"A what?!" Princess Twilight shrieked as another roar came forth.

"It is a monster from ancient times; I thought we killed them all five hundred years ago. Guess we missed one," Iscariat said focusing heavily on the memory, as he rapidly skimmed through it.

"What should we do?" Princess Twilight asked, her friends huddling beside her in terror.

"Run, run as far as you can, as fast as you can, and don't look back. If you reach a river cross it, and if you can’t jump in it; Rorschachs are weak against water, it literally hurts them," Iscariat explained.

"And what about you?" Fluttershy asked cringing behind Rainbow Dash.

"I still have to get what we came for, but don't wait for me run! I can handle myself, but this foe is beyond any of you," Iscariat said skimming through his memories on over drive.

"But we..." Princess Twilight tried to protest, but Applejack stepped forward and merely nodded her head; Twilight lowered her head and sighed. "Okay, we'll meet you in Ponyville, at my house. Let's go girls."

Iscariat let out a sigh of relief, for it would have been impossible for him to protect himself and them from a fully mature Rorschach let alone find the damn memory; which seemed to be at the bottom of this bubble due to how many memories he has skimmed through. "Looks like I'm going to have to kick this up a notch," Iscariat said to himself, as his horn made a crisp crackling sound, then shot a powerful beam that uncoiled the memories in the bubble, and maintained them as small holographic projections that hovered around him. The tremors grew stronger with each passing moment as he rushed from one memory to the next, until at long last he found it, and with a light speed skim he acquired the information just as a black mass crashed through the tree line. Not even pausing to look, Iscariat kicked the rusty iron goblet back into the basin, restoring it to normal, and with his saddle bags already secured he galloped out of the grove faster than a bat out of hell. Leaping over the Font, the Rorschach gave chase with its six legs propelling it at an incredible speed forcing Iscariat to go off the path and into the dense brush in hopes of losing it by crisscrossing through the tree line.

Were the Rorschach any other beast this tactic would have prevailed, but its corrosive skin made any way it went through a straight and narrow path; "Bloody fridge, I forgot, Rorschachs created all the forest paths," Iscariat said chastising himself for overlooking such an important detail. Running for his very life, Iscariat contemplated his situation, and then calculated his odds, and with some very generous rounding he concluded he had a one in five hundred chance of escaping but only if he made the right moves. Feeling the Rorschach closing in, Iscariat pushed his leg to their limits just enough to dodge the Rorschach's sweeping claws, and jump through the tree line into another grove; though this one was about the size of the Canterlot Royal Maze. Catching his breath, Iscariat teleported a few yards back as the Rorschach crashed through the tree line, sending whole trees into the air that landed a few feet short of Iscariat's two hundred yard distance.

In the light of the Moon Iscariat gazed at his foe; now a Rorschach, in its purest form has no defined shape, but rather appears how its prey sees it, and in Iscariat's case it was a six legged, serpentine dragon with razor sharp claws, a forked tongue, ram horns, and spikes running down its back. Wasting no time, Iscariat used his pyromancy to scorch the grass beneath him to draw out a complex array; however the Rorschach wasn't just going to stand there like a lemon, and commenced to charge at him. Iscariat was not fazed by this, for he had chosen this particular area not only for its size, but what lay beneath, and with a crackle from his horn he sprung his surprise. Erupting in front of the Rorschach was a huge lava geyser that obstructed its straight charge, but obstructed does not mean halted, for the Rorschach merely side swiped it and pressed onward. Iscariat hoped the Rorschach would take the bait, because just as it went around the geyser another one, and then another sprung up in succession.

For a normal Unicorn such spell casting would place tremendous strain on the caster, but Iscariat has spent the last one thousand years honing his skills; not to say that he is without flaws, as that would be impossible. The Rorschach, though large, was not without grace, for in this serpent like form the beast easily slinked its way around every geyser Iscariat triggered.  Iscariat was so close to completing his array, but the Rorschach proved more adept at his little gauntlet than he anticipated, and so he pushed things to the nth degree by creating a wall of lava. Triggering a slew of geysers at once, Iscariat conjured a literal wall of lava that forced the Rorschach to halt, but only for a second, as the beast made to side swipe this obstacle as well. However, Iscariat had the wall curve and grow at a rate that made getting around it difficult, and yet the Rorschach, defying logical predication yet again, did just that.

