Stepping into the mouth of the cave, Ares couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Though most of his body still felt heavy and stiff and there was a dull pain in his feet he was out of that wind. Now that he was out of the wind and the cold and the snow he was going to be fine. All he needed to do was find whoever was lurking around in this cave so that they could lead him to civilization. He was going to be alright. He was going to be okay.

“Hello? Are you in here?” Ares yelled, beating his arms against his chest in an attempt to get the blood in them flowing again. “I heard you outside of the cave. I’m Ares Costelnock! The one that was yelling outside! Hello?”

His voice echoed off the icy cavern walls as he looked around. The cave was pitch black and, as far as he could see, deserted. Casting a glance over his shoulder to stare at the icy tundra, Ares took another step into the cave.

“Is anyone there? Are you hurt? Do you need help or something? Come on; if anyone’s there can you please say something? Please?”

The sounds of his own footsteps were his only answer as he forced himself deeper and deeper into it. It was quiet; so quiet that this cave could have been mistaken for a tomb. Ares couldn’t even hear the wind howling outside anymore.

Pounding his fists against his chest once more, so that he could hear more than his footsteps and his breathing if nothing else, Ares stopped and threw up his arms. “Alright dickhead, enough fucking around! Come out and talk to me dammit! I know that I heard someone in this fucking cave, and I swear to god if I find you I’m gonna beat your—”

And that was when he heard it. It was a minuscule sound; one that he would never in a million years had heard it if he didn’t have the cave walls amplifying every little noise. Ares could hear breathing, and it was coming from the back of the cave. Ragged and labored breathing but breathing still.

Almost without meaning to, Ares took a step back, then another, before he forced himself to stand firm. “What the fuck am I freaking out about?” he mumbled, hugging his arms close to his chest as a sudden chill ran through him. “There’s just some asshole sitting at the end of the cave being all quiet and shit. That’s it. I just need to go over there, maybe smack him in the mouth for fucking with me like this, and get him to take me home or whatever. It’s as simple as that.”

But even as he muttered this to himself he could feel the fear that had gripped him since he had come into this cave only grow. There’s was something off about this cave; something wrong. There was an aura of… wrongness to it, like something was about to jump out and get him if he didn’t turn around and leave, but even still Ares, not willing to go back into that cold and wander around until he froze to death, forced himself to take a step forward, then another step, then another.

“Hello? I know you’re back there you cunt. Why don’t out come out and say hello or something?”

As Ares grew closer to the source of the breathing he could tell that it sounded wrong. It was a nasally, throaty, course breathing that one only had when they were very sick or they had one foot in the grave. Concern quickly overwhelmed the odd fear that he had been feeling and he began to walk a little faster toward the sound.

“Are you alright? You don’t sound too good mystery person… Do you need any help or something?”

Though it only got darker the deeper that he went into the cave eventually Ares could make out a figure. It was huddled against the very back of the cave, a blanket or a pelt wrapped around its oddly frame.

Seeing them, Ares couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. “There you are. You know for a second I thought I was going to find a fucking bear or—”

Snap!

Freezing, Ares looked down to see that he had stepped on something. Since it was too dark to see it clearly he reached down and blindly grabbed for it. To his surprise he could feel (though, in truth, his frozen hands really couldn’t feel that much at all) what felt like a bunch of little sticks all around him; dozens upon dozens of them lying in a pile all around him. For a moment he thought that the person had been trying to start a fire in this cave of something, but then he managed to finally grab one of the bigger “sticks” and bring it close to his face

“MOTHERFUCKER!” With a yelp Ares dropped what was definitely a bone of some kind. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS—”

All of the sudden the cave around him shifted, melting away so that he was standing in a room of light.

“There thee are, human friend.”

Ares quickly spun around to see a little blue horse staring at him with a little smile on her face. His mind raced, and he took a nervous, fearful step backward, before it all came back to him. “L-Luna?” he mumbled, his vision becoming blurry. He took a few steps forward before he lost his balance, falling forward. He was about to land face-first into the white nothing when a wing wrapped around his chest, stopping his fall.

“Be at ease Ares. Thou art safe. We hath finally managed to break through the cloud around thy mind.”

Looking up he saw that Luna was now standing right in front of him, looking as pleased as punch. Panicked, he tried to cover himself up. “Luna, don’t look at me I’m—… What the fuck?”

