"RUN YOU FOOLS!" I bellowed out discarding all sense of stealth and caution. Panic surged through all of us as our hooves thundered upon the stone and earth below us. At first I thought we were going to be discovered by the rogue Solar Channelers that undoubtedly occupied my old home town. However it appeared that in our haste to reach my colthood farmhouse we stumbled upon the very thing that Death had warned us about, the spirits of the vengeful dead.

"By Celestia...where did all these...spooks come from!?" Applejack blurted out between gasping breaths.

"Your guess...is...as good as mine! However...less conversing...more running for our lives!" I screeched back in naked terror.

I admit it would have been grand to speak of what was happening but any sense of thought had been easily overridden. To elaborate to what had shaken me so thoroughly was not that I was in the presence of spirits. The act of being able to see and hear ghosts was apparently part of my "employment perks" as Death's Advocate so that was of little surprise by this point. No, what had terrified me was how said phantoms seemed to show themselves. And by that I mean that instead of being white and see through, like they usually were, they were pitch black with burning crimson eyes and rows of sharp teeth.

What made it worse was that they did not even attempt to harmlessly pass through objects in order to catch us either. For each and every single one of them literally tore everything to pieces be it stone, wood, or plant life as they gave chase. Prime examples of this were the numerous trees that violently exploded into splinters right after we raced passed them. Needless to say that it did not take a scholar to determine what might happen should they catch us.

But with nowhere else to run we dashed off to the one place I thought we would be safe, my old colthood farm house on the edge of town. I had supposed that perhaps the spirits had a certain range on them and would soon be too exhausted to pursue us that far. Now, in hindsight it was probably little more than wishful thinking, but with no other options we opted to take our chances. So in turn I steered us down the road that lead us to our destination.

And just like I had never left almost two centuries ago I followed the path by sheer memory until the farmhouse appeared in the distance. Even in the dark it looked as I remembered it. All covered in red paneling and a brown wooden barn right next to it. I no doubt would have liked to gaze upon its features for the sake of old times, but I had obviously more pressing matters at the moment.

We eventually reached the house and we were about to hide in the barn before something odd happened. A strange silver glint that I did not notice before turned off inside the barn before a dark figure opened the right barn door. And while I could not make out their features, I heard them loud and clear as they shouted, "MAKE HASTE! GET INSIDE BEFORE THEY CATCH YOU!"

Evidently there was no arguments from anypony present as each one of the us dove through the open barn door. Then not even a second later the dark figure slammed the door shut right before the silver glint from before returned. The angry spirits denied their prey soon slammed into the barn doors with a violent fury, but were unable to damage them for some reason let alone pass through.

This puzzled me up until I noticed that the silver glint from before was emanating from a large alchemy circle we were now in. And whatever spell the circle cast seemed to be keeping the vengeful dead at bay. A sigh of relief left my lips as I lay on the ground and I was just about to thank whoever saved us until I looked up.

A hoof that glowed with a silvery light was pointed directly at my face in a manner that did not appear at all friendly. Then as the two slitted silvery gleaming eyes that stared at me under the figure's hood narrowed, they began to speak. "Who are you all and why have you come here?" the figure stated in a calm yet firm tone.

I swallowed heavily as I fought the urge to go cross eyed at the hoof in front of me. "My...my name is Blood Moon. I am the Lieutenant General of the lunar forces and these are my friends," I said before swallowing heavily again and adding, "And...and who are you I might ask?"

The figure did not respond at first other than lowering their hoof. Then a deep and exhausted sounding sigh left their lips before they walked backwards and leaned on the closest barn wall. "I have should have known those two spirits would lead me to you all. Lieutenant General Blood Moon, Death's Advocate with his underlings. And I assume that is Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. The very ponies I have been attempting to locate while simultaneously dreading this day with my every being," the figure lamented.

I tilted my head in confusion as I stood up. And as I looked around the others appeared just as confused as I was. "You...you have been searching for us? Who are you? And what do you mean two spirits lead you to us?" I questioned.

Now I was expecting for the figure in front of me to begin talking again, but it seemed that my questions would be answered by a different voice. "We are the spirits that he was speaking of. And for your second question, his name is "Oculus". Also he is avoiding your questions for quite the reasonable motivation," the voice stated before I noticed two spirits begin to walk up to me.

