It took me another day before I felt like I had the power to Teleport again, but when I sensed that my reserves were back up to snuff, I quickly did my disappearing act, reappearing in front of Canterlot Castle in a swirl of golden flames.

I hadn’t even gotten ten steps down the road following my compass before I hear the first crash and shriek from further in the city.

My powers reacted, telling me there were more twisted-Adepts, and that the combinations were greater and coming from three beings. I rounded a bend and found myself staring down three more stallions. They had been marching down the street, demonstrating their strength to any that would stand up to them, and a more refined pulse to each one told me what their ‘classes’ were.

The one in the middle, Mercury base with Mars and Jupiter layered on. Warlock, he who knows all destructive spells, save for that of the earth itself. The one on the right, Mars base with Venus and Jupiter layered on. Ronin, the earth, the wind, and the flames are his weapons and shields. The one on the left, Venus base with Mars and Jupiter layered on. A ninja, and not just any ninja. At those levels of power, a Master ninja. Swift as the wind, and capable of attacking with all the fury of a thunderstorm.

All of them scared me. My only saving grace was that none of them would know any healing techniques. I drew my blade and began thinking about how best to deal with the situation, and that was when something drifted down from above to stop in front of me.

A bright glowing sphere, roughly a foot and a half in diameter, with a translucent image of a mask taking up a large portion of the center. I touched it, and felt that it was connected to something- no, someone else. Someone in yet another Equestria. Running a hand along the image it felt almost flat, despite the appearance being near-perfectly found. I pulled a little on the orb to bring it closer to me, and it resisted. I frowned at it. Is this your game? I need to bring you to me to understand who you belong to! That mask seems so familiar…

I pulled harder, and that was about when things started to get crazy again.

In an instant, there was a brief, near-blinding flash of pure, white light, that when it cleared, showed a slowly solidifying shape, that soon took on colour from the ground up.

Spiked metal boots, followed by crimson cloth that continued up, revealing an armoured torso and more crimson on the hooded cloak. Finally the face, or rather mask became visible. It was only then that I put together who this was. The cloak, the mask, the colours. I pointed Eureka at the one before me.

“Jack of Blades, is it? I will say this, I had hoped to not have to meet you. However, I am apparently out of other options, so if you would lend me your aid, I would be most grateful, member of the Triad of Madness.”

With a slow, deliberate movement, he turned to face me and said, “It would be both unbecoming and unwise to deny the request of another of the Void, would it not?” before chuckling darkly and raising his blade.

“True, those of us who once were normal humans should stick together. But know this, I know your character. I would have preferred to never meet you, but better you than Pyramid.”

“Pyramid? I am not familiar with-,” he cut off as he was hit with a Quick Strike from the Ronin, making him stagger a bit.

“Right, discourse later, battle now. That one,” I said, pointing to the offender, “Will be vulnerable to water and ice. As will his friend,” I said, now pointing to the Master Ninja. I then turned to the Warlock. “He will be vulnerable to the Earth. Which would you prefer?”

Curling his left hand, several loud pops sounded and he replied. “How about we see through chance,” and thrust his unarmed hand down, causing several golden, ethereal blades to appear and fly randomly at each of the opposing stallions.

The Master Ninja managed to dodge all save one, which nicked his back left hoof, causing him to wince. The Warlock let out blast after blast at the blades, shattering several, but severely depleting his powers. The Ronin, meanwhile, merely coated himself in a lavender aura and let the blades shatter on him. I leveled Eureka at the stallion in question. “You’re going to be a bitch and a half to take down, aren’t you?”

Jack turned to the Master Ninja and raised the dark blade to point at it, saying, “I have killed gods and demons alike. You will be nothing in light of what I have faced,” before he began to take on a red aura and rise off the ground.

This would soon prove to be a Bad Idea. The Master Ninja grinned and pointed at the now suddenly cloudy sky above Jack. Jack would have time to look up just before a huge lightning bolt slammed down from above, right into him.

I, meanwhile, turned to face the Ronin and tried to gauge when he would next attack. If I could just goad him into using his Swift Strike, or any Venus-based power…

“So, Omega sends three colts out to the castle, in hopes they will be able to overthrow the Sun Princess?”

The Ronin snorted. “If that were his goal, we certainly would not tell you.”

“Yeah,” the Warlock said, trying to focus enough to stand up without any wobbly limbs, “You’ve meddled in his dealings for long enough. High time you...and all your other freaky friends...were removed from the picture.”

The Master Ninja was apparently satisfied with his work, and turned to face me. “Now, how about we help you see that you’re mortal, just like everypony else?”

His smug smile soon vanished as he barely ducked in time to keep his head as Jack swung his blade from the stallion’s right, losing a portion of his ear. He screamed as he felt a sudden rush of pain and held his hoof to the suddenly lighter load on his head. “You motherbucker, that was my good ear!” He then seemed to put two and two together. I was standing in front of him, my sword was in plain view...he turned to his right and saw Jack standing there.

As he looked to Jack, he screamed, “How are you still standing?!”

