Iatril stood there, staring at the spot where Dante disappeared.

‘Why does he have to be like this?’ She thinks to herself. But now’s not the time for that. Now, she has to fix what Dante broke, starting with the princesses.

Turning to face Celestia and a pink alicorn she was not familiar with, she bows down.

“I would like to apologize on behalf of my friend for all that has transpired here.” She says, lifting her head. “I would also like the opportunity to amend the situation.”

Celestia just stood there, still surrounded by her guards. It took her a moment to remember she was actually being addressed, not assaulted or berated.

“What did you have in mind?” She asks.

“For a start, I could mend both yours and the unicorn’s wounds.” Iatril takes a few steps towards the two alicorns.

“Very well.” Celestia says, stepping around her guards.

“Princess!” One of the guards calls. “This could be a trick!”

“No.” She replies simply, standing in front of her throne as Iatril approaches. “I don’t believe this is.”

When Iatril reaches the throne, she speaks a few words of power, lighting her hand with a faint, white glow. She presses her hand against Celestia’s side, allowing the energy to pass over her. Upon touching her, Celestia’s wounds instantly heal; every cut closes, every burn vanishes, every bruise subsides. Iatril then steps down and walks over to Shining Armor.

“Sir?” She asks the unicorn, kneeling down. “Sir, can you hear me?”

The unicorn lay there, unmoving, and unconscious.

“If you can hear me, I’m about to heal your wounds with magic. This may feel strange.”

Casting her spell again, she places her hand on Shining Armor’s side. The bruising where he landed on his back vanishes as his spine realigns itself. His eyes shoot open, allowing him to see Iatril kneeling in front of him. He clamors as he quickly gets on his hooves.

“Wha-What’s going on?!” He yells, surveying the room. “Who are you?”

“Shining!” Twilight yells, galloping over and throwing her hooves around her brother in a hug.

“Twilight? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later.” She says, holding back tears.

Iatril stands and moves back towards the throne. She approaches the magic cage Princess Luna is held in and stops.

“Princess Luna, I presume?” She asks. Luna confirms with a nod. “I am sorry to say I don’t have the spells to free you from this cage.”

“Then how will I escape?” Luna asks, clearly annoyed.

“You will have to wait.”

“For how long?”

“Well, that depends.” Iatril says, walking around the cage. “The barrier you are trapped in will last for about a day and a half, and I noticed teleportation can’t be used. The spell that prevents that from happening will last a couple of weeks.”

“A day and a half!?” Luna asks incredulously. “I am to lower the moon this night!”

“Don’t worry. As soon as he’s cooled off, Dante will be back and I’ll get him to remove the spells.”

“That monster!?” Luna yells through her prison. “Why in Equestria would you trust him!?”

“I’ve known him for decades. I know what he’s like. As long as I’m here, he won’t hurt anyone else. Please, Your Highness, I know he’s a terrible person, but he won’t be an issue from now on.”

“But why do you trust him?” Celestia asks. “You don’t seem to be like him, so why trust him if you know he’s going to commit such terrible acts?”

“That…is a very involved question, Your Highness.” Iatril says, looking away from both princesses. “Suffice to say we need each other, and leave it at that.”

“Hmmm.” Celestia wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but she decided to leave it be for now. “How long until he returns to release my sister?”

“He’ll likely rest long enough to regain his spells and prepare them again, so maybe nine hours. However, if you wish to try dismantling the spell that keeps her from teleporting, feel free to try. I should note, however, that because of the barrier, Princess Luna will have to dismantle it herself. Even if you figure out how to remove the magic, the barrier keeps the spell intact on her side from your actions.”

“What about Twilight and her friends?” Celestia asks.

“There’s nothing to be done. They’re only tired. A good night’s rest will fix that.”

“I’m glad. One last thing: he used some strange magic against me in our fight. I can still feel its effects on me. It feels like it’s trying to push the life out of me.”

“That’s negative energy. Dante tends to use it more when he’s in trouble. That’s interesting, though.” Iatril says with a smile. “That means, on your own, you’re stronger than him. Don’t worry about the spell. No matter how enraged he may have been at you, he wouldn’t have permanently harmed you. Despite how he may act, he knows we could still use your help.”

“He’s mentioned needing us before. What is it you need?”

“That’s also an involved question. If you don’t mind, I’d rather us wait for Dante to be here to explain it.”

“I’ve got a question!” Twilight says, stepping closer to Iatril from her brother. “Who are you? What are you?”

“Ah, that’s right. You haven’t seen me in this form. I’m Iatril.”

“You are Iatril? You’re the pegasus that came to town three days ago?!”

“That I am.”

Twilight stood there staring, mouth agape.

“I’ve been getting that a lot today.”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

The hours that passed were quick for a few and crawled on for others. Wanting to find everything Dante had broken or otherwise ruined, Iatril had went around the throne room, making a mental note of every burn, cut, and abnormality. After getting over the fact that Iatril wasn’t a pony and the relief that her brother was still alive, Twilight began following Iatril around, trying to find out more about her race. The only fruit this bared was strictly about Iatril’s race, such as her long lifespan and cultural norms. Twilight’s questions about her magic went relatively unanswered. Iatril only told her that her magic was given to her by nature, and that any other questions about magic should be addressed to Dante, as he would no doubt love boasting about it.

