Dimensional Chronicles

Rejecting Death.

Five days later.
"Blueblood!" Gavla looked up from her work. "Get over here you lump!"
"Are the insults really necessary?" Blueblood crawled out from behind one of her larger projects. He had definitely seen better days, his coat was grayed by coal and soot, his mane was still green, and his hooves were covered by flecks of metal from when Gavla had decided to make him dance by throwing molten steel at him.
"Yes. Now get into this harness." She stepped back from a rig that was about the right size to hold a guard perfectly still.
"Not planning on it."
"Now dear assistant you should know how this works by now. You do what I say willingly, or I make it hurt. Remember the razors?" Blueblood flinched, yes he remembered the razors.

"Fine." He walked into the harness and Gavla quickly secured him with belt straps that lifted him off the ground to hang over Gavla's head. She took out a set of gold plated metal claws attached to a horseshoe and Blueblood sighed in relief, then she cranked down red hot side spurs with magic until there was a large spike aimed right for the middle of his hoof.
"Are you mad; mare?!" He screamed straining at the straps.
"Probably, now stop straining you're going to make me miss." In one deft stab it sank into the soft material behind the nail of the hoof. Blueblood screamed going ridged in pain, the smell of burning hoof, flesh and fur filled the air as she repeated the process over all four of his legs.

Once Blueblood stopped sobbing Gavla rolled her eyes at him and flapped her bat wings until she was eye to eye with him.
"You're a cruel, evil mare." He growled "I will not rest until you receive your just des-"
"Shut up and flex!" Gavla barked at him.
"Huh?"
"The claws, flex them" Blueblood stared at her like the insane being she was but tried weakly to move the pieces of metal attached to him. They moved! The artificial, bladed digits curled and uncurled like they had always been there.
"What in the name of-"
"Yes it works!" She flew back down to the ground and magicked out a smaller silver set driving them unceremoniously into her own hooves without so much as a whimper. she flexed a smaller set of fingers that folded out from the talons using them to pick up a bolt and flick it across the room. "Oh how I've missed having fingers, not as useful as magic but much more satisfying to use."

She retracted the fingers and cut the straps holding Blueblood up with her talons. He fell to the floor with a thud.
"Vamprah!" The great bat-stallion swooped down from the ceiling. "Lift your back legs." Vamprah obeyed balancing on his wings as she repeated the process on her steed with a larger two toed pair.
"How does that not hurt?" Blueblood asked incredulously.
"Easy, you're just a woos." Gavla walked out from behind Vamprah, her new claws clacking`on the bricks of the floor. "Now lift a hoof." Blueblood obeyed, not wanting to tempt her eager wrath. She turned the claws counterclockwise and they slid off.
"What?"
"They're only loosely connected to the spur, you can take them off whenever you want, but in battle just flick up this tab here and they lock in place." Blueblood made good time in taking the things off. "Now I need you to go fetch the princesses." He cleared out of there as fast as his legs would carry him.
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Insufferable little nag, I'll get her back yet. He fumed to himself as he ran through the halls. The impudence, the unrestrained gall. That mare must really be mad to assume that I can't get back at her. Then he figured it out.

She was issuing a challenge aimed at his dignity, she wanted him to find a way of fighting back, she wanted him to defy her. When he rebelled she got her chance to hurt him. That's why she picked him, his massive ego would make him almost impossible to break, she could be as cruel as she wanted. The thoughts made him stop in place for a moment as he contemplated whether that meant that she respected or looked down on him. He almost didn't notice when Celestia and Luna walked right past him.

"Princesses!" He yelled after them. Celestia visibly flinched; he had been coming to her practically every hour to complain about Gavla.
"Yes Blueblood." She said carefully.
"The smith has requested your presence." Celestia let out a sigh of relief, Blueblood noticed and repressed the reflex to glare at her. "Follow me." He tried to be dignified but when you're covered in soot that's been streaked around your face by tears it's hard to do that.
"Blueblood." Luna spoke. "Are you alright?"
"I signed myself over to the biggest psychopath since Discord, who might I add just shoved red hot pieces of metal up my legs; no I'm not alright."
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Vamprah had quickly mastered the unspoken code that the guards used when on duty, mostly it was slight changes in posturing but there were hundreds of signals in everything from the placing of one's forelimbs to the tilt of an eyebrow.

