The Apprentice

   I awoke with no recognition of my whereabouts. As I got up to my feet, I looked around. I was inside a huge hallway of some kind.

   I muttered, "Where the hell am I?"

   Over towards the end of that hallway I saw a large throne. I figured it was about one hundred feet away. I deduced I was inside a throne room;  however, I had no clue as to whom that throne belonged to.

     The construction of that room was unlike anything I had ever seen. That whole hallway was made of -what I could only describe at the time- some kind of strange glass.

   I was no longer in the palace, or Canterlot for that matter. I figured it was another one of those dreams again, then a pang of angst jolted up my spine. In every one of those dreams I was never fully aware of being inside one, until then.

"Why now?" I squinted at the floor in thought. "Why this dream?" I figured I had better get my bearings soon, as I did not want anymore underhanded surprises.

   I saw massive pillars towering throughout the hallway on both sides. They were also made out of that glass, only they looked carved, which had my head spinning with questions of how that could have been done.

   I also saw bluish banners with a single interesting heart on them. Again, it looked carved from that peculiar glass as well. One banner decorated each pillar down the hallway.

    Having enough, I bent down to investigate the strange glass. When I touched the glass I felt a warm static charge. I recoiled my hand and my eyes widened in wonder as I realized it was not glass, but pure crystal.

   Glass is not a great conductor of magic. In fact, given its thickness, glass can actually insulate certain types of magic. Crystal however, is a totally different matter. It's not only a near perfect conductor of magic, certain types of crystals resonate magic naturally. That hallway, astonishingly, was completely carved out of pure resonating crystal.

"Incredible. Whomever made this room is extremely advanced in magic."

   After I felt it, I realized it surrounded me. The charge in the air was vitalizing, clean, and mind opening.

   Feet under the crystal floor I could make out dark strips of some kind. The strips networked throughout the entire throne room.

   I squinted at some strange torches that were lighting down the outer wall of that room. The weird part was, they were not lighting with fire or magic. The dark strips under the floor connected to each torch that trailed up from the floor, with thin shining bars.

  "Are those ... light bulbs?" I must have looked like a kid in a candy store. All of it was very fascinating. "Metal networks as wires, magic and technology, who the hell are these guys?" I tried to think, but my mind drew blanks.

  In the corner of my right eye, I saw sunlight beam from the back of the room. When I looked, a massive crystal and iron window stood towards the back of the throne room.

   "Hey, a window! I wonder how high off the ground this room is?" Confident in my chance to find out where I was, I walked briskly towards it.

   Then the whole throne room shook violently, followed by a deafening boom. I lost my balance and fell to the floor. The massive window at the back of the throne room imploded, pelting the hallway in crystal shards and bits of twisted iron.

   "What the hell was that?" I scrambled to my feet, then I ran at full speed down yards of hallway towards the once beautiful window.

   The huge crystal pane had shattered into countless shards that crunched under my shoes with each bound. What iron holdings and frame that remained had warped into a contorted and melded mess. It was as if a bomb shell went off.

   I reached the window and froze in horror at what was outside.

   A massive black cloud blotted the distant sky. Lightening storms arced off its voided mass and it looked as if an inferno was raging inside. I heard a terrible roar echo in the air from the cloud's direction. It was as if the gates of hell itself had opened and the terrors inside were pouring out.

   I looked down to the huge burning city below my feet. When I saw movement, I felt my stomach drop. I heard screams of fear and agony upon the wind that pelted my face harshly.

   My mouth was locked shut, unable to utter even a grunt of fear. Though the wind dried my eyes, they could not close as the nightmare they were taking in froze them open.

   In the distance beyond the cloud, I saw two mass clusters of moving things. One shined silver like metal reflecting light at a far distance. I also made out some blue flags or banners. The other side was coloured blackish gray and looked nothing at all like the reflective cluster.

   I figured both sides were battle lines. I guessed the reflective side was of pony origin; however, I could only guess at what the other side was at the time.

   In the darkening sky, I saw countless dots flying in clusters. I figured they were advancing Pegasus. On the other side, I saw a huge wave of grayish things. The wave was heading right for the Pegasus. Scattered with the Pegasus I saw massive flying creatures.

   The moment I saw huge bolts of magic launch from each one I knew they were dragons. I saw each shot exploded in the air, belting heated blast waves in circular distortions. Huge chunks in the grayish cloud disappeared with each explosion, yet the haze still outnumbered them in waves.

   The ground lines contacted. I saw lines of fire, and arcs of thunder, wisp over from the ponies side and made mini detonations on the other side.

   Closer in the distance, gigantic towers of crystal and steel were spread out over the burning city. Each tower glowed on top as huge spinning crystals swelled with white hot energy. Beams of energy burst out of each tower and hit the cloud in one spot. I heard a deafening roar as huge chunks of dark cloud blew apart with an explosion of heat and electricity.

   The cloud swelled with flame and arced with more thunder as a monstrous face burst from the hellish blackness. Its mouth opened and consumed one of the towers, flashes of lightening flared from inside its black form where the tower stood.

   Bolts of dark energy shot from the cloud at different points, then struck the other towers causing chunks of city to detonate skyward. Secondary explosions burst from where the towers once stood, sending a wave of force heartbeats later that knocked me clean off my feet and sent me flying ten feet back.

   I landed and felt crystal shards and bits of iron grind between the floor and my back. I winced in pain, as I shot up to my feet.

   "Alright, I'm getting the fuck out of here!" I yelled as I ran at full speed towards the huge doors that I hoped lead to an exit.

   The ornately carved doors burst open suddenly.

"Oh shit!"  I skid across the floor with metal and crystal grinding under my shoes. I bolted and hid behind the throne. Fortunately, I was not seen by the two ponies that soon walked by me.

   I quickly moved to the left side of the throne.

   One pony with a dark coat had eyes that glowed blue and he wore silver armour with a red cape that was lined with white fur. It looked very much like a kings cape. He looked like a very powerful unicorn.

   The other pony had  a gray coat, had silver plate armour and -despite my disbelief- he had a mane of solid crystal clusters.

   The dark unicorn shot a glance at where I hid. I ducked to avoid being seen. I could feel the magic surging from his body like a wave of warm static. It was almost over powering.

   "My Emperor?" The other pony looked at the empty spot behind the throne.

"What did you see?"

   I winced, fingers crossed, I did not want to be found.

   An explosion boomed from the hell outside. The pony the other one called Emperor turned his sight to the outside of the broken window.

   "Never mind it, Arcturus." He walked towards the window and Arcturus followed.

"Now, give me a report. Where do we stand?"