Jack, instead of answering, took another swing, this time imbued with Will, so when the stallion dodged, there was an arc of energy that continued towards the pegasus, severing his right wing. The stallion screamed and fell to the earth below, twitching and cursing as he felt his new stump bleed.

Meanwhile, I took Jack getting up again as the perfect distraction, and punched the Warlock in the face. It was a good punch. My left hand still hurts sometimes when I think about it. Seeing as how he’d already used up a good deal of his power, the Warlock dropped right into unconsciousness.

I glanced over just in time to see Jack reverse his grip on the Sword of Aeons and remove the Master Ninja’s other wing. The stallion really screamed then and looked up to Jack. “You motherbucker, when Omega gets his hooves on you, you are going to pay for that! Buck, when I get up, you’ll pay for it!”

Crouching down over the pony, I barely heard him say, “What makes you believe you’ll be getting up?” before doing something I never expected.

Reaching up he sat the Sword of Aeons along his back, and as he lowered his arm, his hand paused over his face. While I wasn’t at a good enough angle to see under his hood, I did see his mask as he sat the ‘face’ of it on the stallion’s muzzle.

The world seemed to stop as the pony let out a screech like no other and an aura surrounded him. Just as the aura finished forming, it seemed to drain from him and into the mask. Even his comrades stopped fighting to watch as the Master Ninja had his soul drained from him.

It took only a few seconds for the aura to completely drain, and the scream never ceased until it did.

Finally standing from the lifeless shell, Jack once again put his mask on, saying, “You never had a chance. Your soul was mine as soon as you tried to hit me.”

I blinked a few times at that. “Um. Well. I, uh. I’ll deal with that later.” I mentally pushed aside the issue of Jack stealing some pony’s soul and turned to the Ronin. I quickly grinned, thinking of something that could very well work. “Okay, now you have two options.”

He looked from Jack to me, and back to Jack. “And they are?”

I smiled. “Either you tell me what Omega’s plan here was and I’ll deal with you by cutting out your stolen Psynergy…”

He gulped at the thought. “Or?”

I gestured to Jack. “Or I turn you over to him, and he might tell me. No big loss to me if he doesn’t, I’ll figure out what it was eventually. I have tracking magics.”

The stallion turned to Jack and blanched at the thought of Jack dealing with him. “I...I refuse! Come at me! I will not fall! Omega will succeed!”

I sighed and turned to Jack. “He’s clearly a distraction. Would you like to deal with him while I hunt his boss?”

Instead of answering, he simply thrust his hand out, sending a ball of Will racing into the pony, causing him to go sprawling.

“Go,” he said, striding over to the shaky legged pony as it tried to regain its bearings.

I nodded and took out my compass, seeing it point, surprisingly, right at the damn castle. I chuckled a bit, realizing that it made a semblance of sense. “I have Princesses to see, possibly save.”

“Wait,” he called.

As I paused, he held an Orb in both his hands and started pressing them together until they met. Taking them apart, he held a small ball-bearing like object that soon reshaped itself into a Silver Key which he then threw to me.

“Channel some magic in and turn it, and I’ll join you again if I can.”

I chuckled again and tucked it into my sidebag before turning back towards the palace, remembering at the last moments to give Jack some parting words.

“Try not to break him too badly. And do see yourself out when you’re done. Oh, and if you see Alice, give her the regards of Armor Boy, would you?”

I didn’t hear him reply, as the earth pony he’d been menacing began screaming…

As Auric ran off towards the palace, I turned back to the pony who looked much steadier and somewhat afraid.

Reaching up past the Sword of Aeons, I grabbed my long sword and said, “I’m going to take my time with you, I think.”

I grinned behind my mask as he started to back away.

Channeling Will into my body, I blurred across the distance separating us and drove the blade into his leg, just above the fetlock… and twisted, causing him to sit back on his haunches and yell.

I didn’t twist too far before I felt the bone split and I pulled the blade out and repeated the action with his other foreleg.

As I pulled the blade free he collapsed, unconscious and breathing sporadically, so I grabbed his mane, lifted him to eye level and sent a pulse of Will into him, just enough to wake him.

He was hyperventilating at this point, but I didn’t care as I told him, “In the Equestria I’m from, I’m considered the single greatest calamity to ever come to the land. I wonder if I can attain that status here.”

As I spoke, there was, for lack of a better word, a voice in my head. It wasn’t the boy’s, but it was...familiar. An image of a headless suit of armor with blue flames dancing out of the neck accompanied the words.

The boy told me of you, or rather, he and I share memories, Jack of Blades. Do what you were called on to do and no more, lest ye have the Headless after you across dimensions.

Chase me as long as you like, but find me in the Void and I WILL destroy you.

You seem to need an introduction. Very well. I am he who stalks the darkness, I am the elemental wraith. I am Dullahan, protector of Newvale and the Hole between dimensions. Should you make the boy regret calling on you, I WILL hunt you. I WILL find you. And I WILL unleash our most powerful techniques on you.

You think I am afraid of Death? I have been killed before. It makes little difference to me.

No, you are not afraid of death. But that is not our most powerful technique. Isis, goddess of rainbows. Summoning her brings life. I could, and should I find it necessary, would, restore you to how you had been to strip you of your powers if I need to.

