, Balgo went on to retrieve some items he left there. As he did, he closely inspected the vehicle in fear that someone would have tried to vandalise it. The automobile looked perfectly intact at first glance, until the Scaler noticed that in one spot in particular, the painting has been chipped. He bent over and inspected the small damage.

“Hm, now who could have touched my precious four-wheeler?”

His eyes turned purple, heightening all of his senses. The scent of the vandalizer was still there, so this person was there not too long ago.

“Good, I’ll be able to track ‘em down.”

~***~

Threading lightly through the dark streets of Manehattan, Rainbow Dash could easily feel that something’s wrong with the city. A feeling that most likely came from her knowledge of what had transpired here earlier that night. Balgo was here and most likely the one responsible for Applejack’s initial death. She spotted something rounding up the corner of the street just ahead and chose to hide just in case it was bad news.

Sure enough, she was right. Silas and Trixie came out of the blue making their way through an alley in between two abandoned buildings. Rainbow Dash kind of expected Silas Mann to be present one way or another based on what Applejack had said, but she didn’t expect Trixie to be alongside him. Something was clearly off here, she just had to look into it.

Moving slowly but surely, the Pegasus followed the duo as they entered an abandoned warehouse. Dash flew up to the roof, trying to find a sneaky point of entrance so she could spy on them. She found a window overlooking the insides of the warehouse. Carefully opening it, she snuck in the infrastructure now witnessing as multiple other ponies joined the undead and the magician.

“So... I assume the Horseless Headless Horseman is one of Balgo’s ally as well.” spoke Mama Scarface as she came out of the shade.

“Well, Balgo has plenty of strong allies on his team. I’d say we’ve pretty much won at that point.” said Silas in confirmation.

“Hell, we just got back from beating up Princess Luna.”

“Impressive.” continued Scarface in admiration. “So, to summarise it; By joining the Scaler’s Empire, I get to have full control over the city of Manehattan, correct?”

Trixie nodded in affirmation. “Yep, that’s what the Great and Powerful Trrrixie has told you. She doesn’t lie.”

Rainbow Dash got to witness the whole scene. From what it looked like, Trixie had indeed betrayed her own kind. While useful to know, she couldn’t stay there any longer for Luna’s life was on the line. She turned around and started to quietly climb out of the warehouse but was stopped by an extremely large shadow looming over her.

“Ah, but of course. It was a Pegasus who chipped the painting of my beautiful four-wheeler. How about I get some indemnity?” It was Balgo who stood above her. Dash’s heart stopped at that moment, knowing all too well what was about to happen.

The emperor lifted his foot up slowly, but surely and in one swift motion; he kicked the Pegasus, sending her down to the floor of the warehouse. She fell on her back, with her head hitting the floor soon after. The impact caused every occupant in the building to turn around, now seeing the Element of Loyalty in their midst.

“If it isn’t my little Dashie!” exclaimed Silas, excited to finally see one of the Elements of Harmony again.

“Seize her!” shouted Mama Scarface to her underling.

Before Rainbow Dash passed out, she could see everypony in the room running towards her. She was in a lot of trouble now. The last thing she heard, was Silas’s taunting voice speaking to her.

“Ho ho ho ho! The little Pegasus is in big trouble now.”

~***~

Darkness now surrounded her. Even she opened her eyes, Rainbow Dash found herself in a pitch black found, unable to spot anything.

“Uh, I can’t see her Trixie...”

“Right! I’ll light up the room now.”

A sudden flash of light blinded Dash for a moment before her eyes adjusted to it. She was in an isolated room in the warehouse, face to face with Trixie and Silas Mann. Her hooves and wings were tied up, making it impossible to run away, much less even move from her position.

“Trixie! Why are you siding with that jerk?” Rainbow Dash demanded answers.

“Well, from my perspective, it looked like HE chose to side with the Great and Powerful Trixie, not the other way around.” confidently answered the unicorn as she raised a hoof to her chest.

“I can confirm it!” added Silas, raising a hand to draw attention on himself.

“Well then, what are you gonna do to me? Sit there and humiliate me all day?” angrily asked Dash as she tried to break free of her bonds, but it was no use. These ropes have been enchanted with magic to be sturdier than usual.

“That’s the neat part; we don’t know. We tried to ask Balgo, but he just left the area apparently. So, we’re just left with you, we’re thinking about killing you but maybe that’s not what we should do. Bah, I don’t want to think about it any harder or my Jack-O-Lantern's going to fry.” exclaimed Silas as his voice shifted from amusement, to uncertainty.

“And the Great Trixie won’t get her hooves dirty. So we’ll just leave you here for the time being. Don’t worry, it won’t be for long.”

And with that being said, they left the room and Dash was now all alone. She kept on trying to break free of her bonds but no matter how hard she tried, the ropes wouldn’t snap. Eventually, her muscles grew tired of trying and she had to come up with something else if she wanted to get out of this predicament.

“Come on Dash, there’s gotta be something sharp laying around here. It’s an old warehouse after all.”

She scouted the room with her eyes in search of a sharp instrument. The darkness in there made it near impossible to make out anything in there. Just as things began to look hopeless, a knock on the window nearly made her jump. She turned her head to face whoever was at the window.

It was a Scaler, dressed in a black coat. Most of his face was hidden, except for his eyes and nose.
“You got money on you, stranger?” he asked.

“What? Yes, I do have money. Are you just here to rob me?” answered Rainbow Dash, distrusting of this individual.

“Ye he he he! That’s great.” He carefully opened the window and immediately threw a knife at the Pegasus, barely missing her hooves.

“Wha- Hey! What was that for?”

“Cutting the ropes, stranger.”

Intrigued, Dash took a good look at her bonds. They were now cut so deep that they were barely holding on by a thread. With no effort at all, she broke through her bonds, allowing the Pegasus to stand up once more.

“Over here, stranger.” said The Merchant as he gestured at the Element of Loyalty to come follow him. She was unsure whether she should follow him or not but seeing as he freed her, she felt like she owed him something in return. After all, Scalers can be good. Mugen and Smithy proved it.

Thus, she followed the strange Scaler into an alley where a blue torch caught her attention. Right next to that torch lied a rather big stand filled with all sorts of weapons.

Meanwhile, back at the warehouse. Silas went to announce the news to Dash, only to find her missing.

“Hey hey! We finally figured out what to do with yo- Ah, damn it!”

~***~

“Uh... So is that what you wanted to show me?” asked Rainbow Dash, uneasy at the brutal variety of deadly weapons littering the make-shift shop.

“Well of course, stranger. I’m a merchant, I want to show you, my wares.” responded the Merchant.

“None of them are fit for ponies! By the looks of it, I need fingers to use them properly!” pointed out Dash. The Merchant got nervous as he realised, he was losing a potential customer. He walked up to a vending machine and banged on it with his shoulder as he kept his eyes on the Pegasus.

“I’ve got some soda here if you’re thirsty! Everybody loves some good soda!”

“I don’t know, that doesn’t seem really useful to me. Plus, we got apple ciders back at Ponyville. They really hit the spot.” The Merchant got even more desperate and thought of something else.

“Oh, wait stranger! I’ve got more than just weapons; I’ve also got first aid. Everybody can use it, with or without fingers!” He ran up to the backroom and came out later with a spray in hand. “This, is a first aid spray. It disinfects the wounds and heals it quicker. You can’t go wrong with this!” he added as he presented the item proudly.
Dash looked at it for a moment and suddenly got an idea.

“Say, if you have first aid spray, surely you must have something against venoms.” She said as she flew up in the Merchant’s face.

“Bah, easy! I have some items to combat venoms. Just tell me; what kind of venom is it?”

“You know, the Balgo kind of venom.” The Merchant’s entire expression changed, looking less excited.

“Unless you’ve got some good payment; I can’t help you there. The anti-venom for the Komodo poison is very expensive to make. I want to be justly compensated for this expensive endeavor.”

“What?! Are you flipping serious right now?!” shouted Dash as she banged her head on the counter repeatedly.

“Are you gonna buy that first aid spray or not, stranger?” asked The Merchant as he pointed a finger at the item. Dash frustratedly agreed.

“Fine, how much is it?”

“Show me your currency and I'll name a price.” Dash took out a bit from her, pocket? And placed it on the counter. The Merchant’s eyes immediately lit up.

“What?! Gold?!” He quickly regained his composure, having surprised Rainbow Dash. “Alright, it’ll be just one bit for this.”
Dash chuckled; she sure did get it for cheap. It was kind of comical to her.

“Since you know more about this place than I do; can you tell me a good place to relocate my shop?" continued the Merchant. The Pegasus saw a good opportunity to bring him closer to where her friends are. If this Scaler is serious about selling weapons and what-not, he could be of much help for Ponyville.

“Yeah, I think I know a place. It’s called Ponyville, there are ponies, well other beings there that will surely want to buy your stuff!”

The Merchant brought his hand to his chin in reflection, then he announced his decision.
“Hehehe, thank you. I’ll be sure to make a profit there.”

“And if they have enough bits on their hooves, you’ll sell that anti-venom, won’t you?” continued Dash, this time in a more menacing tone. The Merchant didn’t appear fazed at all, but agreed nonetheless.

“Of course, stranger. I’m a Scaler of my words. And remember; I don’t take sides. I may be a Scaler, but that don’t mean I fully support them in anything. All I care about is the satisfaction of my clients as well as the integrity of my shop.”

~***~

“Kryser, I've called you to make sure everything is good here in Canterlot. Yeah, I know Aruba’s returned, but he’s too busy to be contacted at the moment, which is why I’ll be counting on you to report back every important thing.” Once again, Kryser was contacted by Balgo via a hologram.

“Of course, Balgo. I am greatly honored to have been given this much faith.” responded the soldier.

“Now, onto the actual reason why I called you. Bravo Team has discovered that the changeling army is preparing to make a move on Canterlot. Thankfully, they’re unaware of the fact that this city is ours. They won’t be expecting our defenses to strike back. Now remember, their queen is the biggest danger in their army. You must take her down at all cost, Aruba’s presence should make it an easy task for you. Oh, and another thing; keep the baby safe at all costs. She is the key to maintaining our empire’s presence in Equestria... We’re all counting on you, don’t let us down.”

Kryser nodded and the hologram dissipated. A big battle was coming up, but they are prepared for it. In Balgo’s name, he will exterminate this changeling queen.

Author's Note

Well, there it is. This chapter was much shorter, but the next one will be much longer. To be continued in chapter 14 : Superior Genetics.

Act 3 : Superior Genetics

The sun was rising over Ponyville, finally putting an end to that eventful night. In the hospital, Drag was growing more and more tired having to keep Luna alive for such a long time. He knew he won’t be able to last for the entire day, for he grew more and more tired by the minutes. Time was running out and thus, somepony had to find an anti-venom, and quickly at that. Or else, the lunar princess would die. It was at that point that Pink and Fluttershy went to the Everfree Forest to call Zecora for help. The Pegasus also thought to bring Smithy along, hoping that by saving Luna, he would be accepted by her peers.

~***~

“You know the way to Zecora, don’t you Fluttershy? Because I personally can’t for the life of me remember where it is.” Fluttershy was the one to lead the way, seeing as Pink didn’t know where the zebra lived and Smithy had never been here before.

“Of course. I don’t go there often, but I know where it is. It’s not all that far in the Everfree Forest, thankfully. I don’t like going in there all by myself, it’s too scary for me.” responded Fluttershy. “Oh, and be careful to avoid the poison joke that grows around her home, Smithy.”

“Hmm? Poison joke? Is that like, a venomous plant?” curiously asked Smithy.

“Yeah, sorta. Its venom won’t kill you, but it’ll change your body in a way that’s not really convenient. Like making your hair grow tenfold, or shrinking you down to the size of an apple.” explained Pink as they took their time to bypass the poison joke.

“I see... Say, Pink. Do you ever feel like you don’t belong here?” The humanoid looked at the swordsman with a surprised expression before responding.

“Yeah, I feel that a lot. This isn’t my home after all. Even though it’s better than my previous one, I still feel like an outsider here. Everyone makes sure I don’t forget it.” Fluttershy felt the need to interject, so to make Smithy feel better.

“Don’t worry Smithy. I’m sure that once we would have saved Luna, everpony in town will no longer fear you.”

“Sure hope so...”

Fluttershy recognised the path they were on. They’re close to Zecora’s home.

“We’re nearly there, guys.” she announced to the others. They continued walking down the path, until something caught their attention.

It was a torch sitting on another path, with blue fire burning on top of it. Smithy didn’t think much of it seeing as he knew nothing about Zecora but Pink and Fluttershy knew that this torch was out of place.

“That wasn’t always there, right Fluttershy?” asked Pink.

“I’m certain there wasn’t a torch here before.” she replied. “I know we must look for an anti-venom, but we can’t simply ignore this. Maybe there’s something dangerous up ahead?”

“That’s not supposed to be here?” thought Smithy, judging from the others reaction, this wasn’t normal.

Pink nodded as he readied his fist for an incoming battle. Smithy reached out for his sword, one hand on the handle, ready to draw. They walked down the path where the torch was positioned in, going in further until they reached a strange stand in the middle of nowhere. Behind the counter was a Scaler dressed in a black coat, his eyes casting away the darkness with its glow.

“The Merchant? Is that really you?” asked Smithy, surprised to see him here.

“Ah, if it isn’t the young and promising Smithy. And you’re accompanied by two potential customers. He he he he, how fantastic.”

The swordsman approached the stand and looked at the variety of items on stock, The Merchant had certainly grown his catalogue considerably in just a few months. Going from just weapons, to just about anything at that point.

“A friendly stranger told me I could make a profit here in Ponyville and so I came. It’s as simple as that. Now tell me; are you here to save princess Luna?”

The Merchant had now caught the interest of the trio, for he already knew it all thanks to Rainbow Dash.

“What? How do you know?” pressed on Fluttershy.

“Like I said, stranger. Someone told me about the situation here.” Pink had a feeling this “someone” was Rainbow Dash, though he couldn’t be certain about it. “Now, do you want the anti-venom for the Komodo poison?”

“Yes, we would like to.” responded the Pegasus.

The Merchant chuckled and went to the back of his stand, pulling out an advanced looking gadget that he laid on the counter. He then activated the device, creating a holographic map of the region surrounding Ponyville.

“That doesn’t look like an anti-venom...” pointed out Fluttershy, but the Merchant quickly dismissed her, for he had something important to say.

“There have been multiple anomalies occurring in this world, which is how it caught my attention. Well, that, and the fact that Balgo literally kickstarted a war here. Just in this morning, there has been... another.”

“What?! Are you freaking kidding me?!” shouted Pink as he slammed his hands on the counter.

“Careful not to break anything. But yes, there has been another. I’ve looked into it and there’s something that I want in this anomaly. If you can retrieve it and hand it over to me; I’ll gladly craft the anti-venom for your princess. Deal?”

Fluttershy and Pink were unsure if they should accept the deal, but Smithy assured them that The Merchant was their best bet.

“Guys, trust me when I say that The Merchant is our best solution at the moment. The Komodo venom is unlike any other poison. He knows how to craft the fastest acting anti-venom for this type of poison found only on certain Scalers. He’s the only one who knows how to do it in Equestria.”

Pink wanted a quicker route however. “Why can’t we just force him to do so?”

The Merchant responded by opening his coat, revealing multiple grenades and explosives attached to him. “Then I’ll take the secret to my grave, stranger. Simple as that. Try me.”

Smithy got in between Pink and The Merchant, trying to calm down the big guy. “Dude, he’s dead serious about kamikazeing himself. Don’t try him. He’ll blow all of us up!” Fluttershy flew up to the Scaler, agreeing to the deal.

“Fine, can you tell us more about this “something” you want us to retrieve?” she said with a warm smile on her face.

The Merchant smiled back at the Pegasus. “Of course! This anomaly in question is a huge laboratory that teleported to your world, unbeknownst to the workers inside. It’s called, the Biolabs, created by a company called Horzine. I want you to go in there and retrieve flasks containing Fleshpound DNA for me. Bring them back to me, and I’ll deliver the anti-venom as promised.”

“Um, okay. But where is it?” asked Fluttershy.

“Here I'll show you.” He moved around the holographic map, pointing to them the exact location of the laboratory. “You should be able to make the trip and come back in time to save your princess. I’ve calculated it all, you can be sure of that, strangers... and Smithy.”

“No problem mister, we’ll make it quick!” exclaimed Fluttershy before they left to commence their journey.

~***~

Threading through the Everfree Forest, the trio finally found the exit to this dark place. According to what the Merchant showed them, they’ll soon arrive at an old mansion. The laboratory is just pass that. Something came to Pink’s mind, and he felt the need to tell his teammates about it.

“Hold on, does anyone here knows how Fleshpound DNA looks like?”

“I don’t think we need to know its appearance. The scientists in that laboratory surely must have labeled them. We just need to look for vials containing it.” replied Smithy

“Oh ok. Wait, now I'm just wondering what the hell’s a Fleshpound.” Pink looked at Smithy, expecting an answer the swordsman clearly didn’t have.

“Don’t look at me like I know. I know nothing! All I know, is that Fleshpound isn't a friendly name.” Fluttershy move in closer to the Scaler.

“Aw, come on now. Don’t undermine yourself like that, I’m sure you’re a lot more knowledgeable and smarter than you believe!”

“... Yeah, I hope so.”

Fluttershy finally spotted the old manor over in the distance, signaling to them that they are nearly there.

“That went by a lot quicker than I thought.” noted Smithy.

“This is great! At that rate, we’ll make it back in time!” softly spoke the Pegasus in a joyous tone.

They walked around the building, admiring its architecture in the process. It must have been decades since it was first abandoned. A relic of another time.

“Y’all think it’s just beyond this hill?” asked Pink as he pointed out to the hill before them.

“Let’s pick up the pace, guys.” urged Fluttershy.

They moved over the hill and were greeted by a jaw-dropping sight; the Horzine laboratory was massive, rivaling Canterlot’s castle in size. The Sun’s light barely allowed them to make out the size of the infrastructure.

“Oh crap, we’re gonna have to sneak in through that?” said Pink in a demoralised voice as he let his arms go completely limp.

“This seems daunting, but my suit should be well equipped for this mission.” exclaimed Smithy as he gestured at Fluttershy to bring back the humanoid’s morale.

“Pink, don’t be intimidated by the size of this laboratory. I’m sure we can do it, and I know you can manage!” spoke Fluttershy, smiling at the Guardian in hopes he’ll snap out of it.

“Let’s hope your faith isn’t misplaced...” concluded Pink, still in a worried expression.

~***~

Walking up to the entrance, they noticed there wasn’t any guards patrolling outside of the lab. Still, they weren’t stupid enough to enter through the front door, instead they opted to look for any windows, or vents to go through. Problem was, nearly all the windows were sealed off, preventing anyone from taking a peek inside. They had to find a way to take off these seals, or just brute force their way through it as Pink would have it.

“Ok then, guess I'll just smash one of them open. How about this one?” announced Pink as he moved toward one of the windows in the first floor.

“Heh, do what you must, big guy.” chuckled Smithy.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? It might attract the attention of the guards inside.” pointed out Fluttershy nervously.
The Guardian acknowledged her thoughts. He placed his head on the window in an attempt to hear what was going on inside. He could hear many sounds, but not that of a person’s voice. There was nobody in there.

Good, this one was safe to bust in. With one precise and powerful punch, Pink broke the window, allowing them to get inside. Fluttershy looked at the room they were in with confusion. There were many instruments she had never seen before, anywhere really. This place clearly wasn’t built by ponies, so what exactly could be inside this laboratory? The technology in there seemed more advanced than what Equestrians can do. The thoughts only served to unease her even more.

“The technology here doesn’t compare to that of the Scalers, but it’s still superior to you ponies. Be careful, there’s most likely security cameras.” pointed out Smithy as he examined the room.

“Security cameras?” questioned the Pegasus.

“It's basically devices hung up on walls that allow a security guard in the building to see what’s going on at all times. If you are spotted by one, you’ll start up an alarm. That’s our biggest concern.” clarified the young swordsman.

“Wow, you do sound much more confident now.” Pink noticed that in Smithy’s voice. He talked as if he had done this kind of thing before.

“Well, uh... that’s kind of because I was trained my whole life for this.”

“Damn, you never had a childhood?” asked the Guardian as he fiddled around with the various instruments present in their surroundings.

“No... Wish I had one.”

“I’m so, so sorry to hear it, Smithy.” added Fluttershy out of compassion.

“Well, there is nothing I can do about it.” said the swordsman as he looked off into the distance before seemingly casting away these thoughts. “In any case, our first course of action should be to find whoever is monitoring the laboratory, and take him out.”

“We’re not going to kill him, are we?” questioned Fluttershy, not wanting to cause too much harm to the workers in here.

“As long as we’re not forced to. I’d like to keep deaths at a minimum for this mission...”

Pink suddenly snapped out of his trance. He was playing perhaps a bit too much with the stuff he saw in this room.
“Oh shit, what were you guys saying? I kinda... didn’t hear any of it.” he said with a sheepish smile.

~***~

Somewhere in the laboratory, a scientist was called out to perform the routine. Inside this lab contained multiple shady experiment. Experiments to create the perfect super soldier, instead turning into something else entirely. Beings created from the DNA of humans. They looked vaguely human, but they could be described as anything but.

“Bloody hell, it’s already that time of the day again?” asked an annoyed scientist to his colleague.

“The bloody hell are you waiting for, ya bloke? Come and give the Fleshpound his usual dosage of adrenaline, we got some test to run in here.” responded the colleague.

“Pff, fine.”

The scientist took the syringe and walked out of the research wing of the Biolab, heading towards the section where the many subjects were locked in. The Fleshpound was their most ambitious project yet, as well as their biggest success. That monster perfectly fit the criteria for a super soldier; tough, bloodthirsty and does not rely on emotion, but only the desire to massacre everything that stands in its way. Adrenaline sent it into a frenzy, strengthening it as well as enhancing its speed. That was the bulk of their research on the Fleshpound as of now.

This scientist had to repeat the same mundane task he had done for months already. Little did he know, much darker schemes were going on behind the scenes. Schemes that would bring hell to this place.

~***~

Sneaking around the facility, the trio were making progress at a good pace thanks to Smithy’s expertise in this area. He was taught not just to be a great swordsman, but a great assassin as well. His great perception, plus the added bonus of the suit allowed him to spot all cameras in their vicinity and avoid them. Thus, he was the one to lead the group in this scenario.

“Are we getting close to the security guard’s office?” quietly asked Fluttershy as they were hiding in an unoccupied room.

“Should be, the maps around here indicate our destination is on this floor. We just need to look around.” answered Smithy.
Pink took a peek through the glass window and spotted exactly what they were looking for.