   "My Emperor. Prism towers three through seven, along with districts Rigal and Vega, have turned into smoldering craters." He hung his head down slightly. "With two prism brigades followed by nearly twenty thousand citizens, your majesty."

   The Emperor gritted his teeth. "Damn, Rigal and Vega? How in curses did the cloud cover so much distance in such a small time frame?" He looked to Arcturus sternly. "Why could the graphs not track this massive dark force before hand?"

   "My Emperor, the Prismgraphs claim that it just appeared through a sudden warp in the mass spectrum. There was no tracking it until it was too late."

    The Emperor held his head high, then sighed while closing his eyes.

"Then we cannot assume we can hold for much longer. Sound the evacuation Immediately. Pull back our forces to cover the populace as they leave for safety."

   "But Emperor, where will we take them? Dark clouds are attacking the entire Empire on all sides. There is no safe place nearby we can retreat too."

   "No, not nearby, but there is one place." He pointed a hoof out the window. "The far northern keep over the crystal mountains in the green oasis, it is the only safe place left."

  "Yes, of course. Its prism shield should still be operational..." Arcturus put a hoof to his mouth in thought. "We can use the underground rail road to get there with little to no loss of life."

   "Go then, take care of my people old friend."

   Arcturus gave the Emperor a surprised look. "Pardon, majesty, you are not coming?"

   "I am afraid not." He stared out towards the cloud as it loomed over the ruined city, consuming it. "I must stay."

   "But, the people still need their Emperor! Now in all their times of dearest need-"

   "Do not argue with me!" The Emperor raised his tone high.

"The whole of the Crystal Empire holds its weakening life upon yours!"

"The Crystal Empire?! Yes, of course! How dense of me not to see it before. Now why would I dream of them?" I felt the blood trickle down my ravaged back and with it the sting of pain.

   The debris had cut deep into my skin. The pain was pretty intense. The feeling brought me back to an equally painful reality. "I'm hurt, really bad. Then, that means ... I'm not dreaming. Well, great. All aboard the roller coaster of fuck, again."

   I gripped the throne I hid behind harder in exasperation. I was yet again somewhere I did not want to be. It was almost becoming a routine I went through, whenever the forces of fuck desired. So I thought at the time of course.

   The Emperor frowned as the cloud blotted out the sunlight. It was but a few thousand feet from the window. He turned his head sharply to face the gray colt. "Go now! I will buy you the time to save what is left!"

   Arcturus bent his head down and dashed in front of the Emperor as the cloud drew closer.

"I swore to protect you, even if I die a thousand deaths! I cannot leave!"

   "Foolish child!" The Emperor's horn glowed. An aura of energy enveloped Arcturus sending him flying behind him. "For all the power and strength we bred into you prism guard, you are but a pest compared to this evil by yourself!"

   He turned his head towards the prism guard laying on the floor, his eyes glowing blue.

"Please old friend, save what is left. Tell the Four Kingdoms of this threat ... and inform the Librarian."

   "The boy, Sir?" He got up to his hooves. "What could he do that this Empire could not?"

   "The Librarian and his friends are the greatest mages in this world. If there is any hope left, it can be found with them." The dark cloud was nearly feet away from the window. "GO! That is an order from your Emperor! Send the warning, save this world!"

   The armour clad colt bowed his head to his Emperor. "As you wish. I will not fail."

   "And when you meet him, tell him I was wrong." The Emperor eyes shed a single set of tears. "Tell him that my final thoughts were of my friends and my world."

   "Of course ... Sir." Arcturus said weakly as he wept inwardly. His features contorted with stricken sorrow and pain, as he gritted his teeth. "Sir, if I may be outspoken, I must say, you have always been like the father I never had. That you have my love with all a son's being."

   The Emperor closed his eyes, then spoke in a cool and calm tone with a small smile.

"It is a father's duty to protect his only son, even if he should die a thousand deaths. Run my son, with my blessing and a father's love."

   "Give it something to fear, my Emperor." Arcturus turned then bolted towards the doors.

   The stalwart caped unicorn muttered to himself. "I intend too." His eyes and horn glowed an intense aura of blue.

   I whispered as I felt the pain in the air, "Damn, this is getting really serious." I quickly leaped to one of the pillars before the gray colt could see me as he ran for the exit.

   I felt something nudge my shoulder from behind. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I held my mouth with both my hands to prevent any sound from the start. I turned sharply then saw, somehow, Luna was standing right there with me.

   "Hark, Argyle, what is going on?" I put my hand gently over her muzzle to silence her. I shushed her with my index finger over my mouth. Her eyes widened with surprise at my sudden action.

   I whispered to her, "Hold on, Luna. I don't know how you got here, but you have to whisper if you talk."

   She narrowed her eyes at me then shook her head to remove my hand. "Very well."

   I turned then leaned over the side of the pillar, to watch that situation unfold further. Luna quickly recoiled and gasped at the sight of my bloody back in the electric lighting.

   "Argyle! Th-"

   I turned my head with haste, then put my finger over my mouth. I put as much emphasis on a mute "Shush" as I could.

   She huffed, then whispered what she was about to say. "Thou art hurt badly. In thy's own dream no less."

   "Yeah, I know. It hurts like hell. Wait, what do you mean?"

   "Tis not possible to get hurt in thy's own dream state. Not so vividly at the least."

   I looked at Luna in disbelief. "You mean to tell me I'm actually dreaming?"

   "Of course, tis why I'm here. Twas not an easy venture ether. Thy's mind is liken to a shell. The first night thouest slept I tried this very thing. Twas to no avail." She scrunched her nose at me. "Never hath my ability to visit a dream state been denied success. Thou art a most curious kind, Argyle."

"That is not good news. If I am inside a dream I have no control over..." A pang of worry shot up my spine.

   I heard laughter, then I turned to look back at the Emperor. Luna leaned with me to see what was going on.

   She gasped when she saw the pony standing there.

"Nay, it simply cannot be." She whispered, "In all the possible fiends, how canst thee be dreaming of him?"

   I had no idea what she was talking about. I was about to find out however, and it was not going to end well.

   "Well, what do we have here?" I heard coming from the flaming darkness outside the window. "A little lost are we, Emperor?"

   I saw a dark figure loom from the cloud. It formed into a humanlike figure. It wore darkened tattered clothing that slithered and moved on its own. It was like every part of him was alive and fully aware of itself. He smiled at the unflinching unicorn. His teeth were a dark yellowish colour and both rows looked like sharped fangs. His eyes glowed like crimson embers.

   "By the moon, what manner of beast is that?" Luna shuttered. "Never hath I felt such evil."

   "Yeah." I shuttered, with bumps forming on my skin, like a cold breeze had just wisped by, but the air was deathly still.