My mouth hung open as eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "F-father? Pure Blood?" I stuttered out.

"I suppose this warrants neglecting that 'in the flesh' jest a second time. And it good to see you again, son. I wish we could be more presentable to you, but we have had a...difficult time as of late," my adoptive father stated as he struggled to hold up a weak looking Pure Blood. In turn I did not hesitate in helping him lay her down so he could rest as well.

Afterwards I pursed my lips before stating, "What happened here?"

However before my adoptive father could reply Oculus piped up and stated, "That is a really long story."

I grinned in response and said, "I was actually asking my adoptive father, but since you volunteered I shall have you explain instead."

He face went from surprise to worry as he sputtered out, "Wait what? You can hear them?"

The grin on my face crawled up further as I replied with, "That I can...Oculus...so I would advise you explain yourself before I have my adoptive father do it for you."

Oculus just stared at me while shaking for a few seconds before further sputtering out, "A-a-alright...b-b-but if I do please promise me that I shall remain unharmed...please?"

His statement truly peaked my interest and I doubt he would have continued if I did not promise him. So I just rolled my eyes and said "Deal."

He seemed to take a calming breath in response. He then lowered his hood revealing as I assumed in that he was a vampire unicorn. However, this is where the normalcy ended and the oddness began. And it was an oddness that I could not seem to place my hoof on. For you see his eyes seemed to glow with a strange silver light that I have never witnessed from another vampire before. Even his fur seemed to be colored in a similar silver shade as his eyes and emanated only a slightly dimmer amount of the same light. But while he was truly a curiosity such analysis would have to take "second fiddle" as it were as I was more interested what he going to say instead.

"A-a-alright...alright where to start. Where to start," he said as he began pacing back and forth before blurting out, "OkayokayImayormaynothavebeensortofindirectlyresponsibleforgeneralsolarburnsneverendingthirstforpower. Andthedestructionofcountlessponiesinhismadquesttofuelhisaddictiontosuchpowerinahorriblehorriblegrislymanner."

I tilted my head at him as my mind slipped into bafflement. I honestly only understood maybe half of what he said, but even then I did not believe what I was hearing. I even turned to face the others and their expressions were similar versions of confusion. Well minus Pinkie Pie, who was not even paying attention. Needless to say this little explanation would require a repeat.

"Umm...Oculus...perhaps it would be best if you repeated yourself. And it would also be best if you...well...used sentences this time," I said attempting to keep it polite.

Sweat began to pour down his face in response as he sat down. He then started to heavily fidget before taking a deep sigh in resignation. "I am indirectly responsible for what happened in this village...and who knows how many others. As my name may suggest I am a scholar specializing in the study of optics or light to the laypony. And no the irony of a vampire interested in the study of light has not been lost on me, but I digress," he then took a deep breath and closed his eyes before continuing, "It did not start out this way. I was young at the time, new to the field and eager to make a name for myself. I worked tirelessly and developed a method to amplify light using alchemy. However, there was a horrible catch to this. Given the law of equivalent exchange to power the amplification process it required something of great value...blood...or I should say the life energy it contained."

He then paused for a moment to gather his thoughts I assumed. And while I desired to make some very pointed inquires I decided to remain silent like the others. I had figured that if I interrupted him, he may lose his nerve or train of thought and ruin the information he was releasing to us. As such we all remained quiet as he began once more.

"It was a heavy price for magic and the only sources I had were a few samples of various blood types and my own. However, one day I had used too much of my own and in a moment of mortal desperation I injected myself with the sample containing vampiric blood. The pain was horrifying and the dark hunger was far worse. Though the worst of it was that my colleagues found out what I had been doing and what I had done to myself. They in turn shunned me and threw me out thus shattering my budding career," he said as red tears began to roll down his face before he continued, "I wandered aimlessly in despair until somepony in the Solar Channelers discovered my research. They soon located me shivering in an alleyway half starved. It all seemed too good to be true. They funded my research in secret until I developed a device I called the "Sunlit Rings of Sanguinity", my greatest work. But in my joy of discovery I had completely overlooked whom I had truly been employed by and for what purpose."

