[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO1FdPXlsWw]“The only ones with the authority to judge you, fair sister, no longer reside on this plane,” declared a voice of smooth velvet from some distance from the gathering. [/url]
 
The majority of Old Hoof had been obliterated, true to Thea’s word. All that remained was charred earth, broken stone, and twisted metal. The army of rotten flesh and madness that had dared to oppose her had been reduced to nothing more than ashes scattered by the cool dry breeze that flittered across the land. The destruction of the hamlet, however, was not complete. Whether through some stroke of luck or twist of fate, the front of a docile had been spared the worst of Thea’s blast. A single wall still, relatively intact, amongst the broken labyrinth of streets and foundations.

And set into the center of its remains, a door still hung on shattered hinges

The door frame, or rather, what was left of it, crumbled to pieces as Arcon stepped through it. His great sandy plumage expanded, and with a few powerful wing beats he had crossed to length of the ruins to them. A single length of black chain wrapped across his midsection and shoulders, held within his magical grip.

The brittle splinters of bone from some unnamed cultist crunched under his hooves as he landed before the other alicorns. His dark eyes indecipherable, stared around at the bleak landscape his ears pricking for the slightest sound. Other than the low and mournful moan of the wind across the moor, all was silent. After a moment of silence to look over his kin, 

“I saw your light and feared the worst, though it seems such doubts were unfounded. It does my heart well to see your faces again, dear sisters,” Arcon said, his face softening ever so slightly as he bowed his head slightly to Thea and Silver Sweeper in turn. “I trust then, the battle is well over?” he asked, as the chains melted back into black smoke. As he drew nearer, the mortals could see that he stood a few inches above each of the female alicorns, his frame bulkier and larger under the thick woolen robe that he wore. 

Arcon did not spare a glance for Winterjet, choosing instead to remain off to the side of the two sisters. “Had my sister Thea truly found her honor affronted, pegasus,” the alicorn chided flatly, “Then she would be the first to defend it with deed against Silver Silver, and the whole of Equestria would know its reckoning.” For a moment, he turned to look at Scroll, his lips set into a tight frown, but said nothing. The alicorn seemed to dissect the unicorn in his minds eyes, prying deep for any truth within his words. Then, just as quickly as the look of scrutiny came, it was gone, and his gazed returned to that of his sisters.

“Now…” Arcon said, his voice now laced with curiosity turning to his kin. “Might I ask why the two of you felt it necessary to redesign the landscape in such dramatic fashion?”