   That was my first time feeling the presence of black magic. My hair stood up and my skin crawled as its cold sapped the health from the very air. Luna and I were in big trouble.

   He walked around the room. The crystal floor beneath him cracked and darkened with each step. As if the crystal was reacting violently to the horrible magic oozing off his twisted form.

   "Oh, woe is me." He struck an overly dramatic pose, putting his hands over his face, so he could peek through his fingers, while he tilted himself to the side. "How shall I ever forgive myself for utterly obliterating your beautiful Empire?"

   He inhaled deeply then blinked a few times. He put his hands down, then pointed a finger in the air. "Oh, yeah, that's right." He snapped his finger. "I did that on purpose. HA!"

   He fully grinned at the Emperor, who did not share in his sick humor the least bit.

   "Monster." The Emperor said. His eyes coldly trained on the dark humanlike creature before him.

   "What was that?" He cupped a hand over his ear, as if he had a hard time hearing. "Repeat that would you kindly?"

   "Sorry." The Emperor frowned. "I meant abomination." His eyes narrowed with obvious burning hate.

   "Close, but WRONG!" He screamed at the unicorn. "Ha, that is not my name. However..." He narrowed his crimson glowing eyes at the unicorn in return. "You know that. Don't you?" His tone got dark and deep.

   The unicorn said, his eyes unblinking, "He who devours, the God of the Darkness."

   "NO! But, closer." He walked closer to stand feet away from the Emperor. "I am not a God of darkness, darkness would be something. I come from nothingness. Not that you would be able to fully understand that. But hey, at least you can't say I did not try to explain."

   The unicorn walked a few paces to his left. He said while keeping his eyes trained on the dark abomination. "A God of void then."

   The Void God's eyes widened with excitement. "Ding, ding! You guessed right! Look how smart you are." He bent down and started to talk to the unicorn like he was a dog. "Yes, yes you are!"

   "Enough!" The Emperor's eyes flared with blue, as a swirling vortex surrounded him.

"I am not going to play these games with you beast!"

   "Oh?" He stood straight then slowly walked towards the red caped unicorn. His tone darkened with power and deepened with an animal like hunger.

   "Tell me, my little pony. Are you brave, or just stupid? You think you could actually play me for a fool? I wonder if your other pony friends in the "Secret rail road system" could answer that for me?" He viciously grinned. "What do you think?"

   "You dare not touch them!" The Emperor took one step forwards.

"Your fight is with me! Only one of us will leave this room alive!"

   "I will admit, for a dandelion molester, you have magic; but, I could turn you into a spot on the floor in seconds." He crossed his arms. "However, you know this as well. So that means you have confidence in someone other than you. Someone you think has a chance at killing me. Who, the dragons? The griffins?"

  He leaned in to get closer. "The Four Kingdoms, still no?" His eyes widened. "No, only one? You have all your hope in one pony?" He laughed. "That's a riot."

   "You will never know his name. But know that he will burn you and your void!"

   The Void God smirked. "To shroud nihility." He reached toward the roof then closed his dark fist. "To smother the sun. How romantic, how utterly desperate you must be to cling to such a reckless hope." He set his burning gaze to the unicorn in full. "He must be quite something then. Tell me his name."

   "This game is over!" The dark unicorn launched a bolt of thunder at the Void God, catching him off guard it seemed as it struck him in the face with full force. Sparks of light and plasma were burning in the air as the bolt exploded with a mix of kinetic energy and heat.

   The Emperor flashported, as a wave of dark energy shot over where he once stood. It hit one of the massive pillars bursting into a black bubble that disintegrated the crystal's matter to nothing.

   He reappeared then cast a fire spell that washed the window area in a tsunami of heat. The floor began to glow as the spell tore at the area.

    "Luna, now is our chance." I pointed to the doors at my far right. "Let's get the hell out of here."

   "Nay, Argyle. Though I agree, we canst merely about and leave." She frowned. "Other wise, I would hath liberated us long before."

   "We have to try." I started moving pillar to pillar towards the door.

   "Argyle..." Luna sighed, then followed.

   I heard a roar from inside the inferno and assumed it would soon be over, that we did not have much time to escape. I could not have been more wrong.

   When the Emperor let up on the spell and the smoke in the room cleared, there was nothing standing where the burn mark was. The Emperor sighed, then walked towards the throne room's exit.

   "Did he succeed?" Luna looked around, but saw nothing and neither did I, so we continued moving. That was when we heard the laughter.

   "Bahahaha! Bravo, really." The Void God spawned sitting on the throne, while clapping his hands. "I needed that little bit of pain, heightens the senses, you see."

   Luna and I froze. If we ever had a chance at leaving early, it died right then.

   "Fucken, damn it!" I cursed in frustration. "Now what?"

   "We hath no choice, but to watch, and await." Luna backed into the dark most part of the room, and I followed.

   "You are far to valuable to simply erase from this reality. So, tell you what, I have been cooking up a new kind of ... position if you will, that you would fill in nicely. So, what say you?"

    The Emperor's horn glowed blue once again. "Never, I would never hurt my own! Even if my soul fouled for eternity in Tartarus. A plain you can also go too!"

   The dark God chuckled. "Already been and conquered. Rather drab and dull now, after I got through with it." He grinned.

   The Emperor gritted his teeth. Openly showing them in a direct sign of aggression. He commanded through his teeth, "Stop talking."

   Something changed in the Void God that moment. His face frowned then his eyes burned a hotter red. As he flashported in front of the unicorn, the whole throne room darkened and shuttered. "I hate that." He grabbed the pony by the throat in one clean motion and held him feet off the floor.

   The unicorn let off a thunder storm, bolts arced and bounced off crystal in all directions. The Void God laughed, and he held his other hand up. The storm arced into his open palm, as he absorbed the entire spell, feeding his power.

   "Admirable, but miss calculated." The Void God's voice deepened with darkness, and hatred.

"You know what happens now, don't you?" His eyes glowed hotter as he gazed into the unicorns eyes. "I am going to show you your true nature."

   He deeply inhaled the air as if he smelled an aroma.

"The hate inside your heart cries out to me. It begs freedom from the chains of morals, the bondage of consideration. The slavery of love." He grinned then put his hand over the Emperor's face. "I need not soil my hands. I will sit and watch YOU destroy all that you love for me, despite your previous ramblings."

   "Go ahead, he will kill us both before the end." The unicorn started laughing, as he cast a spell on himself. "I will have the last laugh after all you shall soon see, as I no longer possess the knowledge you seek."

   "Hardly a loss." The dark being's hand arced with black bolts of energy that sapped the light from the Emperor. The unicorn let out a horrible cry of pain as all the good in him was being devoured.

   The Void God let his head lie back in what looked like ecstasy, as he began laughing manically.