"Let me guess General Solar Burn?" I interjected when he paused again for a long moment.

Oculus pursed his lips for a second and nodded before he stated, "It was he who had corrupted my life's work into what you see around you today. For I discovered too late that his plans were to generate powerful versions of that dreadful elixir called Solar Deliverer. It was also then did I discover that while powerful blood could be used to power my device, less powerful blood could be used instead but more of it would be required."

A red hot rage flared in me as I leered at Oculus. I just could not believe what I was hearing. I truly wanted to remain silent so he could continue, but what he was describing was beyond the pale. "You mean to tell me you created the very thing that allowed Solar Burn's rise to power?! And you helped him drain the lives of countless innocents all to fuel that monster's solar energy addiction!?" I bellowed out.

Oculus stood up in response and matched me glare for glare. "Do you really believe I wanted any of this?!" he yelled in reply before adding, "You were not there! You did not have to sit there and watch those poor townsponies get their throats slit before their bodies were thrown in mass graves!"

"NO! YOU ARE THE ONE THAT JUST SAT THERE! SAT THERE AND DID NOTHING!" I yelled as a red haze crept up on the edges of my vision

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU NO NOTHING OF WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH!" he screeched back as his face contorted in rage. He then began charging whatever strange silver energy he possessed but before he could act on anything his eyes slammed shut in pain and he stumbled backwards. Sickly coughs soon racked his body and then when he pulled his hooves away from his mouth they were covered in blood. "Damn it...my body still...refuses to accept...this damned...thing," he said with a ragged breath.

My anger partially ebb away seeing him in this state. And while it still remained high it dissipated enough to inquire about what he had said. "What is this 'thing' you speak of?" I questioned while fighting to keep the anger out of my voice.

He spat out some more blood before untying his cloak as he raggedly said, "The very key to destroying my thrice damned invention." Then as his cloak fell to the ground, it revealed a hoof sized hexagon shaped silver gemstone embedded in his chest.

I was admittedly taken back from this sight but not for the reason as one would first assume. No, I had seen something similar to that gem before, but it was a foggy memory before it came back to me. Intrigue overrode rage for the time being as I worked to calm my thoughts. And then after a minute of silence I stated, "That is obviously no ordinary gemstone. I have seen one like that before, but that one possessed a golden hue about it while yours possesses a silver one. So I must ask, how did you come about obtaining that?"

Oculus sat down again as he let out a rough chuckle. "As you know of this type of gemstone I assume you know who aided me in its creation. And how Solar Burn was and is able to create that vile potion of his."

I did not have to answer him as I already knew, but the others with me were quite confused. And with my silence on the topic it did not take long before one of them decided to speak up. "What the fuck are you two eggheads going on about?" Rainbow Dash blurted out in obvious frustration.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight snapped but it did not did not faze Rainbow Dash in the slightest.

"I'm sorry, but we just got chased by a bunch of angry ghosts into this barn. Now we've got some random stallion with a shiny rock in his chest and everypony is being all oooOOOooo mysterious. I want some answers as I bet everypony else does too," she snapped back.

I rubbed my temples with my forehooves, but I did have to admit she was correct. So I merely raised a hoof to calm Twilight down before I began to explain. "This is not common knowledge so I am probably not suppose to tell anypony this. However...given the current circumstances I do not believe Princess Celestia would reprimand me too much," I said and took a deep breath before I continued, "Solar Deliverer is indeed the potion that the Solar Channelers drink to recharge and gain their original powers. However to control its production and regulate its supply there are only two ponies on this planet that can channel enough solar energy to create them without great difficulty. One obviously being Princess Celestia herself, but there is another one. That "other pony" was the previous general of the solar forces and his name was "Dawn Bringer". His son Solar Burn probably captured him because he possessed a gemstone embedded in his chest that acts like a solar battery of sorts. This "battery" is able to easily store the levels of energy required for Solar Deliverer production among others things."

After stating my previous explanations I squinted in thought for a few seconds before I said, "Hmm that would explain why they employed Oculus's services, to keep of steady flow of sunlight recharging Dawn Bringer's gemstone. And would explain those grave sites around town that the spirits attacked us over. However...that does not explain why Dawn Bringer would show the secrets of his gemstone to Oculus and why his is silver instead of gold."