"Dragon! I had to see dragon!" Iscariat bellowed as the Rorschach leaped at him with its razor claws, but it didn't matter, because his array was complete, and with a crackle from his horn the array came to life.

The Rorschach brought down its claws hard, seeking to filet Iscariat in a single stroke, yet before the claws could connect a stone fist came out of the ground and caught it. Rising from the earth were four, fully armored, humanoid constructs each bearing a sword and shield made of solid steel. The construct grasping the Rorschach's front right leg lifted the beast over its head, and then tossed it into the still burning lava wall. The Rorschach cried out as its body was scorched by the lava's flames, however the injury was cosmetic at best due to its natural tough skin, and dragon scale augmentation. Telepathically controlling all four constructs, Iscariat prepared to unleash a relentless barrage of attacks at the monstrous Rorschach; "I grieve for you, Rorschach: the last of your kind from a bygone era, but one of use has to fall, and I swear it won't be me," Iscariat said gazing at the beast with a mixture of pity and anger, before ordering his constructs to attack.

Attacking as a single unit, the four constructs brought down their swords hard upon the Rorschach, but the creatures malleable skin proved difficult to slash, and so the strikes were little more than paper cuts. Working around this natural defense was hardly a challenge for Iscariat, who commanded the constructs to focus solely on piercing attacks; which proved far more effect due to the skins design to simply conform to any strike. The Rorschach suffered notable damage, though it was far from out, for while piercing attacks were its kryptonite the shear difference in speed between slashing and piercing made it easier to dodge any critical injury. However, the pace of the battle quickly changed when Iscariat had his constructs chain magic spells that Iscariat channeled through them, into their sword strikes. The Rorschach was knocked completely off balanced by this unorthodox fighting style; unable to read whether a thrust or a spell was coming at it.

In a matter of minutes the Rorschach was severely injured, its body littered with holes from the constant thrusts, and other parts scorched by the streams of fire the constructs would chain into their thrusting attacks. And yet, despite the head way, Iscariat was the most worn out due to the incredible tax of commanding the constructs, and casting the slew of pyro spells he had them use. The Rorschach was furious, though with the mindset of a lesser beast this fury was not the embodiment of emotion but pure inbreed instinct. The instinct to not back down before prey and always maintain a position of strength was what fueled the Rorschach's rage, and in this state another instinct was awaken; the instinct of absolute. In this state of being a Rorschach's body is released of all limitations, allowing access to its absolute maximum everything, from strength to stamina; though with its limiters removed a Rorschach can easily kill itself should its body surpass even this absolute cap.

Preparing for their apparent final strike, the constructs completely missed the Rorschach, because upon its instinct of absolute kicking in it easily leaped over their heads, and actually thrust a claw fist through a constructs back; armor and all. Iscariat groaned as the construct's pain was channeled into him, clutching his heart he nearly toppled but recomposed himself at the last minute, and before his construct shattered he had it cast its blade to one of its brethren. Striking while Iscariat was still off balance, the Rorschach used its powerful tail to shatter the legs of two other constructs, permanently incapacitating them, and thus leaving one; the Rorschach's one and only mistake. Though wreaked with pain, the Rorschach preformed an unexpected favor to Iscariat, for with only one construct left mobile Iscariat could have it preform nth level attacks, and that is exactly what he did. Matching the Rorschach in speed, the construct came down hard with a slew of sword strikes, chained together with a wide array of elemental spells from fire to lightning that completely overwhelmed the Rorschach pushing it to the danger zone of the instinct of absolute.  

In a final set of fluid motions, Iscariat had the constructs use all the swords at once to impale the Rorschach onto the ground, and then with the assistance of its two handicapped brothers, the three constructs blasted a combined, ear piercing, sound wave that was amplified by the impaled steel swords. For good measure, Iscariat had one more geyser go off, only this one was the largest and most pent up, and , per his end game, was positioned right under the Rorschach. Pushed to the border of its limits and beyond, the Rorschach knew in its heart that it could not win, and so rather than dying a pointless death it drew upon the last of its strength to break free of the steel sword, and then ran back into the forest defeated and famished. Safe for the moment, Iscariat thanked the three constructs before dispelling the array, and thus returning them to the earth from whence they came. Alone now, Iscariat collapsed on his haunches, completely drained just as the sun peeked over the horizon, unable to move much he rummaged through his saddle bags and extracted a long smoke pipe made of rare red wood.