“Hey, that looks like the security’s office. Well, it’s pretty obvious that it is; the word security is written on it.” he announced to his friends.

“Great! We won’t have to worry about the camera’s afterward.” happily exclaimed the Pegasus.

The group waited for when the coast was clear, then they made their way into the office. Inside, there was only a single guard sitting at a desk, watching over the security cameras, although not looking like he took his job very seriously. Pink gestured at the others to indicate that he’ll deal with him, throwing on a confident smirk as he tip-toed his way to him.
Once he got close enough to the guard, he spun the chair, lifting a fist up to punch him.

“Surprise motherfucker!” he shouted right as he was about to throw his punch.

“W-What?!”

Pink threw a quick, but precise jab into the guard’s head, splattering his head on his chair.
“Oh no, oh fuck...” said the Guardian as he looked at his bloodied hand and then at the mangled head of the guard.

“You, uh... killed him, big guy.” pointed out Smithy, although it was pretty obvious that the guard was dead. He was missing half his head.

“Pink! I thought we were not going to kill him!” shouted Fluttershy nervously.

“That’s, not what I was going for. I swear!”

Without skipping a beat, Smithy rushed to the guard’s body and lifted him up. He then hid the body in a closet, locking it with an iron bar to make sure no one could get in for a while.

“Woah, Smithy. That was some quick thinking there.” exclaimed the Pegasus, slightly nervous at just how fast and calmly the Scaler acted.

“I’ve gotten used to doing this, actually. Things don’t always go the way we planned after all.”

“OK, so... Are we going to shut off the cameras now so we can move in further?” asked Pink to the Scaler.

“Yeah, but before we do that; let’s use the cameras to find where they are storing the DNA’s.” proposed the swordsman. The others agreed to Smithy’s proposal.

They looked at the cameras in an attempt to find out where the scientists stored the Fleshpound DNA the group needed to retrieve. On one of them was a scientist, carrying a box of syringes, slowly making his way to a containment chamber.

~***~

The scientist had finally arrived at a Fleshpound’s containment chamber. All he had to do was to give the monster the injection and then leave. Something he found rather annoying seeing as he was always the one picked to perform this boring duty. At first, it was scary seeing the beast enrage, trying to break through its bond but thankfully, the metal bonds restraining the creature were powerful enough to endure its trashing.

Sighing out of exasperation, the scientist entered the chamber. There it was, chained to the walls, not even noticing his arrival for it was in its docile state. Of course, the Adrenaline shot will get it out of this calm state of mind.

“Here you go, ya big lumbering oaf.” spurted out the man as he injected the Adrenaline into the mechanical device found on the giant and inhumane specimen’s chest.

Without even looking at the beast’s reaction, the scientist turned around and started to leave the room just as the monster began to scream in rage and trash around. He paid no mind to it, that was, until he heard a sound that made his heart sank. The sound of metal snapping, breaking apart. Then, even more metal began to break.

He turned around and saw much to his horror that the Fleshpound had broken through the metal restraining his arms and was now starting to break through the ones holding his legs in place. He ran for the door leading out of the containment chamber, but couldn’t open it. The door had locked itself in order to prevent a containment breach, but he knew it wouldn’t stop the Fleshpound from breaking it apart.

“Flesh...pound!”

The last restraints broke and the specimen was now free. He begged the monster to stay back, but the beast charged at him, blinded by anger and using the grinders that replaced its hands, pounded him into bloody bits. Then, it broke the door down in just one strike and ran out of its chamber, sounding an alarm throughout the Biolabs.

~***~

Having sabotaged the cameras, the trio was now free to move around the cameras without being spotted. They hid behind barrels and in other rooms whenever they would run into the personnel walking around. They moved from hiding spots to another, one at a time, but still going fairly quickly as their time was limited.

Suddenly, the alarms blared throughout the laboratory, alerting everyone inside to a containment breach. This sudden change in atmosphere made the group nervous, not knowing what was happening.

“Uh... we should lay low for the moment; they’ll be a lot of traffic in a situation like this.” proposed Smithy to his teammates. They nodded in response and the trio hid in a small closet, waiting for all of this to blow over.

“Hum, we could have picked a bigger room than this one.” pointed out Fluttershy as Pink and Smithy took up most of the space in this closet.

“Pink, you’re crushing me!” exclaimed the Scaler.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do anything about it!” responded the Guardian.

“Urgh, I don’t want to stay in there any longer!” said the Pegasus as she tried to push Pink back, which only made him crush the swordsman even more.

“Ack! You’re going to crush my head to bloody bits at that point! Fuck off, will you!”

Smithy began to push on Pink, this time Fluttershy was in an uncomfortable position once again.

“Leave me alone you two!” shouted Pink as he jumped out of the closet, causing the Scaler and the Pegasus to fall on the ground in relief.

“Oof, I can finally breath again.” absent mindedly said Fluttershy.

As the trio got up, they noticed that a human has spotted them.

“What the? Where in the bloody hell did you blokes come from?” asked the scientist, horribly confused at the group of atypical beings in front of him.

“Oh! Hum, sorry for intruding in your laboratory Mr. Scientist, but we’re looking for something called Fleshpound DNA. Do you know where we can find it?” demanded the Pegasus in a soft voice.

“What the fuck? It talks?!”

Pink looked rather uninterested in this exchange, wanting to just get it over quick. “Yeah, we ALL talk. So please, just tell us where it is, we don’t have all day.”

The scientist was just about to tell them where to find the DNA, well that was until he got his entire head blown to bits by a fireball. Fluttershy shrieked, Smithy activated the wipers on his helmet to wipe off the blood from his face as Pink began to scrub away at his eyes while swearing, blinded by the man’s blood.

The one who had killed the scientist was a human, or so it seemed. This person’s body was completely burnt and one of his arms was replaced by a gun that shot fireballs out of it. It was a Zed known as the Husk.

“Hold on guys, I'll take on this one.” said Smithy as he moved forward, challenging the Zed.

The Husk answered by firing a fireball at the Scaler. Smithy easily blocked the projectile, absorbing it into his sword before he slashed away, launching a fiery projectile at the Zed. The fire didn’t damage it too much, but it did cause the tank on its back to blow up, killing it instantly.

“Wow, that was cool Smithy!” complimented Fluttershy.

“A cool quirk of my high frequency blade.” he added as he put his sword on display for his teammates.
Fluttershy’s look of admiration quickly turned into sadness as she looked at the corpse of the scientist. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save you...” she muttered.

“Ok yeah, that’s cool and all Smithy. But Princess Luna’s life is on the line here! Let’s try to fight as least as possible and just get it done already.” announced Pink as he grabbed the two by the arms and dragged them along as he ran up to a random corridor.

~***~

Back at the security office, a large and imposing figure made its way in. This figure was once the brilliant head researcher of Horzine, Kevin Clamley. Now transformed after multiple experiments done on him at his request, using the company’s most advanced technology yet. He had transformed himself into a monster known as the Patriarch. His size and strength rivaled that of a Fleshpound, perhaps even surpassing it. One of his hands was replaced by a machine gun with a rocket launcher attached on it. A large tentacle like appendage was in his chest, which he could shoot out of his body. One of hie eyes even extended beyond his eye hole. Lastly, multiple tentacles were growing out of his mutated form, making him look no longer human.

The Patriarch re-enabled the cameras and looked at them thoroughly. His attention inevitably landed on Pink, Smithy and Fluttershy running around the Biolabs. He looked really surprised as he observed them, but his initial surprise quickly grew into something sinister as he grinned, thinking of all the things he could do if he can get his hands on their DNA.

“Excellent! Another batch of subjects.”

~***~

Fighting their way through the army of Zeds, the trio quickly realised that fighting them might be a lost cause. For each one they kill, three more come to take its place. If this keeps on going, they’ll tire themselves out before they reach their objective.

“Isn’t there a better way to go about this?” shouted Pink to his comrades as they were busy dealing with the specimens.
Smithy was slashing and hacking away at them while Fluttershy pushed them back with her kicks, preferring to let the others fight them as they were more experienced in this matter.

“I don’t think so! We’ll just have to persevere!” replied Smithy right as he decapitated an invisible Stalker approaching from behind. He quickly examined his surroundings just in case there were a better solution.

He found something promising; an empty room with a welder in it. “Everybody! Get in that room, now!” he yelled as he dashed inside, with Pink and Fluttershy joining him soon after.

The Guardian closed the door while the Scaler welded it shut with the tool.

“It works! Looks like they’ll have a hard time breaking THIS door down!” happily exclaimed Pink as he looked at the Zeds trying desperately to break the door down.

“Um, g-g-g-guys? We still have a problem.” muttered a scared Fluttershy.

The two turned around, wondering what was the issue. They froze for a moment once they saw what was in the room with them.

It was a Scrake, a large and muscular specimen possessing a chainsaw for an arm. He revved up the weapon and howled, before power-walking towards the trio.

“Oh fuck...” muttered Pink under his breath. “You deal with him Smithy.” he then said in a confident voice.

“What? Why?!”

“Because you have a sword. I only have a shovel; I don’t think it’s as good as a sword.”

Reluctantly, Smithy moved forward, ready to challenge the Scrake. The Zed charged forward and swung his chainsaw at the Scaler, to which he perfectly parried such an inelegant and predictable swing. He then slashed at its throat, slitting it and cutting off the metallic mask it wore.

“Well, that was easy.” he exclaimed as he turned to face his colleagues.

“Smithy, look out!” shouted Fluttershy as she pointed a hoof at the Zed behind the swordsman.

He turned around only to see that the Scrake was still alive, now missing his lower jaw after it had lost its mask. It sprinted at Smithy and swung again at him. He braced himself to parry the attack, but the specimen’s strength knocked him to the ground. The monster lifted his chainsaw, ready to strike down the Scaler, but was killed quickly by a shovel lunged into its face.

Pink ran up to the Scrake to take back his shovel as Smithy stood back up.

“You know, you could have helped me out instead of waiting at the very end to do something, jackass.” exclaimed the swordsman out of irritation.

“It’s just that, for a moment you didn’t look like you needed my help.” tried to explain Pink, knowing fully well that this excuse wasn’t going to cut it.

“It doesn’t matter if I need your help or not, you should be doing something instead of leaving me to do all the work!”

“Guys, it is no time to be fighting. I can see bigger and scarier monsters coming on the other side. I don’t think that door is going to hold on for very much longer.” said Fluttershy as she placed herself in between the two. Indeed, bigger specimens seemed to have arrived next to the door.

“Level of aggression, eleven!” shouted one of them in a voice that sounded organic and robotic all at once.
Without hesitation, the trio moved far away from that door, running up a flight of stairs that’ll surely lead to their objective.

~***~

“What have you done to my children?!” shouted the Patriarch as he slammed his fist on the desk. These intruders had murdered his very own creations, creations he considered to be his children for they shared his family’s DNA. They had to pay for their crimes, thought the mad scientist.

But if he wanted to have his retribution, he’d have to come to them. Without a second thought, the Patriarch left the security’s office in search of the intruders. A task that will be easy for him since he perfectly knows the layout of the Biolabs. On top of that, he knew where they were heading. The DNA vials were his most prized possessions, of course they were going for it.

He activated his cloaking ability and sprinted throughout the green-lighted corridors of the laboratory, knowing exactly where the group was heading for, nothing in this world was more precious than his research. He just knew that that was what they were looking for and he had to stop them from ruining everything he had worked so hard to build.

“Grrr, you’ll pay for what you’ve done.”

~***~

After minutes of running, the trio had found the place where all the specimen’s DNA were kept and preserved. Now, they just had to find the vials that contained the Fleshpound’s DNA. In the far back of the room lied large tubes containing Clots inside. Though they didn’t appear to be alive as of now.

“Well Fluttershy, judging from all the things we saw in here; you shouldn’t feel too bad about what’s happening to the scientists here. Fiddling around with genetics and creating monsters like this only brings karma to your doorstep.” told Pink to the Pegasus as he briefly looked at the Clots.

“I see. I suppose so but still, they don’t deserve to be slaughtered like this...”

Smithy walked away from the tubes, instead looking at the vials. “OK, let’s split up and find it quickly. Then, we’ll get the hell out of here!” he exclaimed to the group.

They each ran off in a different part of the large room, looking at all the vials. They just had to find the one that contained the Fleshpound’s DNA and then they could get out of this horrible place.

“I found them!” said Fluttershy. Pink and Smithy dropped their search so they could take a closer look at the correct vials.

“Finally! I’ll take them, they’ll be safer in my hands.” exclaimed Smithy as he took multiple vials and stored them in his suit.
“Alright, let’s get out of here before more monsters come our way.” said Fluttershy as she started to flap her wings.

Without skipping a beat, they fled the scene and were making their way towards the stairs until something big blocked their path. The Patriarch had finally caught up to them and he wanted vengeance for the massacre of his children.

“Urgh, I’ll show you no mercy.” he spoke in his distorted voice.

Pink stared in awe at the amalgamation of man, machines and genetic mutation. “Ok, that must be the boss around here. No doubts about it.” He walked up to the Patriarch gesturing at his friends to let him have this one.

Just as he got into melee range of the mad scientist, he turned invisible, causing the Guardian to lose his focus. Before he could even react, he felt the monster’s claws stabbing him in his guts and it lifted him up, hitting his head upon the ceiling before he was thrown into a glass window.

“What was it that you would hope to accomplish? I cannot be stopped.” arrogantly boasted the Patriarch. He then pointed his minigun at the two remaining intruders and prepared himself to fire. “Time for one more direct approach!”

“Ah shit... Get behind me Fluttershy!” shouted Smithy as he pulled out his sword.

The Patriarch opened fire on them to which Smithy deflected all the bullets using his quick speed and precision. When the mad scientist stopped firing, he was shocked to see that none of his bullet had hit them.

“Now you’re really starting to piss me off!” The Patriarch was about to charge at them, but Pink had gotten up and stopped him with a strong punch to the face. The Guardian then followed up by choke slamming the monster on the ground. The mad scientist tried to get up, but Pink made sure he won’t strike back by hitting the Patriarch with enough strength to send him into a wall, smashing it into pieces.

“Nice one Pink! You had me worried for a moment.” complimented Fluttershy. Pink threw on a confident expression, he felt more in control this time seeing as his opponent wasn’t nearly as dangerous as those that came before.

“Save me my children! Show them how much you love me!” cried out the Patriarch out of desperation.

Upon hearing their father’s cry for help, all the specimens around their location began to move in on the trio. First, there were only the smaller and weaker Zeds that jumped in the fray. But soon enough, bigger and stronger ones began to make their arrival.

“Flesh...pound!” That large and intimidating voice caught Smithy off guard, and he turned around, ready to parry the incoming attack, but the Fleshpound was far too strong for him. The resulting hit tore off his arm and sent him flying into even more Zeds. A nearby Bloat vomited on him, covering his suit in acidic bile. Before he could make a move, a Scrake kicked him into a wall, nearly knocking him out. He was now clutching his blade with his remaining arm like he was holding onto it for dear life.

The Fleshpound then lunged onto Pink, performing an overhead smash with its two grinders, but the Guardian grabbed its arms to stop the incoming attack. The Patriarch noticed a good opportunity to land a clean blow on the intruder.
“One in the pipe you sons of bitches!” he shouted as he loaded up his rocket launcher and fired it, hitting Pink in the back. The damage caused Pink to yelp in agony as the Fleshpound hit him in the stomach with its knee before smashing him onto the floor with an overhead smash.

Pink could only helplessly watch as Fluttershy was being pounced on by multiple Crawlers, these disgusting mixture of man and spider, trying to bite away at her face. Their sharp tendrils stabbing at her hooves and torso to make her lose her strength to hold them back. Pink noticed that she was looking at him with worried and pleading eyes.
His face hit the ground once more when the Fleshpound stomped on his head. Other specimens joined the mighty beast to beat him up.

A Gorefast tried to stab Smithy in the chest with its blade, but the Scaler grabbed it before it could impale him. However, the Bloat’s bile was disintegrating the muscles in his arms, slowly taking away his strength to hold the blade back.
Enduring the beating, Pink started to feel angrier and angrier by the seconds. He was always looked down upon by Alduin, always viewed as being the lesser of the three so called Guardians. Even in his old life he was still being mocked and underestimated. His entire life was beating, after beating, physical, and verbal all the same. No one could apparently see his true worth; he can be as great and imposing as Alduin if he wanted to. So why should he let all his anger inside him. Why should he let himself being tossed around as if he was nothing more than just a nuisance to everyone?
No, it was time he let it all out.

Pink began to lift himself up from the dirt. The Fleshpound stomped on him again, but he did not let the hit bring back down. He kept on rising until he finally stood up. With one wrathful yell, he knocked back all his enemies. His skin started to turn a shade of red and was now covered with fire.

The Fleshpound lifted its right arm in the air and swung down on Pink but he effortlessly caught the grinder with one arm. He then ripped it off and smacked the beast in the face with it. Letting go of the severed arm, he punched the Fleshpound with so much power that it plowed through his chest and sent it flying into multiple walls.
“No! You’re ruining everything!” yelled the Patriarch, now extremely angry.

The other Zeds all set out to fight Pink, but they each fell in just one swing from the enraged Guardian. Each of his punches ignited the hydrogen in the air, creating small explosions. One by one, they were torn to shreds by his fist of steel. Now, all that was remaining was the Patriarch himself. He was now just as angry as Pink, seeing as all his children were slaughtered before his eyes.

“I don’t think you fully understand the situation; you’re all going to die.”

Pink sprinted to the mad scientist. The Patriarch lifted his minigun up to him and began firing.
“This is the end of you!”

Pink punched as many bullets as he could, but many did hit him. But much to the Patriarch’s surprise, the bullets only tore off his skin but did not damage his muscles all that much. They have become so tough that the bullets could only scratched the Guardian’s muscles. The scientist quickly reloaded his rocket launcher.
“One in the pipe!”

He fired at Pink, who punched the rocket, somewhat deflecting it. The explosion sent him to the ground, but he simply jumped back into the fray in less than a milli second. He threw a punch at the Patriarch, but the monster stepped back just enough to avoid it. He then fired the appendage from his chest at the Guardian, to which he dodged it quite easily.
Grabbing it, Pink punched the Patriarch, severing the appendage from his chest. He then rushed the monster and began unloading all his fury on him. Then, he knocked the inhuman being to the ground and began pummeling him until there was nothing left but bloody bits.

Afterwards, he finally calmed down. Smithy could finally regenerate his wounds, with the nanobots in his suit repairing all the damage done, including the armour on the arm that had just grown back.

Fluttershy struggled to get back on her bloodied hooves with tears in her eyes, the Crawlers had done a number on her by the looks of it. “P-Pink, are you alright?”

Pink was the most injured of the group, most of his flesh had been torn off and burnt. His entire body was now covered in blood, both his own as well as those of the specimens. “I don’t know about that. I feel great.” he simply answered with a smile on his face, his breath now becoming labored.

“You’re bleeding out! If we don’t get you to Drag or a doctor, you’ll die!” she objected.

“That’s not a problem, I still have some fight left in me! I’ve never felt this good in my entire life!” he exclaimed happily.

“I don’t understand how you can feel that way.”

“Aye, I can see why. We’re both pushovers in some way, aren’t we? You know Fluttershy, anger isn’t necessarily a bad thing. See for yourself; it’s what saved all of us.”

“So, you’re saying I should express my anger instead of always trying to keep it inside?”

“Eh... Pretty much.”

Smithy had just gotten up, now fully healed. There were no traces of damage anywhere on him.

“Are we getting the hell out of here? I already hate this place.”

~***~

Somewhere on the first floor of the lab, a door opened out of thin air. A door that wasn’t connected to anything really. Out of that door came Mugen, wanting to help out. He was at the core of the building, where all the electricity was stored in. There was one big machine that gave the entirety of the Biolabs the energy needed to function.

“Ha ha! And where you see one machine, I C4.”

Mugen pulled out a C4 from who knows where and placed it on the machine, activating it and setting up a timer.

“Ok well, good luck to you three. Thought you probably don’t know I just did that. Hmpf, you should manage just fine.”

Mugen cart wheeled back into the door he had just opened and thus, he left the laboratory, having just doomed it.

~***~

“Since when were there four of him?!”

Pink nearly had a heart attack when he spotted three Patriarchs blocking the way leading to the stairs.

“Superior genetics. I’ve cloned myself, so come and kill me all you want; you will never find the original!”

Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the intersection they found themselves in. The only exit in sight were the windows, but was it really a good idea to defenestrate themselves? On perhaps the tenth floor? Smithy clearly had the same idea, but he was about to do it unlike the Pegasus.

“I’m not fighting these three assholes, if you want to Pink; they’re all yours.”

The Guardian looked at the Scaler in surprise, who was making a mad dash towards the windows.
“Hey! Where are you going?!”

“Don’t worry, you can handle it!” Smithy jumped out of the window, leaving Fluttershy and Pink alone against the three Patriarchs.

“One in the pipe!” shouted one of them as he began to load his rocket launcher.

Fluttershy and Pink knew they had no other choice in this situation, it’s do or die. Jump out the window, or die trying to get past these monsters. The Guardian sprinted towards the same window Smithy had jumped through while the Pegasus flew out of it.

Before the Patriarchs could fire their weapon at him, Pink escaped. During his fall, he turned around to flip them off and just as he did; the entire building exploded, nearly scaring him to death. The explosion launched him further away from the infrastructure.

“Pink are you alright?” screamed Fluttershy as she flew down to where her friend landed.

“I’m fine, I’m ok. Think I broke a rib, but that’s about it.” As usual, a rather sarcastic response coming from the guy who’s covered in his own blood.

“You need to go see a doctor! These injuries are really bad.” Her caring nature wouldn’t allow her to calm down. Pink was after all, in a pitiful state right now, even though he doesn’t want to admit it.

Smithy approached the two, looking at the Guardian who was still down on the floor.

“So much for keeping deaths at a minimum...You should probably listen to her, even a Scaler would be looking for first aid with such injuries.”

Pink stood up, wiping away the blood and acted as if he was fine.
“Pff, I can make the trip back. Just watch.”

He took a few steps forward, but that didn’t last for long. In a matter of seconds, he flopped on the grass, unable to stand up anymore. “Ok, someone’s gonna have to carry me back. Smithy?”

~***~

The Merchant waited patiently at his counter; fully confident they will return. He took a quick look at the time and realised the waiting was finally over. The group had returned from their quest.

“Welcome back, strangers. You have the Fleshpound DNA I presume?” he said as he reached out a hand for the vials. Smithy took them out of his suit and handed the items over to the Merchant.

“Now, will you give us the anti-venom so we can save Princess Luna?” asked Fluttershy, the Scaler chuckled and walked into his backroom. He returned shortly after with a syringe.