Oculus grinned at me in response. "Like I said before, what I possess is the key to destroying my awful invention. Without getting into too many details, the reason my gemstone is silver is because I forged it to store moonlight instead of sunlight. The reason for this is because strong moonlight seems to possess an inverted effect from sunlight somehow. Instead of heating objects, it draws the heat away thus freezing them. Because the Sunlit Rings of Sanguinity are setup to endure the burning fury of sunlight this in turn makes them weak to drastic changes in temperature say by freezing them. In other words the injection of moonlight will cause its lens and metals to warp and shatter thus destroying it," he stated as his grin grew. He then then shot a small beam of moonlight at a nearby small bucket and its surface formed ice crystals.

I had to admit the sight of him doing that was truly intriguing. However before I was able to question him further Twilight ended speaking before I did. "Wait if you could destroy your invention with your current powers why didn't you?" she inquired.

The grin that Oculus had possessed faded to a small frown in response. "I...I underestimated the trauma of more or less cramming the moonlight gemstone into my chest, princess. And to add to my problems the Solar Channelers guarding the rings saw me do this and open fired. I could not get within range without getting burned to a cinder. Thus I had to flee," he lamented before he regained a minute fraction of a smile and added, "However that is where you all come in. You could summon the royal army to storm their base. Then I can destroy that damned device once and for all."

A bout of uneasiness formed in my stomach as me and Twilight looked at each other. "That...that is a problem," I said and took a deep breath before adding, "The royal forces are more or less depleted from the battle with the rogue vampires and lycans. They do not have the numbers required to 'storm' anything at the moment. And in fact they seem to barely have enough to keep order in the ruined city of Canterlot. We are more or less it in terms of aid."

Oculus's mouth hung open for a few seconds in reply before he buried his face in his forehooves. "So that is it hmm? This far only to trip at the finish line. My...fate gleefully loves tormenting me so," he mumbled seemingly to himself.

Despair soon spread to everypony like a heavy blanket. We all had forgotten up until this point that we were just about on our own. Thus I had no idea how we were going to get out of our current situation let alone defeat Solar Burn. But just before I lost what little hope I had left a very distinctive laugh grew in my mind.

"Truly? Are you all demoralized that easily? Sooooo focused on one option that you overlook the other one that is so close at hoof," Death chuckled before I felt his presence leave my mind.

"What? What are you talking about?" I said standing up while thoroughly confusing the others. And while Death did not answer my inquiries, what did happen was in my haste I slipped on some dirt and lost my hoofing. This resulted in me slamming face first into the ground. Then not but a second later something heavy and solid smashed into the back of my head.

I saw Twilight rushing over to me before my vision blacked out for a second or two. But as I regained my sight I saw the object that struck me. It appeared that Star Swirl's tome had come loose from my fall and stuck me before landing wide open. And at first I thought my vision was still off when I noticed that the page in front of me began to shift and move. Then as my vision cleared fully the previously undecipherable symbols on it had shifted in such a manner to reveal something truly...interesting.

My eyes soon widened as I began reading what I had been seeing. It was honestly a long shot. A completely untested and borderline mad method of action. However, we were out of options and I suppose even an insane plan was better than none at all.

"Oculus! Drop the ward!" I blurted out.

His mouth went agape as he shot back, "What?! Absolutely not! If you had not noticed there is a swirling horde of rather unfriendly spirits not but a hoof touch away! And I am not sure about you but I quite enjoy remaining in one piece!"

"If you have any trust in me you will do as I ask!" I screeched back.

Oculus swallowed heavily before he stopped whatever concentration he was previously holding. The silver circle around us instantly lost its silver glimmer but I did not waste any time after it fell. "SPIRITS OF THE UNJUSTLY SLAIN I BESEECH YOU! LEND ME YOUR EARS!" I bellowed out.

Pitch black ethereal fog seeped into the barn as everypony fumbled to get behind me. The fog then formed into nearly countless vague forms of ponies each with seething red burning eyes. Their gazes leered at all of us with overwhelming malign intent but they ultimately remained just out of reach.