"Yes! Scream in such wonderful agony. Feed me with your pain then serve me with your hate!"

   The light from the unicorn left, then the dark being let him go. He fell to the floor, then twitched a few times.

   "Rise!" He held his hands up. "Rise! Sombra, once Emperor of the crystal fondlers! Now the King of my Corrupted!"

   The ponies eyes shot open, then he got up to his feet. His once blue eyes glowed a dark green with dark purple edges. His horn, once a brilliant sight, was twisted into a implement of hate.

   "Whom do you serve?" The Void God held his hands behind his back as he walked around the corrupt unicorn.

   "Xerxus, the God of the Void plane." Sombra's eyes stared forward as if in a trance.

   "Correct. And, what is your purpose?"

   "To enthrall your void upon all."

   "This is my favorite part." Xerxus chuckled as his darker side subdued for the time.

"How, pray tell, do you plan on doing that?"

   Sombra turned his head to face Xerxus and grinned. "Violently." He answered in a dark tone.

   "I love that part!" The dark being laughed. "Come, King Sombra. There is still much work yet to be done." He turned to face the exit out of the room.

   As they both walked towards the exit, Xerxus froze in place. "Oh, and both of you can join in at anytime." He tilted his head back so I could see half his face. "I'd hate for you to feel left out, Argyle."

   A cold shock burst up my spine.

" We're so fucked."

   He grinned villainously. His right eye was trained into mine, as I had been observing with half my face exposed from behind a pillar with Luna. Sombra was also staring right at us, with the same smile and that same hunger for death behind his cold eyes.

   Fear burned in my gut, my mind screamed for me to run, but I knew it was all over. Nothing short of God himself could have saved us then.

   "Darkest of nights." Luna swore in disbelief. "Student, we must away!"

   Xerxus turned, then pointed and wagged a finger at me. I was frozen in place, despite Luna calling for me to run. "Not even a hello? Tisk, tisk, that is very rude indeed." Lightening arced down his arm like a freakish Tesla coil. Heat distorted around his arm as he pointed his fist, glowing with electric death, right at Luna and I.

   My muscles finally loosened, as I blurted out by pure instinct, "RUN!"

   I grabbed Luna and pulled her away from our compromised hiding place. She took off with me as we ran at full sprint towards the throne. Heartbeats later, I heard a boom of thunder. A wave of heat enveloped my back with a pulse of intense pressure.

   I was pushed by the pressure wave to the floor with Luna. We skidded on the floor with the combined momentum of running and being knocked down. Small red streaks lined the crystal floor from the wounds on my back opening up on impact.

   "HA! Did you see how far they slid, Sombra?" Xerxus Chuckled.

   "Indeed I did. That hairless one bleeds as well." Sombra smelled the air. "I can smell the iron and fear."

   "We definitely should make this a sport. Like Shuffle board, but with living disks!" Xerxus put a finger to his mouth in thought. "I will call it ...  Gore board." The sick fuck laughed. "We will put glass, nails, and other sharp things on the board, then who's "disk" slides the goriest wins! Brilliant!"

   I got to my feet with Luna. My hands were shaking. My heart was inside my mouth. I tasted metal and a strange burning smell lingered in the air. I looked to where Luna and I once stood. It was a glowing crater of molten crystal. Half of the pillar had melted into glowing heat, and some of it had been plastered to the wall from the kinetic energy.

   "Sweet Jesus." I exhaled. My eyes raced side to side, trying to find a way out of that death trap.

   "Ah, finally we meet." Xerxus walked forwards. "I'm sure you know who I am and thanks to Cherub I know who you are."

   "Away dark one!" Luna stepped in front of me. My fear fogged eyes stared at her. She was trying to protect me.  "Thou wouldst do well not to threaten my student!" Her eyes glowed and her voice boomed.

   "Student? What could you ever teach him? Flower molester." He stood feet away, the magic oozing off him started to burn the air and my skin like a weak acid.

   "A beast like thee could never understand." She waved a hoof at him. "Now, away with thee, or feel my wrath! The princess of the night forewarns thee!"

    Xerxus stared at her, his face blank of expression. "I ate the life out of the last alicorn that stood against me." His eyes burned brighter and the air's sting worsened. "She was also a princess of her time. I'm sure you two have met before. I know your sister has."

   Luna stood her ground but her body language said it all. She was afraid and so was I.

   "Let me claim her, my God. In your honor." Sombra's hungry eyes were trained on Luna like she was a piece of meat in market. "I am dying to stretch my legs, and test my new power."

   "Very well." Xerxus waved his hand in dismissal. "Keep her, rape her, kill her, do as you wish. She is yours, but leave the boy alone."

   "With pleasure, God." He licked his lips, and loomed forward. His horn glowed a sickening greenish black purple. "I wonder, my delicate thing, how sweetly you scream?"

   "Wha-?" Luna took a step back. Her ears bent back and her eyes widened. "Nay, I warned thee to stay back!" Her eyes glowed dark, as NIghtmare moon came out of her shell. "Or décoreth this room in pieces!"

   If we fought, it would be to the death. Luna had more to lose then me, so I walked up and shielded her instead.

"So, this is how I die? If I had to die, I always wanted to die fighting.

   "Step aside." Sombra waved a hoof to the side.

"Oh well, I suppose fighting in your sleep still counts."

   I swallowed my heart back into my chest. My fear turned face and my fist clenched. "No." I muttered

   Sombra gritted his teeth at me. "I am a King, and she is mine. Just who do you think you are boy?"

   "I am human." I told him. "You may not know this, but if there is one thing we humans can do besides love, its kill. We are good at it." Anger welled up and fueled my strength, as I gathered raw energy in my hands. "Especially when we do it for the right reasons."

    "Oh, really?" The crazed unicorn raised an eye brow at my claim. "How good?"

   "Continue to threaten her, and I will show you, freak." I stared him dead in the eye. No matter how intense he gazed back, I put knives into each second.

   "Well." Xerxus suddenly was standing between Sombra and myself. "We seem to have a stand off problem of the Mexican kind." He crossed his arms, then sighed. "How monotonous."

   I turned my gaze to Xerxus.

   "Oh, please no!" He yelled, "Not the death eyes!" He bent down to his knees while cringing.

"Anything but that! It's my - haha- only weakness, bahahaha!"

   "Luna, run." I wanted to buy her some time to get away, even if it were mere seconds.

   "We cannot." She shook her head.

   "Don't be stubborn. Your people need you. I'm the odd man out here as I will only be missed." I pointed a finger at the exit. "Now, go."

   "You don't get it, do you?" Xerxus stood then dusted himself off. "She can't leave. I wont let her. See, this my be your mind, but this is now my dream."