Footing was mostly used to illustrate the general mood you were in, for example hooves placed three inches apart meant that you were in a rather sour mood while six inches meant that you were having a good day; there was no signal to express fear but there were plenty to dispel it. A pair of guards across a hallway from each other could have a heated debate and none around them would even notice they had moved. It was such an efficient system that they often used it even when off duty. Vamprah preferred this form of communication because he needed his voice for echolocation.

Gavla, of course refused to learn the subtle art instead attempting to harass speech out of them. So it was no surprise to Vamprah that when he walked up to the break room legs were drawn to the three inch mark.
[tilt of left ear, lower right eyebrow, slight narrowing of the eyes, slight downtilt of the chin.] "She's not with me." The other guards relaxed pulling their legs to the neutral five inch mark. ["But I need some new recruits."] Newbies always got the dirt assignments because it was easy to talk them into things. Five recruits stepped out, two from the daytime unicorn squads, two from the daytime pegasus squads and one from the night pegasus squad. Vamprah tilted his right ear slightly forwards expressing confusion, it was almost unheard of to see a night guard on duty during the day so they mostly didn't even report in until sundown.

He had briefly considered taking a nightguard as his new eyes so that Gavla could focus on her work without worrying about him being able to navigate on his own but decided against it when he thought of the strenuous extra training the poor creature would have to go through in order to be a proper replacement, they would probably die in the process.

Vamprah pointed at the night guard one of the pegasus day guards and one of the unicorn guards and motioned for them to follow him. They did so without complaint, the constant clicking of Vamprah's 'sight' was the only sound but there was a conversation going on right behind him, echolocation gives you a three-hundred-sixty degree view if you know how to use it right.
["Wait, isn't he blind?"]
["Yes"]
["Then how did he learn how to use the code?"]
["The smith can be his eyes."]
["But he doesn't have the smith with him. How could he read everypony?]
["I can hear you."] Vamprah interjected.
"Sorry Sir I- wait, I wasn't talking."
["It's called echolocation, I'm not just making noise up here. I can hear all your movements. It's the same system some bats use, as a nightguard I would have expected you to know that."] They walked into the chamber that Gavla had adapted to serve her purposes. She was currently messing with a piece she had designed to be bolted into a pegasus wing, before she had been told that such a device would cripple the user. She had fumed about that incident for hours. The pegasus guards tucked their wings in closer to their bodies.

Gavla looked up from her work.
"Good you got them, and a night guard too; Vamprah you are incredible." She walked over to them sizing up the guards taking slight measurements every now and again. Once she seemed satisfied she started walking over to her desk and put her hooves up on it. "Now strip." Vamprah rolled his eyes, he knew that Gavla had set this bit up to send the wrong message but nonetheless he didn't inform the others, the nightguard's wings started rising; Gavla apparently decided to end the charade because she pulled out three sets of the claws.

The guards were relieved that they were there for an outfitting and not another one of Gavla's sick games, they removed their armor swiftly, at that moment the door swung open and Blueblood led Celestia and Luna into the workshop. "Welcome royalty." Gavla said dramatically without bowing. "I had hoped to have this done by the time you got here but apparently not even Blueblood can be as stupid as he looks." Blueblood visibly shook with rage. "But I guess since I made a pair for both of you already it's only fair that you get to see how they're applied before it happens to you."

She motioned the guards to get into three harnesses, it seems that she had picked up on the guard code. They did so in silence, Gavla strapped them in and hoisted them up so that she could get a clearer shot at their hooves. "As I have learned from my test on Blueblood, it's better if the subject doesn't know what I'm about to do." The guards all trained their eyes strait forward, not daring to see what she had in store for them. "Now this may sting a little." She positioned all twelve sets of claws and drove them in much more carefully than for herself or Blueblood. Not so fast that the pain came all at once but not so slow as to prolong it. Celestia gasped and held a hoof over her mouth in what was either awe or horror.