His hands looked fine. Through his tattered hoodie he could see that his arms looked fine. He no longer had long, pointed, grey claws or the kind of arms that came out of one’s nightmares. He had hands. Normal, pinkish hands with perfectly trimmed nails. His hands. Opening and closing them, Ares then grabbed what was left of his hoodie and tore both it and his shirt right off. Looking down he saw his stomach and his chest.

“I’m normal again?” he muttered, touching his face. “No pointed ears? No fangs? Why wou—”

“Thou art in a dream, Ares.” Looking back at Luna Ares saw that she was looking at him in pity. “Though We wish We had the power to change thee back into this but We cannot. In the waking world thou still…”

Ares nodded as the alicorns trailed off, sitting onto the ground. “Well… that’s a hell of a way to ruin my day,” he said, trying and very much failing to sound lighthearted and upbeat.

With a sad little smile on her face, Luna sat next to him. “We apologize if We caused thee any pain because of this meeting, Ares. If we would have known that thou would react as thou did We would have—”

“Nonono, it’s fine,” Ares interrupted, smiling as best as he could. “I’d much rather talk to you like this than have you looking at my fucked up face.”

For about a minute either Luna or Ares said a word, Ares just staring off into the nothing and Luna patiently waiting for him to say something.

“…So, it’s been awhile since you’ve poked around in my head huh?”

Shuffling closer to him, Luna wrapped a wing around her friend, pressing him against her chest. “We do not recall if We in fact ever entered thy dreamscape,” she said as Ares, with sigh, leaned against her.

Even though it was a dream Ares could feel Luna’s soft coat against his bare side as well as the smell a mixture of sweat and really expensive perfume. It was Luna’s scent; even though she wasn’t really here she was still here with him. Sighing again, he leaned against Luna a little more, reveling in the contact. Sooner or later he’d wake up and he’d return to being the boney, grey monster that couldn’t walk five feet to use the toilet without almost passing out, but right now, in his dreams, he didn’t have to worry about that. He wasn’t tired, he couldn’t hear the voices screaming in his head, his body looked healthy and whole and he could sit next to his friend without fear of her getting attacked by a shadow or being assaulted by the voices.

“So did you find out anything?” he asked, running his fingers through Luna’s feathers.

Luna nodded, a small smile on her face as she tightened her wing around him just a hair more. “Aye, we hath found the Tyrant Sombra’s personal study.”

“Did you find that book that I was talking about?”

Her smile diminishing slightly, Luna shook her head. “Nay, but with the room found we are sure to find something that will help thee and Cadence.”

Ares nodded, looking around at the seemingly endless light all around him. “Oh? Well good, hopefully you guys find something quick to help Candy.”

Narrowing his eyes, he could just make something out in the distance. The light seemed to be flickering, but that might have just been his imagination.

As he leaned forward a bit, trying to get a better look, Luna looked down at him with a frown on her face. “We will find a way to help both thou and Cadence,” she said evenly.

Off in the distance the white flickered on and off again. In the half-second that is occurred, Ares was sure that he saw the afterimage of a shape; something which he had never seen before. He tried to recall the form in his mind so that he could try to compare it to something but his mind drew a blank.

Y̜̺̜̙̲͖̟͍̓̅͛ͣͩ̀o̯̞͗͛̋̏̈̋͋̏U̯͍̮̱̤̣̍̀r̢̘͉͕͇͍͎̜̈͗͗ͦ̓̐͒ͥ́ ̦͓̗̒͊D̹̫̖̖̂̋͡r̲̹ͯ͆ͬ͂ͧ͂͂ͯE̴̙̩͗ͧ̊̊ͨ͆̒ͅạ̘͈͙̮̤͓͐̉͆M̥͙̦̻̭̪̲͐͊ͫ͆͌͜s̭̞͕͔͉ͬ͡ ͚̩͙̯̺͊ͣ͝Ā̌ͥ́̈ͤ͆́͘͏͔̜̹͉ͅr̭̗͕͎̞̪̠̖͗̔͌ͮ̏͂͝É̷͙̯̙̱̱͙̳͖̄̉̓̇̏ ̷̲̪̭̻̞̖͛͋̓̃͋ͤͅö̡͔͈̮̝̩͉͕͐͋͐͐̉̾̓͢U͇͇ͨ̅͘ͅȓ̴̰̯̰̪̊̆͜͡ ͎̩̬̹͔̘ͯ́̔̌ͮͥ̕Ḟ̪͖̹͖͉͇̲̬̉e͈̜̅̇͐͡Aͮ͂̒́ͯ̐͒͏̸̝̫͚̘s̨͌̋̽̎ͭ̿̔̂҉̻̭̫̘͍̳̟Ṱ̷͉͓̠͚̆ͥ̎̇͆