“I had faith in you, strangers. ‘Tis why I synthesised it during your trip. I knew you’d come back successful.”

Fluttershy smiled at the Merchant’s kind words. “Thank you, sir. We greatly appreciate your help.” She looked over at the bloodied Pink, still on Smithy’s back. “Um, can you do something about our friend? He’s really hurt.”

The lizard took a close look at Pink before accepting to help. He took out a first aid spray from under his counter and sprayed the Guardian with it. In a matter of seconds, his wounds closed, leaving barely any traces of his injuries.

“I’ll help you for free on this one, stranger. But that is not all. With the Fleshpound’s DNA, I can craft a weapon, so powerful it can pierce a God’s black heart. I’ll tell you once it’s ready.”

“Really? Oh, thank you so much for your kindness, sir.”

“Heh, the client’s satisfaction comes before everything else, stranger.”

~***~

Back at the hospital, the trio entered the room where Drag and Cadance were waiting for them. The Tauren looked exhausted, breathing heavily on his chair, no longer healing Luna. He took notice of their arrival.
“Thank the Light you’re back! I’ve reached my limit. I seriously hope you’ve got something.”

Smithy nodded and took out the anti-venom from his suit.

“Is this the anti-venom?” asked Cadance, Smithy reassured her that it will save the lunar princess.

“If you don’t mind. I’ll do it.” he said in a calm tone as he moved closed to the injured alicorn. He injected the anti-venom into her body and everyone in the room watched happily as the infected wound closed itself, stopping the bleeding entirely. Princess Luna was saved, but there was still one problem left and that was... her broken horn.

“I’m so glad you three managed to find the anti-venom just in time, but... I don’t think Luna is going to be able to resume her duty as princess of the night anymore...” sadly pointed out Princess Cadance.

“Not to worry, I got super glue!” Everyone turned to face the newcomer, Mugen. “With super glue, I can fix this broken horn!”

Drag was rather confused as to how glue was going to solve this issue. “I assume you have the other piece of her horn then?”

“Of course, take a look at this!” Mugen took out the missing piece of the lunar princess’s horn out of nowhere and showed it to everyone. “Now, let me do the magic!”

He waltzed over to Luna, who was still unconscious, and glued her horn back. Cadance looked at the whole scene with uncertainty, horns can’t be fixed with just glue, that was common knowledge amongst unicorns and alicorns alike. Suddenly, the glue transformed into the same material that made up Luna’s horn, and it looked like nothing had happened to it at all.

“That wasn’t super glue. That was, magic super glue!” added Mugen as he proudly showed the bottle to everyone around him.

“He just keeps on surprising me... How many tricks do you have up your sleeves?” asked Smithy.

“An infinite amount, that’s for sure! They don’t call me Mister Infinity for nothin’!”

~***~

Twilight nervously paced around the train station. She had heard that Shining Armor was going to arrive soon today. After her encounter with the fake Shining, her desire to see her brother had only grown stronger. It’s been so long since she’s seen him, much less even get in contact with the unicorn. Spike was also besides her, as he wished he had been in these recent events.

Her frantic pacing came to a stop once she heard the sounds of the train coming.

“Spike! The train’s going to arrive in just a few minutes!” she exclaimed happily.

“Now that I think about it Twilight... I’ve never truly met your brother, have I?”

“Actually, you did. You were just too young to remember. But I guess this time you’ll remember meeting Shining Armor! Oh, he’s the best big brother one could ask for!”

Finally, the train came to a stop a couple of minutes later. Twilight and Spike excitedly watched as the passengers left their wagons. Some of them were familiar faces, ponies that have returned to Ponyville once they knew that it was no longer occupied by the Scalers. And then, Twilight saw Shining step out of the train. Without waiting any longer, she ran up to him with Spike coming closely behind.

“Shining!” She got the attention of her brother who looked just as happy to see her again.

“Twiley!”

The two unicorns hugged each other tightly, refusing to let go of one another. Twilight wanted to say something, but tears filled her eyes and she was incapable of speaking even a single word. Her emotions were getting stronger and stronger the longer she was in his embrace.

“Twiley... I can’t even begin to imagine what you must have gone through. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”

Twilight finally found the strength to talk to her brother now that he had broken the silence.
“I-It’s okay. You’re here now and th-that’s all that matters to me.”

After a while, the two broke their hug and Shining turned his attention to Spike.

“Oh my, you’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you! You were still just a little baby when I first met you Spike!”

“Um, h-hi there Shining. It’s nice, to meet you I mean.” awkwardly said Spike as he did not know how to approach the stallion. Twilight was done wiping her tears away, ready to finally have a serious talk with her brother.

“Well Shining, why don’t we go to the Golden Oak library? There is a lot of things I want to say to you, and I’m sure you have plenty to say as well.” Shining agreed to her proposition.

“Alright! Lead the way, Twiley. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Act 3 : There's Evil That Waits Inside

It was now daytime in Manehattan, the city had become lively again. For Mama Scarface, it meant that she had to return to her usual activities as a fairly ordinary citizen. She went to work during the day where the unicorn did her best to not draw any attention to her. During the night however, she was the leader of the Scarface clan, a notorious criminal organisation. She woke up from her nap, a nap that lasted long enough to get her through the day.
Mama Scarface was still inside her personal office, ready to pack her stuff to leave when she noticed that there was an additional shadow in her room. Her curtains were still closed, which left the entire room in darkness. Feeling a bit uneasy, she used her magic to open the curtain but just as she did, the curtain closed itself on its own. A deep, sinister laugh indicated that there was indeed something in her office. Mama Scarface nearly fell off her chair once she saw two red eyes staring at her.

“Don’t act so surprised. You already know why I’m here, Mama Scarface.”

The unicorn was now terrorised; the demon had gotten into her office and was on the search for his blood. Blood that she showed to the members of her clan. This could end very poorly for her if she does not choose her words carefully.
“Y-Yes. You’re here f-for your blood.”

She felt stupid for failing to mask the fear, nearly facepalming herself. Devil Kong was rather amused at her reaction, which made him slightly less aggressive. Maybe it would be better to not act all high and mighty in front of him.

“It’s in your possession. Hand it over to me, and I won’t be leaving another scar on your face.”

“Of-Of course!” said Mama Scarface as she opened a drawer on her desk and used her magic to lift up a bag of the demon’s blood. She nearly got a heart attack as soon as she lifted her eyes to look at Devil Kong. He was now right in front of her, no longer standing in the far back of her office.

The demon grabbed her face and pulled her closer to him. He took a close look at her scar, which rested on her left eye. At that moment, she could see something rather odd about Devil Kong. There were many scratch marks on his face. Many of them were still bleeding, as the cut was deep. It was mainly those near his eyes that got her attention, for they were much bigger than the rest. The wounds looked self-inflicted seeing as his claws were still bloodied.

“What’s the matter, scared? You better be, for I have no intentions to remain as a lap-dog for Balgo. I’ll swing by your way sometime soon, and I'll make sure to leave no stones unturned.”

He let go of her face before snatching the bag of blood. Then, he vanished into thin air, leaving the distraught unicorn all alone. She quickly prepared herself to go to work, not wanting to remain here any longer. She now had another problem on her hooves, that being figuring out how to avoid the demon’s wrath.

Back at the Golden Oak library, Twilight Sparkle told her entire story to Shining Armor. She told him about the Guardian’s meeting with Celestia, the arrival of the fake Shining, their defeat in Canterlot and even about her close encounters with Devil Kong. She often had to pause during her retelling, for these events were quite traumatic for her. Her suffering was still fresh after all.

“Sweet Celestia... Twiley, I'm so sorry to hear it.” he finally said after she had finished her brutal tale. Though Twilight could see that her brother was still in shock to have just learned that Princess Celestia had died in the battle for Canterlot.

“You didn’t tell him a single word about me.” Twilight was startled by this familiar voice, Bane was once again sitting by her side, asking her to tell Shining about her existence.

“Well that’s because he’ll th-” She stopped mid-sentence, realising that no one but her can see Bane. She nervously looked back at her brother as well as Spike, who was sitting beside him.

“Who were you talking to, Twiley?” asked the stallion, confused.

“N-Nopony.” blatantly lied Twilight. Shining was still confused, but didn’t want to pressure her too much since her sister has already more than enough reason to be on edge. Spike leaned in closer to the stallion and whispered in his ears.

“She’s been acting like this ever since she returned to Canterlot. I’m kind of worried myself, she seems more stressed out than she’s ever been.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m here now. I’ll try my best to help, Spike.” responded Shining.

When they turned their attention back to Twilight, they noticed that she wasn’t looking at him. Instead, she was looking to her left, as if there was somepony there. Twilight saw that Spike and Shining were staring at her, still with a confused and worried expression.

“Twiley...”

“It’s nothing, really! Well, I-I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.” nervously interrupted Twilight. She knew that if too many ponies found out about her chats with Bane, she’d be thrown in a mental asylum. Her, the Element of Magic and student of Princess Celestia. That is something that should never, ever happen!

“Listen Twiley. If something’s wrong, just let me know. I finally get to see you again, and I want to help you out as much as I can.”

Twilight hesitated a lot. How would her brother react if she told him all about Bane? Just who or what Bane is supposed to be? Ultimately, she decided to go for it as she trusted Shining Armor heavily.

She retold her initial encounter with Devil Kong, this time including Bane in the whole story. During which, she often paused to see how her brother would react to this new telling of the events. Her heart was beating faster and faster once she saw just how worried Shining looked the further it went, to the point that she stopped mid-sentence.

“Sh-Shining?” she asked in a voice that sounded nearly broken out of fear.

The stallion avoided eye contact for a moment, trying to figure out how to tell Twilight the bad news. Finally, after what felt like an eternity for the poor mare, Shining told her what was the problem.

“T-Twiley... From what it sounds like... You have, sch-schizophrenia.” he said in a tone that sounded both serious and sad at the same time.

Twilight Sparkle felt like she wanted to cry. All this time, she had chalked up Bane’s existence to being the cause of a spell casted on her by Balgo, or even Devil Kong to some extent. But, thinking about it, she knew deep down that it couldn’t have been Balgo for he was perplexed when she first mentioned Bane all the way back at Canterlot’s dungeon.

“I... just need a moment alone, please.”

“Hey Drag?”

The Tauren nearly jumped out of his chair; Pink was inches away from his face which only made his initial surprise even worse. Evidently, he had slept in the hospital soon after they had saved Luna’s life.

“What is it, Pink?” he asked in a grumpy voice.

“Seeing just how much effort you putted into keeping Luna alive made me feel like you deserve some rest at least. So, I’ll be keeping an eye on them on your behalf while you go out and get some fresh air.”

Drag was rather surprised at Pink’s sudden change in attitude. Last night, he didn’t even want to do it, even if it was a matter of life or death. It was a pleasant surprise however, so the paladin didn’t even question it, simply opting to thank his friend for his kindness and thus, he was finally able to leave the hospital.

This day was especially beautiful, the sun was shining just as brightly as it always did, the flowers were blooming and the mood of the town seemed to have gotten better since their defeat at Canterlot.

But no matter how peaceful things looked, Drag knew that there were still fighting left to do. Now that he was free, he wanted to go to Manehattan to help out the citizen there to deal with Balgo’s influence. He’ll need to bring some friends along to make that possible, there was still the threat of Devil Kong and Silas somewhere in Equestria, though none of them knew where they were which only added to make this mission more dangerous than it needed to be.

For starters, Twilight Sparkle was his first pick for obvious reasons. Her brother Shining Armor was also a powerful unicorn which could do great against the foes they were going up against. Same goes for Cadance. Alduin was still somewhere in Manehattan, so he could already count him as being part of his team. But who could be the final member of this new team?

“Who? Me?!” said Rarity, surprised at Drag’s invitation.

“Yes... well, you were picked by process of elimination. Fluttershy is in the hospital to treat her wounds, and Pink is watching over Applejack and Luna. Smithy and Mugen are not willing to come for personal reasons. Rainbow Dash is tired out from her trip to Manehattan...”

“But what about Pinkie Pie, dear?” quickly responded Rarity, wondering why he didn’t come to the earth pony first.

“She’s not in the mood right now. So much has happened here, and I think she’s been hit the hardest by it. Her morale is at an all-time low, so I don’t think it’s a bright idea to bring her to Manehattan, where Balgo is currently located.”

“I see... I’ll go tell Sweetie Belle about it, then I’ll make the preparations for our trip.”

Inside the train, Drag and Shining were discussing their plan. Manehattan was now to be considered in Balgo’s control. They’ve also decided to bring Spike along, since his ability to send messages might come in handy should they split up.

“So... what’s the plan, Drag?” asked Shining Armor.

“There is no clear plan. We have no idea what’s truly going on Manehattan ever since you’ve left. We will arrive in there and observe its current situation. Then, we’ll improvise our course of action.” responded the Tauren as he was looking at a map of the city.

“So, what you’re saying is... we don’t have a plan.”

“Sadly yes...”

A few seats away, Twilight was sitting alongside Spike and Cadance. She wanted to chat a bit with her old foalsitter while she had the time. They both hadn’t seen each other in years, and so, wanted to catch up on everything that happened since then.

“So... I’ve heard you’ve been recently crowned as a princess.” started Twilight.

“Yes, I’m now the princess of love, although I don’t have a kingdom to rule over.” added Cadance.

“The princess of love? Does that mean there can be a princess of fashion too?” interjected Rarity, who was sitting on the seat right next to them.

“I don’t know, at that point, I guess there can be a princess for anything really.” replied the princess of love, finding the white unicorn’s question quite amusing.

“Come on, Rarity. As if there can be a princess for fashion. Don’t you think there should be a princess of friendship instead? You know, the most powerful magic in all of Equestria!” pointed out Twilight Sparkle, exasperated at Rarity’s obsession with beauty and fashion.

“Are you projecting yourself, Miss Rarity?” teased Princess Cadance.

“No! Not at all, but just imagine... Princess Rarity...”

Spike really liked the idea. “Ah... Princess Rarity...”

Concerning Drag and Shining, they were now discussing what they’re going to do, should they cross path with Balgo.
“So, what should we do if we come across Balgo?” asked Shining Armor. The Tauren was thinking about it for a moment before answering.

“We should flee and hide from him. We’ll need all the alicorns and all the Guardians assembled to take on him. We lack the manpower to do it currently, so we’ll have to do our best to avoid fighting him. Though it isn't Balgo that’s got me worried...”
“It’s that demon, isn’t it? You said his name was Devil Kong, right?”

“Yeah. Unlike Balgo, Devil Kong doesn’t like to put on a show. He’s much more discreet and that makes him much worse than the leader of the Scalers. If our luck is terrible; we’re going to cross path with this demon and I don’t like it at all.”
Shining looked out the window. He could clearly see the city of Manehattan not too far away. They’ve nearly arrived.

“Looks like our time is up, Drag. We have arrived at Manehattan.”

“Already?” said the paladin out of surprise, though he regained his composure quickly. “Alright, the first thing we should do is to find Alduin.”

Now that they’ve finally left the train at Manehattan, the group just had to find Alduin and...
A loud sound startled everyone in the group, except for Drag who saw it coming. Twilight nearly had a heart attack once she saw two red eyes staring down at them, but calmed down when she realised that it was just Alduin.

“What is this? A field trip?” said the black dragon in a disgruntled voice.

“Yes, just a field trip in Manehattan.” replied Twilight with a cheerful smile on her face before immediately cutting back to a more serious expression. “Of course not! We are here to observe the current situation of this city, just to see what Balgo is planning.”

“You will not get to him before I do. He’s my opponent, beyn!”

Alduin flew away right after, adding one more problem on the group’s hands.

“So... he’s always like this, Drag?” asked Cadance.

“Always has been.”

Standing on the roof of the casino, Balgo awaited the predictable arrival of Alduin, the ex-world eater. The black dragon landed right behind him, eager to have a fight. He lifted his neck to look more imposing to the Scaler, though the latter wasn’t impressed in the slightest.

“Dovah-slayer, demon of many faces, zu’u, Alduin, will bring you to your knees.” shouted the world eater.
“Oh my, it’s that time of the day again. The part where I fight an arrogant God who thinks he’s hot shit.” replied Balgo. He turned around to face the mighty dragon, his entire demeanour changing to a more excited one. “Very well, this’ll be quite entertaining for you and I, Alduin.”

“To think you of all people would show me some respect, I see that it is a trait only held by the old ones.”

“Well, you did give Aruba a good wallop back at Canterlot, the least I can do is to show some respect for your power.”

exclaimed Balgo with a confident smirk. With one simple gesture, he invited the dragon to initiate the fight.
Thus, the two titans began their duel, catching the attention of many passersby who bore witness to quite the spectacle.

“Hey! Are you seeing this? Balgo’s fighting Alduin! This is gonna be the best spectacle of the year, I guarantee!”
Silas was with Trixie; inside an apartment they had rented. He was looking out the window to see the fight while the unicorn looked rather dizzy. “...Trixie?”

She got so dizzy that she fell down. Thankfully, Silas caught her just in time. “Oh geez.... are you alright? You look pale.” He felt genuine concern for her. She was probably the first person outside of his family he had ever gotten friendly with.
Trixie finally returned to her senses. “Hmm? D-Don't worry, the great and powerful Trixie... doesn’t know what she’s doing here?” mumbled the unicorn, still in a confused state.

Silas looked back at the fight between the two Gods. He put two and two together and figured out that Balgo’s spell on Trixie might be weakening because he’s slowly removing it to channel more power into fighting Alduin.
At that point, he suddenly got an idea. “Wait, if his spell is weakening... Then, that means that I can run away from him with Trixie. Splendid! An escape plan! I get a friend, and freedom! Doesn’t this sound amazing?”

His reflection expressed his disdain. “And what about reviving the legend of Sleepy Hollow? Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten your mission? Kill Luna, and kill Cadance. Restore all the fear they had placed in you and become a symbol of death.”

“Um, no.”

Silas now had his mind set on one goal, breaking free of the Devil’s grasp, seeing as he owed him nothing anymore. With Trixie at his side, he’ll be able to move from town to town fairly easily as opposed to if he went alone.

“Woe is me! How much longer are we going to walk along those dreary streets?”

Rarity was complaining about the sorry state of the streets of Manehattan which made sense seeing as the block they were traveling in wasn’t exactly the most flattering in terms of looks. However, it was a perfect spot for shady practices which is why the group chose to take a look there. Balgo or one of his minions had to be there, this street in particular had an evil aura to it.

“We’ll keep on walking until we come across something interesting.” responded Drag before stopping out of the blue. He looked at the building to his left with a concerned expression. “Something’s odd about this place, I can feel a great evil hiding inside this restaurant.”

The group stared at the abandoned restaurant with mixed feeling. This place really looked creepy on the outside; it surely must be worst on the inside.

“Uh, d-do we really have to in there?” nervously asked Spike.

“We’re not all going in there, some of us will have to stand guard just in case it’s a trap.” answered the paladin.

“So, who’s going to wait outside?” Twilight confidently asked, albeit somewhat nervous at the idea of going inside.

“I’m thinking Cadance and Rarity should wait outside as well as Spike. You, Shining and I will go in and investigate.” It was clear that Drag had already thought about it all from the moment he laid his eyes on the abandoned building.

“Oh! Thank goodness I’m not going in this dreary place! I can’t stand abandoned buildings; they are always so dirty.” exclaimed Rarity as she reached a hoof out to her heart.

Cadance briefly looked at the restaurant before setting her gaze back on the Tauren. “Do we have some sort of signal to go in, just in case things gets really bad in there?”

“Let’s keep it simple. If you see a huge flash of light emanating from the building, then that means we need your help.”
Spike jumped out of Twilight’s back so he could join Cadance and Rarity. The rest of the group then entered the creepy abandoned restaurant in search of what’s hiding inside. The interior was dark and gloomy, all lights inside were shattered and by the looks of it, they were destroyed quite recently. This only confirmed Drag’s suspicions regarding this restaurant.
“I guess that proves it; there is something inside. Everyone, stay on guard.”

With each step they took, the floor creaked almost as if it was about break under the weight of the group. Well, it did just break under them, sending Twilight and Drag under the lobby, but not Shining who had reacted in time.

“Twiley! Drag!” he shouted as he looked down the massive hole in the floor, it was even darker in there than the lobby to the point where it looked like it could go down indefinitely. The stallion casted a spell to light up the hole, but couldn’t see anything down there. He was pondering whether he should jump down or find another, possibly safer way. Ultimately, he decided to search another way, just in case the drop was too big.

“Drag? Shining? Where are you?”

Nothing... It seems her calls are only met with silence. All around her was an oppressive darkness that didn’t felt natural in the slightest. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make out a single thing in the dark. Twilight had to resort to her magic to light up her surroundings and although she tried her hardest to produce the brightest light imaginable, the result was less than desirable.

The darkness was consuming the light she was producing, leaving her with an orb of light that was on par with a broken flashlight. It was now clear that the darkness in this section of the restaurant was magical in nature. The thing hiding inside was responsible for it.

A sudden sense of dread overcame Twilight... What if the thing hidden in this restaurant was Devil Kong? What would she do if that was the case? Drag is nowhere to be found, and her brother was still above the hole she had fallen into. She had no back-up to face the demon this time, just like in Ponyholm.

The unicorn will have to buy time should Devil Kong rear his ugly head towards her.

“I didn’t take you for an urban explorer, Twilight.”

The purple unicorn froze in fear, the voice was really close to her. Devil Kong was really close to her.

“You shouldn’t have come here, because now is finally time for you to pay the price.”

The dark red eyes of the demon pierced the darkness, revealing himself to the unicorn. The beast slowly marched towards her with a murderous intent in present in his entire body. Twilight finally regained control of her body once she saw the embodiment of death picking up the pace, she turned around and galloped away only to run into a wall. The faint light coming from her horn barely illuminated her surroundings, making it very difficult for her to see where she was going. The demon, on the other hand, gave off the feeling that he could perfectly see where he was going, seeing as he was avoiding any and all obstacles in his way.

Twilight tried once more to flee, but found herself running into yet another wall that is blocking her path. She turned around just in time to see Devil Kong catching up to her, ramming his entire body into the unicorn. The blow slammed her against the wall, leaving a huge crack into it. Now on the ground and panicking, Twilight lighted up her horn to teleport herself out of danger but she was too slow; the demon bit down on one of her legs and tossed into nearby furniture, breaking what felt like chairs and a table to the unicorn.

“Why don’t we just talk this out?” said Twilight as she coughed up blood, feeling herself slowly losing consciousness.