The guards didn't so much as wince. Gavla let them down slowly. "Now you may experience a slight burning sensation for a few hours but don't worry that's just the metal working its way into your nervous system, you should have complete control over the claws. Simply raise a hoof and flex." The guards obeyed flexing their new claws.
"Incredible!" Luna exclaimed. "But doesn't that hurt? A lot."
"Only if you're freaking out like Blueblood the Bum was."
"That's it!" Blueblood charged her horn down meaning to impale her on it. Celestia was about to stop him when Vamprah put a wing between her and him in a gesture to stop. Celestia looked down at him with concern.

Gavla grinned sliding out her blades from beneath the claws, she dodged to the side and clocked him with the flat of her blade.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Gavla flung his claws to the ground next to him, Blueblood wasted no time putting them on and locking them in place. He charged her again, she dodged and the claws went through the concrete work desk like a hot knife through butter, he didn't give up, he kept attacking her only to be either repelled by Gavla's own claws or blades, or dodged, his claws finally stuck in something and he grinned, opening his eyes to find... that he had punctured one of Gavla's bigger projects, he pulled at the claws but they were stuck fast. "My turn." A voice said behind him, he turned around and to his horror Gavla was standing in full battle regalia, he gulped. "But first." She turned back to the small crowd of flabbergasted ponies. "As you can probably tell by now, the only thing strong enough to stop these claws is Protosteel which is exactly what they're made of thanks to Princess Luna's generous donation of her old Nightmare Moon armor. The funny thing about Protodermis is that it will only grow in liquid form so I simply had to remove the silver, melt it down and badda boom!" She tapped a pillar next to her. "I've got a whole vat full of the stuff. Then simply combine it with Equestrian steel and you've got an almost indestructible piece of metal. Now if you'll excuse me there's a homicidal prince that I need to pry off of a tank so he can get back to trying to kill me. Guards you are excused, your new uniforms are next to the door; you can remove the claws by unhooking the latch in the back and turning them counterclockwise."

She used her blade as a crowbar to pull Blueblood's claws out of the metal. "I don't know which I like more, me hurting you or you trying to hurt me." She gave a heave and Blueblood was free, he immediately tackled her to the ground, she punched him off of herself leaving a scratch along his jawline from the blade projecting beneath the metal fist, he got up clutching his face, Gavla retracted the blades and started clobbering him, hit to the face, stomach, chest, elbow to the back and hind claw to the face leaving more shallow gashes. He fell to the ground, bleeding and panting.
"You... Bitch..."
"I know right."
"I'm... going... to kill you."
"I encourage you to keep trying; this was fun."
"I hate you... so much." Gavla leaned in right next to his head and whispered.
"Keep telling yourself that." She cut his ear with a canine and stood back up strait. "That's what makes you so much fun." She walked off to outfit the princesses leaving Blueblood to fume and blush so furiously that it seemed that his head would catch on fire.

Vamprah sat down next to him with a rag and started cleaning his wounds; Blueblood cooled down considerably the second he noticed what was happening.
"Has she always been like this?" Vamprah nodded. "How do you put up with her."
"I understand her."
"What do you mean?"
"I know how her mind works. Lift your chin. She never really had anyone she liked, so when she comes across someone she does she doesn't know how to act, she becomes cruel and aggressive, she'll make that person's life a hell to try and push away any feeling she may have for them. She respects your will and your ego, they remind her of herself so she got you as close as possible in order to push you away. In short, she likes you." He brought out a needle and thread to stitch up the wounds.
"Well I hate her."
"Do you?"
"of course! How do you know so much about her anyway?"
"The eye link works in more than one way, we can see into each others minds."
"Could you give me something that I could use against her, something I could spread around the castle to discredit her."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because there isn't anything."
"But everypony has something they want covered up, some secret."
"I just told you her only secret and I'm already afraid that she'll pull out my tail when she finds out. I hope you realize that she was going easy on you, if she'd wanted to she could have plucked your eyes out and cut off your head before anyone could so much as start to think about helping you."
"Am I that pathetic."
"No like I said she was going easy on you, she even let you get a hit in."
"She did no-" He looked over, there was a small trickle of blood coming from her upper left foreleg. "She did?"
"As I said, she likes you." Vamprah cut the thread he had been using to sow up Blueblood's face and stood back up. "Have a nice day." He flapped back up to his place in the shadows of the ceiling.
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Winona was barking, not an unusual occurrence when ponies were coming up the road or something but this was different. She was looking to the south and whimpering between barks.

