The alicorn of the wilds watched silently as the deer was devoured, leaving nothing but a bloody smear on the ground from where it had been slain. Even in her own domain there were precious few beasts who ate as he did, even if the beasts of the deep did fall under her spheres. She tilted her head, a thought suddenly coming to mind. If their spheres overlapped, would it be possible for her to assert dominance, and control, the Leviathans? They were, in every sense of the word, wild beasts, and dangerously powerful. But even so, they were only mortal and she was a god; it was a world of differences between them. Yet, in all of the millennia they had spent together, side by side as fellow gods, she had never even thought to ask whether or not she might be able to become their alpha, so to speak. Would they even accept her as that, she wondered.

Even they fall under my control should I so desire, so why shouldn't they? I'll have to ask him some day. It was a curious thought, but it made sense. The most powerful of the beasts in this world bowed to her power, so even if other such beasts were demigods in a sense - that is, if they even held a shred of divinity - then wouldn't she be able to?

Shaking the thought from her head, she refocused on the bloody ground where the deer had been, slowly reverting back to her alicorn body. Blood. So much of it had been shed in the past few years, and, while it didn't mean much to a God like herself, she still wanted it to end. Revel in slaughter though she might, this specific slaughter was outside of what she deemed acceptable, and had been so from the very first sword pierced flesh in this war. That was why she was here, she reminded herself. She was here to end this bloodshed, to bring about a time of peace equal to what had been before the disappearance of her elder siblings. At the very least, she wanted the world to return to a state of non-war, even if true piece was unachievable. If Elder Sister Luna and Celestia returns - if I can find them - that should be possible. Gazing off to the side, she lost herself in her thoughts once again. Her followers, numerous though they were, had come up with very little. There were some rumours and recounts of a light coming from the south - in the middle of the badlands. But as it was, she thought little of it and saw no reason to go visit a sight that might very well have just been a large bonfire.

A rustle of leaves and twigs brought her back to reality. Something was off with Crashing, that much she could see. He seemed to be twitching, shaking his head as if trying to suppress something. Could it be? She knew a bit about what it was; his Nightmare being far closer to his self than with the others. While she wouldn't outright admit it, the outward sign of struggle he displayed was enough to make her uneasy. The only sign of said uneasiness being that she stood up rather than lie down.

"Crashing, is everything alright?"

She only just managed to receive the answer before something caught her attention: A presence. Off to the side, a dark shape darted towards them, stopping in front of Theá in all its ghostly glory. Meelo stood, or rather hovered, before her in his Nightmare form, ethereal brows creased in a deep frown.

"Meelo? Anything to report?" She asked.

The Nightmare nodded, reverting to his physical form, panting and out of breath. "Silver Scalpel, the doctor from before, I believe he's trying to-" he paused, his hooves suddenly very interesting.

"Speak up, Meelo," Theá demanded.

Gulping, he looked up. "I believe he's trying to achieve divinity. From what I heard, it sounds like he's aiming to become something more than a mortal; something more powerful and dangerous."

Few things in this world could anger Theá. One of those few being losing her wing, as the remnants of Old Hoof was evidence of, but aside from defiling her own body or insulting her kind, hardly anything could come close to truly angering her. But what Meelo had said awoke a cold, cold spark within her. It wasn't a flaming and fiery rage, but more the cold form of absolute fury that spreads throughout ones veins when something so atrocious happens that you fail to comprehend it. That anger spread throughout her entire body, involuntarily changing her eyes to the slitted form of a Nightmare and sharpening her teeth to the murderous weapon that was a predator's maw.

"Where?" She asked, her tone so dead yet filled with an unbridled fury.

The way she spoke had Meelo reeling, stumbling backwards until he fell unto his haunches. He had witnessed her kill before, witnessed her tear the throat out of some animal, or even a few ponies who had managed to be impertinent enough that she thought it prudent to show that they were no match for her even if she didn't resort to magic. But none of that compared to the absolutely feral look she had in her eyes at this very moment. He felt, at that very moment, just what it meant to be looked upon by a god, and he was scared. What he was experiencing right now was not something he'd wish upon anyone, not even his worst enemy. No, he decided, noone should experience the Wrath of a God.

"I... I don't know," he managed, gulping. "He teleported away, and a long distance if the aftermath of it was anything to go by."

Theá, carnivorous teeth gritted, looked off to the side before closing her eyes, forcing herself to calm down, and, then, casting her mind out to the hundreds of sentinels she had across the entire country. Where? She asked herself, sorting through what her sentinels had heard and seen, trying to find something that would point her towards Silver Scalpel.

Several minutes passed like that, her mind divided among thousands of smaller ones, each fraction looking through an entire day's worth of information. It wasn't until she came across an owl she had posted near Woodswatch. Looking through its memory, she saw an unfamiliar unicorn, although the foal with him was easily recognisable thanks for her lack of hindlegs, and that was enough for her. The contraption was the same, and even if the two ponies were unfamiliar she knew that glamour spells weren't unheard of, and relatively common among the models and that branch of business, if what few previous models she had in her following were to be trusted.

Seething... she was seething. She severed her connection with her sentinels, returning to her own body and opening her eyes. Se snapped her head back towards Meelo, almost snarling at the same time. "Get Amaretto. You know where he is." She lit her horn, summoning a wisp of magic that quickly took the form of a small bird. "Take it with you. It holds all the information he needs. GO!"

Meelo scampered off, going into Nightmare form and immediately taking off towards the Everfree Forest, the bird following and keeping up with him effortlessly. Theá almost regretted seeing him like this, but in her present state of mind it would take more than just a small bout of regret for her to willingly reign in her anger. Walking over to a nearby tree, she unfurled one wing and, with a sweep of it, cut through the trunk of the tree with said wing, a rain of splinters following in its wake as the trunk toppled over.

She stood still there, staring death and damnation at whatever she was looking at through those trees.

"Your days are numbered, Mortal!" she hissed.

Summer Winds shifted somewhat uncomfortably as the alicorn tidied her armor. It wasn’t that she feared incineration or divine punishment- enough alicorn lead drinking contests had dispelled that notion. But she couldn’t help being thrown off by Sweeper’s… eccentricity. It wasn’t the informality or lack of some divine air that confused her, Armifera- or whatever name she went by in other cultures- was certainly informal as well, but she didn’t have the same bubbly air about her.

When speaking to Armifera, one was still distinctly aware that she was a being capable of extreme destruction, an impression the alicorn herself did nothing to dissuade. Sweeper though… not so much. Summer could tell the alicorn had power in some way, shape, or form, but she lacked the aura of “I can flatten a village if I need to” that Summer had come to expect was a standard alicorn thing.

Apparently not.

“It’s uh… really something?” Summer offered lamely, before coughing into the back of her hoof. “Yeah it’s… how is hair a spoil of war?!” she blurted.
__________________________________________________________________________

Somewhere near Ponyville

Two pegasi flew through the air, their armor and the direction they came from clearly marking them as well trained, disciplined Stormwing soldiers. Or... at least well trained.

“Why are we even flying out here? It’s not like anything will have changed since the last patrol! Ponyville’s just a mosquito breeding ground now, why do we have to keep flying patrols to-” the cool blue stallion cut off his speech as he swerved to dodge a ball of ice thrown his way.

“Comet Trail, shut up, you’ll be doing the world a big favor.” The crimson maned, dark gray mare flying near him seethed, shaking her hooves of the moisture from compressing the cloud she’d snagged into a snowball to throw at her griping companion. “At least flying border patrol you didn’t have to deal with Trottingham.” The mare shuddered at the thought of something that could wound an alicorn, she’d seen the wounds on the alicorn who’d set up camp in Stormwing.

Of course, the alicorn- Armifera, the mare remembered- had nonetheless managed to drink a whole tavern under the table, so it wasn’t as though she’d been seriously injured.

“Steel, coming up on Ponyville, prepare for the same exact thing. It might knock your horseshoes off.” Comet Trail snarked, taking a moment to roll his eyes.

Steel Storm huffed, keeping her eyes on the rapidly approaching septic swamp that was Ponyville. It always saddened her to see it, associating the toxic morass with pictures she’d seen of a bright and happy town before the war threw her head for a loop, or three.

She scanned the ground below, eyeing it for anything suspicious, though it all seemed to be the sa-

“Comet Trail, hide!” She hissed at her partner, frantically searching for somewhere to hide herself. Her gaze alighted on several trees the way they had come, well back from the water, and she bolted for them.

Comet Trail looked around bemusedly, “What’s her problem…?” He muttered. Glancing down to the lake, the large stallion soon saw the alicorn standing in on the water, and gulped. He clumsily dashed for several boulders by the water, peeking over them at the alicorn on the water.

Someone was rapping on the front door.

This was not in itself unusual for something like this to happen, except for the fact that Scalpel had yet to re-establish full use of the house and had merely confined himself to the lower quarters to deal with the various issues of settling into his old laboratory and industrial sector. Thus the greater part of the upper house consisting of the mansion and many of its rooms lay empty and dust strewn, although kept clean of any intruders by a network of defence spells.

So how could someone know that I am here?... of course, the refinery and manufacturing chimneys, and perhaps Honey’s supply runs.

Whoever they were they were insistent that was for sure, although an immediate attack would have been more of a sign of violent intent than say a repeated knocking on his door, he still didn’t trust anyone who was interested enough to visit him.

They clearly knew a little too much about him for him to be comfortable with it.

Turning to his Risen he signalled for them to follow him, motioning also for the rest of the War Drones to fall in as well, as they marched single file up the stairs to the main portion of the house. As he opened the door to the upper corridor and as his children fanned out across the house he caught sight of a rat scurrying away. At first this seemed normal, rats long occupied abandoned houses when they fell into disrepair… but then he recalled that his defence network incorporated vermin repellent in order that his work would not be damaged in his absence.

That is a very unusual rat…

Following it as it scurried away he tried to get it in his grasp, the rat panicked and ran, its form becoming almost… translucent and ghost like. It seemed to have an intelligent end goal in mind, especially where it was going was a direct way out of the house… rats did not show this usual level of intuition.

That is a very unnatural rat.

With a final sweep of victory he flipped it off its feet with a gust of magic, and whilst it was disordered grasped it in his magic. The thing flailed and squeaked as he brought it closer to him, looking upon the bizarre thing with curiosity and with a growing sense of dread.

Judging from the magic, something or someone was observing him… and he could make a good guess just who it might be.