Then not even a second later I cleared my throat before I shouted, "WE ARE NO FRIENDS OF THE ONE CALLED 'SOLAR BURN'! FOR HE AND HIS ILK HAVE CAUSED DEEDS FAR DARKER THAN THE DEEPEST WELL! AND FOR THIS I AGAIN BESEECH YOU! PLEASE AID US IN OUR TIME OF NEED FOR I POSSESS THE INSTRUMENT OF YOUR RETRIBUTION!"

The feeling of the spirits around us went from a force of unchained rage to a near limitless aura of absolute desperation. But I in turn did not dwell upon such things as I yelled in righteous fury the words that follow.

"COUNTLESS SPIRITS OF UNJUSTLY SLAIN
FOR DARKEST DEEDS ARE THUS YOU LAIN
RISE UP FROM YOUR EARTHEN BED
FOR I GRANT YOU JUSTICE FOR THE DEAD!"

As a result of my spell the blackened spirits fired away in all directions causing the barn we were in to explode outwards. Then not but a second later I fell to my knees as I begin coughing up pitch black ooze. The strange material then formed an unnatural looking alchemy circle around me whose symbols were completely foreign to me.

Upon seeing this my friends quickly scrambled away from me as black ethereal chains fired from the circle and wrapped around my legs, neck and middle. Then just as I believed my horrible experience had peaked, lightning of the darkest void chaotically arced from my very body right into the town in front of me. But just when the unfathomably large bolt reached the town it splintered off into dozens of smaller ones which each in turn struck one of the many grave mounds that were littered everywhere.

And as quickly as it all happened, it faded just as fast. However, the strain on my body was so great that I collapsed to the ground when the ethereal chains let go. Then everything went quiet. And I wish I could say it was from my weakened body but that was not the case. For not even the creatures of the night dared speak of what happened next.

The ground shook and black lightning crackled from the grave mounds and shot towards the heavens. Then the mounds themselves shifted and moved until countless skeletal hooves burst their way out. And soon the decaying bodies of the fallen pulled themselves free from the earth to walk Equestria anew.

"By...by the stars above. What...what have you done, Blood Mo-" Oculus began to speak before Cloud Streak and Rainbow Dash cut him off.

"WOOOOO ZOMBIE PONIES! EAT THEIR FUCKING BRAINS YOU ROTTEN BASTARDS!" they blurted out in unison while completely oblivious of the various stares upon them from everypony else.

I probably should have scolded them on how terrible of a taste those statements were. I could have even stated that I was going to limit their obvious overindulgence of horror comics before bed. But that is not what actually happened. For you see I am not certain if it was my fatigue or the sheer amount of surrealism that has happened up until this point, but I broke into hysterical laughter. This of course bewildered many of the others and clearly horrified Oculus.

"Have you lost your mind?! You just summoned the vengeful dead from their very graves! And you find this humorous?!" Oculus screeched out while making the most amusing mixture of facial expressions.

I quelled my laughter after a few seconds before I summoned my scythe. Then looked him square in the eyes and said, "Gone mad? Oooh no no nooo. That would indicate that I have not already been there this entire time. Besides I find it truly hard to sympathize with ponies whom have probably slaughtered thousands for something so petty as their damned addiction to solar energy. And by Tartarus having the ones they have slain down the years destroy them is quite the fitting and poetic end if I do say so myself."

Needless to say I left Oculus gaping at me while I addressed everypony else. "Alright it appears we have gotten our chance. Now as you all probably have assumed I do not control the risen dead so we shall have to be cautious. I doubt they know friend from foe at this point so they may end up attacking us as well," I said before gathering my thoughts and adding, "Rainbow Dash and Cloud Streak, fly above the town and report the movement of the risen dead and our foes. We will need to know as much as we can."

"Yes sir," they both stated before they flew away.

I then turned to Twilight and stated, " Twilight, you, Spike and the other elements minus Rainbow Dash please take point. You all are probably our best chance at plowing our way to the rogue Solar Channelers' base."

"Okay," she replied as she attempted to steel herself.