Making a face, Ares looked up to see Luna frowning down at him. “What did you say? Oh, right, right, you’ll find something to help the two of us,” he said, rubbing an arm. “By the way, did you try getting into Cadence’s head already or did you just want to tell me the good news first?”

“We hath tried time and again to enter Cadence’s dreams but to no effect. The creature that infects her blocks us out too well. We had thought it a fruitless task to try thine dreams but it seems that we were successful.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just tell us when we were awake instead of going through all of this trouble?” Ares questioned.

This time the entire space around both him and Luna flickered like a light. Quickly, Ares looked all around him as Luna looked away with a sigh. This time he could see the afterimage of dozens of figures. They were circling the two of them, floating through the still air with dozens of thick, octopus-like tentacles. Ares once again tried to think of what they looked like but the only thing that he could remember were the tentacles, and even that left him with a headache.

“Sister and I were considering it,” Luna said, looking like nothing was wrong in the slightest. “But we thought that thou would want to hear the news from our lips like this.”

The barest of smiles came to Luna’s lips as the whiteness flickered again, this time for a whole second.

W̧͙̤̌ͬ̌̍͡h̴̹̳̘̲̩̓͂ͩ̀ͅÀ̛ͭ͊͏̠͖t̷̞͖̩̭͎ͭͭ̆̏ͅ ̴̡̲̲̤͚̰̩̗̃ͤI̝͐̃ͨ̾́͆̇ͫ̃́͠s̹̼̬̬̊͛̈̆ͪ͊ͭ͝ ̉̇ͮͦ̀͟҉̵̜͉͙̟̰̮͔A̴̝͇̮̻̞̻̗͔̓̃̔͂̇͘ ̗̩̦̦̖͕͉͔̠͐͒̀p̲͓̪͇͒͘͠R̮͉̜̻͙̗̄̋ͧͧ̾ͧͣ̀̚į̗̞́̄͞N̟͕͍̬̹̪̜̭̈ͮͬ̏̀͝c̹̳͕̹̝̘̘̔ͧ͂ͬ̃̋ͦͅE̶͎̪̲̜͈̥ͮ̎ͯͬͤͦ̑̚͞ş̪͖͚̜͍͚͈̤͓̿͌ͬͭ̐͑̂̚͞Ṡ͎̲̤̭̄̉ͨ͠ ̭̹̰͓̅̈́ͨͪ̌̒͋t̞̪͇͕̞̬̠̞́̽͟O̝̺̦̙̣̙̣̔̓͒͆͂̇͗̊̀͢͝ ̭̰͕̰̣̖̆͆̈ͬ̉̅̇͢͜g̶̡̖̖̦͚̫̽́ͭO̷͈̙̮̪̤̯̩̤͑ͨͪ͠d̴̦̬̞͇͍͓̩̼̾ͩ̃͌́S̲̩̙̲ͭ̓͢?̠͉̙̘̤̝̀ͮ̓́̐

The hair on the back of Ares’ neck stood on end as an unnatural sound came from behind him. As the whiteness returned he recalled seeing long, gnarled teeth hanging out of dozens of tiny mouths. They were getting closer, slowly making their way forward for the kill.

“And besides, you seem to be the one that sleeps the most out of the two of you, so we thought that this would be more suitable for—”

“Luna? Just for the record, if someone wanted to kick you out of their dreams how would they go about doing it?”

Ares tried not to react as something slimy and wet, something that smelled both like a rotting corpse and the sea of all things, slid across the back of his neck.