"Hello, old friend, time to make my troubles melt away," Iscariat said to the pipe, as he filled it with pipe weed, and then indulged in his favorite pass time.

Iscariat gazed deeply at his pipe, a treasured gift from his great grandfather, a simple, yet elegant, little thing with a long shaft that curved slightly at the tip, a decorative etching of filigrees ran along its left and right sides, and around the tobacco chambers rim was a ring of pure silver. Rings of smoke billowed over his hand as he dragged deeply on the pipe, soaking in the smooth flavor of the tobacco as he rolled it around in his mouth before allowing it to billow out of his mouth as either perfect rings or a small cloud. After an hour or two of just resting and indulging one of life's pleasant comforts, Iscariat cleaned out his pipe of ash, carefully placed it back in his saddle bag, and then trotted off to Ponyville. It was midday when Iscariat arrived at the Great Oak, its burgundy door coming into view, then suddenly opening as Pinkie Pie came gallivanting out, and leaping onto him causing them both to fall onto the ground hard. The bliss his pipe brought upon him naught but a few hours ago was instantly destroyed by this shear act of stupidity and revelry, his head ached from the fall, and his still tender limbs now throbbed uncontrollably.

"Oh my gosh, you're okay! Not that I assumed you weren't okay, but after getting an eye flutter, twitchy tail, wobbling knees, and whole body shake, I just knew something big was going to go down. I'm talking epic show down big with fire, swords, golems and dragons, and when I told the others they didn't believe me, but now you're here and can tell them I was right. So go ahead, tell them!" Pinkie Pie rambled while still sitting upon Iscariat.

"I have three words for you; Get! Off! Me!" Iscariat shouted pushing the young mare to the side and into a pile of hay. "Honestly, there is no time for this."

"Curator Iscariat, I demand you calm yourself. Pinkie Pie was just expressing her relief at your safe return, albeit she could have dialed it down a little," Princess Twilight said with a stern expression, her shadow seeming to tower over Iscariat.

"Yes, your highness," Iscariat said with a solemn bow. "I'm sorry for my outburst, as well as shoving your friend, it was most uncalled for."

"It's okay, takes a lot to get under my skin," Pinkie Pie said, a smile for miles brandishing her face.

"Right then, may I enter, your highness?" Iscariat asked, not daring to cross without verbal permission.

"By all means, make yourself at home," Princess Twilight said stepping to the side to allow Iscariat access, and once inside he placed a large scroll upon the small table to the far left of the room. "What is that?"

"Just a blank scroll, your highness," Iscariat said laying down an inkwell as he opened the scroll, and dipped a quill in the ink. "But give me a few hours and I assure you it will be much more."

"I understand, we'll get out of your mane for a while longer, but I'll leave my number one assistant, Spike, in case you need some help. Oh Spike, can you come in here?!" Princess Twilight shouted as a stout, and short, purple and green scaled dragon came out of the kitchen; a half-eaten black opal in his right claw.

"What do you need?" Spike asked munching on the opal with great delight.

"Me and the others are stepping out for a spell, this is Iscariat Faust, the curator I told you about. Can you be a dear and help him with whatever he needs?" Princess Twilight asked.

"Sure, no problem," Spike happily replied finishing his opal snack with one big crunch.

"Great, we'll be back at sun down. Come on every pony, let's give Iscariat some peace and quiet," Princess Twilight said as they all exited the library with Spike closing the door, and placing a "Sorry, but we're closed," sign outside.

"So...need anything?" Spike asked picking up some books that needed shelving.

"Not really," Iscariat replied barely making eye contact as his full attention was devoted to his quickly filling scroll. "Though I will be running out of room to write soon, would it be okay if I could use some of your blank scrolls?"

"Not at all, how many do you need? One? Three? Nine?" Spike asked as he shuffled to the supply closet.

"About twenty-seven should do," Iscariat dead panned, Spike almost had a heart attack.

"Tw...Twenty-seven blank scrolls? What are you writing, a novel?" Spike asked, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"I understand it is absurd to request twenty-seven scrolls, but it is essential for my task," Iscariat said finished with his first scroll, and then moving on to the next Spike was kind enough to unfurl and lay out in front of him. "Thank you."