I then turned to Night Fang, Sharp Fang, and Silver Mane before stating, "You three guard Oculus with your lives. We need to get him in there alive and in one piece. That device of his needs to be destroyed for the good of all ponykind."

"Alright," Sharp Fang and Silver Mane replied as Night Fang merely nodded her response.

I then turned to Oculus and said, "I am sorry for what has happened to you. I truly wished this had never happened to anypony. However it did happen and now we must deal with the consequences. If you are true to your word I ask you to fulfill what you have previously stated. That device needs to be destroyed."

"Indeeeeed. One way or the other, this nightmare I aided in creating shall end," he replied as the silver gemstone in his chest glowed brighter.

And then just as I was about to leave I turned to the spirits of my adoptive father and Pure Blood. "I cannot thank you two enough for what you have done. For this and everything else. I truly wish we had more time together and that we did not meet under these conditions, but it seems fate is not always the kindest. However, I ask you two to remain here for the time being as you have already done your part. And I promise you both, when this is all done I shall be here to see you on your way myself," I said as I straightened my back.

My adoptive father gave me a weak ethereal smile and said, "I know I did not state this nearly enough when I was alive. But I am proud of you son, we both are. I am sorry we could not be there for you all these years, but again as you stated, fate is not always the kindest. We will be waiting for you here when this is all done. Now go, end this nightmare once and for all."

And that was that. Twilight and her friends took point as we galloped through the swirling mass of the risen dead. High above Rainbow Dash and Cloud Streak barked down directions on where the dead were most concentrated and where they were going. And this continued until we reached the center of town where there stood a rebuilt town hall.

Rogue Solar Channelers were all around us by this point, but we were ultimately lucky in the fact that the sheer mass of the risen dead drove them back. In fact they were so outnumbered we met little to no resistance minus the occasional crazed "zombie". This in turn lead us to the front doors of the town hall that the risen dead had made short work of. This building however appeared to be a front in that it had stairs that went deep underground. But even this served as no real obstacle as we rushed our way through until we finally arrived for what we came here for.

The double doors to the Sunlit Rings of Sanguinity remained closed but we broke them down in short order. However upon doing so two figures sped from the room. Though it was strange in that it appeared that one was chasing the other more than running from us. We in turn left Oculus, Night Fang, Sharp Fang, and Silver Mane to destroy that foul invention as we charged onward.

And so we galloped and galloped following those two figures running down hallways and passageways until we were forced to halt. For when the two figures entered a final room at the end of a hallway two large golden doors slammed shut and sealed us out. We in turn tried to force our way in, but the magic on the doors proved too strong to overcome so easily. But just when we were going to throw everything we had at it I overheard something that I made everypony stay their hooves over.

Because from behind the door I heard two voices shouting at each other. "We-we do not need to do this!" the first voice pleaded.

But the second voice was much less kind. "I could never believe whom I helped bring into this world! Your mother would have lamented what you have become! The horrible deeds that you have done in the name of what? Power?! NOTHING BUT YOUR DAMN LUST FOR POWER!" the second voice snarled.

"I couldn't help it! You know what it's like living with this magic! I can't sleep! I can't eat! I just want more and more of it!" the first voice snapped back.

"AND YOU THINK THAT EXCUSES YOU?! YOU HAVE SNUFFED OUT COUNTLESS LIVES! YOU HAVE DESTROYED THE VERY CITY AND KINGDOM YOU SWORN TO PROTECT! YOU EVEN FORCED ME TO WATCH AND FUEL YOUR DESCENT INTO MADNESS!" the second voice howled in rage.

"What-what are you doing?! No! STOP! STAY BACK!" the first voice pleaded again.

I then heard magic discharge and it shook the walls around us. But this did not last long before the first voice let out a terrified warbling scream. Then not but a second later the sound of screeching metal on metal transformed the scream into a choking gurgle and then silence.

But right after when all went quiet I heard another voice that was similar to the first. "F-father? W-w-what have you done? Where am I? Why am I like this? I'm scared...so scared," they whimpered.

After that voice had said its final statements I heard Death speak from everywhere and nowhere. "Scared are we? Yes, I am sure that is how your victims must have felt before you ended them. Oooh for all the souls I have sent on their way yours will be one of the ones that I enjoy the most. Do have a nice trip will you..."