"What'sa matter girl?" Applejack walked up next to her dog and stared out over the orchard, beyond which the Everfree forest loomed as it did for most of southern Ponyville but Winona had always seemed comfortable around the dark woods. That's when things started burning, off in the distance smoke started rising in a wall as if that entire side of the orchard had caught on fire at once. "Whoa Nelly, come on Winona." She was about to charge off to find a way to extinguish the flames when an accented commanding voice called out from closer in the trees.

"No you fool, do not go! They have more power than you know!" Zecora stepped out battered, and bloody. She heaved a cough and stumbled forward barely keeping her balance. Applejack ran up to her letting the Zebra lean on her for support. She noticed with horror that Zecora was riddled with holes. "Thank you Applejack you are most kind. *cough* But survival should be on your mind." Applejack managed to get her back to the barn and lay her down on some hay.

"Ya'll stay right there. Ah'll be back with my brother n' granny." Applejack ran to get them. Granny Smith, despite her old age was the best pony there at dressing wounds and Applejack didn't dare to let anypony else try with injuries this bad. Big Macintosh ended up having to carry Granny smith in order for them to make good time. Zecora had grown even weaker, unable even to lift her head.
"Oh mah!" Granny Smith moved with a swiftness that surprised everypony in the room. "Jus' settle down there missy ol' Granny'll 'ave ya' fixed up in a moment." She set to work removing metallic shrapnel from nearly every inch of the zebra's body. "Wha' happened ta you? It looks like ya' ad a bad run in with a tool shed."
"Fly..." She spoke weakly. "Fly you fools... they wield vile evil tools."
"Now if ya'll think we're gonna jus' leave ya you're sorely mis'taken." Zecora chuckled darkly and coughed managing to raise her head.
"Fools..." She fell and lay still no longer breathing.

"Ah no ya don't! Don' quit on me now!" Granny Smith yelled trying to revive Zecora, a piece of metal fell out of her chest and her lungs decompressed with a hissing sound. There was no saving her now.
"We need ta go." Big Macintosh was staring in horror out the door. The entire orchard was on fire, tall figures ran around in it swarming the actual house and dousing it in flames. "Good thing Apple Bloom's at school."
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Cheerilee came running into the schoolhouse, terrified.
"Filly's and colts we're going into the basement Now!" She hefted open a hatch in the front middle of the room motioning for the students to go down.
"Why Miss Cheerilee." There was an explosion outside.
"No time to explain just go!" The foals filed down rather quickly until.
"Snails! where's Snails?" Snips yelled, Cheerilee turned around in time to see the orange colt's brains get blown out.
"AAAHHH!" there was a collective scream from everypony who happened to be looking. Cheerilee took a quick look around to make sure that they weren't leaving anypony else behind before slamming the door and locking it seven different ways and bracing it with anything she could find. She turned and looked over the sobbing, shivering mass of terrified students.
"Now foals we just need to stay calm, help will come." Something exploded. "I hope."

In a corner with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle clutched a small necklace and chanted
"Help us, help us, help us, help us." The sounds of destruction continued outside.

"Hey this is a school, where is everything? I was hoping to make my quota here." A crass rasping voice came from above them.
"Dude you have to nail twenty seven unicorns, thirty two pegasi and one hundred eighty seven earth ponies. How were you planning on filling the quota with a school this small."
"I already got two unicorns, a pink one and an orange one. Headshot on the orange one, hoya!" The strange sound of a firearm being discharged filled the air.
"You're a sick fuck, you know that right?"
"Just enjoying my job." This made Sweetie Belle chant even harder.
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Krika was on crowd control trying to help terrified ponies to get out of the town and keep desperate parents from getting back in.
"I'm sorry ma'am but I can't let you go back in there. A trained team-" consisting of myself and The Doctor, He thought grimly. "- will be going in to find any missing children as soon as we're done evacuating the town."
"But my filly is in there!" A dark pink mare with a purple mane was trying to get around the field Krika had set up.
"And I will do everything in my power to get her out, but you're doing her no favors by making it harder for me to finish my job!" That's when he heard it, emanating from his mask a single phrase repeated over and over again.