"So, just what are you writing?" Spike inquired as he piled up all the necessary scroll, and then propped up a chair next to Iscariat for himself.

"Long story short, I'm writing from memory close to a ten hundred thousand word, volume, while translating it into modern Equestrian; for convenience," Iscariat explained.

"From memory? Wow, that is amazing! Not even Twilight can do that, or at least not that many words," Spike exclaimed in astonishment.

"Well I have an unfair advantage," Iscariat chuckled laying down the quill for a sec as he grabbed a random book from the closest shelf, and then skimmed a random page for less than a second before handing the open book to Spike. "Ahem...In the year twenty-four fifty-five of the first era, the town of Trottingham was established by the Earth Pony, Sir Buckly of Crine as a way to get away from the politics and Unicorn dominated cities, and in time grew to be a prosperous region in its own right. For more than five generations, Trottingham has known nothing but peace and bliss while the rest of Equestria either fell into turmoil or suffered struggles of a different sort; from abroad. To this day no army, domestic or foreign, has ever set foot in Trottingham, and while the citizens now consist of all three tribes Earth Ponies are still the more dominate and as such most of the town is tailored to Earth Pony specifications. Magic is only frowned upon when used during time honored traditions, even the Pegasi are not recommended to use their wings during such times. In all, Trottingham is a rich town of history that should not be over looked simply because of its ruralness or somewhat backwards way of thinking. Did I get it right?"

"Word for word, how did you do that?" Spike asked closing the book as Iscariat returned it to the shelf; without his magic oddly enough.

"It is a special skill I attained when I received my cutie mark," Iscariat said sitting back down beside Spike. "Put simply, I just need to take one good glance at any written literature, and it becomes imprinted in my mind for seven days. After seven days, if I have not committed it to true memory then I simply forget."

"That is awesome," Spike said handing Iscariat another scroll.

"I like to believe so, though it is highly specialized, and thus useful in a very limited field," Iscariat said completely yet another scroll.

Over the next two hours Iscariat wrote up a storm with Spike replacing his scrolls, quill and ink when needed, as well as asking the stallion tons of questions; to which Iscariat gladly supplied answers to. At three o'clock in the afternoon, Iscariat had succeeded in creating a fully translated, though extremely long copy, of the Sixth Scroll, and while he was pleased with his head way, the time to rest was not yet upon him; for now he had to reread, in fine detail, everything he has just written. Realizing what was laying ahead for Iscariat, Spike went into the kitchen, and set a big kettle of coffee to boil, then presenting the first of many cups along with a small platter of donuts; mostly plain since the sprinkled ones contained bits of sapphire and rubies. Pouring himself into every word, Iscariat found nothing too interesting, so far the Sixth Scroll proved quite a letdown; "If this is the most dangerous volume of all, then I'm a snail, because there is nothing all that deadly about some of these spells," Iscariat said, and Spike couldn't help but agree after reading some of the passages himself. Though a tad disappointed with the lack of any forgotten spells that warranted the level of caution he was taught to award these scrolls, Iscariat chose to remain skeptical as nothing in this life was ever what it appeared to be; he was proof of that.

"So, what kind of magic do you specialize in?" Spike asked, kind of bored of just reading.

"As curator, I'm more of a jack of all trades," Iscariat replied setting aside one scroll to compare to another, thinking that perhaps the spell in one was linked to the other; they weren't.

"Sounds like Twilight, but surely you have one you prefer to use. Your go to branch of magic," Spike said taking a bit from one of the gem sprinkled donuts.

"If it is based on preference, then it is undoubtedly this," Iscariat said as he read a scroll, and then, without even turning to face Spike, his horn shot a grey beam a few feet from the young dragon. When the grey beam collided with the library floor, a circular array, with runes inscribed around it, manifested, and from its center rose a humanoid creature made of wood. The wooden creature stood at seven feet, its arms stretched all the way down to the ground, some stray branches stuck out of its rough, bark, body, a bush of spiky leaves formed a beard upon the creature's face, and for eyes it had a pair of polished, black, stones. "The magic of conjuration; the art of summoning everything and anything to your aid."