   "What?" I was beginning to get where he was going with that.

   "Two consciousness tied together, one dies the other will follow." He smiled and stared at Luna. "This is why you should respect others privacy." He waged a finger at Luna. "Tut, tut, tut."

   I turned to look at Luna, she nodded her head. If I died, she would with me.

   "Damn." I cursed. "Then I will just need to kill you, and Luna should wake up, safe."

  Xerxus looked at me bleakly, like I had insulted him. "Normally, I would torture you first and laugh, but your presence has begun to make me physically angry. You're right, however, about humans, but I am the hate that fuels such skill. I would tell you to never forget that, sadly, however..."

   Tendrils of pure black magic shot from his back and had mouths gaping with twisted sharpened teeth. They hissed and growled.

   His eyes darkened and his voice boomed. "I'm afraid you are now boring me. Fitting, that this alicorn will die besides the biggest failure of them all. Sadder still, he is too stupid to realize he failed in anything."

   Luna wrapped her wings around me.

   "Luna, what are you-" I tried to get out of her hold, but she insisted.

   "Tis alright." She told me, "Verily, thy's Teacher was unable to employ better. Forgiveness, my Student."

"So much for death in combat." I sighed.

   The God grunted. "Ugh, pathetic sentiments, just die."

   The tendrils roared, then surged forth in a wave of black. My eyes widened, as the magic projected such a horrible feeling it sapped my will to fight. Luna with her wings around me and her head on my shoulder, was humming something with her eyes closed while her horn glowed.

   I felt the cold of the wave's darkness, heart beats from taking us. When a dark figure appeared, in a bent stance. With his arms crossed in front of himself the wave of death impacted some kind of light shield and dissipated.

   He stood up, wearing a dark coat armoured in metal plates. It resembled the trench coats warn during the world wars back on earth. It was modified and had been coloured dark, but it still mostly retained the old look.

   "Zounds!" Luna asked wide eyed, "How is this possible?!"

   "It can't be..." I held my breath, I knew who that was. I had seen him before.

   The look Xerxus had spoke volumes. His eyes were wide. His expression was a mix of confusion, disbelief and anger.

   "You're late." I told the figure.

   "A mage is never late, Argyle. He arrives precisely when he needs to." The figure turned his head to face me. He could not have been a boy over 19. His hair was brown and so were his eyes. The magic he emanated felt warm and gentle, yet powerful and deep, like the difference between a calm lake inside a meadow and a raging tsunami inside a typhoon.

   "I see even in death your platitudes are still dull." Xerxus alternated his eyes to the figure and me. "Librarian."

   "Librarian?" Luna looked as if she was seeing a ghost. Even with all that was going on, when she heard that word her ears twitched. "Tis a lie." She whispered. "Must be."

   "What can I say? I am the result of my time." He moved to the left slowly, his stance defensive, fists glowing with white energy. "Xerxus."

   The dark God pointed at himself. "tit for tat, I am simply the result of denial."

   The Librarian stood near the throne. His eyes were locked into the Void Gods. Both stared with an unflinching gaze, as if they were reading each other like books.

   "I told you it would have no affect, Librarian." Xerxus looked at me. "I suppose you're here for the boy then? I had business with him first, so you will have to wait your turn."

   "Quickly, Argyle." The Librarian said to me, as he pointed to the broken window.

   "I said, wait your turn!" Xerxus pointed his palm at the Librarian. A pulse of energy burst out and raced towards its target. The Librarian backhanded it out of the air. It curved then exploded somewhere down the hallway.

   The God frowned, "Fast as always, despite mortem."

   "Let them go, Xerxus." He pointed at me. "The boy has no value to you and neither does the alicorn."

   "True, I could not care less for that waste of life next to him; however, the boy has much value to me." The God smirked. "You're not going to let me, are you? Very well, let's finish our business first then, Librarian."

   Xerxus clenched his fist next to his face. It surged with arcs of dark energy, raging up the arm and arcing off the fist like a Jacobs latter. His eyes glowed hot red, grinning with vicious intent.

   "Horrible." Luna's eyes were wide, her stance stiff. "Beside me, Argyle."

   We were trapped between the power of two Titans, one the ultimate good, the other the ultimate evil. I knew by simply standing there, any attempt at helpful intervention would only be getting in the way. Luna knew it as well. We had no choice but to watch on, useless.

   Xerxus shot a bolt of energy at the Librarian. With a grunt, he sprinted into the bolt. White energy glowing in his hands, as he split the attack in two by striking it with his palms together. He let his hands free, swinging his arms wide open.

   In a twisting motion he punched the dark being with blinding speed. A boom of impact sounded. I felt the kinetic energy behind the impact, even though I was standing a good fifteen feet away. The Void God launched backwards spinning in a helix, hitting a crystal pillar behind with such force it nearly shattered.

   Xerxus appeared airborne behind the Librarian in a darkened flash. Landing an equally powerful blow to the head while descending, the young mage stumbled, but quickly countered with another brutal blow to the sick creature's abdomen.

   With a seemingly perfect mix of magic and raw natural strength, they engaged in hand to hand combat, punching, countering and parrying, while casting and dodging near point blank spells. Shock waves beat at the air with each blow landed. Spots glowed and puddled in the hallway with each spell missed, or blocked by warding shield.

   The dark God landed a blow that pushed the Librarian off balance. Braking his enemies defense, he landed five more punches with unbelievable speed and power. The boy grunted, as Xerxus grabbed him by the head. He lifted him feet off the ground and smiled.

   His hand glowed for a split second before detonating in the mage's face. The shock wave sent the Librarian flying at such velocity, he hit the throne taking the top part of the solid crystal head board with him. He landed near the back of the throne, unmoving.

   Xerxus rased his hands, palms up, at chest level, with an insane smile on. "Yes! Die, Akai-" The Librarian flashported in front of the dark creature catching him off guard.

   With a swirling ball of white energy in his right hand, he grunted then punched the dark God right in the diaphragm. The ball of white expanded on impact into a blinding flash of light. When the flash cleared, the Librarian's arm stuck through a melon sized hole where the Void God's middle torso used to be.

   "He ranneth an arm through him!" Luna looked on with astonishment.

   Even Sombra, who was standing in the shadows, looked concerned.

   "It's not over yet." I told her. "I would not feel safe until he turns into ash."

   The look of shock on Xerxus worsened, as the mage lifted him off the ground and retrieved his gory arm from the hole. Letting loose bits of pulverized insides and a stream of dark blood. The Librarian grabbed Xerxus by his head with both hands as he fell. Tiny creatures crawled out of the blood pool, and scattered away.

    Luna stomped on a few that crawled her way and yelled, "Repulsive monster, kill it with haste!"