“Ten Thousand Hells” he fumed, gritting his teeth in anger at the prospect of having to deal with ‘Her’ again, “That difficult creature…”

His magic tightened and the rat’s squeaks took on a new level of urgency, staring down he continued to compress until he heard the bones in its tiny body fracture and break, before burning it up into ashes.

Discarding the burnt remains he took a deep breath and calmed himself down, he needed to deal with this would-be visitor before their knocking broke down the door.

Still, he would have to find a way of getting rid of these intrusions… already he could feel plans form in his head… very visceral plans.

They entered the main hall with door which was so rudely being rapped upon by someone outside, and his children fanned out into the omnipresent darkness which engulfed so much of it. Looking up at the numerous boarded up high windows, he figured he might as well do something about that, but for now the darkness and the presence of “others” in the shadows it would serve as an apt suggestion to remain civil with him.

The Hall itself was a fairly simple affair, three doors led off to different sections of the house on each side, a dust and leaf strewn marble floor covering it until the edges of the doors before changing into mahogany boarding, and a double staircase ascending to an raised level above the main floor and branching off into numerous different rooms with various applications. Already the War Drones were busy making themselves at home in the upper level, peering through the balcony at the noise with their innumerable number of sensitive lenses, their blades occasionally whirring in anticipation. Others occupied the lower levels, skulking in the shadows and waiting for his command to unleash hell if need be, keeping themselves just out of sight, but not enough to disguise the occasional silhouetted figure moving.

He walked halfway across the hall and then halted, peering at himself he realised he was still in his blood splattered lab coat and apron, but that would have to do for this most unexpected guest. A couple of days prior the glamour spell had also worn off, and given Nocturne quite a shock when she woke up, much to his amusement, but he considered that he most likely wouldn’t really need it anytime soon. If he needed to change his appearance he would have done it in a more permanent manner than that.

Behind him his Risen captains waited, cloaked in heavy grey robes which hid their forms from view, they looked almost priestly, with the Black sun sigil on their sides and upon the hood of the robe only furthering their esoteric nature. If they judged the person to be a threat they would deal with them swiftly, directing their forces as well as joining the conflict if necessary to protect their father.

Such loyal children.

Returning to look at the door he sighed, and decided to answer the caller’s incessant beat. With a flicker of magic the doors swung slowly open, a long blade of light making its way across the floor to rest at Scalpels current position.

Eyeing up his guest, he admired her physique, she was well proportioned and quite attractive… she would be a prime specimen for his work if things turned foul that was sure. He gave her a cold smile and beckoned her forward.

“Enter… to whom do I owe the pleasure of this… visit.”

Spectrum shook his head at the disarray he found Silver’s old lab in. He knew it was his old friend’s lab from the preservation spells that were on a few of the hanging bodies in the nearly destroyed lab. The spells were weak and were bound to give out in quite possibly a few more hours at the most but they were indeed the very same spells that his old friend had concocted in their youth. The lab itself was stripped clean save for the corpses.

Spectrum climbed the stairs to the bedrooms. There were two rooms. Inside the smaller room was a simple thatch bed, a writing desk and a pair of bookcases. The room hadn’t been ransacked but its inhabitant had left in a hurry. He looked through the bookcases. A few medical journals, one or two tomes on restoration magic and even a book on philosophy. The unicorn stopped right there and eyed the book on philosophy. ’Sun Zti’s Art of War’ Spectrum cocked an eyebrow. Silver hated this book with a passion so why is it here?Spectrum pulled the book out, the very same book which was in most every library, literary collection, or any scholar for that matter. It was a common tome to be seen particularly in this day and age. He opened it and sure enough a seal greeted him. The cyan buck grinned at his find. Silver always had a flair for the dramatic.

As he focused his magic to start unlocking the seal on the tome. Within minutes it was unlocked. For a spellcaster of Spectrum's caliber it was within simplicity but to a novice the seal was set to kill. Words formed on the page and the unicorn had to smirk as he realized the chicken scratch he was now reading was still in code form. He had a feeling this would take some time. With a nod to himself he clapped the book shut, placed it in his satchel and left the wreckage once called a lab.

---

Crashing shook his head again,” Aye lass. Just a wee bit tired.” Just that second a vapor in the shape of a pony burst into the clearing. Crashing had to use all his will not to assault the thing when he realized it was one of Thea’s blessed. He listened to the conversation and when he heard the report form this Meelo he was just as angered as Thea. His brow furrowed at the thought of a mortal performing the taboo of trying to ascend such as that. There had been only a hoofful of mortals to become as they and these few had earned it in the Solar Wardens eyes.

Even his Nightmare murmured agreeance that this mortal should be dealt with quickly. Balance would not be shaken for the whims of a fleeting life. He had dealt with such things before when King Proudsea’s tried to take the main land. The foolish old sea stallion thought he was God within mortal form and he quickly knew what the wrath of one was when Crashing was done with him. That was the only time he had ever been disappointed in the race of Seaponies was that bitter day. Crashing shook his ehad of the memory and stepped forward,” So lad tell me what ‘is last whereabouts were. I believe ‘tween me an’ Thea we can track th’ blighter down.”

As if to supply his point he felt the Leviathans, half a world away, roil and churn ready to do their master’s bidding. The monsters of the Deep, the greatest of Chaos’s creations, had gone without destruction for a millennium and they were ready. He also felt a change on the winds, the seaponies were coming. They were ready to come back to the world.

He looked out into the water of the lake,” It is time then.” His accent was gone as he spoke those words. He knew not why he spoke them or why they made him so damned calm. All he knew was that Chaos would have a second chance to reign and it wouldn’t be by Discord’s mismatched claws, oh no. It would be something else entirely…

---

The royal army of the Moonlit seas swam in formation toward the mainland. The last time they had done this was under a foolish king’s rule, now they were here for a very different reason indeed. At its head Sunpearl swam, her armor enchanted coral. Harder than dragon scale and just as beautiful. Beside her Razor Reef swam just as imposing as his Queen.

That’s when she felt it, a primal presence. The Sea roiled and churned as something rose from the depths. Seapearl watched in astonishment as the great Leviathan, Avur, broke through the water alongside her royal army. The soldiers for their part stayed in formation but each watched enraptured as the massive creature roared to the heavens. The massive beast descended again and beagn swimming in the direction of the mainland.

“And so when the Ancient Ones rise again and all will bail in sorrow at Chaos’s second coming.” The Queen blanched and looked to her sage. He looked at her with haunted eyes and shuddered,” My Queen we haven’t much time.”

“I agree my loyal sage,” she faced her army,” To land post haste. The end is nigh! Forward with the speed of all four winds!” With that the she swam at top speeds with her army close behind.

Sweeper smiled at Summer, pleased that the soldier finally broke her silence. Must be the shy type she thought. She continued, "Thank you er… Officer? What is your rank? In any case, dear Winds, I am so glad that you asked that question. My sister Thea was equally confused, but she didn't want any clarification." She paused for a moment to fix some damaged links in her armor.

"There. As for the Braid, it was the result of a battle between Scroll and I and some nasty bunch a bandits hours ago…" She went into a chattering babble of the fight. "…We took a good many weapons from them, but the braid belonged to the gang's leader. After all, it was her most important possession." She put the "spoil" back in the makeshift saddlebag.

"Your armor is all set," she said. Indeed it was shinier and brighter than previously before. It somehow enhanced Summer's stature in many ways, invoking the image of a hero of a century ago. Sweeper stared at her hoofwork and grinned. "Now that's done, would you happen to have any cake? Oh, and how did you end up with my sister Ami?"

---

The two pegasi relaxed after Torrential was done speaking. They had worried he would summon up a storm, or flood the land even more so. But when he made his intentions clear, the fear lessened and they looked with interest as Torrential purified the lake. "Huh, never seen any pony walk on water before," said Tail to herself. "But then again, what did I expect? He's master of it after all." Already they saw some change - the water below the alicorn's hoofs seemed to become clearer, bluer even. But Dancer wondered if it was her imagination causing the water to change color.

Tail was already up and got a cloth from her saddlebag. "Should have been careful - I ended up messing up Lord Rain's protection," she said, a bit of sadness in her voice.

Not looking away from the spectacle, Dancer replied "Like the rains and water, I'm sure the Master Torrential rules over the mud. Or at least, that's what I can tell from the stories. I don't think he minds."

After a bit, Snow tail had gotten the outfit cleaned, and much to her surprise, far better than a mere rag could have done. "Oh, of course, the Lady's blessing," she said. "I keep forgetting how subtle the effects are." She tossed the cleaning cloth on a nearby branch. "Well, we better set up camp - Torrential is probably going to take all eveing and then some."

Dancer nodded, and looked around. There wasn't much - old decayed trees, mud on the ground. And surviving structures not flooded had rotten away. She grimaced at the sight. "I never did camp out in a swamp before. What about you?" she joked.

Tail took out a tarp from her bag, and some rope. She began setting up a shelter. "About a year ago during the Froggy Bottom Bog campaign. I can tell you that was the wettest and muddiest mission I have ever been on, even after wandering in Lord Water's storms."

"Really, where you fighting against Everfree?"

"Nope, we were fighting for Everfree… long story that." They did not notice the arrival of the Stormwing soldiers.

---

Lens continued to rap on the doorknocker at intervals, but waited patiently. She was hoping that the Sweeper acolyte wasn't mistaken. As strange as Lily appeared, she was clearly a skilled enough plumber. And if the conversation about the Waterworks contraption the Mission was setting up was any indication, she had training in engineering. Lightwing is too arrogant to see such details. Ms. Lily is no fool nor a loon if she can work at that skill level. She's quite intelligent, if not to our standard - she had at least some higher education. I wonder how such a mare ended up in Sweeper's cult wandering the land?

After several minutes, the door to the mansion opened. It was dark inside, with only the cracks of the shutters letting any light in. Greeting her was a stallion clad in a lab outfit, covered in red. She simply blinked at the sight, unfazed, and took a look at the stallion's face - it matched the descriptions they had of the Talent. Smiling she gave a short and bow and entered. The door closed. She could hear in the shadows the slow breathing of some… thing? They were not alone, that was for sure, but what she could not tell. I must tread carefully, or this could prove difficult. I need his cooperation, and not a pile of corpses .

"Greetings, good stallion. I am Doctor Glorious Solar Lens, officially of the Manehatten Research Institute." Her horn glowed a light orange, somewhat matching her horn and coat. From her blouse she floated a business card, noting her name and place of employment. "And I'm here to discuss the mater of a business arrangement… perhaps even a partnership."

Something was wrong.