"What is it?" Spike asked pointing at the wooden creature.

"He is a forest sprite; an ancient spirit, that has all the powers of a forest at his command," Iscariat replied reaching for another scroll. "I can summon even adult dragons if the need is great, though I refrain from doing so, due to some dragons being more trouble than they are worth."

"Conjuration magic sounds very practical, wonder why Twilight never tried it?" Spike said, his attention turned back to the scrolls as the forest sprite vanished from whence it came.

"It may be practical, but it takes years of training and study to conjure even the simplest of things," Iscariat explained.

"Hey, I think I found something," Spike said beckoning Iscariat over to him.

"Figures it would be in the last scroll," Iscariat said grasping the scroll in his magic, and holding it up so both he and Spike could read it. "Okay...hmm...Awakening Array? Well it's the only thing here that can easily lead to problems, but Sombra would incapable of using it."

"Why is that?" Spike asked confused.

"Because Sombra, unlike other ponies, was not born but made using the same black crystals he himself uses; he is a kin to the crystal ponies except he is hollow," Iscariat said. "Due to this he is already at his full potential, so to use an array that awakens just that would be asinine for him."

"But look here, it says the Sun and the Moon must share the sky for this array to work," Spike said pointing at the line of text.

"That explains why he kidnapped the Princess, but still..." Iscariat was not convinced, King Sombra had an end game, and this array was the key; yet how everything fits still alluded him. "I'm almost positive this array will not be used in its purest form, or proper manner. Never the less the amount of magic needed to activate it is unattainable, even if every Unicorn and Alicorn contributed."

"I know, the only thing that can output this much would be a Leyline," Spike scuffed with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but you would need more than one. It would take at least twenty, which would be about five Ley-Gates; each one containing four Leylines, and they would have to be connected somehow into a circle, otherwise they are just points," Iscariat said rubbing his chin, when it finally hit him like a sack of hammers. "Bloody fridge, he wouldn't?! I have to be sure. Spike!"

"Yes, Iscariat," Spike said snapping to attention.

"Do you have a map of Equestria? A modern one would be preferable," Iscariat asked, his worried expression unnerving the young dragon as he pointed to a wall to the left of the stairs.

Dashing towards the map, Iscariat took out his faceted gem and placed it over his left eye, like a monocle, and then gazed deeply at the map with only his left eye. Peering through his gem, Iscariat could see tiny, thin, lines of crushed diamonds that passed through every section of the map; these are Equestria's Leylines, the source of all magic. Each Leyline contains a finite, but tremendous, amount of magical energy, however, as Iscariat stated, even if Sombra were to use all its energy it would only be one twentieth of the total amount needed, and so a Ley-Gate must be used. A Ley-Gate is when several Leylines cross over each other, combining their power; which can cause random effects such as turning a desert into fertile land, or causing a lake to suddenly dry up. Since neither Leylines or Ley-Gates can be moved by any known craft, Iscariat merely had to locate five Ley-Gates that could form a powerful circle, and as he predicted only one area fits the bill. To the far north of Canterlot, beyond the mountains, was Magma Valley, a land composed of hundreds of volcanoes, and at its center was Mt. Smog; the largest volcano in Equestria, and the only place Sombra could activate his array.

"Spike, I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia," Iscariat requested taking the gem off his eye and sitting down before the table. Quickly scrawling a missive on a blank scroll, he handed it to Spike who then used his dragon fire to wisp the letter off to the Princess. "Thank you, now please fetch Princess Twilight, while I sort out this mess."

"Be back in ten seconds flat," Spike said, then left out the door.

Now alone, Iscariat, once again neglecting his magic, cleaned up the mess of scrolls by burning all but the one concerning the Awakening Array, and placed the dirty dishes in the sink; "I hate leaving a job half finished, but I don't have time to clean them," Iscariat said, hating himself for not washing the cups and plate. Donning his saddle bags, Iscariat took out his quill and quickly scribbled a strange symbol on the top door frame, and then with a slight pause he walked out the door. A few minutes after he left, Spike returned with the others in tow, but were surprised to find the library vacant.

"Um, Spike, where is Iscariat?" Princess Twilight asked perplexed at the empty room.