   Xerxus grinned and muttered as blood streamed from his mouth, "Quid pro quo."

   The mage yelled as lightening danced and arced over his arms. I heard a deafening roar of pain, then a huge wave of light and heat engulfed the right side of the throne room.

   The light cleared and the mage was standing alone with his arms extended, electricity buzzing in the air around him. Glowing embers fluttered and ashed while a very thin dark smoke stained the air where Xerxus once was.

   "Now, Argyle. Run to the window!" Luna said nudging me to move.

   I sprinted to the twisted iron frame, with Luna right behind. I could not see anything outside the window, no massive burning city, neither a hellish warzone. Just a blot of black nothing.

   The Librarian walked over towards us. Each step made an auditable crunch and squelch of metal as his armoured boots gritted on the bits of window scattered about. "Quick, you two need to leave here."

   "Did you kill it?" I asked him.

   "No, if anything, that pissed him off." He turned his back to us, as the air began to burn again. "Damn, he is already regenerating."

   "Are you kidding me!?" I said in utter disbelief, "You turned him into a shit stain on the floor!"

   "Tis named a God for a reason, Argyle." Luna looked on with angst. A very unpleasant aura was turning about fifty feet away from the Librarian. As the room was darkening its electric lighting started to flicker.

   "Silence and listen." The mage turned his head to face me. Desperation was clear in his eyes.

"Look to the window. Clear your mind and imagine your bed room at the palace."

  "How can I with all this shit going on?" I could see the crystal floor crack and dark crystal clusters shoot up. "And how do you know about the palace?"

   The librarian turned his head and clenched his fists, as the dark aura was swirling. "No time for that. Behind you is the intrusion point. You need to clear it with your mind in order to escape."

   "But how? That thing said this is his dream!" I pointed at the ink blot outside the window.

   The Librarian shook his head. "Don't be absurd. This is your mind and this is your dream. That window is were Xerxus intruded on your dream, and you must fix it to escape."

   "Of what magic caused this happening?" Luna looked forward very concerned, the room was creaking and groaning, as the swirling mass began to take shape. I heard very angry growls and grunts echoing from it.

   "Probably the dream curse someone put on him. It opened a back door into his mind that any with the knowledge could enter. If I were you, Argyle, I would try to find who that someone is." The Librarian stood straight and walked a few steps towards the dark mass. "You know what to do, now go quickly."

   Luna and I walked briskly to the ruined window.

   "Tis nothing but pitch black." She said, "Thee must will it clear, Argyle."

   I tried to find my calm in the midst of a thousand voices arguing at once in my head. All the stress and chaos surrounding me was a little too much to think clearly.

   "Ugh, I can't think straight." I shrugged, trying my damnedest to think a clear picture.

   "Remember thy's basics, Student." Luna walked closer. "Focus, visualize-"

   I heard a roar from behind. I turned as did Luna. The mass had burst into the inner part of the room. The Librarian had his arms sprayed out, his hands glowing white. A shield blocked the whole side of the room, containing the explosion of dark magic.

   "What's the hold up?!" He yelled, "You are out of time!"

"I concur!" Boomed from the mass of dark. Red eyes burned in the darkness suddenly, as it formed into a humanlike form again, only that time his body was twisted and the air distorted and bent around him. It reminded me of the distortion affect around a singularity.

   He lumbered forwards, the room started to reform on his side. "The millenniums have worn on you, Librarian. I remember that hurting more."

   I saw creatures and twisted forms spawn from the darker corners. Red eyes opened and stared all over his side of the room. Including the ones that opened on Xerxus's body. It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen. "You cannot kill me, I. Am. Eternal. You could flay me to oblivion, and I would just return with oblivion as my slave."

   The Librarian opened his coat and grabbed two scrolls from inside. He mumbled something.

   "You really must want them to live, if you're doing that." Xerxus lightly laughed. His side of the room laughed with him.

   "You sure you want to really fight?" He arched his eye brow. "You'd lose."

   Xerxus grunted. "Oh, so you have held back for all these millennia? I find that far fetched."

   "It does not have to end like this. You know there is another way."

   "Curious, what I wonder?" He put a finger on his chin in thought.

   "I will give you one last chance, leave this world alone and return to yours. That is the only way this will end without obliteration."

   "Oh, this again? My answer has not changed. This will only end when my world is upon yours." The God gave the mage a cold glare.

    "Very well. You asked for it." The librarian said with a frown, "Bend and break."

   The locks on the scrolls burned off into ash with a flicker. The scrolls opened and runes on the inside glowed red, and ignited the scrolls. The paper burned and the runes were left floating. He grabbed his coat and let it fall to the ground, showing his well toned bare upper torso.

   The runes arced and danced around the mage. Each one etched into his bare skin, and cooled off to its natural dark ink colour. His body was covered in runes, and the air around him stirred. His magic changed. Its power was to a point that I was numb towards it.

   Luna just looked on speechless.

   "You took everything from me." The Librarian told Xerxus. "You took my friends from me, my home, and yet still you take!"

   "I will do more than that. You never did understand the magnitude of my plan." Xerxus said with a grin.

   "Now, I will take all that you enjoy." The air around the Librarian lit up, and swirled like a tornado of energy.

   "Finally, show me your fury, Akaiem!" The dark being held his palms up.

    "Why are you just standing there?!" Akaiem yelled back at us. "I said get a goddamn move on!"

   "Sombra." Xerxus smiled, "Would you kindly, see them to the door?"

  The Librarian's eyes glowed white and flaming plasma flowed in tears from them. "Heads up!" He cast a bolt of lightening at Xerxus, while he was distracted. It hit him square in the nose.

  Xerxus recovered, then yelled, "Cheap shot!"  Both titans charged each other, and fought in tidal waves of magic and feats of strength.

   We turned to face the window, when Sombra flashported in front of us, blocking our path.

   "Where, does my delicate thing, think it is going?" He laughed. "You really did not think it that easy, did you?"

   "Get out of the way psychopath!" I waved my hand to the side.

   "Beast, I hath had enough of thee!" Luna's horn charged, then a beam of energy shot towards Sombra.

    He nearly dodged it, but his left cheek caught the brunt of the spell. The whole left side of his face tore off, revealing his jaw bone and bare facial muscles.

   Luna snorted, "Thy art faster than I thought."

   Sombra laughed, as his cheek started to heal. "One of my many new strengths." The missing flesh molded anew over the wound. "Besides the speed."

"This is not going to be easy." I told myself.

   He shot a bolt at Luna, she dodged it. A flash lit up to my right, Sombra's horn glowed, and a thunder bolt burst forth. It caught Luna off guard. It all happened so fast. Luna quickly cast a shield, as it hit her in the side, bursting into a bloom of heat and sparks. She grunted, while her hooves skid on the floor, as she was pushed from the force of the hit.