Even as he focused on the task of purifying the waters of Ponyville, Torrential could feel that something was off about the situation. The waters weren't being cleansed as quickly as they should have been, nor as easily as they should have been either. He felt like his cleaning magic was pushing against something solid... and it was trying to push back. The only reason that could be was if something was fighting him...

Something landed on his back before something pink covered his eyes. In the span of a heartbeat his wings had flared up as he threw whatever was on his back clear off of him. He watched like a hawk as a ball of pink committed itself to performing an Axel before touching down on the water like a figure skater on ice. skating along for a little bit before pulling itself to a complete stop, reveling a pink smiling pony wearing what appeared to be a homemade but somewhat worn jester outfit. It was only when the figure stopped moving that it was possible to see the signs of decay that wouldn't be present in a living creature; The lip-less smile that was only made worse by the black void that were her eyes.

"Well if it isn't the meany pants Alicorn who beat up all of beautiful dollies. All they wanted to was spread love and happiness to the ponies and the big fuzzy buffalos that wandered around where Applejack and her family lives now and you had to go and break them into itty bitty pieces that will take [b/] Forever [b] to clean up and replace. It's wasn't their fault that they were unaware that they were all pointy and spiky like porcupine or a hedgehog... Only porcupines and hedgehogs aren't really as fast as my dollies are... well, expect for one hedgehog that can move really fast but he hates water because he can't swim so I don't think he really counts. Now that I think about it, unicorn horns are really sharp and pointy as well. Angle one of those suckers the right way and you can take someponies eye out with them. Maybe that's why Applejack cuts off unicorn horns wherever she finds them? Somepony accidental must have jabbed her eye out and she's just taking steps to make sure no one gets their eye jabbed out anymore..."

It was rather... weird watching an undead pony ramble on and on, her hoof on her chin as she kept remembering things that merely prolonged the rant. After the conversation had gone from spiky things to wondering what 'Spike' was up to these days (Whomever or whatever that might be) Torrential let out a loud cough in order to try and get the foul creature to focus a little.

Turning her attention back to the alicorn in front of her, the undead mare seemed to break out of her rant as she remembered that she wasn't alone. "Whoopees daisies. Where was I again... Spike, unicorn horns, hedgehogs, porcupines, my dolls... Ah right! You're the meany pants that broke a bunch of my dollies. And now you've rocked up at my home warming party uninvited and started to trash the place." The smile that had been on the mare's lip-less face turned into a very anger glare. "Not only are you a meany pants, you're a Party Crasher. Only one way to deal with a meany pants Party Crasher."

The water of the lake started to churn as ghost after giggling ghost burst out of the water, a swarm of the damn things quickly taking shape above the head of the pink mare, laughing and playing tag with each other as they awaited the signal to charge. In a couple of places along the shore, bodies that belonged to ponies decades dead started to raise from the water, bones showing in the places that water had soaked off flesh and muscle as they carried bows that had clearly not aged well under water. Even as these undead archers started to form up, those who still had tails and manes were sacrificing them in order to provide their bows with fresh string since the old ones had rotted away in the water over the years. Two of them had set themselves up near Snow Tail and Star Dancer, seemingly ignoring them as they primed their old and worn weapons so they could hopefully have a chance of firing an arrow far enough to hit their target on the water. Five more were setting up position elsewhere, completely unaware that there were Stormwing ponies nearby.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?", asked Star Dancer, her mouth agape at the sight of the rising dead.

Snow Tail nodded, got near the other pegasus, and gently lowered her to a crouching position. She removed the sheathes of the wing-blades. "Stay low, keep silent," she whispered. Tail reached into the bag and put on her gauntlets. They were behind a fallen rotten log that gave them some cover. The soldier lifted her head slightly above to see what was going on. Undead continued to rise from the waters, armed with arrows, two of which were in their proximity. Torrential himself was simply too far away to get to him, and already the number of giggling ghosts would prove a problem.

Tail frowned at the situation and went down. "Listen Star, try flying low away from this Lake going northeast. When you're to a safe distance, head north towards Stormwing. If I remember right, there's a cloud outpost where you can get help about an hour away. Tell them there's an army of cultists in the area."

"What about you?" she asked, fear deep in her voice but keeping composure.

"I'm staying and giving Lord Rain backup," she said. "I gave my word to the Lady Sweeper."

"But what can you do in two hours? There's no guarantee that Stormwing will send help."

"It's a better chance with them on their way than no pony to save us. Now get going."

Dancer shook her head. "I won't go."

Tail looked at her in anger. "This isn't-."

"I can't leave… I love him, as I love Sweeper. I can… I can never look in either eyes again if I go and run now."

Tail looked into the quivering eyes of the other. In them she saw a reflection, the same emotion of loyalty and care that would lead Tail to die for her Colonel. It was the same passion that would cause her Colonel to risk herself to get any of her own mares back. There was nothing she could say to convince Dancer otherwise. She's right Tail thought to herself. This battle would be long decided in a hour - and the chances of surviving was low. I just wanted her to get to safety.

"Fine." Tail eyes then lit up, as she realized something. "It may be best if you did stay after all - Torrential's protection." She indicated the clothing they were clad in. Dancer nodded in understanding - the alicorn had imparted himself to protect them. For all they know leaving would only weaken him!

"So what's the plan?"

Tail thought for the moment, and wished she had a drink. Then she smiled and took out a wooden box. "I hope the crash didn't break them," she muttered. She opened the case, revealing two small glass bottles of brown liquid laying on some soft packaging. "Yes, they're intact."

The Scholar raised an eyebrow. "This is no time to drink hard cider."

"This isn't cider - it's something we mercs call Whiskey." She opened it and took a quick swing. Tail made a funny face. "Alright - it's the really good stuff, and it'll burn."

Dancer rolled her eyes. "And this will help us…?"

Tail looked over the log and looked at the two ghouls. They were not looking in their direction. She reached in and took out some rags, a flint and steel, and twine. "Gather some dry twigs if you can. If you can't, take some that whiskey and pour it on a rag." She lifted her hood over her mane. "I'll be right back." Sneaking close to the ground, she went over to a grove of dead trees some meters away. Hopefully unseen, Tail found a small rock and threw it hear into the lake near the ghoul pair. She then waited to see what would happen next.

"Calm thyself, Brother mine," Theá said, voice strained and under tight control. "I can feel thy anger, and you must calm thyself lest your become the dark abyss. Be the gentle brook, flowing around the obstacles that presents them to thee. Do not succumb."

Even as she was fighting to not simply chase after Silver Scalpel and accidentally kill an innocent pony in the event that Meelo had been mistaken, she could feel the animalistic rage that swept off of Crashing in waves of sheer contempt and hatred. Something she could only understand all too well given her own state of mind. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. She turned around, eyes still closed, and faced Crashing. A small flex of her mind returned her appearance to that of a normal alicorn, and had a flute materialize in the air beside her head, held in her light green magic even as she opened her eyes and focused entirely on her brother, thoughts razing. She knew she had to calm him down, as how he had acted earlier gave her some suspicions that he would be unable to do so. I just hope this works.

She sat down by the lake and brought the flute to her lips, blowing through it once before she started playing. She played, eyes fixed on Crashing as she let her magic mix with the music, doing her best to calm the raging beast she knew he could become. It was a spell she had used on the larger beasts of Equestria and beyond in aeons past. From the smallest critter to the star beasts themselves, she had quenched their anger and made place for tranquility, for a time anyway.

As she continued to play, her wings unfurled, and from the trees surrounding them blew a breeze carrying her voice like a gentle caress against his ears. "Listen to me, Brother. Let not the Leviathans consume you. You are their master and guide, their sole protector and the divinity they follow."

She continued like that for a few minutes, wings remaining unfurled until she finished entirely, then folding back against her sides as the flute faded into nothing. I hope it worked. He is, in some ways, a wild beast what with the Leviathans. If nothing else, the mortals say music calms the soul. "Crashing, Brother. Do you feel well?" She asked, standing up and approaching. One of her wings unfurled and rested itself on his back, trying to comfort him if it was still needed.

---

"Daddy, do you have to go?" The small unicorn filly asked, balancing against her father's leg as she gazed sadly down at her.

"I have no choice, little Primrose. Theá asked this of me, and I have no choice but to obey. I swore an oath." Amaretto looked down at his daughter, smiling, and leaned down to give her a gently kiss on the forehead. "I will return in a few weeks, so I won't be gone long."

"But I want you to stay! I've been with you and Mommy only a month since you rescued me!" She stopped suddenly, getting back on all four hooves and hung her head. "I'll miss you, Daddy. Please come home quick." She didn't want to admit it, but even if she was only eleven years old, she knew what it meant to make a promise. Promises had to be kept.

"I will, Primrose. I will." He ruffled her mane with a hoof before turning around to his wife waiting behind them. "And you... I'll miss you, my love." Anything more he would have said was interrupted by the kiss she gave him.

"You better. Now, you should get going. Remember what Mister Meelo told you - you'll need it."

"I will. I'll see you two soon." Then, with a nod and a hug from Primrose, he turned around and made his way towards the edge of the clearing and through the trees.

Whoever you are, Silver Scalpel. I hope you like whiskey.

---

Winterjet hadn't moved for the past several minutes, brain too jumpled over to do much of any thinking. This Amifera seemed sane and, if she had to be honest, quite pleasant to be around. Arcon was a bit strict, though, as she had noted before. She definitely didn't like him very much, if only because he had treated Bright Scrolls so badly.

And Silver Sweeper. She didn't quite know what to say about her. Extremely kind, soft spoken if a bit energetic. But despite all of this, there was something she couldn't quite shake. A feeling that made her think of one thing, and only one.

Oddball.

Spectrum grinned down at the decoded pages. He couldn’t believe his luck! After seven straight hours of deciphering he had found the small book was a financial record. A pony’s financial record would tell you their past, present and, if you’re smart enough to figure it out, their future. He swept over the records. Mainly mundane things such as food, water, surgical tools and the like but what caught his eye was repairs on a house in Redheart’s Refuge, Woodswatch, Whitetail Village, And several other such places throughout Equestria. It seemed as though the good doctor had prepared for the instance when he would need to flee. Spectrum knew he would need to search each place for him. He looked out the window. Outside, the town of Golden Pines was bustling with activity as ponies went about their activities. He had taken to the road as soon as he had the book in hoof.

He looked down at the market square from his room window with a neutral gaze. It was a calming atmosphere to be sure and ideal for a scholar but besides that it held a nostalgia of sorts for him. It reminded him of where he came from. He felt a lip twitch as his muzzle tried to form a frown but he held it back. After all one must not forget your roots even if they hold nothing but anger for you. He shook his head of his train of thought and started packing his things. His first stop was Redheart’s Refuge.