"I don't understand, he was just here," Spike said as he shut the door and triggered the symbol Iscariat scribbled on the door frame. Upon activation a holographic version of Iscariat appeared in front of the closed door, and startling everyone.

"Twilight, what is that?" Applejack asked as she held a broom out in front of her for defense.

"It's an imprinted message! I've only read about these things, they're so archaic, but very intricate for its time. Sadly it's a lost art, even Princess' Celestia and Luna cannot perform this elegant form of symbol magic. Iscariat must be the only one," Princess Twilight explained as she soaked in everything about the imprinted message's mechanics, from the size and position of the focusing symbol to the overall magical output; she even took the door frames material as a factor.

"I would say at this time Princess Twilight has already given you all a run down on imprinted messages, so I will waste no more time and get right down to the heart of the matter," Iscariat's imprinted self said. "Simply put, none of you have the overall power required to face King Sombra, and while your victories in the past serve you well they just don't compare to this crisis. This is why I have set off to confront him without you, I’m sorry, but I will not knowingly put you against a force your Elemental powers have no hope of matching."

"An what makes you think we can't go the distant?!" Rainbow Dash bellowed at Iscariat's face.

"Rainbow, this is an imprinted message, it can't actually answer you," Princess Twilight said.

"Rainbow Dash, I understand you frustration, but Sombra is playing for keeps this time around, and I have already suffered the loss of..." Iscariat could not finish his sentence before his emotions overcame him, and a lone tear dripped from his left eye. "Don't make me watch another blood bath, don't make me watch you die."

"How did he know Rainbow Dash would ask him a question?" Spike asked, but his question was over looked.

"I had no idea he cared about us that much," Rarity said as Iscariat's imprinted self-faded away; its task now complete.

"He has come to the understanding that he may not come back, and though he is ready to sacrifice himself he can't expect you six to make that kind of tribute. Such is the way of the old," Princess Celestia said from the top of the stairs.

"Princess Celestia? What are you doing here?" Princess Twilight asked.

"Iscariat sent me a letter stating his plan, I thought I could catch him before he set out, but it seems I'm too late," Princess Celestia replied, levitating a letter before them.

"What should we do?" Princess Twilight asked after skimming the letter.

"I agree with Iscariat, the fate of Equestria is in his hooves now," Princess Celestia said with a heavy heart.

"We can't just let him do this alone!" Rainbow Dash snapped out, her element of loyalty shining brightly around her neck.

"He won't be alone. Come, I wish to show all of you something," Princess Celestia said using her magic to open the door, and then ushered them outside.

The Sun was just setting under the horizon, ponies were either closing up shop or heading home after a long day of shopping, however to the northeast, just near the border of the EverFree Forest, there was a column of pale blue light. Never have the mares gazed upon such a sight, but they just knew it had to be Iscariat's doing, "For what purpose though?" was a question that buzzed between them. As if to answer their query, two streaks of white light, from the South and East respectively, dashed through the sky with impeccable speed; a speed that made Rainbow Dash green with envy as only her eyes could see the hundreds of Sonic Rainbooms micro bursting from the lights' tails with every passing second. The two lights met at the pale blue column, and in perfect synchronization, spiraled gracefully around it until they touched the ground, and faded from sight.

"What was that?" Princess Twilight asked her mentor.

"What you have just witnessed were the two greatest sorceresses of this age. The one from the East is a Changeling named Fyee, a master of not only illusion, but of transmutation; the magic of altering form and attributes. As for the one from the South, she is as old as me, and so goes by many names, but you may know her as Grandmaster Areyela," Princess Celestia said, and just as she predicted, Twilight went total fan girl; frantically leaping around asking a variety of questions, it was invigorating to say the least. "Now Twilight, I know you are excited, but please calm down."

"Calm down? How can I calm down when one of the literal pillars of magic, Star Swirls's own mentor, has just arrived in Equestria for the first time in...Hold on a minute," Princess Twilight said dashing into the library to fetch her abacus. "Okay, plus five, carry the two, divide it by nine, and we arrive at a total of five thousand, six hundred forty-two years; give or take ten years."