   She told me, "Stayeth back, Student." Luna returned the attack, running forwards, horn charging. Sombra flashed, then was gone. Luna froze, then waited. She flashported, heartbeats before Sombra appeared to my far left. Luna was behind him. A bolt of energy flashed from her horn, and hit the crazed unicorn, sending him flying while yelling in pain.

   He disappeared, then flashed above Luna, kicking her horn in full force as he fell. She screamed, then stumbled as if she was knocked dizzy. He hit her with a burst of raw force from his horn. She flew backwards spinning in the air. Luna landed hard on the cold crystal floor, unmoving.

   "LUNA!" I yelled in shock.

   Sombra looked at me. "Do you know boy, how sensitive a ponies horn is? A simple kick to that sweet spot would send a crippling pain unlike anything one could think possible."

   "You..." I choked, so many emotions were stirring inside, I did not know what to feel. Hate, shock, fear, take your pick, it was in there.

   "A pain this child can now attest." He looked at Luna's direction.

"Argyle..." I heard to my left. Luna laying on the floor, her eyes barely open, choked out, "Save thyself, thy's -ugh- teacher commands it."

   "Don't worry my toy, I will get back to you in do time." Sombra laughed. "In the meantime, I wonder, Human, where your sweet spot is?" His horn glowed a sick dark green.

"Home." I thought, "Take me home, I don't want to be here anymore. I don't..." My hands shook, my head was fogged. I fell to my knees, as my stomach dropped.

    As Sombra loomed closer, he licked his lips, "Let's have an adventure, boy."

   Something inside snapped. My mind cleared, my resolve found. My eyes tunneled on the one thing I wanted in life at that moment. Absolution. I muttered, "No."

  I repeated louder, as I got to my feet. "No."

   "Your King gave no order to rise." He shot a bolt at me.

   "No." I said again, as the bolt hit something invisible in front of me. It could not penetrate and just exploded in sparks. I slowly stepped forwards. My eyes trained in beams on the evil creature before me, as an obstacle to overcome, to destroy.

   "What?!" Sombra looked shocked, and confused. He let more bolts fly. Each one hit without any success.

    I repeated over again every other step I took, "No." Bolts of energy deflected and burst off somekind of shield protecting me.

   The corrupt King yelled, "Burn then!" He let off a tide of fire, that consumed the air around me.

   "Argyle!" I heard yelling to my left, while I walked through the flames as they parted opening a pathway.

   The flames cleared, the ground around me glowed, with a cold path beneath my feet. The dark unicorn looked like he was seeing a ghost, "Impossible! What are you?!"

   My eyes were trained on the unicorn, unblinking. I said in a cold tone, "I'm Human."

   "Liar!" He built up more power in his horn.

   I flashported under him, my hand on his chest. All I could visualize was red. I whispered to him, "Die."

   I forced everything into my hand. He grunted in shock as I let go, and in a flash I saw blood, organs, and bone blow out of his back side like a blunderbuss of gore. It sprayed across the other half of the hallway in a splatter of red paste.

   "I told you." I said to his gutted corpse. He fell to the floor with a wet plop noise. His legs flailed wildly and twitched. His bewildered green glowing eyes looked at me, then twitched and rolled into the back of his head, as his body stiffened and died.

   His body flickered, like he was burning from the inside out. The embers burned into a pile in seconds. The ashes took to the air like a breeze carried them, yet the air was still. The ash cloud disappeared into thin air.

   Luna was on her hooves. She looked at me with a distraught expression. "Argyle..."

   "Later." I said, while I walked to the window. Blood was splattered in streaks across my face, I tasted the iron.

   "Hark, tis clear!" Luna pointed a hoof at the window. Somehow, it was no longer a ink blot. It showed my room. I was sleeping and Luna was standing feet to my bed's right side, with her eyes closed.

   I noticed Luna's head turned. I looked behind me. I saw the mage fighting the dark God. Two sides of pure magic melded and arced. Words could hardly do that sight justice.

   Luna yelled at me, "Quickly, we must away!" A wave of force raced at us. The Librarian appeared with a flash, and a shield formed around Luna and I. The Librarian stood with a swirling pool of magic under his feet. Half of the runes on his body where gone. He was panting, but steadily.

   "Argyle." He said, "Listen close. I can only give this advice. Follow your heart, its secrets will guide you. I wish I could say more, but no time."

   "I was under the impression that I would lose, yet here I stand undaunted." Xerxus loomed forward. The hideous room behind him crept along with him. The room chuckled  and whispered to itself in a thousand voices, like it was alive.

   The mage told the dark creature, "Attrition."

   The dark God held his fist up. The hell behind him went dead silent. "You cannot ware an unstoppable force." He crossed his arms. The eyes on them tilted to look at the mage.

   "Like you said, flay you and you will return. Well, I will always be the one that flays you again." Akaiem smirked.

   "Then, let me return the favor." The God punched at the air sending the whole other side of the room towards us. It swarmed and melded, laughing manically while parts snarled and yelled. It sounded like pure madness.

   "Sorry guys, but you really need to go." The Librarian smiled at us, then pointed his palm in our direction. "See you soon."

   Luna and I were blown back clean off our feet into the window.

   I felt a solace, as if I had lifted a great burden from my mind. I blacked out, as I fell into the window.

                                                                       ***

   My lungs filled with air as I gasped, while shooting up from my bed. I saw Luna to my right. She had her eyes open and was staring at me.

   "Well done." She said.

"We made it." I sighed, while I rested my head on my palm.

   Luna asked me, "Can thee rise?"

   "I think so." I got to my feet. I felt fine, in fact, I felt great.

   Luna looked to my bed, and her eyes widened. I turned to see what she was. My bed's sheets had streaks of blood on the cover I lied on. "Turn around." She told me, "I must look upon thy's back."

   I blinked, then lifted my shirt. She inhaled deeply when she saw my back. "As I thought."

   "Don't tell me..." I reached to touch my back, then recoiled in pain, as I felt raw open cuts where the crystal shards had cut in my dream. "Well, that's not good." I shook my head. "This is not the matrix, how the hell?"

   Luna said, cutting my train of thought, "Sit, I shall healeth thee."

   I was about to object, but open cuts were prone to nasty infections, so I nodded. I sat on my stool near my writing desk. Her horn glowed and a wave of tingling warmth washed my back. It felt rather nice.

   "I should get cut more often." I joked.

   "I would adviseth against that." She chuckled. "Next Time, I will includeth a bill."

   I laughed. Minutes passed, and Luna gave the okay to rise. I put my shirt back on.