"Help us, help us, help us. His eyes went wide, Sweetie Belle was using a piece of his mask that he had broken off for her to call for help. "I need somepony to take my place here, please!" A yellow coated mare with an orange mane ran over. "Thank you." He ran back into the half burning town using his mask of repulsion to escape bullets and other weapons and shrapnel that sped towards him as he ran through to the streets. Please don't let me be too late, please. The unending chant coming from his mask both comforted and terrified him; as long as it was going Sweetie Belle was still alive, but as long as it was going Sweetie Belle was still in danger. He let his mask lead him to its shard.

He stopped outside of the burning schoolhouse. There was a dead pink and purple unicorn filly at his feet, her cutie mark was a clover; there was a single bullet wound in the back of her neck; death had been instantaneous. He lifted the filly onto his back, not wanting to just leave her. He carefully scuttled up to the school using his Crast to repel the heat of the fire. The entire building went out, much to the chagrin of two figures inside.
"Aww come on, that's no fun." He tucked the filly's body under a foreleg and slithered in on the ceiling until he was directly above the figures who were trying to force open the basement door that led to the place where the mask was sending him.

He tucked the filly into the rafters and dropped down onto the hominid figures with a bull like ululating battle cry, he skewered the first one on one of his blades, the other one narrowly avoided him and screamed, firing his gun at Krika who deflected the bullets with his mask power before reaching out and grabbing the other, crushing his skull. He tossed them both away, rejecting the blood that had splattered onto his coat.

"Miss Cheerilee? Miss Cheerilee are you down there?" He knocked on the trapdoor.
"Krika is that you?"
"Yes. Are the students with you?"
"Yes, give us a second to clear the barricade." Krika didn't have time for that so he simply stressed his shadow power on the door, blowing it out, all sorts of junk popped out after it. Krika retrieved the pink filly's body from the rafters as the rest of them ran out from the basement.
"Hey that's Ruby." a small tan and brown spotted colt pointed to the body on his back. "Is she..." Krika nodded slowly.
"gather around me students." Krika motioned for the foals to come over to him, once they had he blew a hole in the roof. "We're going for a little flight." He used the Crast to reject the ground allowing him to take the students on a giant leap clear across town landing just behind the evacuation line. The foals ran to find their parents and the dark pink mare ran up to him.
"Did you find my daughter, did you find Ruby." Krika stiffened before nodding sadly and lowering the dead filly from his back. The mare just sat there staring from the body to Krika who stared down at the body.
"I'm sorry."
"No!" The mare wailed wrapping the body in her hooves. "Noooooooo!" The filly's horn started sparking weakly. Krika had read about this phenomenon. Sometimes when a unicorn died quickly their soul would be bound to their body for a few hours, it had been theorized that they could be brought back with the right application of magic to possibly "reject death", but he doubted that the mare had read about this.

"Did you see that? She's still in there!" Either he was mistaken or the mother was just desperate. "We can still do something." Krika didn't have the heart to deny her, so he sat down touching his mask to the filly's horn. An idea popped into his mind. He ran his magic through the mask to amplify its power and focused I reject this wound. The bullet that had been lodged in the filly's neck was gently pushed back out the entrance hole which closed behind it. I reject this death. his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground, his own heart stopped and he was gone.

"Hello?" a small voice pierced the darkness around him. "Hello Mr." The darkness was swept away and in its place there was a small pink filly. He got up and looked around, there were two ropes attached to one of his legs one black, one red. He realized what he had to do.
"Are you Ruby?"
"Yes." The filly cocked her head at him. "Who are you?" Krika took the red rope off which also severed the black one.
"I've been sent to get you." He felt himself go cold and gave the rope to Ruby. "Just climb this." There was apparently no need to tell her this because the second the rope touched her it melded to her chest and whisked her away. A warm feeling passed over him, he had saved Ruby. The darkness came back embracing him in a warm tide and he felt himself going back into the shadows.