---

Crashing looked at his sister, a small smile threatening to form on his muzzle,” Thank ye lass.” He was grateful for the music and it was just what he needed to calm the churning sea within his soul. He stood up straight and gave the sea green mare a light nuzzle. “Ye always know how ta clam me lass. Now then I believe we’ve a snake in th’ grass ta ‘unt. Let’s get to it.” The alicorn rummaged through his bag and pulled out a map. Unfurling it he pointed to a dot by a grouping of drawn trees marked ‘Whitetail Woods’. “I have some ponies under me wing that will eb able ta ‘elp our search. After I've gathered me crew what say we meet up 'ere at Red'warts's Refuge?"

“From there we should be able ta rack our brains tagether ta find this Silver Scalpel. Sides that I’ll ‘ave one of me Captains find out what ‘e can of this scoundrel. ‘e’s got connections with Whitegold ya see an’ I’ve a feelin’ they may know of ‘im.” Crashing rolled the map back up and put it back in his bag. He then extracted a bottle of amber liquid and took a hearty swig. The burn felt welcome to his throat and he put it back. “What ye say lass? Sound like a plan?"

---

The collected captains of the Leviathan Fleet with the addition of Gilded Leaf sat around a small campfire. Mushroom and leek stew in a cast iron pot steamed as a=it was cooked over the fire, it aroma wafting through the air. But the collection of ponies and one minotaur ignored it. They had made camp outside the borders of Manehatten and had acquired much needed supplies once there. Most of the slaves had long since moved on but Gilded and a few others had decided to stay. The thing that bothered them though was that they had been attacked on the way there by a unicorn and Thestral. They won sure enough and even captured the unicorn. Unfortunately the Thestral had gotten away.

“So he’s from Moon and Stars hmmm?” Softstep said as she brought her pewter mug filled with grog to her lips. She smacked her lips after a drought of the green liquid and set it down.

Across from her Bovir nodded,” Yes but they weren’t out for revenge. They were ordered to secure a prisoner for information.”

“Do ya know who gave th’ order lad?” Crosswind’s asked as he warmed his hooves by the fire.

“That’s the only thing I couldn’t get out of him,” the minotaur sighed,” Whoever he or she is the poor bastard refused to speak their name. Dear,” Bovir glanced at Swansong as she spooned a bit of the stew into a bowl,” Do you know of any that could be the focus of such fear?”

She took on a pensive expression as she set the ladle down,” Hmmm I can only say the Archmagister herself or Head Inquisitor Lulamoon...wait there was one. His name was Astral Spectrum. I’d never met him myself but a few of the Thestral Nightstalkers seemed to fear him and mind you these Nightstalkers are something out of a nightmare with the way they fight so it’d be safe to assume that’s who it is. Not only that but he was just appointed as Head Priest when I fled with Bovir.” She scooped up some of her stew and hummed with content at the taste.

“I’ve certainly heard that name,” Gilded grunted from his position,” He visited the Domes once in a while and I could tell he was high ranking. The strange thing was he never approved of the cruelty of his guard toward us and trust me it wasn’t out of kindness. He didn’t think we were worth the effort of cruelty. Besides that I don’t really know much about him.” He drained his mug of rum. “Could try mentioning the name to the unicorn? Might give some insight.”

Bovir stood up,” That’s actually a good idea.” The massive minotaur walked toward one of the small tents that were in abundance in the camp. He went inside and a moment later screams were heard. Crosswinds and Softstep exchanged a glance while Swansong stared at the tent. The screams cut off and Bovir stepped out, clearly shaken. He sat down beside Swansong.

“Dear are you alright?” The mare put a comforting hoof on Bovir’s shoulder.

“I’ll be fine,” he gave his head a shake.

“I’m guessin’ this here Astral Spectrum be our pursuer,” Crosswinds said, his eyebrow raised.

“Yes and what’s worse he bit through his own tongue and before I could stop him he drowned himself.” Bovir had never seen such fear in his life before. Under normal circumstances he would chock it up to devotion but the look in the stallion’s eyes when he mentioned the name…

“Well then I’d say we’ve garnered a dangerous enemy then,” Softstep said. Her brow furrowed as she racked her brain. It was clear they had stumbled into a situation and she would be the first to admit that she wouldn’t know how to deal with such a pony. All she knew was how to use a sword and how to keep a ship from crashing against the rocks. She sighed and drained her bowl of stew,' I've a bad feeling about all this.'

“A partnership you say… how very fascinating.”

Scalpel began a slow circle around his newly arrived guest, keeping a mild but slightly cold composure to the mare. Regardless of what she wanted she was definitely the most interesting thing to drop onto his doorstep, and despite his lack of trust of her he was interested in what this partnership exactly could involve itself into.

“Do enlighten me Doctor Solar Lens of the Manehatten Research Institute, on the nature of the organisation you serve and just why I might consider your polite offer of a business arrangement or partnership.”

“But first!” he paused right beside her, just behind her ear as he continued in a whisper “I would like to know just how you managed to locate me…”

Suddenly continuing off from her he continued his circling, reaching the point of his beginning and smiling amiably at her, but with the same underlying coldness.

“You must understand for a pony in a position such as I…” He gestured around himself at the boarded up mansion , “I must take precautions against…mmmm… security risks.”

“You can imagine what it’d be like if certain people were to find out this sensitive information, I would be required to deal with them under controlled circumstances and ensure that they maintain their silence...”

As he said this smiling the two Risen emerged behind him and unhooded themselves, circling like their master around their guest, their eyes glowing dark purple in the gloom and with expression like they were looking at a particularly fascinating species of colourful insect. The robes still covered much of the upper body, asides from a portion of the upper chest just before the neck which showed the immense wiring, symbology and micro-engines coursing across their half machine bodies.

Scalpel continued “Consider this an act of goodwill on your part, something to make me at least contemplate your offer. After all, even rumours have sources, and those sources have names…”

The smile faded from his face and he looked at Solar Lens sharply, expression entirely serious and icily cold in intent “If you are willing to do that then I believe we can get down to business, if not…” he shrugged, “Well… there are a lot more than just more than us four in this room, and they are a lot less reserved than my dear firstborn’s here.”

"No." Theá shook her head, glancing over the map briefly. "While ridding the world of somepony who would so brazenly defy the very laws that define our universe would be satisfying indeed, I do not yet know if he truly does seek to attain godhood through such foul means." She stood up, briefly returning the nuzzle he had given her a few moments earlier.

"I am thankful for your offer of help, brother, but I feel that this is something I must do on my own. For when it comes to tracking, be they friend or foe, the Hunter is the expert." She offered him a small, apologetic smile. "That is not to say that you are powerless nor insignificant, as you are very much the opposite. It's just-" She sighed, looking off through the trees. "This is one task I want to accomplish by myself, even if I do intend to call upon the rest of you should I need it."

---

It was about four days later when Amaretto reached the town of Northgate. He'd spent mos of his time off-road, doing his best to avoid being sighted by any of the cult or Everfree tribes. Even with his Blessing it was difficult to get out through the forest. Especially when one had to pass between two Everfree camps, one of which were also inhabited, or rather, infiltrated, by the Cult.

Northgate was a pretty little town, cozy and pleasant if one ignored the occasional guards posted here and there. It seemed almost untouched by the war; living the life of the old days... almost. From time to time he saw a dagger hidden behind a cloak, a pair of horseshoes with small pikes under them definitely not made for trekking across ice. He couldn't blame them, though, as he had his own sword--or what was left of it--with him, as well as his armour. It wasn't anything impressive, nor did it speak of any allegiance of affiliation to any of the factions. In fact, he looked more like the mercenaries so commonly seen these days.

It was in the late parts of the afternoon that Amaretto got his first close look at the gates of this small town, as well as the two guards stationed on either side of it. Without fear, and hardly a care in the world in regards to the guards, he made his way towards the inner part of the town, only for a pair of spears to stop him in his tracks.

"Haven't seen you around before" One of the guards asked in a no-nonsense tone. "Who are you, and what're you doing here?" He gave his armour a once-over. "And why the armour? This town is no place for mercenaries."

Amaretto, being significantly happier since he got his daughter back from Whitegold, took a step back and replied in an even and polite tone. "Just passing through, sir. I'm in need of a bed for the night, as well as a refill." He lifted his hip-flask meaningfully. A convenient excuse "Went dry yesterday, and not a town in sight. As for who I am... it's not really important. I'm a stallion passing through the town to get somewhere else. Is that too much to ask?"

The two guards would have none of it. "Name?"

Sighing, Amaretto gave up. "Amaretto Jamison is my own. Happy?"

"Jamison? The Brewmaster family?"

The stallion in question nodded. "Yes, that's me. Though there's not much left after the Whitegold raided our mansion and production machinery."

One of the two guards, the one who had asked his name, stood with his lower jaw hanging. "Really? That... sucks. Certainly explains why your stuff is so rare. You still do have the recipe for when this war is over, right?"

Rather than answer verbally, he pointed at his forehead. "In here, where no one can steal it... Now, can you show me where the inn is, or not?"

The other guard, the one who had been silent the entire time, nodded and pointed down the main road from the gates. "Go down there, take the fourth turn to the right, and the second to the left. You'll find the Rainbow Bridge, as it's called. Silly name, really. Ask for Bifrost, the owner. He'll see to it that you get a room."

Amaretto nodded, a tiny smile on his lips. "Thank you," he said, making his way between them as they removed their spears.

---

He found the inn about half an hour later, having had to ask for directions twice thanks to some roads being blocked off for some reason. Judging by the stench he assumed that it was either a hole into the sewer, or someone had... "cleaned up," so to speak.

Pushing open the door with a small pulse of telekinesis, he stepped inside and immediately located the bar, making a bee-line for it while ignoring the numerous stares he garnered from the other patrons in the bar.

"How can I help you?" The mare behind the counter asked, walking over to him from where she had been sorting bottles before.

"I was told to ask for Bifrost. The guards said he could help me getting a room for the night."

The barmare nodded. "I'll go get him. Wait here."

Amaretto waited for a few minutes while the barmare was out back fetching this Bifrost. She soon returned with a nondescript brown-on-brown earth pony stallion in tow. Well, except for his cutie mark; a glass filled with a liquid made up of least seven different colours. Must be something about mixing drinks. Wasted talent, I say.

"You're here for a room, correct?" Bifrost asked.