Luna, still trapped with little else to do, examined the magic of her cell and the area within. She was joined by Crescent Moon as soon as he was appraised of the situation. Both of them were able to note the differences between the magic of these spells and that of their own. These spells seemed much more structured, meaning there was little room to modify the spells and, thus, a very small likeliness that either of them would be able to dismantle the spells. Celestia, too, observed this new magic for a time, but royal duties had called. She needed to make sure the citizens in Canterlot were not alarmed by recent events, as she learned Iatril came in the form of a dragon. Court for the day had been cancelled, as seeing one of their princesses locked away would not have been a good thing for the citizens to see.

Flurry, not wanting to be left alone with these ponies, tagged along with Iatril as she went about her business. He also didn’t want to be near Rarity; when Iatril asked him about it, he mumbled something about a date and nothing more. Raven, being left out of the mansion by his master, decided to fly around the castle, despite the protest of Iatril. He found a phoenix by the name of Philomena and struck up a conversation with her. Topics ranged from the economic stability of the kingdom to good locations to perch. It was a good day for Raven.

Feeling like he could take on the world, Shining Armor first set to organizing a search for Shade Strider, who he learned had stolen something from Celestia. Iatril advised against it, saying Dante would just break Shade out of jail and steal the amulet for him anyways. Celestia agreed and, not wanting another dispute with Dante, especially since she was still weakened, ordered Shining Armor to leave that matter for later. He wasn’t pleased with that, and neither was Rainbow Dash, but they let it be. With little else to do, Shining Armor decided to reallocate the city guard, since the issue of Dante was mostly resolved.

Princess Cadence, not wanting to go against the arrangement with Dante, set about retrieving the information he requested. She attained a few books on the creatures in Equestria, along with the history of the Griffon Kingdom and the dossier on Changelings. She also brought a few books on the geography of the land, as well as a map. Luna asked why she bothered getting these items for him; Cadence said it was “a sign of good faith” on their part. It was also in part because she wasn’t going to sign a pardon for Shade Strider, at least not yet. She wanted to know more about what was going on first.

Rainbow Dash, completely enraged for no discernible reason aside from seeing Shade Strider, tried going after him several times. Each time, Fluttershy had been the one to keep her from going. Rarity, Applejack, and Spike had asked why she was so mad at her brother, but neither Fluttershy nor Rainbow gave an answer. The group had agreed to wait it out in Canterlot for Dante to come back, just in case they needed to use the Elements. Pinkie Pie…was nowhere to be found. They searched for her for a few hours, but found no trace of the pink party-pony. The group figured she would return soon.

After the search, the group had decided to get some lunch. Iatril was done surveying the damages by then and had offered each of them a berry she enchanted. They all accepted, with the exception of Rainbow Dash. Twilight, more curious with the magic involved in blessing the berry than eating it, held onto it to research. The others ate theirs, feeling the effects of the spell instantly; even Spike felt as though he ate a full meal, despite his gem-filled diet. Aside from Rainbow’s distrust in Iatril and Twilights curiosity with Iatril’s magic, nothing changed with the group. They sat around discussing topics that friends would normally talk about.

Eventually, the time did pass, and everyone went back to the throne room to wait for Dante to come back. Pinkie Pie was still missing, but in her place was Crescent Moon, who was interested in meeting the foreign creature.

The portal opened and out stepped Dante, plus somepony behind him.

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

“I’m telling you, nothing is better than donuts!” Dante says, exiting the portal.

“And I’m telling you!” Pinkie Pie says with fake-stern expression on her face as she steps out. “Cake is the superior sweet!”

“Well, until I get to try some, your argument is invalid.” Closing the portal behind Pinkie, Dante looks around the throne room. The other wielders of Harmony were sitting before the throne, Celestia was upon said throne, Cadence and Shining Armor were next to the still imprisoned Luna, as well as some unicorn Dante saw through his disembodied eye a few times. Iatril stood with Flurry to her side and Raven atop Flurry’s head. “Okay, so, where did we leave off?”

“Dante...” Iatril says, looking over at the pink pony beside him. “Why was Pinkie with you?”

Dante looks down at the pink pony and back at the group. Both he and Pinkie answer with a shrug.

“She just showed up in the mansion. She let me rest, so I didn’t see why she couldn’t stay. She even let me see her Element of Laughter.” Dante raised his hand to reveal his palm, the same one he used to hold the Element of Magic. On his palm was a second burn line, similar to the first. “As you can see, it didn’t like me holding it.”

“Maybe you just need to smile more!” Pinkie says cheerfully.

“Right…” Dante trails off, looking over at Luna. “Right, I should probably fix that.” He walks right over to the cage, standing in front of Luna. “You aren’t going to try attacking me once I let you out, are you, Nightmare Moon?”

“Just let me out of here already!” Luna yells at him.