D̶̸̦͎͈̤́̽ͤ̏̑̒͋̿̀e̴͙̩̪̓ͫ̄̽͒̇̔͆̕͜V̡̂ͤ̇ͥ̉͐̿̃҉̞̼̲o͎̖͉̣͔͙̣͇͒ͦͭ̏͝U̥̳̥̍̉̽ͨ͘͞ͅŗ̸̛̭̖͚̱̗̻̭̼̙̩͙̼̩ͣͦ̆̅̐̉̅͐̋͒͂͜

Luna frowned. “Dost our presence offend thee now, Ares? We had assumed that you would have liked to spend some time with us.”

“I do want to spend time with you, Luna, really, I do, but could you please answer the question?”

Luna’s nose scrunched up just as a tentacle grazed the tip of her nose. “We do not invade the dreams of ponies that do not wish us there. If thou wishes up to leave all thou needst do is—”

“Run.”

Ares quickly stood up as the whiteness nothing flickered once more, pushing Luna away from him. He could hear that horribly unnatural sound all around the two of them now. They were about ready to feed.

Luna looked at Ares with wide eyes as he looked down at her. “Ares, what art thou—”

ẁ̤͓̲͙ͯ̅͛̉̈̈́͊ͬ͜ͅEͨ̍͌̎̽̆͏̧̬͎̀ ͈͖̟͍̔ͫ̌͐͛͌ͨ͑s̠̘͙̟̪̝ͭͯ͂̓ͨ̊ͣ̑H̡̱̜̪̟̯̜̓̋̆̆ȧ̢̯͕̜̞̲̻̝̎͛̓L͎̟̟̻͋͂ͪ̒͡l̠̻͍̰͉͖̜̞ͩ̓́͞ ̧͓͇̭̓ͯ̆͑̕͝ͅẸ̭̝̜͈̪͍͙̞̆̐́͘a̫̙̩͍̩̦̪͔͕̔̇̅̔ͩͭ̀T͙͉̂͞ ̬̮͎͎͙͇̂ͯ̆̐ț͚̹͊̽́͐͗ͫͪḤ̨̦̻͕̗̠͔̳͇̀̀̍̔͂ͫ̔̑e̳̥͔̟̽̎ ̭̦̝͙̭͎ͥ̂ͥ͊ͪͅŠ̵̩͕̹̣͚̙͙̃ͩ͒̒̔ͮ̏͢t̜͕͕̄̈̓͐͊̆́ͩͅa̡̝͈̯̩̟͕͉͐͑͋ͯ̏̋̂̏̌͢R̤̬͊ͪͪ̊̕s̷̢̨̙̩̰͓͙̣̭͕͓̬͒̒̌ͭ̋̇ͪͥ̄ͅ

“LUNA, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” Leaping forward, Ares managed to push Luna out of the way just as a tentacle was about to wrap itself around her body. “RUN GODDAMMIT! THEY’RE GOING TO GET YOU!”

The white nothingness flickered one last time, enveloping Ares in darkness. He shivered as he felt something brush past his leg. What felt like a pair of lips, horribly slimy yet coarse pecked at his cheek.

Y̶̸̥̮̗̬̘̯ͧ͋̀ǒ͎̹̯̫̦͓̳ͯͬ̕U͚̺̫͖̳͙̳ͥ͑ͣ̿̈́̒ͣ͛͠ ̡̨͓͍͂ͤͯͩ͊a̴̺͚͉̒̑̕R͌͐͢͞҉̺̭͍͈̺̪ͅê̡̖̺̻̟͙̦͈͂̂͒̀ͭ͂͘ ̢̫͙͈͓͛̎̚A̵͒̐ͬ̏͑ͤ͗̌͏̼̲̻ ͮͥ͒ͮͣͯ͋͆̚͏͙f̨͓̦̫ͥ͂ͮ͊ͬͭͣ͡͠ͅI̜̬̖̘̯̞̓ͦͫ̿̃̄͊ͪ͘͞N̢̲̠͖͑̍̓̈̔͡ͅé̄ͣͪ̾͌̚͏̩̤̱̘̻̳̟̫͟ ̧̰̹̫͍͍̟͇̲̞̿͆̌ͫ͞Ṃ̵̷̩̲͚̤̙̦̓͋e̥̼̜̥̱̳̗ͫͨ̾̕͞A̶̻͍͎̫̦ͣ͐͋̄̉̈͌̓̕͘l̝̳̪ͬͫͨ̏ͬ̉ͭ́,̷̩̤̩͐̆ͤͣ͞ ̛ͭ҉̜̟̱̣̺̲̣Č̲̝̱̗̞̽ͭͧ̈́̽̆͘ĥ̸̭̰̣ͦ̌ͨ͠Ȉ̶̤͉͍̦̼͈͟͞l̗̘̹̥͊ͯ̓ͭ̓ͨ̚͡D̫̯͓ͯ͌͊̀͗̇

Making a face, Ares tried to step backward, only for something to grab his leg. Eyes widening, he tried to struggle against it when something else began to wrap itself around his body. Soon there were half a dozen… things enveloping him, holding him in place with an almost crushing grip.