“Are you too foolish to see I've already made up my mind?” calmly replied Devil Kong as he walked up to her at a snail’s pace, relishing in her pain. He now had a huge grin on his face, it was clear that he was simply toying with her for the time being.

At least, this torture will buy Twilight some time to come up with an idea to escape from the demon’s grasp. But before she can make up a plan, Devil Kong grabbed her by the throat and headbutted her with enough force to crack her skull. He then threw her yet again, this time landing on an old chest.

The impact caused the content of the chest to fall on the ground. There were many objects she couldn’t see due to the darkness, but one of them stood out; it was an amulet that shined through the darkness of the demon. Twilight quickly took notice of it, and so did the beast.

“Ah, so this is what my senses picked up.” exclaimed Devil Kong as he looked at the amulet with great interest.

This amulet... it shined so brightly that it enthralled Twilight in its beauty. In it, she saw her only way out of this life and death situation. So, without wasting any time, she put it on and immediately felt immense power coursing through her veins.

The amulet was giving her much more power than she could even imagine, so much magic that it can rival that of an alicorn. Using her newfound powers, she teleported herself away from the demon.

“You’re going nowhere!”

Devil Kong’s shout echoed throughout the dark restaurant, catching the attention of both Shining and Drag.
Twilight was now hiding away from the beast, wanting to use the amulet’s power to escape him. That was, until a new idea came to her mind, she could use its powers to finally kill Devil Kong for good.

“You can’t run! You can’t hide from me! I’ll find you eventually.” He had completely lost his composure after that turn of event. He can’t allow Twilight to regroup with her friends or else his vengeance would be denied.

Suddenly, the unicorn popped out from her hiding spot. “This time, you’ll run away from me!”

The demon lunged at her but before he could harm her, a powerful blast of light came out of Twilight’s horn, blinding him. Before he could recover, the purple unicorn fired a powerful beam of magic straight into his chest, forming a large gaping hole in his body.

Devil Kong fell to the ground out of shock, Twilight’s power had grown considerably. One good look at the amulet around her neck allowed him to understand this sudden change. She looked far more aggressive than before; a reddish glow now surrounded her eyes.

He knew exactly what was the new plan; seize the amulet and use it on himself. With this, he could become a God. He spat his blood on the unicorn, blinding her temporarily. He then pounced on her, grabbing her by the horn to subdue her magic while the other hand got a hold of the amulet. He pulled as hard as he could but it wouldn’t come out.

Twilight’s horn managed to break out of Devil Kong’s grasp and she blasted him away.

“Why can’t I pry it off of you?!” he shouted angrily.

“This amulet can only leave on my behalf. You can’t take it away from me!” cackled Twilight uncharacteristically. So, it also corrupts them from what it looked like, though it did not matter for the demon seeing as his heart was already black.

Thankfully, for him at least, he had a plan. Since he’s spent quite some time in Twilight Sparkle’s mind, he got to know her more intimately. He’ll have to get the unicorn to take off the amulet herself and he knew exactly how, though it's going to be very painful to pull it off.

He stood up just as Twilight prepared another attack. She fired another blast and this time, Devil Kong didn’t move at all, taking the blow head on. The attack struck his right arm, blowing a huge chunk away. She then focused her magic to throw yet another magical beam.

The attack struck the demon in the legs this time, nearly crippling him. The more this went on, the more confused Twilight felt as she wondered why the demon wasn’t fighting back, but the adrenaline rush that his procured compelled her to continue.

Finally, Devil Kong was on his knees at death’s door. Just one final strike and he would be gone. Twilight rejoiced at the idea of finally getting rid of him. She prepared to deal the final blow but was stopped when she noticed that the monster was grinning. He had no sign of anger on his face, just pure malice.

“This amulet is twisting your heart my dear. Aren’t you perhaps, taking too much pleasure in torturing me?”

His words caused the Element of Magic to reconsider her action. She was never a big fan of violence. She'd always take the most peaceful approach to solving a problem. Seeing herself torturing someone, no matter who they may be was horrifying. If the unicorn delivered the final blow, it would mean that the amulet would have taken over her entirely. What’s to say she’s going to stop at Devil Kong?

Twilight would most likely go after other criminals next, taking justice into her own hooves. Going against her mentor’s teachings entirely. No, she can’t do it. Now that she has taken back control, the amulet must go before she succumbs to it.
She took off the Alicorn Amulet with her hooves and threw it away out of fear. Twilight then took her attention back to Devil Kong who wasn’t even looking at her. He was staring directly at the amulet.

In less than a milli-second, he dove off to grab the item and gazed at it in awe.

“My... precious.”

These were the last thing he said before he disappeared back into the shadow, leaving the abandoned restaurant.

Feeling herself rocking back and forth, Trixie had just regained consciousness. She could not remember what happened back there at Manehattan after the fight with Princess Luna. She was quite surprised to find herself back into her home as it was rolling down an old dirt road.

“Wha- What happened?” she mumbled as she slowly got back on her hooves.

“Ho ho! You finally came to, Trixie! See? I told you she was gonna do just fine.”

Trixie jumped at the sound of the Horseless Headless Horseman’s voice. She turned around and was frightened to see that he was just mere inches away from her, seemingly talking to himself.

“Horseman! Pl-Please don’t kill me!” screamed the unicorn as she scrambled away from the undead.

“What? I’m not going to kill you. I’m simply getting you the hell away from danger. Manehattan kind of sucks right now what with all the demons roaming about.”

Trixie stopped panicking, now looking confused at the Reaper’s lack of murderous intent. He didn’t have his axe on him, rather it was nowhere to be found. Not only that, the undead’s face expressed genuine concern for her and even some semblance of fear.

“H-Hold on Trixie... You’re not going to leave me, are you?” The desperation in his voice got Trixie to reconsider running away from him. This was unlike anything she had heard about the legend of Sleepy Hollow.

“So... You’re not, going to kill me?” she asked hesitantly.

“No, I’m starting to feel like I need to start anew. To be reborn in some sense, I don’t know why I thought trying to kill Luna was a good idea but I know what I see when I look at you; a way out of this mess I've gotten myself into. So please, will you help me?”

Trixie started to remember everything that had happened since she first saw Balgo in his true form. Most importantly; she remembered that Silas had indeed saved her life from the Gaping Maw Clan.

“Ok... but it’s just because I owe you one.”

“Now that was a good fight. Unfortunately, you choked near the end, and now you’ve lost.” Balgo was sitting on Alduin’s defeated body, drinking a cup of coffee rather nonchalantly. The dragon was feeling something he had never known; fear. The Devil was far too much for him to handle, a first time for the first born of Akkatosh.

After taking a few sips from his cup, Balgo stood up and walked away from Alduin. He then pulled out a calendar and looked at the events he had planned. “Well, if you want a rematch. Might I suggest the day after tomorrow? I don’t have any plans for that day, so it’ll be anywhere, anytime. That is, if you have the guts to come back.”

The black dragon’s first experience with fear was so immense that it muddied his thinking. He immediately took off, flying rather poorly due to his condition and flew as far as he could from the city of Manehattan, not knowing if he’ll ever come back for a rematch.

“You’ll come back, surely. That is, unless you no longer think you’re hot shit.”

Author's Note

Chapter 15 is now done. There's only 5 more chapters to go, but I have already plans for eventual sequels. I am looking foward to complete this story before March at the very least.

Act 3 : Ending The Curse

The search around Manehattan proved to be unsuccessful, leaving the entire group disappointed as they headed back to Ponyville. Balgo had truly disappeared from the city, nowhere to be found.

Twilight Sparkle went back to her home, accompanied by Spike and Shining Armor. It was getting dark outside, it was best to stay indoors and try something else tomorrow for that day was very demanding for everypony in the party.

“So, I guess we’ll be sleeping under the same roof again, Twiley.” playfully pointed out Shining.

Twilight was suddenly flooded with many memories that she had of her brother when she was just a filly. “I still remember all the crazy things we’ve done when our parents were asleep!”

Shining Armor sat on a chair, relieved to finally be able to relax for once. “I guess saving the world would count as a “crazy thing”. Well, I guess you’ve already done it with Nightmare Moon and Discord.”

“That was different. Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna, but corrupted. Discord wasn’t taking anything too seriously which is how we were able to beat him. Balgo on the other hand, seems much more threatening than Discord ever could be. What’s on the surface IS his true nature.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Spike immediately went to bed, too tired to stay awake any longer while the two unicorns were willing to stay up late to get some important preparations done for tomorrow.

“Goodnight you two.” said Spike while yawning.

“Goodnight, Spike!” replied Twilight Sparkle as she watched the baby dragon fall asleep rather quickly. She turned her attention back to her brother. “Well Shining, I suppose we still have some things left to do before we head off to sleep.”

“Of course, I’ll gladly help you with whatever you need, Twiley! You’re my little sister after all, I’d do anything for you.” kindly responded the stallion.

“Well, first off, we should-” Twilight was cut off by a sudden knock on the door.

“Twiley, open the door! It’s me!” Twilight’s heart nearly gave in when she heard none other than Shining Armor on the other side of the front door. Her brother now looked very disturbed to hear his own voice coming from elsewhere.

“Tw-Twiley. That, can’t be me outside, can’t it?” muttered the frightened unicorn.

“No doubts about it. B-Balgo's here.”

The voice on the door began to distort itself. “Oh come on now, don’t keep me waiting or else I'll force myself in! Don’t worry, I'm here simply to chat for a bit.”

Twilight approached her front door and opened the upper section of it. She nearly jumped once she saw what was on the other side.

It was Shining Armor, only slightly different. His skin was grey rather than white. One of his eyes were missing while the other had a reddish glow to it. His teeth were yellow and bloodied. There were cuts around his hooves and snout. His mane was much longer and not well preserved. Lastly, his Cutie Mark was different. It was a pair of evil-looking eyes accompanied by a grin. The most disturbing part about it was that the eyes were real, and they were staring at her.

The faker waltzed in without even awaiting a response. “You know who I am, so we’ll cut off the needless introductions. I have a problem that needs fixing or rather, Canterlot has a problem that needs fixing.”

His choice of wording got the two unicorns worried.

“Wait, Canterlot has a problem?” questioned Shining.

“Yes, there has been murders, supposedly. Ponies being attacked in their home and dragged away to who knows where. All that is left on the scene are blood splatters and broken furniture. It’s getting everyone worried, so I thought I'd bring you two to solve this case with me. It’ll be fun, just believe me on this one.” The faker’s expression slowly turned into a mischievous grin the further he went on.

Twilight and Shining were unwilling to cooperate, but then they remembered that their parents were in Canterlot. If this murderer was targeting ponies, then that would mean that their parents are at risk of being murdered. But just to be sure, Twilight had to ask.

“Is this killer only targeting ponies?”

“Pretty much, Scalers seems to be off the table for this serial killer, quite the relief ain’t it?”

That settled it; Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor were going to accompany Balgo on this mysterious case. They can’t afford to let this murderer, kill anymore ponies on their watch; they’ll bring him/her to justice, that is... unless Balgo already has something in mind.

Without the usage of a train, the trip to Canterlot would take quite some time. Balgo saw it as a good opportunity to mess around with his fragile alliance. Twilight and Shining Armor were the ones leading the way while Balgo stayed closely behind them.

“So, how are your studies going, Twilight? In friendship magic I mean.”

“I was doing pretty well, before you showed up.”

“You shouldn’t neglect your studies. Just because the Devil is knocking at your door doesn’t mean you have a valid excuse to not act like a model student.” retorted the fake Shining Armor. Twilight was getting angrier at the Scaler’s provocation.

“If you weren’t trying to destroy everything we ponies have built, then maybe I'll try to act like a model student!” shouted Twilight. Her brother leaned in closer to calm her down.

“Don’t give him the attention he seeks. He’s just trying to get a reaction out of you, Twiley.”

Balgo chuckled, satisfied at his success while Twilight simply groaned, choosing to remain silent.

“Oh, pardon me, but I believe I actually have something worthwhile to say this time.” said Balgo as he reached a hoof out in a portal he created. He pulled out a rusty, bloodied whistle, as well as a sheet, and handed them to Twilight Sparkle.

“This, is the Blood Whistle. I have a strong feeling that it’ll be useful down the line. The sheet is important too, keep it.”
Twilight examined the whistle with care. “That’s... weird. I thought that Mugen had it. He showed it to me just a few days ago.”

“He’s terribly easy to convince, my dear. I didn’t even steal it; he just gave it to me.” replied the Devil. He was trying to stop himself from laughing.

“What?!”

“My people don’t call him the wildcard for nothin’.”

Twilight refrained herself from responding, instead opting to look in the distance. Canterlot’s castle was in clear view from their position, and that sparked some anxiety in her. It’s been a while since she had stepped foot in Canterlot ever since the city was taken over by the Scalers. She feared to see what had happened to what was once the home of her mentor. Without much else to do, she placed the whistle and the sheet inside her saddlebag.

After a long an uneventful walk, the trio has arrived at the city’s gate. Two Scalers were on duty there, stopping anypony from sneaking in. They quickly stood up upon noticing the three ponies approaching, pointing their weapons at them. It didn’t take long for them to lower their guns, and bow down. Twilight and Shining were confused at first, but quickly remembered that it was kind of obvious who the fake Shining was.

“Lord Balgo.” they both said in unison before opening the gates. “Welcome back.”

Balgo went front and center, now being the one to lead the group. “My mantra has always been; fear and obey. Fear is a powerful tool that can bend anyone to your will. It is how we maintain control.”

“Your regime is a dictature. I don’t expect it to last forever; such empires only end in ruins.” pointed out Shining Armor.

“Maybe you’re right... or perhaps you are wrong. Only time will tell, Shining Armor.”

Strangely enough, Twilight Sparkle noticed that Balgo’s tone didn’t seem to favor any side at all. Even weirder was his reluctance to outright kill any of the Element’s bearers. The Elements of Harmony were very the only thing that can stop this invasion, but the Devil wasn’t taking any step towards stopping them for good. Just what was he looking for?

He’s been constantly toying with her, never once tried to actually kill her. He’s killed Princess Celestia and gravely injured Luna but never bothered to finish the job nor did he even go after Cadance. His decisions at the beginning were calculated, strategic and aiming towards causing as much discord and fear as possible before attempting to take over the most secured city in all of Equestria. Now, they were erratic, contradictory to his previous decisions.

The more she tried to understand the Scaler’s decisions, the more she came to the realisation that all of this simply made no sense on a logical level. That must mean he has a weakness, perhaps a self-imposed one?

Twilight lifted her head and wondered where Shining and Balgo were.

“We are right behind you, you know. If you’d stop over-analysing everything and instead focus on the mission ahead, that’ll be nice.”

They were behind her now. She felt somewhat embarrassed, but tried her best to hide it. Perhaps she should do as Balgo said and stay focus on the case they were taking on.

There were multiple eyes on them now, from ponies and Scalers alike. The reptiles were looking on in admiration and curiosity at their master’s antics while the ponies looked at the faker with terror in their eyes. Balgo took a great amount of pleasure in watching their reactions.

“Now, this is power. Fear and respect are earned through many trials and tribulations. It can’t be taken for granted.”
Twilight wanted to share her opinion on the matter, but stopped when she saw a house with many signs around it telling citizens that this area was off limits. There were multiple Scalers positioned around it ensuring that nopony would come close.

“So, this is where the latest murder took place?” she hesitantly asked.

“Yup, let’s get in.”

Balgo walked up to the house, the Scalers quickly recognised him and saluted their leader. He spun around and gestured at Twilight and Shining to come inside with him.

The kitchen was where the murder happened. The broken cupboard as well as the knocked down chairs made it pretty clear. There were no lights in the house at the moment, making the whole scene look more ominous. The most interesting part of all were the bloodstains. They were still red, meaning that the murder had happened recently.

“By the looks of it; the victim was attacked and when it was unable to defend itself anymore, it was dragged away as judged by the bloodstains.” remarqued Balgo in an emotionless voice, sounding indifferent to the massacre that had occurred.
“But the trail ends right there, in the room adjacent to the kitchen.” pointed out Twilight. “What could have happened to the victim? It’s as if it disappeared!”

“Could it be that the murder is a unicorn? It could have used magic to erase his or her tracks.” theorised Shining Armor.

“Then explain to me why there is a fuck ton of blood in the place where the victim mysteriously disappeared.” coldly exclaimed the faker as he rubbed his hooves in the blood.

“Maybe the killer was clumsy and casted his spell inefficiently? It could have made the process messy.” explained Twilight. Shining wasn’t sure this was the case.

“Twiley, I don’t think that a clumsy unicorn could have left this much gore with a spell. Maybe the killer didn’t have access to magic at all in the end.” Balgo let out a small smile of satisfaction, though it was brief enough that the two unicorns didn’t notice.

“Seeing as this killer messed up the kitchen pretty bad, I’d say he’s got quite the muscles to do this much damage.” he said. Twilight was slowly starting to figure it out.

“I can agree with that. This could be an earth pony, but then again, an earth pony couldn’t have made an entire body disappear!”

“The only way he could was if he devoured his victim on the spot, but even a stallion can’t eat that much in such little time.” Shining said, slowly getting closer to discovering the nature of the murderer.

“That could only leave... a Scaler!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle with great satisfaction, though it quickly turned into anger towards Balgo. “A Scaler is killing ponies!” The Devil chuckled, looking satisfied that Twilight has nearly solved this mystery.

“Just one thing, Scalers aren’t allowed to hurt ponies unless it is self-defence. Failure to follow this rule will result in their execution at the hands of Knoxx and I. I doubt my own kind could have done it, unless... we’ve got something truly unruly hidden in Canterlot.” Twilight was slowly losing her patience. She knew Balgo had solved it already, he was just taking his sweet time to deliver the news.

“What are you getting at?”

“The abomination is our culprit here. A Scaler that has fallen from grace, going to the point of losing everything that made him a Scaler in the first place. He was eating other Scalers before, but I guess ponies just tastes better to this thing. I’ve got a feeling that the Blood Whistle will help us track him down.”

Twilight took the whistle out of her saddlebag and examined it.

“Now here’s what you must do, Twiley. Play the melody on the sheet with the whistle. Once you hear his voice, you’ll have to sing the whistle’s melody.”

“What?”

“Don’t ask questions, do it.”

Twilight played the melody with the whistle. At first nothing happened, but Balgo pressured her to keep on playing. After playing through the melody a second time, a disembodied voice sang the melody that she had just played.
“Now Twilight. Sing the melody with him.” ordered Balgo.

Twilight sang the melody, harmonising quite well with the voice for it was also good at singing. Then, a Scaler slowly materialised into the room. He looked like any ordinary Scaler with the sole difference being that his skin is ghostly white and his eyes are as black as the abyss itself.

The ghost continued on singing while Twilight and Shining looked on in awe.

“Don’t stop singing, you’re nearly there. Follow his lead.” pressured Balgo.

Twilight nodded and repeated the same melody as the ghost. Suddenly, the lights in the house went out and a blood curling scream startled the two unicorns. When the lights turned on again, the ghost’s appearance changed. He now looked mangled, torn apart, with his face now expressing sorrow and pain.

The apparition began to sing much faster than before, a whistle accompanied every single note he sang. Twilight followed the Scaler’s lead, trying to keep up with this sudden change in tempo.

“Blood Whistle! Hear its cry!” the singing stopped after the voice had shouted these words.

Twilight was expecting Balgo to pressure her to keep singing, but he instead looked satisfied.

“To earn the favor of a ghost, one must appeal to him or her first.” he said, smiling proudly. “You have done well Twilight.”
Shining looked at the ghost, visibly disturbed at the being’s pitiful appearance. “So, what are we supposed to do now?”

“You’ve done it Twilight Sparkle. You can ask the ghost anything you want, but it has to be something the ghost knows.”

Twilight turned her head to look at the disguised Devil. “Does he know about the murderer’s identity?”

“I’m sure he knows more than that. Ask him where the killer is hiding.”

The Element of Magic placed her attention back on the ethereal being. “Where is the killer hiding?” she said sternly.
The ghost slowly raised his only arm and pointed at the floor. He lingered there for quite some time, not moving an inch.

“He’s... pointing at the floor.” observed Shining Armor. “So, the killer is somewhere below where we are, but I'm fairly certain this house has no basement.”

“Well?” started Balgo. “What’s below the house?”

The stallion finally remembered a little-known fact about Canterlot. There were caverns below the city, though they are not used anymore which is few nopony even knows about their existence.

“Canterlot’s caverns! Of course! There is no better place to hide than in the caverns located just under the city!”

Weird, as soon as Shining Armor finished his sentence, the group found themselves in the caverns. Most likely caused by Balgo’s magic. The whole place was kind of dark, but still fairly lit thanks to the abundance of crystals around. It was quite the big underground system, with minecarts still present in there along with the tracks. Searching for the killer would take some time, but since it’s a Scaler they are looking for. It should be doable since the culprit cannot use magic.

“Well, you two will hunt down the abomination and strike it down. Do not count on me for help, you will be on your own.” announced Balgo as regained his true form.

“What? You brought us all the way here to arrest a serial killer only to ditch us at the last second!?” angrily shouted Twilight Sparkle.

“It is a test, actually. If you want to see Celestia again, you’d better play along with my games.” said the grinning Devil before he leaped out of the caverns, leaving the siblings alone to put an end to the monster’s killing spree.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll give us a C- even if we pull this off perfectly.” grumbled the unicorn.

“Twiley, you’ve got to keep your cool. We won’t be doing this for him, we are doing it for the ponies of Canterlot, remember?” Shining’s words calmed her sister down. As her big brother, he had to keep his composure and reassure her that they’ll succeed no matter what. Though, he was very anxious about the killer’s identity. All they know was that the serial killer was a Scaler, nothing more. With reptiles like Aruba, Kryser and Mugen, it was reasonable to assume that this particular lizard was unique, stronger than the others even.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but they can’t back out.

Making their way through the unstable floor of the cave, they reached the minecarts and decided to use them to move further down, seeing as the Scaler in question was probably hiding in the deeper section of the mine.
The ride was quite bumpy and frightening to them. The tracks looked fragile, it felt as if they could break at any moment. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and they’ve reached the deeper sections safely.

There were large crystals everywhere, practically functioning as mirrors due to their size and refractive capabilities. This made it quite difficult to navigate the area as the siblings would often bump into a crystal thinking there was a path.
Their search was relatively uninteresting, that was until they heard a mare calling out for help in the distance. Getting closer, they saw that this pony was badly injured. One of her legs was gnawed on, leaving her unable to stand up. The despair in her face quickly turned into joy when she spotted the siblings arriving on the scene.

“There’s somepony in there! Quickly, we gotta save her!” said Twilight as she rushed towards the injured mare. She was unable to get any closer however, because Shining Armor was biting on her tail to hold her in place. “Shining, what are you-”

“It’s a trap. It’d be wise to take our time instead of rushing in.” explained the stallion. Twilight looked back at the injured mare and quickly realised that Shining was most likely right.