Amaretto nodded. "Yes. I can pay for it as well." He pulled out a few bits from his saddlebags, placing them on the counter in a neat stack.

“I certainly expected you to be able to,” Bifrost quipped, though his face didn’t reveal any humour at the statement. “Follow me.” He turned around and walked up the stairs, Amaretto in tow.

They reached a hallway with doors on either side, around fifteen in total and each with a number engraved in the wood. Bifrost stopped in front of the door with the number “7” on it. He pushed it open with a hoof and dipped his head, sweeping the same hoof in an arc to indicate the entire room. “This will be it. There’s a bed, a desk, and a small bathroom through that door.” He pointed to fairly old door in the far right side of the room. “Anything else I can assist with?”

Amaretto shrugged, then shook his head. “No thank you. I got it from here. Will there be dinner served down in the bar?”

“Five bits and I can have it delivered to your room. Ten bits, and I can arrange for the House’s Special Dessert as well.”

One of those guys, eh? Won’t give up until I relent, I bet. Might as well. His horn flared to life, picking up another ten bits from his saddlebags and handing them to Bifrost. “Here you go. Can I have the food delivered within half an hour?”

At the sight of the extra bits, the earth pony stallion’s eyes widened, and the first hint of a smile so far bloomed on his lips. “Thank you, Sir,” he said, taking the coins and putting them into a small bag of his own. “I’ll have the food delivered as quickly as possible.” He gave another small bow and left, leaving Amaretto to his own devices for the time being.

---

Amaretto had lost track of time as he just stared out the window of the room, watching the sun slowly dip towards the horizon.

I hope Theá is right. Faust knows I’d want the Sisters back to end this damned war. Even if things won’t go back to the way they were before, it would still be peaceful enough for me to live without fear for my family… I hope.

A knock on the door. He turned around and opened it with a flick of his horn, seeing Bifrost standing there with a tray of stew on his back. “Thank you,” he said, lifting the tray off of the other stallions back.

Bifrost smiled and exited the room, closing the door after him.

The stew was quite good, Amaretto had to admit, though he was adamant that his wife’s cooking was better. What husband wouldn’t be? He finished the stew in another few minutes, lamenting the lack of vegetables in it. Then again, can’t expect to find as many here as in a twice damned forest. Especially not in these times.

Just as he was about to return down with the empty plate and cutlery, he heard yet another knock on the door. A young pegasus mare with an amber coat and a knee-long, opal blue mane walked in before he had the time to open the door himself, smiling sweetly at him, her golden eyes twinkling. “Hello. I hear you ordered our… dessert?”

Of course… I ended up in a place with whores as well as food. He said nothing, just watched has as she slowly stalked closer, shutting the door with a hindleg.

“Isn’t it hot beneath that heavy armour? I’m sure it’s tough wearing it all day… Why don’t I help you take it off.” She was close enough now that he had no trouble seeing every detail in her face.

When she leaned forward to grasp the strap of his pauldrons with her teeth, he raised a hoof, blocking her before gently placing it on her shoulder and pushing her back. “No,” was all he said. “This isn’t what I paid for.”

The mare blinked, sitting down on her haunches with a perplexed expression on her face. “But you paid for The Dessert?”

“Thinking it was a piece of pie, or cake, or something like that. I didn’t expect a… a whore.”

That, apparently, did nothing to deter her. “But surprises comes in all shapes and sizes, do they not?” That sweet, seductive smile spread across her lips again. “I’m sure a big stallion like you would need someone a bit more… experienced? To take care of your needs.” She stood up again and slowly made her way around him, sizing him up with hungry eyes. “I can’t imagine a lot of mares able to take you on, so… What do you say, Handsome?” She stood in front of him again, dangerously close with eyes half-lidded and glossed lips puckered ever so slightly.

“No.” He lifted a hoof again, pushing her back by the shoulder. “You’re a pretty mare, beautiful even, but I have a wife and a daughter, and there’s no way in Tartarus that I would be unfaithful to her.” He turned towards the window, lighting his horn and placing the empty place on the windowsill. “You’re welcome to stay the night and talk, but under no circumstances will I have you ‘take care of my needs’.” He turned to face her again, silver eyes hard as steel. “Okay?”

“...Okay. Guess it can’t hurt.” The mare shrugged, sitting down on her haunches again with an audible thud. “Not a lot of stallions willing to just chat, most often I can barely walk the next day.” She let out a bell-like chuckle. “Not that I mind all that much, but still… My name’s Amber, by the way, and yours?”

He paused. Should I? ...Nah, hell. No one knows of my allegiance to Theá. “Amaretto. Pleasure to meet you, Lass.”

Lens gasped at the sight of the Risen, out of surprise… and out of escastcy. She looked at the biological-mechcanical creatures with the joy of a child first discovering a butterfly or a rainbow. Her usually reserved face was filled with a smile not seen often even by her grandfather Prancer.

"Extraordinary! Most amazing Doctor!", she said. "I've seen papers on the topic of the use of such mechanics, but never actually implemented. Not even my gr- the Director has accomplished anything like this!" She sounded giddy as a schoolmare, talking rapidly and almost giggling. "I'm almost surprised you'd let anypony see this - quite an honor really."

She then calmed down a bit, repositioned her eyeglasses, and resisted the urge to circle the cyborgs. "Ahem, I apologize Doctor, usually I don't do that. But on to business, and yes I'll answer your questions.

"We have been looking for you good sir for some time. I assure you it's not for some crime or vendetta - my order has little interest in justice. Nor are you the only pony we were looking for. We have a number of contacts through the land, mostly just streetears and merchants and travelers. if they see a pony of interest, then they give us a message. But they do not know the true reason why we seek these ponies. We have our classified reasons to find them.

"As such, one of those lookouts - a missionary of a small cult - had happened to notice one of your companions making grocery trips. They contacted us out of good will, thinking it the will of their newfound deity. They too have no real idea why we seek you, nor of your identity.

She paused for a moment, and raised an eyebrow. "If I may be so frank, we don't even know your true name either. Actually, we don't want to know, depends on your decision. If you prefer another title or name, just say. Sorry for not asking first.

"As to the reason for the search, we must go back some four or five years ago. It was the month that the eccentric Screwy Maple had died of old age, that millionaire known for his isolation and taste in books. He had quite a collection really, many old ones in fact. What most ponies do not know, say for the rumormongers and the nobles of Whitegold, was that he had an interest in Elder lore. His collection on the eldritch and unusual was rather impressive - The Princess in Yellow, De Mole Mysteriis, the Libre Ebon, and the infamous tome by The Mad Pony.

"That special collection of his stolen and put onto the black market. In passed from shady trader to trader, until it came to the hooves of one Marvelous Baker. He had sold the lot at a auction at Threshold Street in Manehatten. You should be familiar with the place and name - you where there four years ago. Of course, it was under an alias, but we got your description from Marvelous.

"So our search began, and through the years we learned bits and pieces about yourself . Not too much - your methods of hiding your tracks is very effective. But enough to discover you were very talented in science. At first we just wanted a book, but we also hoped to you'd join us.

"But first the book… Hopefully you still have the grimore we seek, because among those infamous books was one called The Marvels of Science . Odd that we seek such a mundane sounding title, is it not? But inside… inside may be the key to a new magic, one that allows the unlocking of parallel universes.

Her eyes become cold and stared right into Scalpel's eyes. "If you have the book, we are willing to trade anything you need."

Spectrum trudged along through Whitetail Woods. Rain pitter pattered off his thick rain coat and a chilling cold settled over the forest. A small blue flame kept the chill at bay and offered illumination in the night. His path had put him out of the way of any military movements. It was out of the way, essentially one of the many paths that the now flooded town of Ponyville used for its Running of the Leaves, a once time honored event essential to autumn. The path had long since been abandoned. Now it was a path only known by foxes and the occasional wolf pack.

A few wolves sniffed at him from afar but stayed at a fair distant. The cyan buck’s ears perked as he heard a whine and smirked. He knew the wolves were wary of a new intruder and under normal circumstance would attack but his magic aura, sinister in its feel to those that could sense it, was what kept the predators at bay. His first stop was Woodswatch, though it was close to the war zones it was predominantly untouched by combat. It was peaceful he had heard. He enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere it gave him time to think. In recent days he had heard of the rise in alicorn sightings. He shivered but it wasn’t at the cold or fear, it was anticipation. He relished the thought of meeting one of the God’s that ruled their world.

He wished to pick their brains, learn of what they had seen in the world. They held the wisdom and knowledge needed to bring Equestria back to a Golden Age but the last thing the broken country needed was another set of Sisters. The last twenty years had shown that Equestria couldn’t handle its own affairs. The country had cannibalized itself and the pony race’s dependence on these God’s needed to end, Luna’s downfall should have taught them that much. But no they wanted to cower under the Princess’ skirts.

It made him sick in all truth. Pony kind needed to better itself; they needed to look to the future. Up north the Griffins wait for the right moment to strike. Across the seas countries move to wage war with each other and it was only a matter of time before they set their sights to the broken country too. He had seen the barbaric ways of the settlements across the seas. Scars that marred his coat under the cloak itched at remembering them, mementos of such cruelties that plagued the oversea lands. When he had seen the kindness this land had once been legendary for he held nothing but hope.

Then the war came about, petty in his eyes but he needed to choose a side. And he chose to follow Twilight Sparkle. A smile tugged at the edges of his lips when he recalled the day he met the mare. She had asked him to become part of her council of mages, when it happened he felt honored. The most powerful unicorn in this generation asking a lowly scholar such as he to aid her in shaping Equestria. Of course he'd agree. Who wouldn’t in his position?

Spectrum was shaken from his thoughts when he heard someone yelling out.

“Oi stranger what be yer business?”

Spectrum looked up to see an earth pony stallion with a lantern on his back; his own cloak ragged and well worn.

“Just a weary traveler seeking food and shelter,” Spectrum called back,” Tell me friend where is it I have found myself in?”

The earth pony trotted forward,” Ye be near Woodswatch stranger. I’m Vantage. And you stranger?”

Spectrum felt compelled to use his name but instead one he despised, one that reminded him of years best left forgotten.

“Jadno.”

---

Crashing regarded Thea’s suggestion and he found he didn’t like it. But the Goddess was in her domain in the way of the hunt. She made the hunt an art, all he made it was a bloody mess.

“Very well lass,” he said,” I wish ye luck. I’ve a war ta win in the meantime.” With that he extended his wings,” Be wary lass things isn’t what they seem. I’ve a bad feelin’ an’ I know you feel it.” His gaze become softer but serious,” Don’t lose yerself to yer darkness. Not unless yer willing ta conquer it.”