“I’m not… going to be… any use to… you fuckers,” Ares wheezed, tears coming to his eyes as he felt his bones slowly start to crack. “You’re… killing me… so I’m gonna be… worthless to… you… and they’re gonna… save Cadence.”

He was back in that cave, but this time there was no person huddled in the corner. He could see the… thing holding him, he could see its many protrusions holding him in place. As he looked into one of its many, many eyes a terror unlike he had ever felt gripped him. He felt the cold of the tundra once again, he could feel the frostbite numbing his face, hands and feet and he could feel the icy, horrible wind whipping at his poor, aching, tired body. But, even as he shook with fear, he couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re not gonna… get my girlfriend… you cunts.”

The creature grinned, a dozen sets of teeth smiling back at him.

S̡͖̣̪ͫ̃̄͠͠h̠̦̟̪̝͕̒ͥ͆ͭ̋ͮ̄͊E̞̦͔͉ͧ̉̅̾̇̕ ͕̱̦̱͇̻̯̲̙̂̑̈͆̄ͭ̚i͚̲̣̙̍̎͐͆̐̆ͫ̍͡͡S̨͉̳͕̠̮̻̥͎̏̓͋ͮ ̩͔̗̩̗͉̘̱̄̐̉̾ͯ̋̕͠͝ͅa̡̟̗͉͛̔ͨ̍͐͗̾̈͠Ĺ̡̗ͦ̐͑̎͛̄͘ͅr̸͚̭̂ͣ̐̐̎́E̫̦̹̱͌̀a̢̫̫̱̮͂̓ͥ̈́ͧ̅ͮ͜D̥̱ͧ̍yͧͯͧ҉͎̳ͅ ̘̜̪̺̩̱̥̺̭̑̅͋́͜O̧̪̼̞̖̪̳̲͐͛͜u̢͎̥̼̣͖ͥ̓̀̌ͨR̢ͭ̓̍ͣ͊̿̓̆҉̰̹̝̠̦ş̶̶̯̗̪͂̋̏ͩͣ̅ it said, making Ares wince as his ears began to ring from its hellish voice. a̶̧̗̘̤̾̄N̸̪͐ͥ̋d̟̖̹͖̻̫̳ͭ̌͂̆͘ ̢̛̈́ͫͯ҉̫̜̖͍̰̪͙W̢̗̺͔͈͇̣̔ͧ͊̒̃i̸̶̺̰͛̊̄ͣ̄̐͛Ṫ̳̤̯̳̪͕̙̈́͒̋͒̀̇ͧ́̕͞h̨̹̺̤̀͒̊̈́͋͢ ͨ̐̾̾́͗҉͇̳͙̳͙̭͔̣Ḣ̵̛̝̭̖̥̯̱̠̚ͅe̡̛̠̫̘̽͠R̬͖̥͈̀ͫ͝ ̧̥̝̮͔͎̪̝ͥ͞w̻̿̐̍͗͐͌ͧ̚͝E͙̠̪̜̐̈̄̔ͪ́͠ͅ ̸͚͓͍̠̯̖͆̏̔ͣ̌̚͞s̝̘̹̥̐͒ͭ̎́͟H̶̷̵͇̗̮̏̽ͭ̐â̟̹͔̟̳̭͉͇̅ͨͪͮ͒̃ͧL̙͍̘̖̳̞ͫͫ̿̅͋l̛̩͊̊͗ͬ̾ͨ ͭ҉͚̦̞H̵̟̻̼͖͆ͤ́̍a͕̰̭̐̔͟͟V̦̻̰̣̞̀͌ͦ̽͂̌̌̂͒è̞͙̭͉̣͙̘̘̮ͨ ̧̧̫͔̜̮ͭ̔ͭ́̀̆̀ͅT̼̣̘͔̖͓́ͭͬ̊̀ͩ̀h͎͔̗͇̙̜͉̦̙ͦ̂ͮ͆E̐̌̒̃̚҉̨̱͇̭̙̖̹ ̛̾ͧ̇ͭ̽͟͏̯̱̺r͇̜̻͍̥̦̗̦ͫ͂͐ͣ́͞E͓̯͚̩̦̲̲̥ͬs̩̣͈̗̳̹̭̤ͨͤ̃ͥͥT͔̼̮͔̝̭͈͎ͫ̀͠ ͋̃̀͏҉̮̹ỏ̶̪̯̟͕̩̽͛̏ͪ̃F̞̤ͯ͒ͭ́́ͤ͐͛̿̕ ̼̱͙̻̹̲̪͖͆͋ͮ͆̇ͮ̌̚t̴̯̻ͬ͒ͮ̽͒ͭ̇́ͦ͝H̯̪͚̣̻̱͎̓̐̑é͊ͮ̈́҉̧͍̻̭̣ ͚̆̓̌̈ͭͨͮW̭̝̗̥̤̌͟ö̹̜́̒̌̀ͅṙ̜̰ͣ͊͘͢L̡͕͔̥̙̦̣̲ͭ͗͂d̛̟̱ͧͦ̿͢͠