The area in which the pony was placed in was fairly big unlike the hallway of crystals they had passed through. Plus, they know that this killer devours his victims, so seeing a pony still alive in his hideout is another cause for suspicion.

“I guess you’re right, but look at her leg! She’ll bleed out if we don’t act fast enough.” she pointed out in a worried tone.

“Don’t worry ‘sis. I’m going to make this quick.” Shining examined the area with great care. His gaze ultimately rested upon a strange shadow somewhere on the cavern’s walls. He turned his head towards one of the crystals, calculated the angle of his shot and fired a magic beam at it. The beam hit the crystal and ricocheted directly into the position of the shadow. The resulting explosion casted some light on the shadow, revealing it to be the Scaler they were looking for.

Shining Armor couldn’t get a good look at it since it ran off and hid somewhere else, accompanied by the sound of metal scraping against the rock walls. The stallion had just enough time to see just how different this Scaler was.

“It knows we’re here!” he announced to his little sister.

Twilight immediately rushed to the mare’s assistance with Shining following closely behind. The pony stood up with her functioning legs, eyes tearing at the sight of her saviors.

“Don’t worry, miss! We’ll get you out of here!” exclaimed the purple unicorn, getting closer to the injured pony.

Shining saw something quite startling in the corner of his eyes, it was a log on a rope, with its extremities carved up into a spike swinging down exactly at the position of the mare. The same position that Twilight was getting in.

“Twilight!” Using telekinesis, Shining pulled his sister out of harm’s way, but sadly, he couldn’t do the same to the victim. The log slammed into her, tearing her in half.

A sickening amount of blood flew into their faces, blinding the siblings as they heard the thump of her lifeless body hitting the floor, echoing throughout the cavern. Twilight had a look of pure horror on her face once she got to see the damage while Shining Armor did his best to keep his composure. He couldn’t crack, not right now, not when his sister depended on him. As long as he can keep his cool, she’ll be safe. He wrapped a hoof around her in hopes it would snap her out of this trance.

“Sweet Celestia, no... I-I couldn’t save her. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Twiley. I failed her. It's my fault.”

After he was done mourning the death of the innocent mare, he moved further down the caverns, chasing down after the abomination. The monster who already knew they were coming was indeed prepared for their arrival. They had to proceed with caution, for there may be more traps waiting for them. This beast was intelligent, underestimating it would be a foolish mistake.
Just as he was thinking about it, he felt his hooves touching a trip wire.

“Above you!” shouted his sister. Shining Armor saw a huge boulder falling on him. Thankfully, he too was capable of teleportation, narrowly avoiding a painful death. Twilight ran up to him, looking worried sick. “Shining! Be more careful than that, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“You’re right, we should proceed with caution from now on. There’s probably traps everywhere.”

Metal scrapping could be heard around them. The beast was moving quickly, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. All they could really do was to follow the sounds of the creature in hopes they could finally bring it out of the shadows. Their combined magic should be enough to triumph against it, especially since it doesn’t appear to have any magic as evidenced by its reliance on traps and its physique.

As they chased after the abomination, they narrowly evaded many traps. Spiked fences swinging at them, arrows being shot from the dark, holes that lead to bottomless pits, the monster's imagination made its traps truly unpredictable and hard to avoid. The scraping was now close to them, they’ve nearly caught up to it!

The monster descended from the wall and ran into a claustrophobic corridor, eventually arriving in a fairly spacious room as it stared back at the two of them, taunting them with a mocking smile. Determined to put an end to this beast’s killing spree, Twilight Sparkle rushed forward, navigating the corridor with ease thanks to her smaller size. Just as she got out however, the abomination bit down on a wire, causing massive slabs of stone to fall behind her, effectively blocking any and all exit from the room they were in, simultaneously preventing Shining Armor from assisting her.

“Twiley! Hang on, I’ll find another way!” he shouted from the other side.

Twilight now realised the danger she was in. The abomination was a few meters away from her, staring at her with a now blank, emotionless face. Its entire body was twitching, causing the armor plates to squeak eternally. Out of nowhere, the monster moaned. It was a moan that sounded otherworldly, unnatural, impossible for a living being to make. Then, it spoke in a deep, guttural voice.

“Fight or flight. It's time to choose.” it said as it pointed a finger at her, its face contorting into a smile full of anticipation.
Without wasting any time, Twilight used telekinesis to push the monster away, but it leaped away, digging its claws in the ceiling to hold on. She tried her luck again, but the abomination was far too fast for her, pouncing away into a nearby wall. Then, it lunged at her to which she casted a magical barrier. The creature landed on the shield, cracking it severely before it jumped back, ready to strike again.

Twilight planned on teleporting herself out of harm’s way, but the monster pounced on her barrier again, this time plowing through it and then it grabbed her by the throat. The unicorn tried to struggle as the beast strangled her. She was losing her strength quickly leaving her unable to use her magic. Eventually, she was barely able to remain conscious, her whole body slowly going limp. Her eyes were now struggling to stay open; everything was getting heavier and heavier to her. Now completely at the mercy of the abomination, she was giving in to fear. The fear of being eaten alive by this monstrosity. The fear of never being able to see her friends again. The fear... of abandoning everypony she knew.

“You never knew your true fate, unicorn.” gurgled the creature as it opened its mouth to an impossible length, now big enough to swallow her whole in just one bite. Just before she was about to pass out, she noticed that the armor on this thing was etched into its skin. Odd.

“Get away from her you freak!” Shining’s voice echoed through the cavern. He had found another way in above the previous entrance. He fired a powerful beam of light at the creature’s face, causing it to briefly dropped Twilight. Seeing her brother come to her rescue brought back her will to fight and now being very angry, Twilight focussed all her magic on the armor plate on its chest, pulling it with all her might. For the first time, the abomination began to panic as it saw the chest plate being slowly ripped away. With one final pull, the Element of Magic tore off the plate.

Twilight’s satisfaction quickly turned into shock, and even horror as it heard the monster screaming in pain. It sounded like it was in complete agony as it clutched its bleeding chest. Its abdomen tore itself apart, revealing all its organ and its broken ribcage spilling on the floor. The creature was now screaming words in a language she couldn’t understand, but its voice sounded no longer monstrous. It was deep, but no longer guttural or otherworldly in sound. She strangely enough starting to feel bad for it.

Using a swinging axe trap that the beast had prepared for them, Shining Armor swung it down. The axe went straight into its chest, the impact cutting the monster’s agony short. Right after the impact, black smoke flew out of the creature’s mouth. The axe kept on swinging around as Twilight stared at the whole scene, greatly disturbed by this brutality. Shining descended and rushed to his sister so he could check on her.

“Twiley! Are you ok?”

“Yes... I’m fine.”

The abomination was still alive, clutching the axe that had impaled him. Its breathing was now erratic. It had a look of agony and fear on its face, now shaking immensely. The siblings nearly jumped when the ghost came out of the blue, slowly approaching the monster.

“Rest now. We will finally be able to find peace.” said the ghost on the verge of tears.

The monster slowly looked at the spectral being, the terror on its face slowly fading into a smile of pure joy. “You were at my side all along...” These were the final words that the abomination spoke before he passed away, his expression of joy refusing to leave even as he died.

The ghost started to fade away, but before he would be gone, he turned to face the siblings. “Thank you, for putting an end to the curse. We are free, all thanks to you two.” He smiled happily at the two before finally disappearing.

The two unicorns were quite confused at the scene, but nonetheless felt happy knowing they did the right thing. This celebration was cut short by a familiar voice.

“Seems like poor old Ted has finally been put to rest.” It was Balgo, still in his true form. He looked rather sad, an expression that Twilight had rarely seen. But before she could comment on it, he regained his composure. “The fun’s not over yet, but it will be soon. Time, for one. Last. Game. Best of luck to you, Twilight.”

Act 4 : One Last Game

In the span of a second, the two unicorns found themselves back in Canterlot. It was dark outside; the sky was a dark shade of blue with only the moon to lit it up. Though they swore they could see multiple black dots above the city. It took a while, but Shining caught up to what was going on.

“Twiley... I believe these are changelings in the sky.” he started before raising his voice so that everypony around him could hear his words. “Canterlot is being invaded by changelings!”

Large stomps came from behind and out of the shadows arrived the Dark Lord himself. “Took a while for them to show up.” He walked in front of the two unicorns, throwing his arms up at the sky. “The changelings are here! Time to throw the party!”

Shining wanted to cast the magical barrier that will keep Canterlot safe, but Balgo turned around and flipped him off, simultaneously overriding his spell with his magic. “Ain’t gonna happen. This city is under my rule, and I say I want this war.”

The changelings above began to dive into the streets of Canterlot as balls of flame. The Scalers took their weapon and began to charge at the invaders. Balgo was about to join the fray before he noticed something in the sky. He formed binoculars with his fingers and looked up.

“I see an Alduin. Oh! And I see one alico- no two, two alicorns.” Grinning, he leaped at the nearby changelings in excitement. If Alduin and the Princesses were here, then that would imply that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony as well as the two other Guardians were present too. It was going to be one hell of a battle, and Balgo was going to have the time of his life.

He grabbed one of the insectoids and bit down on its head, tearing it off before eating it. The sounds of the bones crunching under the strength of his jaw was gratifying to him. He then took a hold of another one and broke its spine simply by bending it hard enough. Next, he used the broken changeling’s body as a bat, swinging it at the others gleefully. His massacre was quickly interrupted by a powerful magical beam hitting him in the back of the head, causing the Devil to fall to the ground.

He quickly got back on his feet, spinning around in surprise to see a newcomer.

“I had meticulously planned this invasion for months, and now it’s all thrown down the drain because of you! I guess I’ll just have to take Canterlot by force.”

It was Queen Chrysalis, angry that her plan had been spoiled. Balgo looked at her unimpressed.

“Okay then, fight me. The strongest is who will get to keep the city.”

Watching the scene unfold, Shining leaned in closer to his sister. “Twiley! While he’s distracted with the changeling queen, we should retrieve the Elements of Harmony.”

Twilight now remembered that the Elements were stored in a highly secure room in Canterlot’s castle. It was their one and only chance to take them back and use them on Balgo. “Got it.” she replied.

The two began to run away, which caught the attention of the emperor. “I see... the game has already started.” his mouth contorted into a smirk. “They’ll need that head start.” he said before turning his attention back on the queen.

Now running as fast as they could, the siblings avoided the changelings crashing into the streets of the city as they made their way towards the castle. They couldn’t afford to waste any time fighting the invaders, if they could just get their hooves on the Elements, they would be able to end it all. The changelings that did try to get in their way were met with a brutal retaliation.

They were barely slowed down by the insectoids, and strangely enough, no Scalers paid any attention to them. Some would run past them, completely ignoring their presence while others would throw quick glances their way before chuckling and moving towards the fight. This was starting to weird Twilight out.

“What do they find amusing?”

Shining had no idea, nor a hypothesis. “Frankly, I don’t know. Don’t pay too much attention outside of our objective, Twiley.”
She nodded and kept her eyes on the road ahead. Eventually, they reached the castle’s garden. Just a couple of minutes of running and they would reach the Eleme-

The siblings came to a halt. Somehow, in front of them was Balgo. It seemed impossible considering he was already locked in battle with the queen of the changelings.

“I got someone to take over the fight for me, if you were wondering how.” he started, then he simply pointed at the stair to his left. “Twilight, you go get the Elements of Harmony. Shining, you’ll distract me so she can complete her mission. I know how it goes.” he said in a rather mocking tone.

Twilight wasn’t sure how to get past this monster, so she turned to her brother but noticed a certain look on his face that made her stress spike up. He looked ready to fight Balgo. It would be a battle that can only end one way.

“Shining, you can’t fight him alone! We’ll have to get around him somehow!” she pleaded, but her brother wasn’t going to let up.

“It’s no use, if we fight him both at once, we’ll just perish together. You’ll have to do this alone. I’m sorry, Twiley...”
Twilight kept on staring at her brother in disbelief. No way was she going to let her BBBFF die like this. Before she could protest even further, Balgo spoke up.

“You can’t always rely on your big brother, Twilight. You haven’t been relying on him before, you shouldn’t rely on him now. Go on now; the fate of Equestria lies on your shoulders.”

Faced with uncertainty, Twilight remained there, unable to make a decision. It wasn’t until Shining Armor hugged her that she finally found the strength to move. “Please, be careful Shining.”

He looked at his sister with affection. “Don’t worry, I don’t intend to die today.”

Balgo raised an arm proudly. “That’s the spirit, lad!”

Twilight Sparkle ran up the stairs to her right, making sure not to look behind. She had to remain focussed on retrieving the Elements, no matter what.

“Captain of the Royal Guard. Great protector of Canterlot. Married to an alicorn. My, that’s a mighty impressive lineage; the children have risen to greatness.” started Balgo while moving back and forth. “You won’t be a disappointment; I can already see it.”

Shining stayed silent. After all, his one and only goal was to buy her sister enough time to retrieve the Elements of Harmony. Balgo quickly caught on to it, as judging by his look.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” The Scaler formed a portal on the floor and jumped in it. A large shadow appeared below the stallion and he quickly realised that Balgo was now above him. He dove out of the way just in time to avoid the Devil’s stomp.

Shining Armor casted a fireball from his horn and hurled it at his opponent. To combat this spell, Balgo shot out a powerful stream of water from his hands. It obliterated the fireball and was going straight for the stallion. He formed a magical barrier around him. The stream smashed against the barrier, cracking it but it wasn’t strong enough to break it completely. The most worrying thing for him was that the water completely blocked his sight on Balgo. All he could see was the water hitting against his barrier, until it suddenly stopped. Right as he could finally make out what was outside of his barrier, he saw Balgo inches away from him, staring at him with a large, malicious smile on his face.

Lifting his fist up, the Devil punched the barrier with more than enough power behind it to obliterate it. Shining Armor was launched back by the shockwave the punch had produced. He landed on his hooves just in time to see Balgo clapping his hands together with enough strength to create an even stronger shockwave. The unicorn teleported out of harm’s way, taking a look back to see the shockwave demolishing the ramparts around the castle.

“Nice reflexes, why don’t we take it up a notch?” Balgo formed two large balls with his dark energy, chucking both of them at Shining Armor to which he deflected them both with telekinesis. The balls fell on the ground, now being half buried due to their immense weight. The Scaler leaned forward with anticipation, which caused the stallion to take another look at the attack he had previously deflected.

The balls were glowing brighter, almost as if... they were going to explode. With barely any time to react, Shining leaped forward just as the projectiles exploded. The detonation launched him higher in the air just as Balgo jumped up to reach him. The Scalers entire body was facing away from the stallion, until his head turned 180 degrees, his mouth preparing to fire a destructive beam of dark energy.

“Peek-a-boo!” Balgo fired his beam at his opponent. Just as the attack was about to reach Shining, he created a portal in front of him to teleport the beam right back at the Devil. The impact created another shockwave that knocked both fighters back to the ground.

Shining Armor struggled to get back on his hooves, especially since the explosion was dangerously close to him. Balgo landed on his feet, lots of blood and chunks of flesh dripping from his face. He slowly lifted his head to reveal the damage done by his own attack. The left side of his face was completely torn apart, his bloodied skull now fully visible. He grinned as he looked at the stallion, though he did not appear angry in the slightest.

“Why, that’s very good! Yes, I’m starting to like you, boy!” he said, his voice showing more excitement than before. He took out a large deck of cards from his tuxedo and began flipping through them with expertise. “But, to defeat me; you’ll require far more skill than that.” At blinding speed, he threw the cards one by one at Shining Armor.

The stallion formed another barrier in front of him to block the incoming cards, but every card that struck the shield would simply move off to his rear and stab him in his hind legs. It was too late to do anything about his rear for now, there were too many cards piercing his skin and muscles, leaving him unable to stand.

He collapsed on the floor, panting while Balgo slowly approached him. The Scaler pulled out a handgun from his top hat and pointed it at the stallion. Shining may not know what the weapon in Balgo’s hand was, but he knew it was meant to kill him. The whole world now froze around him as he realised this was where he would meet his end. He lowered his head in acceptance of his fate.

However, Balgo didn’t take the shot, he was still standing over him with the gun in hand but remained motionless. After a while, he lifted his free hand up to the mangled side of his face and began to rub it carefully. He then lowered his hand and looked at the blood on it. A few seconds later, he dropped the gun on the floor and smiled at the stallion. Surprisingly, it wasn’t an arrogant smile, but a smile that showed respect.

“Admirable performance, though I'm afraid I must go after your little sister now. Don’t worry, if she’s as good as you, she’ll be able to win.” Balgo teleported himself away, leaving Shining all by himself, bleeding on the floor alone.

Twilight Sparkle was making good progress, now being in Canterlot’s castle, she just had to reach the chamber in which the Elements of Harmony were stored in. The whole place was dark, only lit up by the moonlight traversing the windows. Suddenly, the corridor in front of her closed in on itself, leaving a wall in the form of a maelstrom blocking her path. A familiar demonic laughter erupted behind her and she spun around to see Balgo on the far end of the corridor, his fists glowing with dark energy.

“You’re going nowhere!” He shouted mockingly before running straight for her, though not at his full speed, it looked more like a jog to the unicorn. Thankfully, to her left was a door that led to another corridor of the castle. She opened the door and slammed it behind herself, though it barely slowed Balgo down as he simply obliterated it by slamming his whole body through it. The Scaler’s eyes were now glowing purple in the dark, with purple smoke coming from his mouth to accompany this evil appearance.

Twilight noticed that she was distancing herself from her pursuer. The Devil noticed it and cackled as he lifted his fist up, now glowing with dark energy. The loud sound of stones sliding off the floors got the unicorn to look forward and she was shocked to see the walls of the castle closing on themselves, now sealing the path. A crack in the wall to the right of the sealed corridor slowly turned into a door leading to who knows where.

Twilight was terribly confused and frightened at what was happening before her very eyes. It looked like Balgo had full control over this entire place. With no other choice, she chose to take the door that had just appeared. On the other side was a large staircase that from the looks of it, was going on forever. Around the stairs was nothing but a black void.
The stomps of Balgo’s feet hurried her to start climbing the infinite staircase. The steps were too small for the Scaler, forcing him to climb them on all fours. He bellowed like an alligator as he was closing the distance. Twilight was slowing down, her legs tiring themselves from all this climbing. She looked back at her pursuer to notice he too was slowing down, but not out of fatigue. He was matching her speed no matter what, his grin widening as he was catching up to his prey.

It became apparent that Balgo was just toying with her. Could she even reach the Elements of Harmony, or would he just kill her once she did just to watch get her hopes up? Balgo was terrifyingly close to the unicorn now, his mouth unhinging to reveal his sharp teeth while his eyes turned completely black. Something inside his throat was glowing brightly in a mixture of blue and green. Twilight swore she could now hear multiple voices whispering to her. The things they whispered varied wildly, but most of them told her to get out while she still could.

One of the voices however, was all but too familiar to her. Celestia’s voice called out to her from Balgo’s gaping mouth, yelling at her to run away. Twilight’s breath became more erratic, her fears growing bigger and bigger.

“Cowardice doesn’t get you far!” The Devil’s voice was extremely deep, accompanied by many other strange and otherworldly sounds. The strong wind that came from it finally sparked some movement in Twilight, now having found the strength to move again. She spun around and noticed something below the staircase, a floating path that led to a door similar to those in the castle. It was a steep drop, but with magic, she could make that jump without any injuries.

Just as Balgo was about to grab her hooves, she leaped off from the stair and used a levitation spell to prevent any damage to her legs. Balgo’s mouth closed, though still remained in an ominous smile as he watched her going through the door.

“She’s doing good... Perhaps, she’ll reach the final stage of the game.” His smile grew wider. “I’m starting to understand why Celestia placed so much faith in her.”

The changelings kept on raining down on Canterlot, which was especially bad for Shining Armor. Immobilised and gravely injured, all it would take to take him down was a small pack of changelings coming his way. His injuries were weighing down his magic.

Multiple changelings crashed around him, pulling themselves out of the small crater they had produced. The stallion had no other choice but to ready himself for battle. The changelings quickly spotted him and charged in unison. His horn started to glow as he clenched his bloodied teeth, ready to take the beating.

A spear suddenly impaled one of the changelings, causing the others to stop their advance. Dozens of spears rained down on them, killing everyone but Shining Armor who was spared from the rain of death. He looked at the massacre in surprise, the trajectory of the spears was all meticulously calculated as evidence by the fact that not a single one landed near him.
“Looks like the big guy spared your life. That’s quite surprising, he rarely does that.”

Shining quickly looked at where the spears came from and saw Aruba, floating above him. The genie slowly descended until he felt like he was close enough to the wounded unicorn. “Let me guess... you’re Shining Armor?”

Shining stared at the Scaler incredulously, then answered. “Y-Yes, that is me.” He looked back at the dead changelings. “Why did you help me?”

“Why?” Aruba whipped out his pipe and took a puff. “Because Balgo respects you enough to let you live. It would be insulting if you were to die mere seconds after he left.”

Shining examined the cards lodged in his skin, the damage they’ve caused was nasty. He was bleeding a lot. “It would be nice if you were to get me some medical attention. I’m bleeding out. Surely you wouldn’t want that to happen?” he said with a smirk.

“Don’t play Mr. Smartass with me. I was going to heal you anyway, just stay still.” Aruba opened his box and out of it shot out a trail of light. The genie weaved the light around his arms before he pointed them at the stallion. The trail left his arms and shot straight at Shining, enveloping his entire body in an instant.

As soon as the light faded from his body, Shining felt his strength returning. He stood up, shaking his hooves just to see if they were fully healed. As soon as he was done, he made a dash towards the castle only to be stopped by the genie.
“Sorry knight in shining armour; you can’t go there. Balgo is currently having a ball if you know what I mean. I must make sure absolutely NO ONE interrupts it or else there will be consequences for the both of us.” explained the genie in a voice that sounded much less patient than before.

“For... the both of us?” Shining asked, intrigued yet feeling somewhat nervous.

“You don’t want to see Balgo angry. I have, and I wish I didn’t.”

Now the corridors were spinning around, gravity was constantly changing and Balgo, was moving rather slowly. Twilight Sparkle struggled to distance herself from her godly pursuer. He raised his hands in the air, his eyes flashed a dark purple. The statues littering the halls began to strike whenever the unicorn would be close to them.

Then, the cord holding the chandeliers on the ceiling would snap and she’d have to dodge the falling objects. Balgo was slowly but surely accelerating, quite the worrying sight since the whole world seemed to shatter behind him. It was abundantly clear to Twilight that she was no longer in Canterlot’s castle, she was in his world now.