Then out of nowhere a booming voice bellowed out but a single word, "GUILTY!"

I could then hear the familiar sound of that awful burning portal open up before listening to wailing screams of the soul of somepony getting pulled into it. And afterwards silence reigned again.

Seconds later the glowing golden symbols on the door in front of us faded before the doors swung open. Behind them in the middle of the room on a throne sat a lone figure with a golden gem in their chest. Next to them was the unmistakable body of Solar Burn. And upon noticing us the figure dropped the greatsword they were holding and said in a ragged voice, "I knew that you all would be coming for him. However, as it was I who aided in bringing him into this world, it was my responsibility of taking him out of it."

I was puzzled for a moment, but I soon recognized who was speaking to us. "General Dawn Bringer I assume?" I questioned.

"Unfortunately yes, it is I" he replied as he walked over to us. He then let out a low chuckle before adding, "I apologize for what my son has put everypony through. I...I did not think he was capable of such atrocities."

"With all due respect, General, do not apologize for the acts of your son. For I fear that the stallion that you raised all those years ago perished long before today," I said and saluted him.

A small glimmer of a smile crawled up his face as he said, "I too fear that you are right. Now please, let us away from this place. It possesses far too many horrid memories for my taste."

I smiled in return and said "Agreed."

And such was the end of the rogue Solar Channelers. So consumed by power they met their end by those they had used to obtain it. Such is the way of evil.

In turn Oculus succeeded in destroying the Sunlit Rings of Sanguinity though the attempt had hospitalized him. The vengeful dead got their justice and passed on. General Dawn Bringer was reinstated under the command of Princess Celestia though he would have much work to do. And lastly I had revisited my adoptive father and Pure Blood before saying one last farewell as they passed through their very own white ethereal portals.

But after all this I sat back in Canterlot alone with Twilight fearing for this day that I dreaded. Death met with us just as the sun dipped under the horizon.

His shade form stepped forth from a black portal before he sat down in front of us. "Sooo it appears the mission that I have tasked you has been completed, he said in an even tone, well even for him anyway.

Both me and Twilight swallowed heavily before I said, "In-indeed it has. I suppose I shall cut to the chase and respectfully ask for us to remain on this mortal plane."

Death tilted his head and scratched his skeletal chin with his forehoof as he said, "Hmmm well you two did indeed make valuable assets. However...it is truly not my call to make."

I swallowed again before Twilight spoke for us this time. "Begging your umm...pardon mister umm...Death sir. But who is well... whose call is that to make?" she said in a shaky voice.

However before Death could state anything a cloud of butterflies flew up next to us before forming a vague pony shape. "That'd be my say dear princess. For it's my job to regulate the life in this world. However, I do have to agree with my counterpart in that you two really are valuable assets. And by the wellspring you both lasted far longer than Death's previous choices. Although there's one teensy little problem we need to address if you two wish to remain here," Life said through her swarm of butterflies.

"What problem is that?" me and Twilight replied, both of us filled with crippling suspense.

Life looked over at Death as he chuckled to himself. Life then matched his laugh in her own way before stating, "We both are the balance between life and death in this world. And currently that balance is tilted in Death's favor. However being as Death is already linked with Blood Moon I suppose this falls on you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. So I'll ask you this. Are you sick of being Death's lackey and having that tacky black fur all the time?

It did not take much thought to discover what Life was alluding to. In other words, Death had his own advocate so Life required one to balance the scales if you will. So in turn Twilight took on the mantle of Life's Advocate while I remained in the position that I was. A strange course of events if there ever was one but I supposed it beat getting sent to the afterlife.

And though I could not have been happier with the results of what had taken place. The rogue forces had been destroyed. Me and Twilight still remained in this world under some new and interesting conditions. I ultimately had to acknowledge something I would never have thought in my wildest dreams. That even when the future looks it bleakest, there is always something there that is a glimmer in the night. A proverbial "spark in the dark" if you will...hope. And well the fact that I am far too stubborn to quit, especially now when I have even more work to do.

Next Chapter: Chapter 50: Epilogue Estimated time remaining: 4 Minutes