Berry punch stared at Krika's unmoving form not sure what to do. Ruby stirred against her shoulder.
"Mom...my?" she couldn't believe it, Krika had done it, he had saved her daughter.
"Ruby?" She brought her daughter around to look her in the face
"Mommy!" Ruby hugged her mother tight. Berry punch hugged her back, tears of joy staining the fur around her eyes.
"Thank you." she whispered.
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Killed her. These monsters had killed Bon Bon. Right in front of Lyra's eyes and they would pay, every single one of them would pay with their lives.

Lyra was standing surrounded by the enemy, Bon Bon had been torn to shreds by their bullets the second she had stepped into the open. Lyra would make them pay. Her vision was going black but she didn't care, she knew the hollow was taking over but she didn't care, the hollow was a mad dog and Lyra was directing it towards the monsters that killed her wife.

She let out a monstrous wail, a piercing sound that made all who heard it feel as if they had already been run through with a blade.
"Bankai!" The area exploded, dust and bricks flying into the air, when the dust cleared, in Lyra's place was a white and blue bipedal being with a hole in its chest wearing a mask with three bladed horns sticking strait up from the middle of its forehead and right above its ears; green and white hair cascaded out the back of the mask and it was holding an electric guitar with blades on the body. It opened it's diamond toothed mouth and wailed. It was a vibrating noise that struck fear into the creatures around it, who open fired. To their dismay the bullets had no effect.

It lifted the guitar and struck a note, which sent out a wall of sound that made the hominids guns vibrate themselves to pieces, it then seemed to teleport into a crowd of the hominids and proceeded to rip them limb from limb, biting down on necks, severing limbs with the axe, crushing skulls in its fists, blood flew everywhere splattering the thing's body. The creatures never stood a chance. It rampaged, killing every enemy it could find and when it could find no more it started running towards the north to find more food.

But something stops it, a wall of blackness. It rages against the wall, clawing at it, slamming on it with the axe, screaming at it.
"Stop!" A loud regal voice rings from above, the thing looks up; there is food up there Princess Luna the name sounds tasty. It gathers itself and jumps, landing in the air to stare down the navy blue food thing. "Lyra you have to stop, you have to regain control!" What was Lyra? It stands and thinks for a moment, it is Lyra. And Lyra is hungry, Lyra will feast on this thing and its power, the others had no power, they hadn't been satisfying. Lyra lunges, mouth first, trying to bite into the Blue thing's flesh but it dodges making Lyra growl in frustration.

"I didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice." The Blue thing draws out a blade and starts chanting. "Jikan mae ni kodokuna ichi boido de kakimazeru; u~eiku, Kurayami!" [before time the lonely one stirs in the void; wake, Darkness!] The sword erupts into a massive swirl of blackness, dotted with bright points like stars, a pair of pupil less white eyes open in the maelstrom before it solidifies into a massive dragon that dwarfs Lyra the way a mountain dwarfs a hill. Lyra wanted to run but the power that has just been unleashed makes her hunger groan that if it simply eats this it will be soothed. So Lyra charges brandishing the axe. "Kurayami, dark blaze!" The dragon opens it's great maw and lets a tide of shadows flow out, shadows that burn when they hit, Lyra screams in pain as it's left arm burns off. Lyra staggers before it's arm reforms, Lyra howls in pain as the new bones take shape. Lyra want to run. It thinks But Lyra so hungry, can't stop now. Lyra lifts the axe and strikes a cord blasting sound at its massive opponent, the great creature takes the sound to its gut loosing a cry of pain that reminds Lyra of a whale and stirs happy memories in Lyra, memories of Bon Bon. When it remembers a crack appears in its mask.

Pain laces through Lyra's body and it screams. "Whale bad! Bon Bon bad! Remembering bad!" It clutches its mask. "Lyra don't want go back, can't make Lyra go back. Lyra stronger than you, you want Lyra power. No! No! Nooooooooo!" It screams in anguish as the hands tears the mask from its face. The warping in her voice disappeared. "You're not Lyra, you're Aryl, a monster." She said weakly as the blue and white body crumbled to dust leaving the mint unicorn to fall.