She could see something in the distance. Just on the other side of this unusually large hallway was the door leading to the Elements of Harmony. She unconsciously smiled at this relieving sight. Just as she got closer to the door, she felt something strange. A brief look behind her revealed that the whole castle went back to normal, except for the fact that the Devil was still hot on her trails.

However, Twilight remembered that this door in particular was sealed with Celestia’s magic to prevent the Elements from being stolen. There was no way a unicorn could force it open. Nonetheless, she accelerated in the meager hope that she would somehow be able to unlock it.

Oddly enough, now that she was just a few meters away from it, Twilight noticed that the magical locks on the door were busted open, laying on the floor. In fact, the door was heavily damaged, and by the looks of it; it was caused by blunt force. Balgo bellowed as he picked up the pace.

With one swift motion, Twilight flung the door open and finally arrived at the Elements of Harmony. She stopped right in front of them, catching her breath before letting out a proud smile. Her feeling of victory quickly dissipated when she noticed something extremely worrying; the Element of Magic, her Element, was nowhere to be seen. She looked around frantically, until Balgo walked inside, blocking the one and only exit out of there.

“Something’s missing? Yeah, probably. You should have seen it coming, what with the broken padlock and damaged door.”
Twilight spun around to face the tyrant. “You've rigged your game, Balgo! I never had any chance to win from the get go!”
Balgo shook his head in amusement. “No, you DO have a chance of winning. It’s just that the game isn’t quite over yet.” He looked at the ceiling with a smug expression. “You’re quite good at concealing yourself Smithy. Why don’t you come on down and make yourself useful to Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight, surprised, looked upward and saw the Scaler dropping down. He appeared terribly nervous before his master. “Make myself useful to her?”

Balgo nodded methodically. “Yes, it’ll be awfully nice if you could take the Elements of Harmony to their respective owners while Twilight and I go for round 2.”

The unicorn’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t expect Balgo to actually do this. It would only be a detriment to him in the long run, though he didn’t seem to care. Smithy remained idle for a moment, thinking about the situation before finally deciding to do as his master said. He took the Elements of Harmony, but just before he left, he looked at Twilight just to make sure she was fine with it.

“Will you really give them to my friends?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes, I'm... on your side. At least that’s what I hope.” Smithy glanced nervously at Balgo. The latter looked at him with approval.

“Don’t worry about it! I’m not gonna bite you or anything, Smithy. In fact, even after all this is said and done; you can resume your post as my personal bodyguard. After all, isn’t all this just a vacation?”

That last sentence made Twilight’s blood boil. Balgo called this a vacation? Murdering her mentor was just part of a “vacation”? Masquerading as her brother was just part of his vacation? Taking over Canterlot was just for his vacation?

The Devil, quite perceptive as he was, noticed the unicorn’s growing anger. “Oh yeah! That’s the spirit, kid! And let me tell ya; you’re gonna need it, for the next part is where the fun is at.”

Smithy quickly left the scene, leaving the two all alone now. Balgo’s eyes turned black as he began to laugh. His cackles echoing through the entirety of Canterlot. The whole world began to twist and turn for Twilight. Multiple screams of agony erupted from the jaw of the Devil as everything began to fade to black, though the screams were not his.

“Let’s see if you can find the Element of Magic in the darkest place known to all mortals! Come forth to my domain Twilight Sparkle. Come and challenge the old, powerful Balgo in Hell!”

A large portal formed behind the Scaler. Dashing forward, he grabbed Twilight by the throat and pulled her into the portal while laughing menacingly.

Author's Note

Remember when I said that there is only 5 chapters remaining? Well, not exactly; i've cut up most of them in half just so i can post more frequently. I'll try my best to make the chapters shorter, but more abundant.

Act 4 : Balgo's Domain

Darkness. Everywhere around Twilight Sparkle was pure darkness. The floor was solid, though she couldn’t tell what it was made of. The void she was in stretched on for what seemed like infinity. Hesitant, she took her first steps in this strange world. Each step she took echoed in this vast plain of nothingness.

It was quite unnerving, something that was only made worse when additional footsteps accompanied hers. Startled, Twilight spun around to see a group of people slowly shambling towards her, all of different species she had never seen before. They looked just like the zombies that Balgo had summoned in the Everfree Forest. Brown, dried up skin, a skeletal frame and eyes that were a pale yellow. They were walking with their head looking down, not paying any attention to the unicorn.

“There isn’t much to see here, wouldn’t you agree?”

Balgo’s voice echoed throughout the void, nearly making Twilight jump in surprise. The zombies heard his voice too as it would seem. For a moment, they looked very agitated before calming down and resuming their shambling.

“In this world, I am Schrodinger’s cat. I am everywhere, and nowhere all at the same time.”

The unicorn looked curiously at the harmless zombies, wondering why they were even here. Balgo picked up on her curiosity and immediately answered her question before she could even think to ask.

“My world greets the souls of the damned. The souls of those who have spat on the values that my brother cherished. As punishment for their sins, I get to claim their souls instead of Knoxx, and I bring them here, in my domain. In Hell, there is no death for the damned.”

Twilight Sparkle felt a shiver go up her spine. Those weren’t mindless ghouls like those she had seen during Canterlot’s invasion. She trotted up to the souls. Upon closer inspection, she could indeed notice some emotions on their skeletal face.

“Careful not to get too close to the damned, Twilight. You don’t want them to notice you.” his voice sounded menacing this time. It was a genuine warning that she should take seriously. The unicorn quickly backed away from the damned souls.
She took some time to observe the souls shamble away before remembering the very reason why she was even here in the first place.

“Where did you hide the Element of Magic, Balgo?!” she shouted, getting more and more impatient with the Devil’s evil game.

“Hmm, how about this way?” responded Balgo, clearly not listening to her. Light suddenly beamed through an entryway that wasn’t there before. Twilight noticed this new path behind her and was now facing it.

On the other side was some sort of ballroom, with classical music playing, spinning floors but no one in sight. Though hesitant to go through it, she figured that there was not much she could do. After all, she was in Hell. At this point, it would be stupid to believe she could even have the slightest bit of control over what could happen.

Now inside the ballroom, the music got just a little bit louder so she could clearly hear it. The lights in the room began to dim, and the whole place was now filled with spirits of couples, dancing in the room. Nobody was paying any attention to her as always, which was a good thing considering this place was reserved for the biggest of scumbags.

An elegant stallion suddenly appeared before her eyes. The purplish glint in his eyes and the fact that he did not look similar to the souls confirmed his true identity to Twilight immediately.

“Have I ever told you just how much I like classical music? No? Well, I figure now’s a good time to show you.”

Balgo approached her, but Twilight was greatly on edge, backing away from the false stallion.

“Just what kind of trick are you going to pull on me this time?” asked the unicorn in a very aggressive voice.

“Tell me Twilight Sparkle; do you know how to dance?”

Twilight was taken aback by the Devil’s strange question. She quickly glanced over the spirits dancing by themselves before answering him. “N-No, I never learned. Mostly because I’m not interested in it.”

The deity smiled. “For somepony born in the prestigious city of Canterlot, you sure look somewhat detached from all of this. I get it; it took me a while to force myself to be more elegant and civilised in my duties.” He got up on his hind legs and took Twilight’s hooves into his own, bringing her closer to him. “There’s a first time for everything, right?”

Before she could even say anything, Balgo began to spin around slowly, forcing her to keep up with him. Not knowing how to dance like that, Twilight often tripped on herself, nearly falling down but she was always pulled back up before she could hit the ground by the deity.

“Might I suggest you observe how I move my legs and try to copy their movement?”

The unicorn did just as he proposed, though still had her fair share of questions. “What’s the meaning of this? Are you just playing with my hopes?”

Balgo’s amusement quickly left his face, now replace with a serious look. “The spirits in this room will tear you apart with their bare hands should they notice you’re not actually one of them. The only way through the ballroom is by dancing with someone of the opposite gender. Now, the problem was that I didn’t send an ally with you in Hell, so I had to fill the role.”
His answer only made the whole situation more confusing for Twilight. “Why are you helping me now? All this time, you’ve done nothing but hinder me in every way you saw fit. Now you’re going to help me collect the Element of Magic?”

“Twilight... At this point, it should be painfully obvious to you that I don’t fear the Elements of Harmony. Their power is impressive, yes, but I'm so much stronger than that.”

Twilight responded with a look of disbelief.

“I see in you great potential, Twilight. I’ve felt a strange urge to push you further than you’ve ever been pushed before. I am making you stronger all the while I'm having a ball, we’ll both come out victorious in the end. If you succeed in retrieving the Element of Magic; then I will leave Equestria alongside my kin and we’ll never come back to conquer or destroy your world.”
Twilight wasn’t buying what he was promising, he could very well be lying. “You’re lying.”

Balgo simply chuckled. “Believe what you will, but you should know I'm a deity of my word.” He stopped dancing all of the sudden and let go of her hooves. “We’ve passed through.” he noted.

The lavender unicorn looked back in surprise to see that they had indeed went through the entire ballroom rather quickly. She was so caught up in their discussion that she hadn’t even noticed the progress they were making. “Wel-” Balgo was already gone, leaving her on her own yet again. She sighed and continued on her way, wondering what awaited her beyond the ballroom.

The room she was in still had the same aesthetic as the ballroom. Fancy looking and very bright, but most importantly, it felt cozy. A different song was playing in this empty room, mostly coming from her left.

Twilight looked in the direction in which the music was being played. There was a large staircase leading to a room above her, with a window that allowed her to see what was inside, though not much could be distinguished from down there. She climbed up the stairs, arriving at the peculiar room.

The whole place was littered with all sorts of furniture, some looked fairly ordinary, which stood out in a world like this. Sewing machines, painting equipment and more items that wouldn’t necessitate further investigation. On the other hand, there were machines that looked like they had no other goal but to inflict pain, there was even a grinder in there which only made this theory more plausible. This was most likely Balgo’s lair.

The most interesting part of this room to Twilight were the various paintings hung up on the walls. They varied wildly in what was depicted on them. Some paintings showed gruesome methods of inflicting pain, both physically and spiritually. The rest however, presented something much more innocent, adorable even. One of them was a painting of Balgo and a Scaler who’s entire figure commanded respect and kindness. They were both smiling happily and looking as if they were posing for a picture. Others showed the Devil with other Scalers that Twilight had seen, playing golf, admiring the sunrise and watching a spectacle.

“My whole life isn’t dedicated to just conquering worlds and managing Hell you know. I have friends, a brother and an entire race who adores me.” spoke out Balgo. Twilight looked at the painting in which the voice came from. The Devil on the drawing had sprung up to life and was now talking to her.

“Some Scalers found your profound admiration of friendship rather corny, but I know better than to throw out some hasty judgement. I know the importance that such contacts bring in your life, and know just as well how painful it is to lose them.”

Twilight immediately thought of Celestia and grew angry once more at the Scaler. “Didn’t stop you from killing my mentor and making me drag her body around.”

“Heh, at the very least you aren’t responsible for her death. The same cannot be said for me, though I’m not asking for sympathy nor am I looking for comfort.”

The lavender unicorn started to lose her patience with all of this. She just wanted to get this all over with. “Well? Where am I supposed to go next? It’s your world after all, why don’t you take me to where the Element is located? Otherwise, your so called “game” would be impossible to beat.”

Balgo chuckled. “Ho ho, So you believe I’m going to give you a chance to win? Well, you’d be absolutely correct. I don’t like to rig my games to win. Victory is to be earned fairly, or else it won’t bring me any satisfaction.”

The wall behind Twilight Sparkle began to crack open, revealing a new entryway. What was on the other side of that entrance was hard to tell, for there wasn’t much light in there. Yet, the unicorn trotted onward, her frustration having outweighed her fear.

One step through the entryway and she now found herself falling down. Before she could even think to use a levitation spell to break the fall, she landed in shallow water. Standing up, she noticed something about the waters she was in; the liquid that composed this area was blood. Around her, was an ocean of blood. Piles of corpses littered the ocean, barely illuminated by the moon up above in the dark sky containing red stars that shined ominously.

What was the strangest part of this ocean was the corpses that would sometime rise out of the blood while others sunk down. It was as if the floor of this place wasn’t well defined, it could be deep or shallow even.

Now stained with blood, Twilight Sparkle tried her best to not let this disturbing place get the better of her as she sluggishly moved through the thick substance. It was hard not to let her stomach turn itself upside down. The smell of this ocean was nauseating, the bloodied souls roaming around, each at varying stage of decomposition.

“Welcome to the ocean of blood Twilight Sparkle! I once brought Princess Luna in there when she tried to pop in my dreams unannounced.” exclaimed Balgo, now sitting on a pile of corpse. All the corpses around sunk into the blood immediately the moment the Scaler came into view.

Twilight tried to question him further, but suddenly felt the urge to vomit, courtesy of this terrible smell. She held a hoof to her mouth to stop herself just in time. This embarrassing display only served to amuse the Devil.

“I have some good news however; The Element of Magic is here somewhere. And so is Celestia.”

That last sentence got the unicorn’s heart beating nearly twice as fast. She looked back at Balgo with wide eyes. “Ce-Celestia’s here?!”

“Yes, yes she is.” quickly responded the Scaler. “I didn’t say you had to rescue her to win the game, but you’re free to do so if you want to. I must warn you however, this place is very dangerous for a mortal.”

He looked at the horizon and pointed with his finger at something in the distance. Twilight followed his gaze and saw something massive coming out of the blood ocean, though it was thankfully far away from her.

“Not only that, but you’ll also have to worry about the souls in here. You see, they can’t leave Hell since they don’t have a living body to control but... you do. They’ll absolutely try to tear your soul out so they can take control of it and leave Hell. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

Twilight’s fear and disgust were slowly replaced with determination and courage at the thought of finally being able to see her mentor again. She would stop at nothing to save her from the clutches of this tyrant.

“For the moment you are safe from the souls since my very presence scares them away. But watch what happens when I leave.” on these words, Balgo faded away, leaving Twilight alone.

Mere seconds after the Devil was gone, the souls in the ocean resurfaced, each having their pale-yellow eyes set on her. She could feel the desperation and anger coming from these ghouls. Their mouths were wide open, their entire body now looking far more energetic than they ever were. Thankfully, they were slow while Twilight was quick and small compared to most of them.

They weren’t the problem, no. THAT would be the giant monstrosity hidden below the water coming towards her. The distant sound of its splashing getting closer... closer.

Seeing the sea horror closing in on her was quite terrifying but nonetheless, Twilight pushed on, outmanoeuvering the undead in her desperate attempt to flee the beast. This thing was much faster than her, but surely, she could find a way to get it off her tracks.

Bingo! Twilight saw what looked like an old, broken-down castle in the distance. She could definitely reach this place before the monster could catch up. She galloped over the pile of corpses, taking advantage of the souls' lack of mobility.

However, as she was nearing the castle, a hand suddenly grabbed her, coming from under the bloody water. She tripped face first in the blood. As she pulled her head out to get some air, the soul that had grabbed surfaced, crawling towards her, his dried-up hand reaching out for her face. Her stress and fear of her current situation filled her body with adrenaline.
Without thinking, she bucked the soul in the face, multiple time. She kept on going until his face had been completely bashed in for it was only at that point that he finally let go of her leg. She finally got back on her hooves, now realising that the sea creature was getting dangerously close.

Thankfully, the castle was only a few meters away and thus, she fled into the safety of the old building.

“That was quite vicious back there, Twilight. You’re getting good at exerting violence.”

The voice bounced around the castle’s walls, making it impossible to discern where it originated from. Twilight Sparkle was growing weary of the Devil, her fears slowly being replaced with irritation.

Without even responding, she moved further into the old keep, her gaze lying on a nearby staircase that led down. She could feel magic below her, a familiar magic. It was definitely Equestrian in nature. Her heart started beating faster as realisation passes through that it must be Celestia.

“Ooooh. You can feel her magic, can’t you? Let me remind you that rescuing her is the easy part. Getting back the Element of Magic... is a whole other story.”

Twilight descended the long flight of stairs, lured in by a green light at the bottom. She took a small peak down and never felt this happy in her life to see Celestia again.

Finally arriving at the bottom, she ran up to her mentor, screaming her name to get her attention. Princess Celestia lifted her head and was extremely surprised to see her most faithful student in front of her.

“Tw-Twilight? Is that really you?” she said softly as she stood up. Twilight rushed in for a hug, which calmed down the agitated alicorn, now smiling back at ther student.

After a long moment, they finally broke the hug. “Princess Celestia, I have come to get you of here! We’ve got to find the Element of Magic first before we leave!”

Celestia looked down at her hooves, lifting one of them up to reveal that she was chained to the floor and these chains were enhanced with magic. “I can’t exactly leave; Balgo has chained me here with these magical chains. Even my magic can’t break through it. Believe me; I've tried for so days.”

Twilight examined the chains intensely. “We’ve got to find a way to remove them, I'm not leaving without you!”

Celestia’s smile slowly faded away, now replaced with a more serious expression. “Twilight, I know you might not like it, but if you’re unable to free me from these chains; you’ll...” She stopped briefly to regain her composure as sadness was starting to leak through her speech. “You’ll have to leave me behind.”

Twilight looked at her mentor in disbelief. “No, I won’t leave you here. I-I-I'll set you free!” she exclaimed, having raised her voice greatly out of stress. “Well, my first idea is to combine both of our power to break these chains. I know I'm nowhere near as strong as you, but surely my magic combined with yours should damage them.”

Celestia nodded and on her signal, they both fired the strongest blast of magic they could muster. Strong gusts of wind erupted from their attack; the light emitted by their horns blinding the both of them.

After the light had faded and the dust had settled, Twilight watched in horror as the chains barely had a scratch on it. “We, we could try using teleportation magic in that case!”

The lavender unicorn was ready to try, but Princess Celestia had a sad look of resignation on her face. “Twilight... These chains can nullify any and all magic with the sole exception being the type of spell that rely solely on brute force. If we can’t break them together with force, then I'm afraid there’s nothing we can do.”

Her student’s eyes began to tear up. Her lips shaking in denial. “P-p-princess... I don’t know how I can go on without you.”
The alicorn wanted to respond with some words of encouragement, but before she could even utter a single word; a devilish voice spoke first.

“What a sad display. This could make for a great sob story. The student must abandon her teacher.”

Balgo had suddenly appeared inside this dark catacomb that was the alicorn’s prison. Twilight slowly turned her head around to face the Devil, her eyes now filled with rage. She had no more place for fear in her heart. Her hatred for Balgo had surpassed the initial terror she felt when she first encountered him.

“You monster! I won’t let you get away with everything that you’ve done to us!” shouted Twilight, her voice now filled with rage.

Balgo entire face contorted into an expression of pure excitement.

“Yes, YES! For so long have I not met someone who didn’t fear me! It would appear that my efforts are finally being rewarded!” He grabbed his top hat and threw it away, in place he put the Element of Magic on his head. “New rules! To win the game you must spill my blood in this very room. If you can succeed...” His grin grew nearly twice as large. “I’ll free your little princess.”

The wind began to howl. The atmosphere of the room suddenly became much more tense than before. A wall slowly rose from the ground just in front of the two combatants. Both slowly walked put to the wall, staring down at it, feeling the other’s power slowly rising.

Channeling both their energy, Balgo planted his fists in the wall, using dark energy to enhance their power while Twilight fired the most powerful beam she could muster. Balgo screeched in a high pitch tone as the wall shattered completely under the weight of their attacks.

Pushing against the beam, Balgo saw an opening and delivered a powerful kick at the unicorn, a kick strong enough to rend her bones but Twilight saw it coming and narrowly avoided it. Using telekinesis, she flung Balgo at the wall behind her, making sure to push him as hard against it. The Devil had a rather surprised expression as he was crushed under the rubbles.

It was raining now. Twilight realised that she was no longer inside the old castle, she was in a deserted plain. The sky was covered in clouds and Celestia was now on a nearby hill, still chained up and forced to watch the ensuing battle.
“You’re a shock!”

The unicorn focused back on the fight. Balgo was in melee range, he let out a deep breath as his muscles tensed up. Twilight felt a strong attack coming up and summoned a magical shield to protect herself.

The Scaler lifted his fists in a boxing stance and began to punch at the shield at a blinding speed. His punches left behind afterimages that multiplied soon in the dozens, covering the unicorn’s whole vision with his fists. Without skipping a beat, Balgo switched it up to kicks.

Pulling back his left fist for a strong hit, the Devil thrusted it forward, obliterating the shield that was keeping her safe and launching Twilight far away. She was shaken up by the impact, stumbling to get back on her hooves.

The monster was now slowly marching towards her, but the unicorn had an idea. One that he won’t see coming seeing as he was blinded by his own excitement. Feigning fear, Twilight quivered before the approaching Scaler who now looked down on her with disappointment.

“Is that it?”

Twilight’s fake expression of fear turned into a grin. “Not quite.”

Balgo suddenly lost his balance and fell. Then, he felt his leg being chopped up cleanly. His sliced off leg falling just in front of Twilight.

Celestia was at a total loss for words and so was Balgo. His face expressing genuine surprise for the first time since the start of this game. The unicorn had created a portal under one of Balgo’s leg and closed it right when he fell in it.

In one well planned move, she had not only spilled the blood of the Devil, but took out a limb entirely.

“You said I needed to spill your blood?” said Twilight with a smug expression.

Balgo stared at her in silence for a while longer, seeing all the potential in this mortal. Finally, he smiled. Not a grin, but a genuine smile of respect. He bowed his head and tipped the Element of Magic as if it was his top hat.

In less than a second, he grew back his missing leg and knelt before the unicorn. The chains around Celestia faded away, setting the alicorn free.

“I am no sore loser. I recognise that my hubris and lack of discipline led to your victory. As promised, you get Celestia back and the last Element of Harmony.” The crown levitated on its own and placed itself upon Twilight’s head.

The alicorn immediately flew towards her student, landing just to her side. “Twilight! I can’t believe what I've seen.” The unicorn quickly closed the distance and hugged her again, this time tighter than before.

Now being finally out of Hell, Celestia got to witness the ongoing battle raging on between the Scalers and her people. Before she could act, Balgo stepped in, pulling out a war horn from his tuxedo and walked to the nearest elevated position. With one great puff of air, he blew into the horn.

Upon hearing it, every Scaler in Canterlot stopped fighting to look in the direction of their master. After the sound of the horn faded, they pulled out a strange contraption and placed it on their chest. Much to the ponies' surprises, the lizards disappeared in a flash. Soon enough, there were no Scalers remaining in the city, all except for Balgo, Mugen and Smithy.
Descending from his elevated position, the emperor looked back at the unicorn and the alicorn.