He took wing toward Manehatten. He had an army to form and a House to bring to its knees.

---

The alicorn met up with his captains at dawn the next morning. They were surprised to see him at such a time, and wary to see him in such a dark mood. The Pirate God was never so grim to them and he looked as if he’d aged centuries. For Crashing he had been surprised that gilded Leaf and his fellow slaves had stayed. When he parted with them the slave had been skeptical of them, now they seemed thick as thieves. If you’d forgive the pun.

The now hundred strong group moved to the coast and took to the sea. They made good time until they came into contact with Seapony scouts.

“Lord Wave,” one said as he bowed in reverence,” We are honored to see you alive and well.

“Aye I bet ye are,” Crashing responded. Gilded Leaf and his fellow slaves gaped at the seaponies. Softstep rolled her eyes and chuckled at their gaping stares.

“Careful mate,” she said, amused,” “You’re libel ta catch a floatin’ urchin.”

Crashing ignored the talk behind him,” Where’s Sunpearl?”

“The Queen is a league north my lord,” another said, his gaze drifted to the land dwellers. A sneer threatened to form on his muzzle but he held it back. He looked back to Crashing,” We will show the way.”

Crashing nodded,” Then do so.”

The scouts bowed and motioned f0or the small army to follow. With swift currents at their back they made it to the main army. The mass of seaponies had made a camp of a set of sand bars off the coast of Stalliongrad.

The captains all bore the same shocked expression’s as the former slaves. Gilded smirked and nudged Softstep,” Careful of urchins.”

She turned a glare at him but a small smile tugged at her lips.

Queen Sunpearl of the Moonlit seas, clad in full battle regalia, swam forward. Twin guards in sliver, white armor flanked her, their faces hidden behind menacing masks. The red mare smiled and bowed to her God.

“Master of the Sea we have awaited your return.”

“Ye’ve no reason ta bow ta me lass," Crashing said with his own bow,” I’m but a lowly retch in the presence of such beauty.”

She giggled, the sound similar to silver bells. “I thank you my lord.” She waved a hoof toward her army,” As you can tell we are ready to aid you in any way you need.”

Crashing looked over the group,” What of Avur lass?”

“He hunts a league away in deeper waters,” Sunpearl looked out to the open sea,” He waits as we do.”

“Well then its time ta bring a certain corrupted soul to ‘er knees,” Crashing said his tone grim,” Gather yer army. We take Stalliongrad first.” He stepped out into the water, his horn glowing deep blue. All was silent until Avur burst form the water, its many clawed arms finding purchase around the alicorn in the sand. Its dragon-like head inches from Crashing’s face. It emitted a sound like a rumbling purr, its black misty eyes focused on the God of the Sea. “Then we take Moon an’ Stars one city at a time. They either give up their ways,” he turned an eye to his captains and the Queen, its iris black as moonless night,” Or die.”

Scalpel had been rather taken aback when she had admired his work, usually the response was one of dread and fear at the attempt to understand and pursue the forbidden, but this mare was different.

She had been ecstatic.

The coldness began to drop a little from his voice and he actually gave her a genuine smile, “My, my good doctor, it’s rare that I encounter someone of your persuasion. Usually ponies are just so” - he pulled a face- “Skittish about these things, but not you…”

He signalled to the two Risen and they ceased their pacing, drawing back just behind their father and standing to attention.

His face changed again, still smiling, but with an underlying curiosity as well as danger and spoke again.

“You interest me.”

“As for my Risen, I have no fears of their replication but by any hooves but mine, they represent years of study and innovation, decades of learning and accumulated knowledge. I believe you understand from your brief glimpse that this isn’t something every hack and their shoddy tools could do, this requires refinement and understanding… understanding which only I will ever have, unless I allow it.”

A flicker of magic coursed from his horn and a shining orb flew out from the shadows behind him and levitated to the centre of the room. On close inspection, it revealed its true nature, a crystal orb covered in runes and magic, pulsing Cherenkov blue and lighting up the room, but not enough to reveal the numerous Drones which lingered still in the darkness.

As the two Risen hooded themselves once again the Doctor continued, his pose less aggressive, but still cautious, his face a mixture of interest, as if he had just discovered something deeply fascinating.

“As for my true name I shall keep it to myself as I have always done, I have had decades to accumulate names and titles all across this nation, but you may call me ‘The Noxferus’.”

The doctor turned and signalled for her to follow suit and continued down a corridor, the floating orb taking point whilst the two Risen moved to take positions either side of her, still silently observing her ever action analytically.

“The Book you refer to? The Marvels of Science? I do indeed have a copy of that volume and have done for many years, in fact I have several editions, varying in age and structure of course, but what would one expect from a book which was banned even before the Inquisition existed? Most of the text is a frustrating mixture of truth and falsehood, real inspirational truths and discovery melded with conspiracy theory and pseudo-science. The trouble is separating fact from fiction, but hopefully you will be able to find what you seek.”

Continuing along a corridor coated in lairs of dust he cast spells of various nature, as he continued the dust rose from the ground and began to slowly sift out of the building, leaving behind the unspoiled nature of the grand house. From underneath the dust arose walls lined with pictures from many centuries ago, doubtless worth a fortune to the correct buyer, fine mahogany floors which now shone dark and polished under hoof, and crisp wallpaper covered in golden patterns of almost alien design. As he passed the various candleholders on the walls, they burst into life with small puffs of flame, lighting up the room further and discarding the darkness which had once ruled undisturbed for years.

“I have already exhausted the secrets and speculations which are hidden within that volume and I have no qualms about trading it, especially given the presence of that volume I acquired from the Manehatten black market within this very house. But as you have stated this is a trade... and I believe you may have something that I require.”

He stopped before a great brass door, a creation of cooper and gold melded together in an unusual near perfect circular design, asides from its flattening at the bottom where it reached the mahogany floor. The entire thing coursed with inscriptions and straight lines branching off in different directions, ending in circular indents in the door. A great indent was set in the centre of the door, a clear spherical cusp covered in matrixes and various changeable locks, requiring a code to fully understand.

Scalpel signalled to the sphere and it whooshed down from above, settling in his hooves as he placed it within the indent in the door. With a solid clunk it sealed itself to the door and began to throb rhythmically. Covering it with his form, Scalpel slowly began to turn the orb in various ways, each turn ending with a definite number of clicks, his ears listening keenly as he did so, every so often he would pause and whisper something inaudibly to it, with a sound returning back as if a bolt lock had just been pulled back. Eventually, with one final thud, the glowing orb stopped and Scalpel lit up his horn and pulled open the door, revealing a dark room within.

Levitating a candle out of its holder, he brought it close to him and stepped into the room, illuminating its mysteries. The room was a large portion of the building, its ends unseen and nestled in shadows, and its vaulted ceiling lost to darkness, but what was seen would have been breathtaking. The entire room made of brass and covered in the same symbols, inscriptions and lines as the door, huge metal bookcases reached far into the sky, towering above them covered in brass metal boxes of uniform sizes, each one big enough to hold one large volume of ancient lore, and each sealed away with the same indentation as the door.

The doctor turned to her and smiled wolfishly, his eyes ablaze with knowledge and an unquenchable enthusiasm for the unknown. “Welcome to the Library, please follow me closely, the darkness is alive with wards against intruders.”

As he progressed into darkness with his companions the metal door closed with a thunderous boom, locked until the houses master decided to open it once more.

“This room is one of many scattered across Equestria, what you see is a fraction, but still… I lack so much for it to be called a complete collection, and this brings me back to what I want from you in return…”

Has he said this he stopped before a circle of bookcases in what seemed to be another circular indent, but this time the size of a boulder, at least three meters across and smooth asides from a ring of circles orbiting around a central circle. With a flicker of magic the indent sprung to life with blue fire, languidly coursing up from nothing and rising high into the air and giving off a heartening glow of warmth. Uncaringly Scalpel ran his hoof through the flames, coming through unscathed despite it flickering around him and grinned.

“Magical fire, it glows, it warms us, but it does not burn.”

The light had revealed two heavily cushioned armchairs, and Scalpel took position in one, motion for Solar Lens to take the other, as one Risen took place behind each of them, standing like statues in the light of the fire.

“What I want is a very obscure and very rare volume of lore. In the wrong hooves it is absolutely useless, and for almost all ponies and lore keepers it has been an inescapable mystery. Only the Sea Ponies of myth are said to have even understood a fraction of what was found there within, and only at considerable loss to themselves.”

“It is called The Black Sun Prophecies and for hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands, it has been indecipherable, written in a strange language or code which no pony now living understands, or perhaps will ever understand. The tome itself is considerably rare, but likely undervalued given its meaningless nature, but I understand there are a few ponies in this nation who still have a copy of it in the hopes that it will be understood one day. I have come upon some… valuable information these last few weeks which could ensure certain possibilities regarding such a book. That, my dear Dr Solar Lens is my price, if you can bring me it I will solidify the deal and give you my copy of The Marvels of Science and perhaps I shall consider even joining your organisation as an independent agent.”

Snapping his attention upwards he sent out a flicker of magic and grabbed a hold of one of the metal boxes far above them. Levitating it downwards he took a tiny orb out of his pocket and began to unlock it in the same fashion as the door. With a click the box unlatched itself and opened, and Scalpel took out a large leather bound tome, turning it to face his guest he revealed the title of the book, The Marvels of Science.

Casually flicking through the various pages Scalpel concluded, “I show you this so that you understand that I tell no lies regarding my possession of the book, and in regards to our deal I will uphold my end of the bargain. When you happen to recover the volume the exchange will take place under my own conditions and under a location of my choosing. But for now I have some questions regarding you and your organisation, most notably your history, just who this Director is and what he stands for…” here his tone grew serious, “and whether your organisation has any involvement with the Gods which now dwell upon our land.”

“If you have questions of your own I will answer them… to a point, I would prefer it if you reserved yourself from ones of a personal matter.”

Locking away the book again and returning it to his position, he relaxed into his chair, legs folded inwards and head propped up on a ornate silk cushion.

“So my dear doctor Lens, are you willing to arrange the deal?”

Len's eyes widened at the sight of the ancient text, bound in leather and with it's yellow pages and black ink. Even at the speed that Scapel passed through the pages, the Scholar could read enough to know this was the very book they sought. It even included the drawings and equations lacking in later editions, with much material expunged by later hooves. It took all her might not to reach out and touch.