No pony had a response to that, even Princess Celestia was lost for words after what she just saw and heard; "Am I really that old?" Princess Celestia mused to herself, for the first time, in a long time, starting to acknowledge her age. Whilst Princess Twilight went off on a tangent about how legendary Grandmaster Areyela is, and how her research changes the very way magic is viewed and applied, Iscariat was just getting whaled on by said woman. To say Grandmaster Areyela was "miffed" would be a serious understatement, she was positively furious at Iscariat not calling her in sooner, and she expressed her fury by beating the tar out of him with her magic staff, healing him, and then going another round. Fyee the Changeling, though not anger at Iscariat, refused to lift a hoof in his defense, and instead was videotaping the whole thing; "Wow, I did not know a pony's hooves could bend that way. Come on Grandmaster, go for the record! Go for the record! He dodged it, he deliberately dodged it!" Fyee would bellow as she got into a comfortable position to enjoy the smack down. Eventually Grandmaster Areyela calm down to hear Iscariat, much to Fyee's disappointment, and once the situation was made clear, the two sorceresses’ whole heartedly pledged themselves to his cause.

Wasting no time the three masters focused on drawing in an immense amount of magic, so much that they all began to glow a respective color, Iscariat was grey, Fyee was sage green, and Grandmaster Areyela was pure gold. Forming a triangle around the pale blue light column, the three magic users casted their spell, Comet's Flight; a top tier spell that literally converts one's body into photon energy, while still maintaining their consciousness, and thus allowing one to travel as fast as light itself. Using the pale blue column of light as a focusing lens the three mages channeled their very essence into the column, then in a titanic explosion that destroyed the column, as well as unleashing three conjoined Sonic Rainbooms, Iscariat, Fyee and Grandmaster Areyela took to the sky as three streaks of white light. Soaring through the sky the three mages blazed over Ponyville, zoomed past Canterlot, and traversed the mountain range separating the rest of Equestria from Magma Valley; all in the blink of an eye. Being made of pure light no obstruction could deny them, or so they thought when they found themselves stuck in place almost ten miles from Mt. Smog; a perplexing puzzle if there ever was one.

Unable to bypass the strange barrier, the three spell casters descended to the glassy, volcanic, surface below, and taking great care to not fall into the blazing inferno only a few feet beneath them. Watching their footing very carefully they examined the barrier before them, and it soon became obvious that Sombra knew they would use Comet's Flight an so erected a barrier with a negative charge to deflect their positive charge. Fortunately that is all the barrier was meant to repel for in their physical forms they could easily just walk through the obstruction. With ten miles left to traverse, over unstable ground, the trio wasted no time and took off through the magma fields in synchronized unity; of course Fyee opted to fly as oppose to walk with the other two. It has been more than three hundred years since Iscariat had to rely solely on his physical strength, but as he displayed with the destruction of the Ward in the EverFree Forest, this would not slow him down at all.

As they made their way to Mt. Smog, Iscariat couldn't help but notice that neither of his colleagues had changed much over the many years they have been apart. Fyee was always a peculiar Changeling with an aquamarine carpus as oppose to her brethren pitch black ones, her eyes too were different being a light shade of purple, and lastly her wings resembled those of a dragonfly allowing for superior maneuverability and feats of agility. Grandmaster Areyela was an ancient dragon roughly as tall as Princess Celestia, she was so old her scales true color had all but faded to a pale white with dozens of cracks covering them; though she kept most of them hidden under her mage's robes. The ten mile troop took them half the night to complete, but that was the easy part, for Mt. Smog itself was as labyrinthine as an object could get with tunnels that lead to nowhere, and some that form an infinite loop. Before they were able to enter the mountain the three spell casters huddled together to devise a plan to navigate the endless passages within.

"So, Bones, what should we do?" Fyee asked Iscariat as she used pyromancy to play around with a small flame upon the ground, making it grow and shrink.

"Why do you call me that Master Fyee?" Iscariat asked as he used his magic for something more practical; such as coating himself in a fire resistant shell that gave his fur a slight orange hue.

"That is why right there, Master Fyee? Are you kidding me? We're both Masters, I think we are entitled to act a little casual around ourselves," Fyee explained as her control over the flame waned the more emotional she became. "Seriously Iscariat, stop whittling everything down to the gems, and enjoy your near immortal life."

"Now isn't the time or place to critique my mannerisms, Master Fyee," Iscariat said using his serious tone. "Grandmaster Areyela, do you have any suggestions?"

