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.