"Yes, yes, this is certainly the book from old Maple's Lot," she said. She sat back in the chair in a rather awkward looking position, her back to the chair and legs hanging out. She breathed in deeply to calm herself, to bring back the facade of ice. "I could spend hours just studying your intrusive countermeasures - I've never seen such artistry, such care in the magical arts. And I say this having been the assistant to Professor Prancer Žemaitukas."

"But the other tome… let me think," her mind went through the mental lists of the various Vaults kept by the Scholarship. Her eyes dulled, and began to stare into space. Quickly, she went through the Greenfields list, hoping that Black Sun Prophesy was not among the lost works. When she was certain it was not there, she went instead to her the Director'sVaults. She narrowed down the vast collection down to the Special Collection. It was a collection kept in a hidden location, protected by spells and locks, and only a select few of the order had access. And just in case, those books where chained to the alcove.

In Len's memory, she saw sitting between The Starfire Fragments and Strange Visions was the tome sought by the Doctor. Then she remember the catalog details. "Yes, we have the book - The Black Sun Prophesies, First Edition. Originally from the Longhoof Collection, it was retrieved before the Inquestion could steal it.

She nodded. "It seems we have similar needs for ancient knowledge - from the mystics of the past we can advance the future. We can make the exchange immediately, without delay, by your terms. You can, of course, check the tome to make sure it's the right one before we finish.

Her eyes returned to life, her mind returning from the trance. "As for your questions, Noxferus… Am I using that correctly? I apologize if I am not." She began to blush, embarrassed. "We shall begin with the basics - the MRI is but the visible front for my order. Perhaps you've heard rumors of us - we call ourselves the Scholars…" She provided the details - their purpose, their origins in the pre-Division Canterlot University, and their main mission. "We are headed by the professors of the University who survived the Sack. The Director I speak of is the very Prancer Žemaitukas, the polymath unicorn who owns MRI and many other labs.

"Of course, the Scholars are not a uniform whole," she said. There was a twinkle in her eye. "Most of the order wish to focus on trying to preserving the past. But not Zemaitukas… he's more interested in research. Research unhindered by… ethical concerns. If you join us, you will not be working for the whole order, just for the Director. You'll find he has much more resources than his peers - the patents he has keeps him very rich. And the Vaults provide a vast database to work from. "

The mare stopped shortly, and appeared to clear her throat. But she was confused - why would this Noxferus would want to know if they were affiliated with the alicorns? She decided to avoid the question if she could for the time being. "We offer much in return, but what of your interests? What subjects do you like to work on?"

---

When Charter was back on the ship, he decided that he needed to make a move. After making sure the room was secured, he said "Master Grimwing, I have to get back to the mainland. Captain Crashing… I need to speak with him, it could very well help him win this war."

“Prancer Žemaitukas you say? I am certain I have heard that name before, I believe I heard it bandied around the Canterlot institutes during my studying period at the School for Gifted Unicorns and the University, this was before the your time you understand, when the princesses were still continuing their duties and the races were unified.” Scalpel frowned, “Yes that name certainly rings a bell… I may have read some of his pre-war work during my time there, perhaps even after the school and university was put under Twilights mandate… interesting.”

Inside his mind was turning, devouring the information the young mare was telling him about. He had heard of Prancer, and he remembered certain concerns regarding his disinterest in ethical issues even back then, although they had remained quite muted during his time. He also had heard of these Scholars, who hadn’t? They were rag tag bunch of researchers rooting out old knowledge and protecting it against the storm of swords which assailed the world, like a group of tattered monks without a monastery, now suddenly risen to prominence just within the last few months… an interesting coincidence. In Scalpels opinion they dwelled far too much on preserving the past and not enough in investigating the future of scientific knowledge… but this Manehatten institute sounded like it share his opinion on this matter.

They certainly seemed like an interesting group, and worthy of at least paltry attention, and temporal disruption from his vocational studies.

“Very well, it seems the deal is set, one tome of lore for another, inform me once you have acquired it physically and I will send you a message detailing the location of the exchange. I hope you will not abuse this trust I set in you, or you will be surprised how quickly this” here he gestured around him to the room at large “Can all disappear.”

“As for your question on my interests, I can say that I certainly am a similar scholar to that of your Director. I am a stallion of many talents, most likely if we were having this discussion a few centuries earlier I would be called a ‘Renaissance Stallion’ or a Polymath like Dr Žemaitukas. I have many interests, not just limited to what you see around you, haematology, biological transmogrification, cybernetics, time distortion, at one point I was deeply invested in Necromancy, but I abandoned that due to the crudeness of the subject matter and the little gains that can be made beyond fashioning unwilling servants. Recent decades have seen me move more to the discovery of the prospects of machines and ressurectionism, but my main subject of interest still remains in exploring the fundamental nature of ponykinds connection to magic, and how that might be altered or changed to suit the needs of future generations.”

He grinned at her again, revealing a line of shining white teeth. “You could say I know a little bit of everything Dr Lens, although some matters I am a more proficient in than others.”

A slight coldness returned to his gaze and he stared the Doctor down once more, “I won’t pretend I didn’t notice your hesitation in answering my final question, but I will leave it alone for now. Doubtless your work is not openly acknowledged throughout your organisation; after all, the gods I have met have been sullenly and irritatingly reactionary towards any form of progress. I trust that any help I give to your organisation will remain secret and obscure, as I have no interest in attracting unwanted attention.”

“Regardless, once our first exchange is settled I believe I will have some interest in maintaining contact with your organisation, I may even join it, given a provisionary period where I may observe whether you organisation fits what I would actually desire, certainly your vaults do sound tempting… but one step at a time.”

“Now!” he stated, shifting up into the same position as the mare before him and tapping his front hooves together, “I believe that our business has been arranged, if you have any further questions I will be willing to answer within reasonable bounds, otherwise we will adjourn this little talk and you can rejoin your fellow comrades in research.”

“It has been a definite pleasure to meet you Dr Lens.”

Lens nodded. "Yes, I am aware of how effective you are at disappearing." She blushed at Scapel's comment of avoiding his question. Usually she kept a much better poker face. But in the presence of such genius, the Scholar could not help but be off guard.

Her mind also wondered about his past, this Doctor was a student not just at the old University, but also among the elite unicorns of Celestia's School. Prancer himself was a previous student, but had left due to personal reasons. But the Noxferus was certainly talented to attend both. The University was rather large at the time, so it was no wonder that none of the professors would recognize the face. Lens had an inkling that they might recognize his name, if they knew his true name. But that was another matter.

"And of course, you and your… operations will be only know to a select few, namely me and Director Prancer," continued Lens. "We have others working under similar confidentiality, under the guises of other front organizations and identities. Attention is what Director Prancer seeks to avoid, after all. I fear if word gets out about what MRI is really doing, a mob would be at the Director's doorstep."

After the Doctor rose, Lens rose and gave a respectful bow. "It has been my pleasure to meet The Noxferus. In these dark times, it's rare to meet a pony who can surpass my own abilities." This was no mere flattery - Lens was only moments away from trying to kiss the Doctor. It was a rare emotion she shown, perhaps the closest she felt was the platonic admiration she had for her grandfather. "I will be in the town Inn while a courier, a trusted servant to the Director, is sent to acquire the tome in question. If all goes well, it should be here tomorrow." She waited to be escorted out.

Scalpel gave a short laugh and bopped her shoulder gently, “No need to act so respectful my dear, goodness knows I have argued my fair share with some of the greatest minds in Equestria, the older us researchers get the more we are stuck in our ways of archaic obsolete thinking.” He gave her a playful wink, “Innovation is a thing of the young, and I believe you have a bright career ahead of you if you explore new untrodden paths. The future is yours after all.”

“Anyway!” he announced, rising from the chair and setting himself down on his hooves again “I believe it’s time to escort you out, hopefully we can continue this conversation tomorrow, if all goes well.”

Levitating the candle once again before him, and casting a spell to end the flames in the centre of the room he continued his way back to the circular door through the web way of tall bookcases. Thoughts tumbled through his mind, most notably an interest in what Prancer would want with this book… he would have to investigate the old professor at some point, doubtless he was working on something intriguing, and Scalpel would have to spread his little birds through the organisation to find out.

Exiting the door he allowed Dr Lens through and then the Risen as they followed close behind them, before pushing it closed with a boom of metal upon metal and the sound of sliding locks. The walk through his old dwelling continued uneventfully until they emerged near the hallway and the door to the outer world once again.

Out of the shadows shambled a group of forms, emerging into the light the revealed the baseline forms of Worker drones, walking on two back legs and carrying heavy sacks over their shoulders.

The Doctor smiled “Ah-ha! A new batch has arrived.” Temporarily forgetting his guest he walked across and began to inspect the cargo. He suddenly frowned as he looked within the first sack, “Hmmm…. This is very badly damaged, bandit stock I assume?… a bit young too, well I suppose I will find a way around it. Thinking about it now I have an interesting idea.”

Closing the sack he turned to face the rest of the worker Drones, “Take them down to the Labs, I will see to them in due course. I do hope the others are in better condition than that one.”

The machines whined with the sound of cracking electricity and twisting blades, almost like hounds which knew their master was disappointed, before continuing across the room and entering the left doorway to the Labs, disappearing into the darkness with only the sound of whirring metal remaining as they moved deeper into the house.

Turning back to his guest, his horn flickered with a slight touch of magic and the front door unlocked and opened, revealing the light of day once more.

“Until another day Dr Lens. Goodbye.”

"Why thank you," she replied to The Noxferus complement. In fact, she was more fazed by his words than the corpses being brought in. Though tending to forget how young she was, Lens didn't think of the Doctor as old. There was something timeless about him, and nothing unnatural. She had meet another unicorn, who in his attempts to continue looking youthful only succeeded in looking… off. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but that Doctor Snow seemed fake.

But not The Noxferus, his appearance was genuine and not enhanced by magic. And his mind... what a magnificent mind! Her heart began to beat faster just thinking about him. After biding the Doctor adieu, she stood there looking at the now closed door, smiling and butterflies floating in her stomach. She walked slowly away, as emotions clouded her thoughts.

"Well, I was starting to get worried," muttered Lightwing. Sweat was on his forehead.

Lens shook her head to clear her mind. While she resumed the cold facade, the blush still remained. "If there was any trouble, I would have been fine," she said. They began to trot towards the local inn.

"That's the thing - Nothing was happening. I would have been fine if there was few explosions or something going on inside. But I couldn't tell with all the shutters blocking the way."