William Black said much the same before he went mad. But you need not concern yourself. The affairs of worlds not my own hold little interest to me.

I can’t exactly go mad, you know. The boy’s blade holds his moment of madness, and for so long, we were one and the same, and thus, I have been afflicted with his Understanding. Still, thank you for yours.

As the foreign ‘voice’ faded from my head, I noticed that what seemed to be a full conversation had taken no more than an instant, and I was still holding the pony by his mane.

Shifting my grip, I threw him to the ground and with a slight flourish, removed his head.

Not staying in place long enough to see his blood, I made my way to the Warlock, who was starting to regain consciousness.

Once again taking the Sword of Aeons, I placed the tip of his horn into the thin gap running the length of the blade, forcing him to see the power I held. He stared at the metal with crossed eyes, following it back until he saw which of his foes held it, then briefly looked around at the remains of the other two stallions, before looking back with far more fear than before. “What...did you do? What are you?”

“I am Jack of Blades. I came from the Void, was second on the Court, killed by William Black, immortalised through my mask and ruled as an icon of fear in the land of Albion.”

Lifting it away from his horn, I continued my speech. “I am he who corrupted the Crystal King, Wielder of the Weapon of Madness known as the blade of Power. I am your downfall.”

With that, I thrust the blade through his barrel and into his heart.

Withdrawing the blade, I looked it over and thought to myself, ‘Not a drop of blood. There never is.’

Stepping away, I looked to the sky and shifted my essence into Will and returned home.

As I ran through the palace, following my compass, I noticed that one of the hallways was significantly darker than the rest. I didn't think much of it until the shadows surrounding me starting oozing a darkness that moved on its own and pooled in a single point. After it had grown into a pile roughly the same size as an average man, the inky black substance just fell away, revealing a horrible, off-white figure, that moved with an aggressive air about it.

“Where is he?!” it demanded.

I hefted my sword and made to defend myself from...whatever it was going to pull. “I know a lot of male figures, you’ll have to be more specific.” Shit! The power of this one is greater than the Wise One! I think...oh damn. Alice had her god. This must be Jack’s.

“Where is Jack of Blades?!”

“Ah, him,” I replied, keeping my sword between us. “I left him back in the streets to deal with three that would distract me. As you’re currently doing. Begging your pardon, but are you a god?”

This thing was suddenly in front of me and latched onto my shoulders.

“I am. And you had best not be lying you miserable little...”

Despite my situation, I smiled. “Fantastic! See, I would like to run two experiments real fast.”

And with that, I focused on Eureka, causing it to glow, and brought it around to hit the creature that was on me. “Let’s see how you handle Understanding, bitch!”

Before the blade made contact it screeched and pushed me away, screaming, “You’re one of them!”

I smiled. “Yes, and do you know what I did to my ‘god’? I tore him apart on the subatomic level! Your kind is not welcome here, your kind is not wanted here! After all, what is a god, to a non-believer?!”

“You cannot do such things to me. I AM the darkness and all it contains.”

A voice rung out through the sword then. And I am he who stalks the darkness, the Elemental Wraith. The boy speaks true, Invader. Leave, or we will BOTH hunt you, like I promised to hunt Jack afore he acquiesced and absconded.

With a growl, it said, “Very well. I have spent too long here anyway.”

Before he could leave, I sheathed my blade. “Tell your brethren, they that watch over Alice and Pyramid, this. I am the Knight of the Eclipse, slayer of the Wise One. Threaten me or mine, and you will share his fate. I do not believe in you or your ‘right’ over your champions.”

As it faded into the darkness, it chuckled and made one final statement. “Do you really think it will be so easy? The ‘Wise One’ was among the weakest of our number.”

I smiled then. “Good. More of a challenge. I just love pushing my limits. Let’s see how far Alchemy will take me, should we e’er meet again.”

Boy, he’s already gone.

I shrugged. “It was said ‘God works in mysterious ways’ back home. I’d expect these ‘gods’ to be no less devious.”

It was only a few minutes after my little run-in with that particular 'god' that I managed to finally track the magical signature down to one room in the palace.

I did not like where I was.

I threw the doors open and looked at the bed, staring at the dark alicorn lying atop the sheets. Her eyes were wide open, she was clearly panicking, not understanding how someone else could possibly have the strength to restrain her.

The stallion nearby had orange fur, a red mane, green eyes, a unicorn horn, and emitting from his horn and front hooves were golden flames.

A similar set of flames were holding the Princess down to her bed and were surrounding a familiar small blue crystal, which was hovering just behind her head. A few canisters nearby held some sort of...viscous, colored fluid. Blue and violet. They resonated with the powers of Mercury and Jupiter.

I looked from Luna to the stallion and narrowed my eyes. "Omega, I presume?"

He smiled at me. "And you must be Auric. Take another step, and the first thing I'll do when I've got the Princess under my control is order her to kill you."

Author's Notes:

So a portion of this chapter was done as a crossover with rikusorasephiroth and his story The Masked Face of Fear.
Also, we finally meet Omega! Why does he have golden flames? What would his grand plan involving the princess of the night be?
And finally, just what will his fate be?
Tune in next time!