“Good enough.” Dante waves his hand, bringing down the barrier. He then holds his hand straight up, the hole appearing on his palm again as he pulls apart his other spell. “You are now free to teleport to your heart’s content.” He says, lowering his arm and floating a few feet back in the air with his shadowy wings. “Now, on to business.”

“What exactly do you want from us?” Luna asks, walking over to her throne.

Iatril steps forward in front of Dante. “We require your assistance in locating and destroying someone.”

“Jumping right to the point, Iatril?” Dante says, floating in the air as if he were lying down.

“Who is it you’re looking for?” Celestia questions.

“His name is Aselith.” Dante responds. “As I believe I’ve mentioned before, he’s more powerful than me. And, as my partner has already announced, we could use your help.”

“What has he done that’s made someone such as you want to pursue him?”

“Do you want my real reason, or my excuse?”

“Dante.” Iatril prods him.

“Fine.” Dante lands on the ground. “Aselith is an extremely powerful wizard and warlock. He has raised armies of undead and living alike and has used them in his pursuit to rule the entire world, possibly the whole cosmos. He’s organized, he’s efficient, and he knows exactly what to do in every situation. That is the excuse I give to any king, emperor, or ruler that I ask for help. My reason is much more personal. He killed someone very important to me. I want Aselith to suffer and die because of it!”

“So you want to use us for your revenge?” Luna asks.

“Don’t act like you won’t be getting anything out of it. It’s only a matter of time before Aselith starts something up. In all likeliness, it will be when we least expect it. He’s good at doing stuff like that, the sneaky bastard. I’m offering you my services as a learned magic user in exchange for your cooperation. But, if you’re not interested, I’m sure another nation would be. Speaking of which: Cadence, do you have the information I requested?”

“Right here.” Cadence replies, levitating the books and packet over to Dante. He just stares at the texts, dumbfounded.

“You…you really went and got them?” He asks, grabbing a book and leafing through it.

“A sign of good faith from us to you.” She says, earning a frown from Dante.

“I, uh…I don’t know how to respond to this. I’m not used to getting my way so easily.” Dante sets the book down where the others were put. “You do realize you’ve just given me all the information I need to get help from someone else, don’t you?”

“That’s right.” She replies, not missing a beat.

Dante cracks the same toothy smile he gave when Shade arrived. “I think I’m going to enjoy working with you all.”

“We haven’t agreed to working with you yet.” Celestia states, looking down at Dante.

“You’re right!” Dante says, clapping his hands together. “I still haven’t seen Discord’s statue. We can’t move forward if there are still agreements left unfulfilled!” Dante grabs the Element of Magic from his belt and tosses it to Twilight.

“We didn’t agree on that either!” Celestia stands from her throne. “And that is something I won’t agree to.”

“That’s fine.” Dante says as Raven flies off Flurry and lands on Dante’s shoulder. Dante scratches Raven’s head with his uninjured hand. “My favorite little birdie happened to see a very conspicuous door as he flew around earlier. I wonder what’s behind it.”

Before anyone could react, both Dante and Raven disappear from sight. Moving quickly, both Celestia and Luna teleport to the vault. As they arrive, Dante stands in front of it, casting a spell. He quickly turns into a gas and passes through the vault door. The regal sisters run to the door, unlocking it with their magic. As they open the vault, they see Dante standing before the statue, his arms at his hips. Discord remains imprisoned in stone.

“Are you insane?!” Luna yells at Dante, getting between him and the statue. “You could have released him!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t.” Dante says calmly. “Even if I did, I gave back Twilight’s Element.” He continues looking up at the statue.

“That’s not the point!”

“Quiet.” He says, not taking his eyes off of the statue. His looks over every part of Discord; his goat/deer horns, his lion/eagle arms, his goat/lizard legs, a dragon tail, a pegasi wing and a bat wing, and his different sized eyes.

“What is it?” Celestia asks, entering the vault.

“I know this creature.” Dante says, pulling the needle from his belt. Luna lowers her stance, but Dante ignores her, drawing a circle in the air with the needle and opening a small portal. He reaches in and pulls out a book before closing the portal. Putting the needle away, he flips through the withered tome. Settling on a page, he turns the book to show Celestia and Luna. On the page is a crude drawing of a creature with mismatched arms, legs, horns, and wings, plus a tail.

“He’s…been to your world?” Celestia asks, looking up from the drawing.

“He’s from my world. He was a powerful wizard in his time, capable of challenging anyone. Not only that, he was a warlock as well.” Dante says, closing the book and looking Celestia right in the eye. “The first warlock.”

END CHAPTER

Author's Note

Hello all! I'm going to throw you all a bone here and do the Spell guessing game for this chapter. Dante cast 1 spell; what is it? Come on, fellow D&D nerds! I believe in you! Even if you don't believe in yourselves, believe in the me that believes in you!

I'm going to be going through the chapters I've posted to see what I have and have not revealed, so expect the next chapter to come out in about 2 weeks. To distract you from this delay, here's Mr. Conway Twitty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJVCjnAolp8

Have a good week!