   "Listen, Student, we must talk." She looked at me uneasily.

   "What about?" I tilted my head to the side.

   Luna's expression turned serious, staring me dead in the eye. "You knoweth very well."

   I exhaled, then nodded my head. "Alright."

   Perhaps, it was just time. Perhaps, the universe just has a way of exerting things in cycles. Regardless, I knew I could no longer hide the demons in my closet, especially from Luna.

   I sat down on the stool, with my arms crossed. "Ask away."

   "First, the dreams, how many hath thee gone through?"

   I stared at her for a few seconds. I was not sure if she was confirming what she knew, or if Celestia told her anything. "Three of that kind I think, but mostly I dreamed about something I could not stop."

   She sat down. "Explain."

   I took a breath in. "It was different every night. Once I ran, but woke up before it caught me. Then I tried to fight it, but woke up before it killed me. Then one night, I had friends that helped me, but it killed them and I woke up while it laughed.

   "Hmmm, go on." Luna studied my every word.

   "Another night, I tried to talk to it, surprisingly it talked back. However, I asked it what it wanted and it just opened its mouth. All I could see was twisted teeth, and I heard this noiseless screech, like a white noise. I felt it beat on my head. I felt it tear at my ears. I screamed, but I could not hear that ether. I woke up, while it smiled at me." I let my head fall into my palms, while my elbows rested on my knees.

   "Yes, black magic indeed." Luna closed her eyes in thought.

   "So, your sister not tell you about this?" I assumed, since it seemed secrets were becoming a trend for Celestia.

   "What?" Her eyes shot open. She stared right at me. "What does thee mean?"

   I rested my chin on the backs of my folded hands. "Twilight sent letters to her, after I told Twilight about my dreams. Everything I just told you, Celestia already knows."

   Luna scrunched her nose in confusion. "Nay, that has little sense. Tia is not like that."

   "Are you sure?" I muttered to her.

   "Of course." She got up. "I think I knoweth my elder sister."

   "Like you knew how I was coming to the palace?" I raised an eye brow.

   "Well..." Luna looked side to side, obviously looking for an answer.

   "Wait." I held my hand up. "She didn't even tell you that?"

   "My sister is no liar." Luna waved a hoof to the side.

   "Obviously, this begs to differ." I had my hand to my mouth in deep thought.

   The dark princess narrowed her eyes at me. "Takest care in thy's next choice of words."

   I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, Luna. You have to see how strange all this seems. Even in your state of denial, Celestia is hiding things from you."

   That seemed to hit a nerve in Luna. Her eyes started to burn with frustration.

"My sister is not capable of being so. She is sweet of nature, and-"

   "I'm sure she said the same thing about you, before Nightmare Moon nearly destroyed everything." I cut off her detailed attempts, while I leaned forward.

   Luna's features turned angry, as she raised her tone. "Do not speakest of what thee hath no understanding of! Thou knowest nothing of me!"

   "And you know nothing of me!" I got up from the stool. "I also have a little sister back home who needs me, but you didn't think about that, did you?"

   I suppose the tensions from the dream was weighing on our minds. Our temperament was so thin, it seemed like we would just explode in each others faces, but I was not repeating that same mistake.

   "Then why did thee accept?" Luna pointed a hoof at me. "My sister was not twisting thy's arm."

   "That's complicated." I crossed my arms defensively.

   "Tryest me." She frowned at me.

   "There is this, girl." I paused to gather my thoughts, and think about how I should put it.

   "Girl?" Luna put a hoof to her chin in thought. "No females of thy's kind live in this land, only pony..." She paused, then shot a look of disgust at me. "Argyle, that is foul!"

   "Huh?" I looked at her confused for a second. I was thinking of how to explain the evil girl that brought me to Equestria to her, but she had another idea of what I meant. "What?!" I waved both my hands quickly in dismissal. "Oh no, you got it wrong. It's a little girl, you see."

   I saw her expression turn from disgusted to horrified.

   I stomped my foot hard in frustration. "Ugh, no! How could you even? Whatever, screw tact. It's this dark creature that manifested itself as a little girl in my world! That's how I got here!"

   She blinked a few times, then asked me, "Wait, a creature of darkness ported thee here?"

   I sighed in relief, "Yes. You see, she brought me here, and she has been hounding me ever since. She claims that some kind of darkness will devour the sun and the moon, and she will bring it."

   Luna's eyes widened, and she trotted very close to me, with a look of desperation in her eyes. "What?! Thee certain of this?"

   I slowly nodded my head yes. "She knows what I'm talking about?"

   A sudden expression of deep thought riddled her features. She looked to the floor, her eyes swiping side to side. "Then, tis true. He really was the one Starswirl aforementioned."

   "Who?" I leaned forwards, I was excited that I might finally get some answers. It would not last long.

   "Later, Student. For now, I must think of a plan." Luna walked towards the door.

"Damn it!" I face palmed. "Why do I even get my hopes up anymore? Wait, plan?" The picture of Twilight putting a note in my pocket flashed in my mind.

   "Luna wait." I ran over to my dresser. "I might just have a plan." Luna walked behind me, and peeked over my shoulder. I was looking through my coat pocket where Twilight had put it, and, sure enough, there it was.

   Luna asked, "Pray tell, for what art thy holding, Argyle?"

   "It is a note Twilight gave me after the meeting yesterday. She was rather upset when she gave it to me." I opened it, and read the following hastefully written words.

"Argyle, when you read this, I would have let the others know what is going on. So, this is to bring you up to speed.

Something is wrong, I mean really wrong. I don't know why Celestia just did nothing to acknowledge what we discussed via letters before hand, but I am sorry about that. I know how important going home is to you, so I promise we will help; however, I am just not sure what is going on. It is not just the princess, but other ponies are starting to act weird as well.

We will talk about this later, I am short on time, can't write much more. I feel like every turn I make here is watched. So, I will convince the others on visiting you Tuesday morning. In the meantime, do not upset the princess and be on your best behavior. Finally, it would be best to keep this from Luna as well, so Celestia wont find out about any of this. Besides, she looked very upset when I walked passed her to talk to the princess.

Twilight."

   "Twilight Sparkle, hiding from her teacher? Very odd." Luna shook her head. "And what, does she thinkest me a snitch?"

   A pang of worry hit me. "Um, Luna, what day is it?"

   "Tis Tuesday, why-" Luna froze while her mouth dropped.

   There was a knock on my door. Luna and I cast suspenseful looks at it. It burst open, then a very familiar pink mare bounced inside the room.

   "Hey Sparky!"

"Ahh, hell."

                                                                    ***

   Chapter nine. The taste of iron, and the must of fear.

   >Coming soon!