"Oh no you don't." Luna's voice rang out and she landed on something soft and black studded with stars before the world faded away to nothingness. The monsters had paid.
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Krika felt warm, he felt fulfilled, he felt at peace. But it ended in a flash of light as a brilliant white alicorn with a crimson mane and a scroll and quill for a cutie mark burst through his bubble of darkness.

Krika covered his eyes lest he be blinded by the sudden re-entrance of light, when his eyes adjusted he lowered his claw and looked into the newcomer's eyes, they were a sapphire blue. Krika had a feeling that he was in the presence of a being far greater than himself and he bowed.
"Who do I have the honor of addressing?"
"You don't have to do that. I hate it when ponies freak out around me."
"Alright then, who are you?" Krika drew himself back up to look Lauren in the eye.
"I am the goddess of this realm but you may call me Lauren."
"Well Lauren, I take it you're here to take me to hell." He sighed, he'd known it was coming. She laughed good naturedly.
"No, nothing so dramatic. I've come to send you back." Lauren smiled as Krika stared at her in disbelief.
"Send me back?"
"Yes, the way you sent Ruby back to her mother, a very noble deed by the way although I wouldn't suggest doing it again. Your time has not come yet, nor had hers. But I do have a job for you. An evil being, powerful beyond imagination came through with you and Vamprah."
"I assure you Gavla isn't that bad." Krika joked, Lauren chuckled.
"No, not her."
"Then who?" Lauren's face hardened at Krika's question.
"He is known throughout the multiverse by many names, the Doctor knew him as Dwarvos, Kenpachi knew him as Aizen Sosuke, you know him as."
"Teridax." Krika shook in terror.
"He has found a way to prevent my interference in his plan, but you can stop him, you are the only being in any dimension who knows exactly what you're dealing with." The world started to crumble to white. "That is your mission, find Teridax and stop him." Her serious gaze melted into a comforting smile. "Oh and don't worry about hell, you're a much better being than you think you are." Krika disappeared. "Your move Teridax."

Krika gasped feeling life enter his cold form, he coughed hard. Someone shrieked to his right, he looked over and it was one of the palace nurses.
"B-b-but y-you've b-been dead for d-days." he looked at the bowl next to her, they had been preparing to preserve his body. He tried to speak but a rush of cold made it come out as a rasping moan.
"I n-n-need something warm." The nurse rushed away, leaving Krika to shiver in his slowly warming body.

The nurse returned with a bowl of steaming soup. Here goes nothing. Krika downed it in one go. To his joy it didn't come back up and warmth returned to him quickly. "Thank you miss..."
"Redheart."
"Miss Redheart. How long was I under."
"Almost two weeks." She seemed to be dealing with a pony coming back to life rather well. Krika looked around.
"Where is my mask?"
"The princesses have it, they've been using it to keep the invaders away." Krika started.
"Over how large an area?"
"The entire city of Canterlot."
"I need to go." He forced his stiff muscles to move, they warmed back up to use quickly and he ran through the halls to the throne room.
"Stop!" A guard stepped out in front of him. "None are to be let through."
"Oh get off it." he told the guard barreling past him. Celestia and Luna both were channeling magic through the mask, despite their combined power they both looked at the point of collapse. Krika walked between them, calling the mask to his face. It locked into place and he picked up where the exhausted sisters had left off.

"Makuta Krika?" Luna dropped to the floor, her power coming off the mask. Celestia managed to stay standing but took her power off too.
"But you're dead."
"Yet here I am."
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Luna regained her footing. "You just came back from the dead."
"I can give you two months."
"A-alright." The guard spoke outside the door
"Hey, little filly, you can't go in there. Sweet Celestia!" The door burst open and three filly's tumbled into the room on top of a guard. Sweetie Belle popped her head up from the tangle
"Krika! You're alive!" She shot onto his chest, giving him the hardest hug he had ever been given. It may have been the hardest of seven but it was still worth noting to him.
"Oof! Sweetie Belle; where's your sister?"
"We sent them to find allies almost two weeks ago." Celestia said.
"Allies? from where?"
"Other dimensions."

End of chapter eight.