"It gone very well. In fact, I need you to make all haste to Manehatten and contact Director Prancer. We made a deal, and a potential ally."

"Now? I'm surprised that the negotiations - "

"The Director wants this book now, especially if his hypothesis about the Canterlot Raid is correct. If he's right… then we must find a defense we need."

"If we can find one, that book is probably just the mad rantings of an alchemist."

"Maybe, but we don't have much choice. I'll prepare a letter, my grandfather should do the rest. Just get the package back to me by tomorrow."

The crushed and fallen leaves of the great autumn oak tree lay scattered and drifting around it.

It was old, old as time itself, old as the universe perhaps, an integral part of everything…

It was rotting.

A gigantic hole had formed centuries ago within its side, a hole now filled with puss, rot, filth decay and chattering life of scavengers. Eventually, due to mismanagement of the tree, the rot would surely destroy it from within, hollowing it out and causing it to eventually topple, killing the tree and adding to the debris of decay around it.

But despite it all, the tree was still beautiful and strange.

Its bark was an unnatural white… something it should not be, but alluring and enchanting all the same. It was like looking at a tree made of ivory and brass, a tree which he desired to create, desired to save from corruption, desired to spread.

One day… one day.

Suddenly the peace of the scene was disrupted by six insects of different colours…. One of orange, one of yellow, one of purple, one of white, one of pink and one of cyan. These insects, they were of a huge size and were menacing each other over who would gorge themselves on the decay of the tree, and so amongst themselves they began to fight.

Scalpel watched fascinated as he saw each team up with the other to fight in greater numbers, only for the next second to strike at each other in foul blows, the white one and pink one danced around each other with deadly skill and athleticism, the purple and orange battered against one another with brutal force, whilst the smaller cyan one stuck in jabs and hits with its talons and pincers. The yellow one attacked anything that came near it.

One by one, the insects tired themselves out and killed one another, it happened so quickly that he barely managed to keep a track of it, but eventually all that remained was the orange leviathan skewering the pink one beneath itself, until it stopped squirming. Exhausted and battle worn, the orange one slouched back into the portal to the rot, intent establishing its mandate.
But it did not happen.

Two great pinchers shot out of the dark and in a flicker of silver, sliced the orange insects head off.

A titanic silver scorpion emerged from the rot and stood erect above the squirming headless corpse of the insect as it bled its foul ichor across the woodland earth. Then, once it had stopped moving in moved back into the darkness and began to slaughter the remaining insects inside.

Slowly but surely, he spread a silver essence across the bottom of the hole, lairing pile upon pile until the rot began to disappear under its shining folds. Soon there was nothing left to show there had ever been rot, only a shining metal crack where bark should have been… shining now, in infinitesimal colours.

“Our time draws near” a voice whispered in its hollow metal way, and Scalpel turned to look behind him at the machine god of his dreams.

But where there had only been horror and distortion before, where there had been sickness and nightmares, there was something different. The machine god, rather than looking like a mockery of technology and wheezing death, had changed.

Its flesh was pure silver now, not in the sense of colour, but in consistency, it was pure metal, unhindered by flesh, or machine of any visible nature, pure unadultered metal, like that of a statue. Across it, in microscopic detail ran endless screams of lines, symbols and liturgy, but also metal hair, soft, metallic, moving and alive as any creature of flesh… it was divine. Its mane was bronze until midway, a golden bronze which seared like the sun into his eyes, only equalled by the greater part which arose in plumes of turquoise flame and flickered across his face like oriental dancers. And those eyes…. Those dark eyes, only lit by glowing purple irises, they were the gateways to eldritch fantasies beyond compare.

“We grow strong now… we grow together, we are nearing the time of Awakening, a time of rebirth, a time of the Black Sun!”

“We shall join… Together! Together we shall see the stars and worlds beyond the black void! We shall see and we shall dance for eternity in the empty palaces above a dying star! We shall become one, and we shall know.”

A flicker of equine emotion for the first time crossed his face.

Fear.

“The Mother of Gods suspects! Her children are hungry for our blood and our deaths! They feed on death, they hunt like wolves, but we shall not die. If need be we shall flee beyond this realm, to where the dark things that gnaw and bite! To the nothingness… To the dark! And the cold!... but if they follow still then we shall have no choice.”

The creature cocked its head slightly, staring at him with an empty face of cold curiosity.

“The First War in Heaven awaits us… and the Old Gods must fall before us. We cannot die. For we are the first… of the Star gods!”

The fear fled it again, and they both turned to observe the tree. Despite the help it had given, the scorpion and its metal protection were being rejected by the upper tree, and now a vicious battle was being fought between the metal hybrid of the lower body, and the upper trunk of the organic body.

“We must begin soon” The machine whispered, “We must be ready… beware the Forest God, for her woods have both eyes and ears….”

***

Scalpel woke with a start at a sudden noise and looked up to stare into a pair of glowing purple eyes, almost jumping out of his seat at the unexpected nature of it.

“Father?” the Risen asked, both curious and concerned at this turn of events, “Is everything alright?”

Scalpel righted himself on his chair and looked himself over, “Fine… just another of those dreams.”

The Risen, Lambda as he had chosen to be called nodded again, both excited and concerned at the same time, “The Lord Within speaks? What does the Sleeping Father wish of us?”

Scalpel frowned at the Risen and the half metal pony backed off slowly, now even more worried than ever. Scalpel realised it might had been a mistake to talk to the children about the dreams, perhaps they would have been better off not knowing at all. Since they had heard it from his lips their reverence towards him had grown tenfold, and they had started to view him as something far more than a parent, but almost a messiah with divine authority. Now he was forced to fit not just a position as a parent, but as a priest as well, the latter being far more unwillingly entered.

Giving up his annoyance he sighed and drooped, he guessed they couldn’t be blamed for it. Suddenly the creator of your entire race starts having dreams about a machine god which tells him they will “become one” with each other, how else could they have possibly interpreted it? They knew his sanity was intact, indeed parts of the machines he even now constructed were from the information he had garnered from these dreams. But despite his desire for apotheosis… he did not want to power and the raw servile respect of those beneath him.

He wanted equals.

However, no matter how quickly they grew in knowledge and intellect, they still remained children.

And the children loved and trusted their Father.

“Nothing…” Scalpel stated tiredly, “He said nothing… except that the time is drawing closer.”

Lambda’s face was a picture of awe and rapture, “The time is nearing? Truly?”

“It would seem so…” Scalpel rose from his seat at his writing desk and looked over the new schematics for the Inner Sanctum of the yet unborn citadel, everything was drawing nearer… everything was getting closer… but the more it did the more he began to feel worse, not just mentally, but physically, like this thing from within himself was telling him more than what he should rightfully be able to comprehend, and it was destroying him from within.

“Bring me to the Corona Star chamber, I must inspect it” Scalpel commanded. The metal stallion nodded and opened the door for him, grabbing a oil lamp and taking point as it lead the way into the darkness of the facility beneath the mansion.

In a matter of minutes they were out of the darkness and into the deeper facility of the factories beneath the earth. Around him the place was a whirlwind of industry run by Worker Drones, as the created machinery in forges, worked at the raw materials for creating their higher Risen brethren, shaped armour for War Drones, and of course, sliced the flesh of corpses and implanted devices to forge new Worker and Warrior Drones for their master. They were the untiring, never stopping, never complaining workforce of the future, and they would only stop when resources ran out, or their Father told them to.

Above them all, amidst the series of gas lamps attached to the ceiling, flittered one of his newest creations, the Spheres.

On the outside they looked harmless, floating brass spheres with rings of inscriptions only halted by an ever moving purple crystal eye and a Black Sun symbol, which was only equalled in strangeness by their merry but electrical sounding childlike voices. But beneath the cheerful veneer of friendliness, they could be as cruel and vicious as the worst of children, and they took joy in doing their masters wishes in the most visceral fashion possible.

So he had employed them as his “rat catchers” and messengers.

Both jobs had fitted them perfectly, their speed was that of a eagle thanks to a complex series of levitation crystals inside the orb, and they were loyal and intelligent enough to remember and deliver even the most complex orders, for as much as they loved him, they seemed to irrationally fear him as well.

As for the rat catching… well, they had been given retractable and spinning blades to keep them happy. Despite the mess they had created when cleaning his house of intruders, they had been extremely effective in that matter.

They were his little birds of prey.

One caught sight of him and hurried down from his patrol, bouncing back and forth almost like a child anxious to please “The rats have all been squished Father! We sliced them with our pretty blades, but more bad mice have been coming in from the night, so we wish to bring our shiny blades to the forest to chase those naughty things away.”

Scalpel nodded, his face stony as he continued on his way “Just as long as you keep out of sight, the townspeople are already suspicious by the sudden lack of banditry in this region, not to mention the quietness of the woods and smoke coming from beneath the mansion. I doubt they’ll complain, but we shouldn’t give them a reason to start a mob.”

“Yes Father!” The sphere did a twirl and launched itself into the darkness, making its way up into the air vents and disappearing from sight.

Now uninterrupted, they continued on their path across the facility, moving into the inner regions beneath the Mansion, pressing onwards to centre, and the object of his desire. Through a solid black steel corridor he marched, alone asides from the silent form of Lambda leading the way. Much like the library above, the place was a work of art, but one designed less in the interest of elegancy, and more for defence and control. The air around it was thick with magic. Where it had been spaced in the library, it was dense here. It was like wading through mud thickened water.

Eventually however they managed to push themselves through, and the door portal soon met them, blocking their way with black steel and glowing purple runes. Impatiently, he completed the necessary combinations and words and the door swung inwards, revealing a large spherical chamber within, lit by the dull glow of purple magic which sparked from huge electrical coils which covered nearly every portion of the room, all centred on a pedestal with a small obsidian sphere. The only disruption to this was the control room they currently stepped into, almost invisible with its huge glass windows.

Far away across the sphere, he saw Nocturne directing construction whilst mending one of the coils, a heavy hard helmet covering her mane and a pair of goggles hiding her predatory eyes from view. He waved, catching her attention, and she smiled and waved back, before gesturing at a Drone to hand her another tool and continue work.

Looking now at the pedestal, he felt his gut clench. Without the technique success, everything would be a disaster, and the Awakening would never succeed. The orb served two purposes, the first being the redirection of the main streams of magic, the second being the control of that magic so that there could be condensed and thus harnessed by other tools into serving his needs, and thus the means of attaining apotheosis.

But first he would need the Prophecies… they held the key to completing it, only they had the inscriptions.

But that would be soon now.

Soon the Awakening would become reality… and a new star would be born.