“I always follow through with my promises. You have proven your worth to me, and I shall hold you in higher regards from now on, Twilight. Lastly, I promise that I won’t come back to Equestria to either destroy or conquer it. You have my word.”

Celestia wasn’t fully certain however. “Are you going to respect this promise? I don’t find you entirely trustworthy. Your actions now are contradicting what you’ve been trying to accomplish when you first stepped foot into Equestria.”
Balgo shrugged it off without much care. “What can I say? There’s been a change of plan. I believe my empire has grown big enough anyway.”

The Scaler stepped back, his body beginning to glow purple. Soon, his entire frame was covered in dark energy. “Don’t be mistaken Twilight; This won’t be the last time you’ll see me.”

And then he was gone in a flash.

The alicorn looked at the current state of her city and castle in exasperation. Now that the storm has passed, they’ll have to clean up this mess. She sighed deeply as she began to trot forward, with Twilight in tow.

Where to start? Where to start?

Author's Note

Only 4 chapters remaining. I'm not going to lie; I'm growing weary of writing this story. I already have other interesting ideas for future stories, not as ambitious as this story, but much simpler to grasp. I've been meaning to write them for at least a whole month, but was too busy trying to finish this. This does not mean that I'm going to just abandon it without attempting to write the four final chapters.

Yeah, this story HAS too much shit put into it. So many characters, so many plot points going at the same time. I was ~~perhaps~~ definetely being too ambitious here. All of my ideas for sequels are much more focused and simpler in terms of plot, though sound just as interesting as the premise for this one if not more. By the way, i'm still horribly confused as to why The Evil Within has over 200 views while all the other chapters barely go above 30 views...

Act 4 : After the Storm

The war was over, no more Scalers remained in Equestria. The changelings and their queen fled the battle not long after, realising that their assault was a lost cause. Thus, the entire city went silent in an instant. It was a comforting silence, brought by a newfound peace in this kingdom.

There was still two Scalers left however; Smithy and Mugen had not yet teleported away. Instead, they walked up to the elegant princess and her student, both clearly having something to say.

“My oh my! The fun is now over, so it would seem.” exclaimed Mugen enthusiastically, though his smile diminished rather quickly, now replaced with a sad expression. “Fun isn’t infinite I guess... It sucks.”

Smithy stepped forth. “Before we leave, I just wanted to apologise on behalf of my kind, Princess Celestia.”
The alicorn was rather surprised by this apology, but thanked him nonetheless.

“Scalers are not truly evil by nature. Sure, we’re pretty violent but we don’t seek out trouble. Most of us are just following orders from our superiors. And I believe... you should know that evil mostly comes from a lack of knowledge, from ignorance.” continued the young swordsman.

Celestia nodded. “I know it all too well. It’s just the sad reality of war.”

A door opened from thin air behind the two reptiles. Mugen slowly made his way to the door, with Smithy following him soon after.

“Welp, this is probably the last time we’ll see each other. I hope we didn’t mess up your world too much!” exclaimed the extravagant Scaler before passing through the door. The swordsman joined him without a word.
The door closed, leaving Twilight and Celestia all alone amidst the rubbles of Canterlot.

“Well... what now?” asked the unicorn.

The princess sighed once more as she looked at the damage. “This is going to take a while to rebuild.”

“Woohee! We finally won guys!” shouted Pink as he lifted his shovel high up in the air.

“I didn’t get the rematch I sought after.” grumbled Alduin as he bit down on a changeling’s corpse.

Drag crumbled on the floor, looking very worn out. “Finally, I’ll be able to get some peace...”
The dragon pouted in his little corner, disappointed that things didn’t turn out the way he wanted.

“Why does he remind of a spoiled brat?” thought Pink as he watched Alduin.

It was pretty dark in Canterlot since most of the lights have been destroyed during the battle. Tons of dust was being swept around by the strong wind. In its current state, the once majestic city looked especially pitiful. Most of its inhabitants were sheltered in their homes, or at least what was left of them.

Despite the relief brought by the end of the Scaler’s invasion, the citizens were rather depressed to see the sad state of their home.

Amidst the darkness, Pink could see a pair of glowing eyes making its way to him. Upon closer inspection, these eyes belonged to none other than the Merchant.

“Ah stranger! I finally found you!” he exclaimed, waving at the humanoid.

“What? You're still here?” responded Pink out of surprise.

“But of course. I still haven’t delivered on my promise.” The Merchant opened his cloak and pulled out something truly impressive. It was a sniper rifle, but very advanced in technology. Extremely bulky and with a paintjob that commanded nothing but respect, this truly was a mighty weapon that surpassed everything Pink had seen until then. “This is the reward I promised you, stranger. Take it.”

The Guardian took the weapon from the Scaler’s hands and admired the latter’s craft. “My God... This gu-” The Merchant had disappeared, without a sound. Pink looked around in confusion before realising that the reptile was now gone for good, somehow. “How the fuck did he do that?”

“It’s going to take a lot of time to rebuild Canterlot, my faithful student.”

Twilight stared sorrowfully at the ruins of Canterlot. This was her home after all. All this pain and devastation was torturing her inside. “I can see that...” She washed off her pained expression and looked at her mentor with a dutiful look. “I’ll help out with the reconstruction of Canterlot.”

Celestia shook her head in disapproval. “No Twilight. After everything that you’ve done, I’d rather let you get some rest. This is my city after all, you still have plenty to do in Ponyville. Besides, the Guardians will help out in the construction.”

Twilight Sparkle wanted to protest, but ultimately respected her mentor’s decision, feeling a wave of fatigue overcoming her. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m really tired right now.” A thought suddenly sprouted in her mind. “Wait, are my friends there? I mean, my pony friends specifically.”

“Last I heard, they were taking the train back to Ponyville. They said that they would wait for you back at the station in Ponyville. You should join them, Twilight.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking! I’ll make sure to come back soon, I still want to help out just a little.” responded the unicorn with a cheerful smile.

Celestia smiled back. “Of course, that’d be lovely. But don’t let it distract you from your studies, remember?”

“Don’t worry Princess Celestia, I still take my studies seriously!”

Having arrived at the train station, Twilight noticed that there wasn’t a single pony in sight. The sole exception was the conductor that was waiting for her. He waved at her to come in and she crumbled on one of the beds, falling asleep mere seconds after she lied down.

She woke up after a while, being poked at by the conductor. “Ma’am, we’ve arrived. Please step out of the train.”
Twilight’s eyes were still heavy, barely being able to make out the conductor standing inches away from her. “Hmm? Oh yeah, I’m getting off now.”

She walked out of bed and shambled towards the exit.

Finally, she was able to breath the fresh air of Ponyville after this long, draining night. Though it was odd that her friends weren’t there like Celestia had mentioned. She simply shrugged it off, thinking that they simply went to sleep too. It was very late after all so she wouldn’t blame them for getting some rest like her.

She made her way to town, noticing that it was empty. There was an ominous feeling lingering in the air, though she didn’t think much of it. It was pretty late, everypony in town was most likely sleeping. The lights were indeed off at every single house she passed by.

Was it her or did has Ponyville lost most of its vibrant colors? Even stranger than that, the street lights were all broken, further casting the town in darkness. Growing more and more worried by the seconds, Twilight picked up the pace towards her home.

She was stopped however, by a familiar figure just in front of her. “A-Applejack?” the earth pony didn’t respond, nor did it even look like she heard her call. She had her back to Twilight, looking at apparently nothing.

It was indeed very strange for her to be in the middle of Ponyville at night instead of Sweet Apple Acre. Slowly but surely, Twilight approached her friend with much concern in her eyes. “Applejack, what are you-”

Applejack lifted her back hooves and bucked Twilight with all her might, sending the unicorn to the floor. She clutched her bloodied snout, wondering why her friend would even hit her like that. “Applejack?! What was that for?”

The Element of Honesty turned around and Twilight got to see in just how much trouble she was in. Her friend's eyes were black, with small white pupil staring back at her. Her bloody tears were streaming down her face, a face that was expressionless, indifferent to everything around her.

Worst of all, a familiar voice reached out to Twilight. The one voice she dreaded the most, even more than Balgo, for at least the Devil had some honor in him.

“I’m gonna getcha! I. Am. GOD.”

Author's Note

There you go, a short little chapter meant only to bring some sort of closure for the Scaler's invasion. However, as you can clearly see, there's still one last villain to deal with.

Stay tuned to see Twilight confronting a God on the next chapter. And boy, am I having fun writting this chapter.

Act 4 : Confronting a God (Bad Future)

After the big battle for Canterlot, everyone had nearly forgotten about the final loose end, Devil Kong. Now, he was much bigger, almost twice his previous height. His fur had turned a dark purple and his skin, grey. In addition, he had grown a second pair of arms behind his shoulders as well as two spiky appendages. His tie was now torn off, with only a small part remaining. Lastly, his hat was gone but his previous self-inflicted scars did remain.

“You’re going nowhere!” shouted the demon. His voice sounded no longer raspy. Now it was booming with power and confidence.

Twilight backed off from Applejack and Devil Kong, hiding her fears behind a determined, yet angry expression. “Devil Kong! I should have known you were going to come back!”

The beast grinned at the mention of his name. “Devil Kong?” He began to cackle loudly. “I am invincible now! Know me by my godly new name; Star Kong!” With that, Star Kong vanished, leaving Twilight face to face with her corrupted friend.

Sure enough, there were more. Everypony in Ponyville came out of the shade, their eyes all black with small white pupils, their tears having turned into blood. Applejack stepped forth, her indifference quickly turning into unreasonable anger.
“Darn city girl! Your kind ain’t welcome here in Ponyville!”

Twilight was taken aback by the violence in the earth pony’s voice. “But Applejack! It’s me, Twilight Sparkle! Don’t you remember me?”

Applejack’s steps were clear and decisive. “Oh I know who you are. That still ain’t gonna take back what I said to you.”
Twilight began to back away from the approaching mare, clearly feeling a murderous intent coming from her. “Applejack! Snap out of it, De- Star Kong has clearly scrambled your brain to turn you against me. I know this isn’t you!”

“Didn’t you get the memo already? Scurry off from our town, gosh darn it!”

More of Ponyville’s resident joined Applejack in her crusade against Twilight. It was now clear to the lavender unicorn that she was indeed, yet again, all by herself to deal with the demon now made, a God. Stallions, mares, colts and fillies all banded to give her a good wallop. Three of them particularly made her double check.

Diamond Tiara, Filthy Rich and Spoiled Rich were also amongst the mind-controlled crowd. That was impossible, for they were dead. Unless, Star Kong somehow brought their spirit back from the grave to lynch her, which is very in character for the demon. The entire town had surrounded her, leaving no room to escape.

“Lookie here, Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn who hogs away all the fame from me! Me! I deserve to be more popular because I've always been with you on your adventures to save Equestria! I want to be noticed by the Wonderbolts!” That voice belonged no doubts to Rainbow Dash, angrily soaring above Twilight.

“You never have the time to come to my parties and it’s making me unreasonably angry! Why can’t you just cut some time for your friends, Twilight Sparkle!” And that voice was that of Pinkie Pie, bouncing around the crowd in fury.

“You care more about your friendship studies than you do your own friends. I do not like violence but I swear, I will tear your insides out and spill it all over town!” Twilight was quite surprised to hear this much violence in Fluttershy’s voice. Star Kong’s magic had sent all her friends into a blind frenzy.

“Your sense of fashion is quite simply abysmal. You’ve ridiculed my work in front of the whole town alongside these other fashion buffoons. I care much about beauty, but I much prefer to destroy what is ugly both on the inside and out.” Now Rarity was joining on the fun, taking much pleasure in insulting her friend. All her friends had turned on her, which was already kind of bad enough. But to make it worse, they were going to eviscerate her on the spot. Quite the terrifying thought that was running through Twilight’s mind.

Star Kong appeared behind her and laughed at her visible fear. “You always rely on your friends to overcome your enemies. Sadly for you, a God doesn’t need help to smite down his foes.” His eyes flashed red and that signaled his slaves to begin their attack on the lavender unicorn.

Dash swooped in to attack, Applejack pulled out her lasso and Pinkie Pie was now rolling on a boulder, aiming towards Twilight. She teleported out of the way just in time to avoid a brutal beatdown from her friends. No longer surrounded on all sides, Twilight made her daring escape.

“Don’t let her get away folks! Catch her before she escapes from our lovely town of Ponyville!” shouted Applejack as she let go of her lasso, now crushed underneath Pinkie’s boulder.

“Hey! No fun, she’s using her magic to run away!” pointed out Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash braced herself to take off to the skies. “I’ll just gun it then!”

Twilight was making a mad dash towards her home, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe that she could simply outrun Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the two best athletes in all of Ponyville. But what she lacked in sheer physicality, she made up for in her strength of mind. Inside, Twilight could easily hatch a plan to save everypony and stop Star Kong.

All the while, the new God taunted her, being very transparent about his hatred for her. Singing a powerful sounding melody all the while his words expressed nothing but violence. “Die die die die and paint the town red! Break break break break and break all her little bones!”

Suddenly, an entire wheelbarrow flew straight at her sides, hitting the unicorn full force. All of Rarity’s family had banded together to make this precise shot. “Ah! You should probably pay more attention to your surroundings, my dear!”
Twilight got up, her sides now aching but she wasn’t going to slow down. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hot on her trails. Good news, the Golden Oak Library was just a couple of meters away now. But wait! The front door was probably locked, and with everypony in town being against her... It wasn’t unreasonable to assume that Spike wasn’t going to be there to help her.

Much to her surprise, the door did open, but it wasn’t Spike on the other side. Donkey Kong was standing by the library’s entrance. “Still alive? Well come inside, it’s fun inside! Plus, it’ll shelter you from their fury!”

Between choosing to face all of Ponyville or comply with the demon’s game; Twilight knew that she only had the illusion of a choice. She sprinted for her home, and Donkey Kong closed the door and locked it. The unicorn quickly created a force field around her home.

“Now that was close little buddy! Look out the window! These ponies are really looking forward to give you the banana slamma!”

Twilight looked out the window and could see the entire town glaring at her with malice in their eyes. They were now surrounding the entire building, with Dash and Fluttershy roaming around the upper floor’s windows. Now that she was safe and sound, the lavender unicorn wasted no time fumbling through the many books regarding magic in hopes of finding a solution to revert the demon’s magic.

“Uh, don’t you realise that Spike is here?”

Donkey Kong’s words caught her off guard. Twilight spun around in search of Spike. She moved up to her bed where Spike usually slept near to. Her guess was proven correct when the baby dragon popped in from underneath the blanket.

“You’re raising me as a pony, completely ignoring the fact that I’m a dragon! I hate how much I'm being called adorable and what not! I want to be respected and seen as a mighty dragon!”

“No Spike, I'm not trying to force you away from your roots as a dragon!” responded Twilight out of despair. Spike tried to pounce on her, but quickly fell into unconsciousness the moment he heard Donkey Kong’s fingers snap.

Twilight rushed to her apprentice’s aid before he could hit the floor. “Spike!” She turned her attention back to the demon. “What, what did you do to him!” she shouted in fear.

“I made him lose consciousness. My point here is to show you that their fates lie entirely on my fingertips.” The demon’s face slowly morphed back into his normal appearance. Black eyes with two crimson pupils, sharp fangs and the bloody tears. The usual pretty much. “You see, I've thought a lot about how I wanted to kill you. At first, I just wanted to MASSACRE you with my bare hands, but... I figured it would be poetic justice to watch you being torn apart by the very ponies you hold dear to your heart.”

The ponies outside were now banging and hitting the force field with all their might. Though at first it didn’t appear to cause any damage, small cracks began to form, indicating to Twilight that she won’t be safe for long. She quickly returned to her books in hopes she could find something in time. Donkey Kong laughed as he began to transform back into his new form.
“It’s useless and I'll say it again; I am invincible, I can’t be defeated!” Now being in his Star Kong form again, Twilight could feel the intense power emanating from the demon. No doubts had he now surpassed every living creature in Equestria, alicorns and Guardians alike.

The demon’s skin was now glowing with the colors of a rainbow, with small white stars forming all around this new coat. “I can now mimic the effect of a Power Star! Let’s see how you’re going to break through this tough shell!” Star Kong simply moved his hand to the side and that created a shockwave strong enough to send Twilight flying into her bookshelves. This hit caused her force field to weaken. Now, the residents of Ponyville were causing some noticeable damage to it.

Twilight Sparkle spat some blood and got up on her shaking hooves. As she did, she noticed that the effect of the so-called “Power Star” had stopped on the demon. His skin was now normal again.

Outside, Applejack was bucking the force field as hard as she could. The bones in her legs were starting to crack and give in under the relentless beating she was dishing out. “Ugh, how much beating can this gosh darn bubble take?!”
Many of the earth ponies accompanying Applejack suddenly heard something coming from behind and immediately moved out of the way. Confused, the Element of Honesty spun around only to see Pinkie Pie coming full force with her boulder.
“Make way everypony! I’m breaking in!”

“Wuh?!” Applejack dove out of the way just as the boulder crashed into the force field, completely destroying it.

Inside, Twilight noticed the commotion just as Star Kong looked out the window in amusement. “They’re coming to get you, Twilight!”

There was only one way out for the unicorn, and that was the window near her bed. Just as her pursuers were pouring in, she jumped out the window, her hooves shielding her face from the glass shards. Thankfully, she landed at a good distance from the corrupted ponies, giving her a good head start.

Her only option now was to call for help, to go back to Canterlot in hopes of rallying every single person that could fight to stop Star Kong from destroying all of Equestria. She ran as fast as she could, hoping that somehow, she could evade the mob.

Her daring escape came to a stop when Star Kong appeared before her out of the blue, causing her to fall on her flank. He was now grinning and, in his eyes, was only death. “You’re. Too. Slow!” He lifted both his hands up in the air, ready to strike down Twilight and leave the town to finish the job.

Twilight closed in eyes in fright, knowing all too well that there was nothing she could do against a being this powerful. The demon brought his hands down in a blitz, and Twilight heard something big hitting the floor, but strangely, she felt no pain whatsoever.

Hesitant, she opened her eyes and saw Star Kong laying on the ground with a large axe lodged in his chest.
“Yo! What’s up dog!” That voice, Silas was here! The unicorn stood up and looked in disbelief at the Reaper. Even stranger to her was the fact that Trixie was also there with him.

“Tr-Trixie?”

The showpony flipped her cape, trying to look cool. “Yes, it is I, the Great and Powerful Trixie. We’re here to save you!”
Twilight couldn’t believe it; Silas and Trixie were here to save her life. “But why, Silas? Why are you suddenly helping me?”
The undead lifted an arm and his axe flew back into his hand. “Well, you see. I was obligated to murder because of my contract. However, I eventually found out that I could just flip off the contract and get away with it, so I did. Just know that I don’t actually hate you or anything.”

Star Kong levitated back on his feet, looking somewhat unamused. He cracked his knuckles calmly, staring directly at Silas in particular.

Silas looked at the two unicorns, clearly knowing where this was gonna go for him. “Okay, this is the epic moment where I sacrifice myself, except not really since I'm just gonna come back from the dead. Here's the deal; I’m going to distract him for as long as I can while you two just gtfo, hopefully you’ll get far away in time.”

Twilight and Trixie didn’t object at all. They both took off running out of town while the two fighters stared each other down. Silas had a slightly worried look in his eyes while Star Kong was slowly losing his patience.

“What is it you think you’re going to accomplish? You won’t last long against me.”

“Heh, that’s what she said.”

The two unicorns finally made it out of Ponyville just in time to hear a large explosion go off. Tons of bones and chunks of pumpkins flew up in the air. The two looked back in horror as they realised, they clearly weren’t out of the demon’s reach. Silas hadn’t distracted the beast long enough.

“Say goodbye Twilight!” shouted Star Kong as he lifted a group of trees up with telekinesis. Then, he used his magic to chop off the trees into large stakes. With one swift movement of his hands, he launched the stakes at the two escapees.

Both tried to avoid the wave of death flowing at them. Twilight’s skills in magic allowed her to narrowly avoided the stakes thanks to her skills with teleportation and telekinesis magic. Trixie wasn’t so fortunate, one of the projectiles impaled her stomach. She fell to the ground, writhing in pain as blood was dripping from her mouth. Her breathing had turned into wheezing as she struggled to take even a single breath.

Twilight wanted to run away as far as she could from Star Kong, but the look of pure terror on Trixie made her reconsider. She stopped and looked back at the injured unicorn. The beast wasn’t too far away from them, now slowing down to take it’s time pursuing them. It was pointless to run and he was right; she wasn’t going anywhere now.

“You’re mine!”

The lavender unicorn went back and sat by Trixie’s side. “Don’t... let me die alone.” she said weakly, coughing out blood in the middle of her sentence.

“I won’t... I won’t.” replied Twilight, her voice losing any semblance of determination it previously had. Her face had now given into despair, but she tried nonetheless to comfort Trixie in what would soon be, their last moment.

The thundering footsteps became louder and louder until they came to a stop. Both could feel the imposing presence of the demonic God standing behind them. The two rivals closed their eyes in acceptance as Star Kong opened his mouth wide, revealing multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“See you next time.”

Act 4 : Confronting a God (Good Future)

The once sweet town of Ponyville was now completely absent of life. The demon’s slave’s, having completed their mission, were swiftly devoured by the mad God. Nothing truly remained of the townsfolk, except for Twilight’s corpse. From the looks of it, she had died a truly agonising death at the hand of Star Kong. Her cranium was removed by force, pushing her brain out of the remaining flesh holding her head together. Her jaw was cracked open and her eyes, removed. Before the lifeless body of the Element of Magic stood two large beings.

One of them was Knoxx himself. The Light had his usual eye patch covering his right eye and his left arm was covered in bloodied bandages. He was accompanied by his little brother, Balgo.

The Devil looked down at the corpse, angry at the demon’s work. “This just sucks. We left Equestria out of respect for their determination and perseverance in spite of the odds. Brother... it can’t just end like this. This, is somewhat my fault.”

Knoxx knelt before the remains of Twilight, looking quite disappointed at his brother. “Indeed it is. But I won’t let this demon get away with this.” He got back on his feet, and looked at his brother with a rather malicious smile on his face. “I won’t personally intervene, but I'll change the course of history to give this demon retribution at the hands of his victims.”

Balgo’s eye lit up. “Oh fuck yes! You’re thinking of doing this thing again.”

“Yes, I will give them the strongest weapon there is to combat this kind of evil. It’s something Devil Kong won’t see coming at all. I’ll give them; the Power of Hope.”

“And I’ll bring some popcorn, 'cuz I'm going to watch it all happen.”