"Concur do I with Fyee, learn to relax you must, Bones," Grandmaster Areyela said with a chuckle, resulting in Iscariat to make a frown. "But if it is the knowledge of which path to take, you seek, then the answer is obvious. Let the Leylines guide your path."

"Sombra would have to be in the center of all five Ley-Gates, mathematically speaking of course, but how can the Leylines guide us to him? It's not like they lead to him, they would be flowing around the mountain," Iscariat said trying to decipher the Grandmaster's cryptic statement.

"Calm yourself, Iscariat, for only when one is calmed can their mind see the answer before its eyes," Grandmaster Areyela said lifting her magic staff; which Iscariat for the first time noticed had a tiny teal opal embedded at the very tip of the staff's curved head. Turning her staff upside down, so the opal touched the ground, Grandmaster Areyela instantly blasted an enormous amount of magic through it, into the opal, and from the opal into the ground. After this display of rapid magic dispersion a zigzag crack started to form from where the staff struck, and it only continued to grow heading off into the cave; a bluish-white light emanating from the crack lightning the way. "The path is set, our way clear, and our enemy awaits. Let us not keep him."

Taking a deep breath, as well as gazing into the eyes of his colleagues as if it were the last time, Iscariat lead them all into the jaws of oblivion itself, unaware if they would survive to see the end. Following the crack through the cave system the three spell casters encountered little defenses or obstructions, magical or otherwise. The shear ease they navigated through Mt. Smog without so much a rock dropping from the ceiling made it ominously clear, "Sombra wants us to reach him," Iscariat said grimly. Mt. Smog was like a large city, every tunnel stretched for miles on end, with intricate stone bridges that were wither over bottomless pits or magma rivers, and the temperature extremes were absurd. Time passed by like water over a waterfall, every hour felt like minutes in the dimly lit tunnels, and were it not for Iscariat's perfectly maintained pocket watch, they wouldn't even know that it was already well past noon time.

After two more hours of following the crack, the three spell casters came to a fork in the tunnel, and oddly enough the crack split down the middle, and went up both branches. Stepping forward, Grandmaster Areyela informed Iscariat that his oath was to the left, while hers was to the right.

"No, Grandmaster, we will only prevail united," Iscariat protested.

"The trial before me is mine, and mine alone. Abandon your mission you must not," Grandmaster Areyela replied, her voice leveled and position strong.

"Sombra is down that way is he not? Please Grandmaster, let us help you. You need not die in vain," Iscariat begged the ancient dragon, who merely shook her head solemnly.

"If I die, rejoice my union with the Leylines you should. Moron me do not, miss me do not, for I have lived and experienced a life one can only dream of. Besides, I must do this, it is my fate and destiny to confront Sombra one last time," Grandmaster Areyela said as she commenced to walk down the right tunnel. "Follow me do not, save the Princess, retrieve your scroll, and then flee. Buy you time, I shall; as much as I ‘am able. Goodbye Masters Iscariat and Fyee, may we meet again on the other side."

"Bloody fridge!" Iscariat cursed stomping his hooves upon the rock floor.

Unable to deny the Grandmaster's logic, Iscariat and Fyee raced down the left passage, and hopefully to Princess Luna. Grandmaster Areyela did not even try to hide her presence, the moment she was alone she let her true power be known, and it shook the entire tunnel she walked through. At the very end of the tunnel, within a giant dead end cavern, sitting upon a black throne, a confident grin upon his face was King Sombra. The two avatars of their respective alignments gazed at each other with such intensity that they could bore a hole into one another's soul.

"Welcome Grandmaster Areyela, it has been a long time," King Sombra said with a devilish grin.

"So it has my once, and former, apprentice, but it will be the last for one of us," Grandmaster Areyela said pointing her staff at Sombra, an electrical charge sparking around its head.

"Pity, and here I have nothing to give you, save an unmarked grave," King Sombra said rising from his throne, his eyes glowing a dark green, as a black mass seeped from his body, and inched ever closer to the wizen dragon.

"I just have one question, how did you survive," Grandmaster Areyela asked.

"I presume you mean after my second attempt to conquer the Crystal Empire," King Sombra retorted, then confirmed by Areyela nodding in response. "Well that is quite a tale..."  

                           Next Chapter: Chapter 5.2: d1Q Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 52 Minutes