“You’re going nowhere!” shouted the demon. His voice sounded no longer raspy. Now it was booming with power and confidence.

Twilight backed off from Applejack and Devil Kong, hiding her fears behind a determined, yet angry expression. “Devil Kong! I should have known you were going to come back!”

Twilight was taken aback by the violence in the earth pony’s voice. “But Applejack! It’s me, Twilight Sparkle! Don’t you remember me?”

Applejack’s steps were clear and decisive. “Oh I know who you are. That still ain’t gonna take back what I said to you.”

Twilight began to back away from the approaching mare, clearly feeling a murderous intent coming from her. “Applejack! Snap out of it, De- Star Kong has clearly scrambled your brain to turn you against me. I know this isn’t you!”

“Didn’t you get the memo already? Scurry off from our town, gosh darn it!”

Suddenly, the entire world around Twilight slowed down to a crawl. Everything was frozen in place, not moving. She felt something new in her heart, something she had never felt before in such quantity. Hope, a feeling she had nearly forgotten about since the start of the Scaler’s invasion. Hope was so comforting to her; it was a feeling that she truly needed to express.

Then, there was a voice unlike any she had ever heard before that called out to her. A voice that sounded so kind, welcoming and reassuring. “Hope isn’t for the weak, Twilight. Hope is what makes us strong. It is what we fight for when all else is lost. Give your friends hope, and together, you can overcome this false God.”

Time slowly accelerated back to its normal speed. Everypony in Ponyville was now preparing to gang up on Twilight, but this time, there was something different about her. There was a blue fire in her eyes, eyes that looked hopeful and more determined than ever.

She ran up to Pinkie Pie, who had just jumped off her boulder. When she was finally up close, she hugged her friend as tightly as she could. “Pinkie! You know I really like your parties! I’m sorry if I’m sometimes too busy to come, but I swear I’ll always make up for it!”

Pinkie’s eyes slowly reverted back to normal. Her bloody tears turning into just tears. “Tw-Twilight?” She looked at the unicorn who was still hugging her tightly. “Twilight! Nice seeing ya again! I was really scared when I thought about how I may never see you again, but you’re here! It’s making so happy!”

“You annoying little shit!” Star Kong screamed as he saw one of his puppets break free from his control. “Eviscerate them! Kill them both!”

The four remaining corrupted Elements of Harmony were charging in again, ready to make their next assault their last.
Twilight wasn’t intimidated in the slightest for she had Pinkie Pie on her side now. The pink pony also had that blue fire in her eyes alongside her usual unshakable smile. “All right Pinkie, let’s bring them back to their senses!”

Rainbow Dash swooped in for another bombing, though Twilight was quick enough to react, slowing her down to a crawl with telekinesis. Applejack tried her luck again with her lasso, aiming this time for Pinkie. She chugged it at the pink pony, but she simply hopped away from it rather easily. She happily bounced towards her friend and jumped on her with her hooves outstretched.

“Come on! Give me a big hug!”

Applejack struggled to break free from the hug, trashing around as much as she could but Pinkie wouldn’t let go. “Get you dirty hooves off me you-” All the anger inside the earth pony faded away as her eyes went back to normal. “Huh? What happened?”

“You were mind controlled by a demon into trying to kill Twilight but I saved you thanks to some mysterious power that I know next to nothing about!”

Applejack was flabbergasted at this sudden reveal, especially since she barely remembers what happened ever since she got back to Ponyville. “Ok... I’m still horribly confused but I think that’ll pass.”

As for Twilight, she had finally succeeded in calming down the tomboyish Pegasus. “All right! That’s 2 saved, and only 2 remains!” There was much glee in her voice for it was the first time she could reasonably fight back against the demon on her own terms.

“God damn it! If you can’t do shit against them, then I'll just do it myself!”

In no time at all, Fluttershy and Rarity were brought back from the false God’s mind control.

“Oh dear! I have blood on my face!” screamed Rarity as she touched her face with her hooves.

“I don’t know what overcame me; but I still feel pretty angry Twilight.” noted Fluttershy.

Dark smoke appeared out of nowhere and out of it came Star Kong, looking angrier than ever. “You’re ruining everything! I’m gonna have so much fun tearing your bodies apart!”

The Elements of Harmony gathered up side by side, facing down the approaching monster. He stomped towards them but was stopped by a powerful blue aura surrounding the ponies.

“We’ll never be puppets to a megalomaniac such as yourself! Be gone from Equestria!” shouted Twilight as the aura shot out a powerful blast at the demon.

The blast was powerful enough to push back Star Kong who now held his face with his two normal sized hands. As he pulled them back, he noticed that there was a lot of blood and even chunks of flesh in his palms. Indeed, the blast of blue fire had nearly melted off his entire face.

For the first time in a while, Star Kong felt nervous, no longer in control once again. “Shit! Gotta pull back!” The false God disappeared in a cloud of smoke and flew off somewhere else in town.

Now, there was just the entirety of Ponyville left to save. Thankfully, the Power of Hope has grown stronger now that it was passed along to more ponies. It was a uniting power that grows stronger the more it affects people.

The group split up, each going on to save as many citizens as they could. Slowly but surely, the townsfolk were coming back to their senses. Twilight stopped when she noticed three odd figures amongst the crowd.

“Filthy Rich? Diamond Tiara and, Spoiled Rich?!” Indeed, the entire rich family was here, impossible considering they were dead. Unless, Star Kong somehow brought their spirit back from the grave to lynch her, which is very in character for the demon. Wondering what would happen if she tried to save them, Twilight approached them and bathed them in the warmth of Hope.

Much to her relief, the power did work on them, but not only that, it seemingly brought them back to life as they were physically there now. Filthy Rich and his family looked horribly confused, which made sense considering they were dead for at least more than a week.

“Wai- What? What’s... going on here?” blurted out Filthy Rich as he spun around in all directions, wondering why Ponyville looked so different.

“I don’t have time to explain right now, I’ve got to save Ponyville first!” said Twilight as she ran off to save the rest of town, leaving them in the dark.

“I don’t understand any of this?!”

Soon enough, all of Ponyville’s resident were freed from Star Kong’s spell. He reappeared once more before Twilight, this time his eyes were completely deranged. “You’re not going to see the light of day you bastard!” He stomped towards the unicorn, ready to mangle her but stopped when he noticed everypony in town slowly marching towards him, now enhanced by the Power of Hope.

Surprised at how intimidating this display felt, Star Kong shockingly took a step back, sweat beginning to drip down his face.

“There’s this asshole! I’d like a few words with him!”

Everypony was surprised to hear Silas’s voice as he stormed through the crowd, sprinting straight at Star Kong. Trixie was also there, trying her best to keep up with him. Finally making his way up to the front, the undead pointed a finger rather flamboyantly at the demon with an angry expression.

“I’ve waited so long to finally deliver you an ass kicking personally!”

Trixie bumped into Twilight as she tried to join Silas. The latter looked at her with surprise. “Trixie? What are you doing here?”

Taking on a more confident expression, Trixie posed elegantly in front of her rival. “Isn’t it obvious? The Great and Powerful Trrrixie has come to your aid, alongside a friend of course... Though I still hesitate to call him a friend.”

Star Kong looked at the mob before him with fear, now that Silas and Trixie had joined them; he stood no chance. This power, was far too much for the false God. “No way, I don’t believe this!”

Silas grinned at the demon, feeling strangely more powerful than he ever was. “I believe it.”

The undead punched the beast with enough strength to send him flying into the large boulder Pinkie was rolling around on previously. It crumbled under the impact, leaving Star Kong to struggle to get back up.

After a few humiliating seconds, he was back on his feet, his face twisted into an expression of pure pain. His voice now sounded wimpier, terrified and outraged. “This... this isn’t over!” He limped out of town and turned into a cloud of smoke, heading straight for Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to let him destroy what was left of this majestic city. “Oh no way in Tartarus are we going to let you get away with this!”

Fluttershy flew up next to Dash with a determined expression. “We’re going to make him pay for everything he’s done.”
Twilight took off running immediately. “Follow me! We’ve got to reach Canterlot before he does!” The remaining bearers of the Element of Harmony followed their friend in her quest to put an end to the demon’s reign of terror.

Silas watched them leave, though he wasn’t going to help them at all.

“Are we going to help them?” asked Trixie.

“Nah, I got what I wanted. Star Kong’s a dead man, there’s no point in making this an overkill. I’m heading back home, and you should too.”

Silas took off his head and sunk back in the ground. Trixie watched the undead leaving, now wondering what she was going to do. After all, she had lost her home ever since she encountered Balgo. She sighed, trying to remember where she had left it.

“Oh dear, it’s quite far away from here, isn’t it?”

Author's Note

Now, that leaves only one chapter before I'm finally done with this! I can't wait to write out my new ideas, especially since I've been thinking about them for at least a month as of now. Anyway, if things go well, I should be done by the end of this week... or perhaps earlier.

Act 4 : Retribution For Your Crimes

Taking the train back to Canterlot, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were pretty tensed up seeing as the fate of Equestria rested on their shoulders. Twilight was unable to sit down, instead she was pacing around frantically while her friends looked out the windows in worry.

“Come on, come on! Can’t this train go any faster?!” she shouted as she finally snapped, running off towards the head of the locomotive.

Fluttershy looked at her impatient friend going on to pressure the driver into speeding up. “Normally I would be against screaming at other ponies, but I'm with Twilight on this one; we can’t afford to waste any time.”

Rainbow Dash took a step forth in agreement. “Yeah! I can’t wait to kick that jerk’s flank for what he did to Twilight!”
Pinkie Pie bounced up; her entire body pumped up with a strong fighting spirit. “We’ll teach this meanie not to mess with the wrong pony!”

Then it was Rarity who shared a piece of her mind. “Goodness gracious, I cannot live in a world where such hideous monsters roam around! His sense of fashion is simply atrocious; I'll make sure he sees true beauty before we take him down.”

All of them turned towards Applejack, expecting her to say something. “What? What are you looking at? I’ve got nothing to say.”

“Buzzkill...” muttered Dash under her breath.

The train accelerated under the orders of the Element of Magic; it’ll be just a couple of minutes until they would arrive at Canterlot where they’ll put an end to Star Kong’s evil.
Bane appeared before Twilight once again. “Are you sure you-”

“Shut up!”

The conductor turned around in confusion, wondering if she was shouting at him.

“Keep your eyes on the tracks! We don’t want to crash the train!”

Well, now she was.

Star Kong stood before the broken gates of Canterlot with a malicious smile plastered all over his face. Celestia, Luna, Cadance and all the Guardians were currently inside this one city. All he had to do was to get in, kill them all, and leave before the Elements of Harmony arrives. It was the smartest thing to do in his position; eliminate any and all opposition before they can find out his sole weakness in his current form. He clutched his left pectoral, most specifically the region where his heart was located.

“I’ll kill them before they find out...”

He levitated and flew straight into town, passing by and scaring the life out of everypony that saw him. Canterlot was quite big and the castle sure was far away, but at the speed Star Kong was going, it was only a matter of seconds before he would arrive at his destination, destination where he would finally settle the score with Drag.

He stopped flying once he arrived at the courtyard for, he had spotted his targets. They were all discussing about the repairs, until they noticed the demonic God standing mere feet away from them.

“What is that?” screamed Cadance as she saw something who’s power surpassed anything she had ever seen before in her life.

Luna stared at the creature in terror and confusion, with the former growing stronger once she recognised who was standing before her. “Oh no, he’s gotten bigger.”

“Feel my insurmountable power! I’ll crush you six with my bare hands!”

Drag pulled out his holy great sword and Pink followed suit; taking out his diamond shovel. “Damn, looks like we forgot about Devil Kong.”

Alduin spread out his wings, ready to take to the skies. “You’re not Balgo, but you’ll do as a worthy opponent!”

Celestia, despite remaining calm on the outside, was starting to panic as she got a feel for the demon’s power. It was clear that they stood no chance, even the six of them together, at taking down this new foe. “Be careful everypony! He’s much stronger than us, let’s not be careless.”

“It doesn’t matter how well you fight; you’re all gonna die!”

Finally, the train arrived at Canterlot and as soon as the doors opened; the Main 6 bolted out of there. They ran, and flew, as fast as they could in direction of the castle, the only place that Star Kong could have gone to.

As they blitzed past any and all debris in their way, the group noted that the citizens appeared quite terrified and confused. Especially the unicorns, clearly, they must have felt the demon’s incredible magical power passing by.

“We’ve got to hurry up! Star Kong was here! He must have gotten to Celestia and the others before us!” pressed Twilight Sparkle.

After a long and stressful run, they finally made it to the castle’s courtyard just in time to witness the aftermath of what was a deceptively short battle.

“Sweet Celestia, it can’t be!” screamed Applejack as everypony took in just how bad things were in there.
Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Alduin and Pink have all been greatly injured and were no longer in any condition to fight. Broken bones, large bleeding wounds, you name it. They were messed up pretty badly. Only Drag remained, now bleeding profusely and kneeling down before Star Kong, panting as he was clutching his great sword which was planted in the ground.

“Leave them alone you monster! You want me dead, don’t you? Well come and kill me, I’m here!” shouted Twilight to get the attention of the false God.

He cocked his head back and looked off to the side. “Without all of Ponyville to back you up, you’ll be easier to mutilate. Rest assured; I dug up a grave just for you six.” He then turned his entire body to face the remaining six. He looked much more intimidating now that he was seeing red. He pointed behind him at an unmarked grave with a sinister grin.

Rarity looked at the incoming monster, worried that their power alone might not be enough to stop him. “Twilight? Are you sure we can do it?”

Twilight stared at the demon power walking towards them, but then her gaze focused on Drag, who looked back at her in response. “Girls? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“What exactly do you have in mind?” asked a panicking Dash. A simple gesture at Drag made it clear to the Pegasus about the unicorn’s plan. “I- Oh, I get it now.”

“Just. DIE!” Star Kong unhinged his mouth to reveal an entire new set of arms springing out to get them. The six ponies focused all the Hope in their bodies and redirected it at the injured paladin.

Star Kong took a step back, his arms blocking his face before he realised it wasn’t an attack. His face now expressed sheer confusion as he could no longer feel the immense power hiding within them. He then cackled loudly, not thinking too much about what happened. “Are you giving up already? Some hero you are!”

The beast raised his hand, ready to strike them all down in one swift blow until he felt something grabbing his shoulder.

“This one’s a long time coming, bud.”

Star Kong peeked behind him. “The fuck do you mean?” He froze once he saw Drag back on his hooves, his eyes now glowing a bright blue. “Wait, what?!” The Tauren’s power was unlike anything he had ever felt before, excluding Balgo.

In what looked like a blur to everypony around, Drag punched Star Kong in the face with enough power to distort it, sending the false God flying into a wall. Pulling himself out of the debris, Star Kong healed his face in an instant, now overcome with rage. “Oh no, you fucking don’t!”

Standing up, the demon rushed the paladin with all his might, throwing down series after series of punches, kicks and claw swipes. The Tauren blocked all of his attacks with relative ease. Star Kong grew increasingly frustrated, eventually landing a punch strong enough to break through Drag’s guard. He grinned and followed up with a strong swipe, slashing at his opponent’s cheek.

Losing his balance, Drag turned the tables by using the momentum of Star Kong’s swipe to deliver a kick to the demon’s face. Having destabilised his adversary, the Tauren mustered up all the anger in him to deliver a series of lightning quick jabs right as the demon took on a blocking stance with his arms.

Star Kong could feel his bones cracking under the might of the paladin’s rush. The finishing blow send him back, breaking his left forearm. He grimaced for a moment, before regaining his confidence as his injured arms healed themselves. “Ha! Care to try again little maggot?”

Drag knew that simply brute forcing his way through this fight wasn’t going to end well. Star Kong could simply heal back every damage he received. Forcibly, he had to have a weak point, or a weakness in general. That’s when the Tauren noticed something peculiar, every time the demon healed; the region around his heart would faintly glow with magic similar to those of Equestrians.

“Oh God, I think he may have broken my spine.” Pink’s voice got the attention of both fighters, the humanoid still had some fight in him, albeit not much from the looks of things. Most importantly to the paladin; his friend still had the Merchant’s weapon on him.

“Then let me cook.” Star Kong rushed at the humanoid and threw out a wild haymaker, but Drag got in the way and took the hit instead. The punch knocked them both out of the way, hitting a flight of stairs leading to the castle.

Since they were at a good distance from the monster, Drag told Pink his plan. It was quite simple really; the Tauren would hold down Star Kong so that Pink could take the shot. He needed to hit him in the heart to make it count.

“I see; I’ve used guns before; I can do it.” responded Pink as he clutched the sniper in his hands. The paladin stood up and approached the demon with his fists clenched.

“Enough games, demon. Let’s put an end to this once and for all.”

Star Kong grinned as he curled up all of his hands into fists, letting the veins pop up to show off. “Yes, this one’s a long time coming, bud.”

Everypony watched on, feeling tense regarding the weight of this battle’s outcome. Whoever wins gets to decide the fate of Equestria. With all their Hope stored in Drag, he couldn’t afford to waste it, for this power was only temporary. He needed to finish Star Kong right there and then, and to try not to let him get away again.

Channeling all the righteous fury inside him, Drag roared triumphantly as he sprinted at the demon, shoulder tackling him before he could retaliate. Weaving off to the beast’s side, the Tauren grabbed his head and smashed it into the ground.
Then, he put the monster in a choke hold so he won’t be able to squirm. “Now, Pink!”

Pink had already aimed his weapon at the demon’s heart. Without further ado, he pulled the trigger and massive beam of energy shot out the gun, going straight through Star Kong’s chest and most importantly, through his heart.

Drag jumped out the way just in time to avoid the deadly blast. Right when the shot passed through his opponent, the Guardian powered up his fist with the Light and decked the demon in the face, causing him to tumble and fall on his back.
Right after he hit the ground, Star Kong spat out a heavy amount of black smoke from his jaws. Then, he slowly shrunk back to his normal height, his skin and fur returning back to their usual colors and his additional limbs deteriorated into nothingness.

Devil Kong sluggishly pulled himself out of the dirt, looking at his hands in disbelief. “No way, I... I don’t believe this!” His look snapped towards Drag. His eyes were burning with hatred, and everypony around the two could feel the demon’s murderous intent. “Oh no, you fucking didn’t!”

The demon summoned a pair of gauntlets around his fists and smashed them together, ready to pummel the Tauren. Visibly unimpressed, Drag pointed a finger at his hands with a slight amount of confusion. “You’re going to kill me with these hands?”

“What!? Don’t fuck with me after what you’ve done!” Devil Kong nonetheless, looked at his hands, his expression of rage turning into shock. “It can’t be!” His hands were beaming with light, causing them to explode in a geyser of blood. His face now looked absolutely shocked, frightened and dumbstruck.

Drag slid over to his face, his eyes staring deeply into the demon’s soul. “What’s the matter? You look a little pale.” Elbowing the beast with all his might, the Tauren broke his opponent’s rib cage and knocked his ass to the ground yet again, showing just how big the gap in power was.

However, Devil Kong wasn’t about to give up without a fight. His look of fear had returned to sheer rage as his eyes bled even more. “I’m going to tear your body to bloody pieces!”

Sprinting at the Tauren, Devil Kong rushed in to take a bite out of him but Drag easily dodged the predictable attack. Finally letting all his anger out, the paladin powered up even further and delivered a brutal blow to the beast’s face.
Stumbling and struggling to regain his composure, the demon could do nothing against the second punch flying straight into his jaw. Then, Drag let it all out with a devastating flurry of jabs, all aiming at his adversary’s face.

At first, Devil Kong clenched his teeth and endured the pain, trying to find an opening, but soon enough the barrage of punches overwhelmed him. His face was now twisted in an expression of agony as he finally let out a scream of pain. With each passing seconds, his face became more and more deformed under the brutal weight and strength of Drag’s rapid-fire punches.

Finally choosing to get it over with, Drag delivered the final blow, sending the beast flying straight into the unmarked grave he had dug up earlier.

The grave was too small for the demon, causing his arms and legs to bend upward as his upper and lower body sunk in. “Gah, it’s... it’s too small!” Devil Kong tried to pull himself out, but Drag stomped on his face with his hoof, pushing him further down.

The demon’s bones cracked under the pressure as he was pulled down further and further. His voice was now broken with fear and agony, barely able to form a single sentence. “This... can’t b-b-be happen-ning to m-me!”

“Go back to the shadows, and never return!” With one final push, Drag snapped Devil Kong’s spine and filled his body with holy magic. This caused the monster’s body to finally explode in a massive rain of blood, and it rained for what felt like minutes to everypony around.

“Finally... it’s over for real this time.” muttered Twilight under her breath as she watched this rather macabre spectacle.

The inside of the castle was still in fairly good conditions all things considered. There was more life in it now that repairs have started. But there was something quite different with it now, regarding the windows to be precise.

There were two new motifs present. The first one depicted Twilight returning triumphantly to Canterlot with Princess Celestia while Balgo and the other Scalers were leaving. The second one showed Drag beating Star Kong with the power of Hope.

The Tauren was looking closely at this new change, clearly stuck in his mind as he wasn’t paying attention to anything happening around him. The power that had surged in him during the ultimate showdown was gone for good this time, but a part of it still stayed inside his heart to give him comfort.

“Admiring the new motifs? I must admit they are rather stunning.” Very quickly was he taken out of his thoughts as Celestia approached the pondering paladin.

“Can’t argue with that.” He looked briefly at the alicorn before setting his gaze back on the windows. The princess wondered if he wasn’t feeling well, which would be very understandable regarding the current situation of Canterlot.

“Is something the bother?”

Drag stared at the second window in silence for a while before finally giving a response. “No, actually I feel much better than I did a few days ago.”

Intrigued, Celestia questioned him further. “And why is that?”

“I’ve finally found my place, princess. I’ve made peace with everything that had happened in my life and now; I feel like I can start anew.”

The alicorn smiled after witnessing the Tauren’s feeling of acceptance. He did look much happier now than he did when she first met him. He was no longer easily irritable, no longer fighting amongst his allies and lastly, he was much calmer than before.

“I am happy to hear it, paladin. Like I already said; you and the other Guardians are more than welcome in Equestria. We mean it.”

He was now smiling. Finally deciding to move on, Drag took his eyes away from the window and walked away.

“Going somewhere?” asked Celestia.

“To Ponyville.” He looked over his shoulder at the alicorn. “Everyone’s waiting for me after all.”

“I’m sure they are.”

Author's Note

Well, I did it. It's done.

Moving on, I've got other projects to work on.
Namely, an Equestria Girl fanfic and three sequels for this fic.
I doubt any of them will be longer than this one, but I aim to improve my writting and hopefully not make the same mistakes I made here.