As its hundreds of mouths opened impossibly, showing dozens of rows of jagged, gnarled teeth and black, Ares did his best not to scream, promising himself that he wouldn’t make a sound no matter what this thing did to him.

Not a second later he broke that promise.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

“ARES!”

Her eyes snapping open, Luna launched herself out of the bed. Celestia, who had been reading one of Sombra’s books with a look of distaste on her face, nearly fell out of her chair as her little sister flew through the air, her wings flapping like a fledgling, before hitting the wall with a resounding thud. With a muffled squeak of pain Luna slowly slid down the wall until she found herself laying on the ground with all four of her legs splayed out.

While something like this would have usually tickled Celestia to no end Luna’s cry prompted her to close her book and hurry over toward her sister. “Luna, what’s wrong? What happened?” she urgently asked as Luna crawled to the sitting position, delicately rubbing her muzzle. “Did something happen to Ares?”

Wincing, Luna looked over at her sister. “We… do not know,” she admitted. “We were speaking with Ares when, for a reason that We cannot discern, he demanded that we leave his dreamscape.”

“Oh? Was that it?” Celestia asked, sighing in relief.

To her dismay her little sister shook her head. “He told Us to leave because somepony was attempting to “get us”,” she said, looking at the door.

Before she could make a move toward it Celestia extended a wing, blocking her path. “No, Luna,” she said firmly.

“But thou—”

“I have an idea of what that means and even though I like it just as much as you there’s nothing that we can do about it.” As her sister frowned Celestia pointed at the stack of books on the table across the room. “You that we can’t go charging into that room pointlessly. Our place is here, finding the book or document that will let us help the two of them.”

Though Luna wanted more than anything to argue with her sister she let out a sigh. “Thou art right, sister mine,” she said sourly, with just a tiny bit of despair mixed in. Celestia wrapped a wing around her, and with a sigh Luna leaned against her big sister.

“Did you at least tell Ares of the process that we’re making in helping them?” Celestia asked.

“We told him that we hath found Sombra’s secret study but that was it.” Luna looked up at her sister. “Ares doesn’t believe that he will survive this, sister.”

Luna’s words hit Celestia in the stomach. “What?”

“We could tell from the way that he spoke,” Luna sadly told her, sinking into herself. “We tried to assure him but We do not believe that he was convinced.”

Celestia’s wing tightened around Luna ever so slightly. “We’re going to save them both, Luna,” she said, grabbing her sister by the chin and forcing her to look at her. “We’re going to save both of them. Even if we have to drag them out from the underworld we’re going to save both of them.”

Luna seemed to sink into herself a little more. “We miss our friends, Tia,” she said. “We miss our afternoons of merriment. We miss young Cadence’s laugh, we miss Ares, crude jokes.” Luna’s wings drooped to the floor. “We would happily give all that we could to see them whole and hearty, even if We needed to renounce our declarations of love We would gladly do it.”

Celestia looked down at her sister with concern. “Luna,” she said, trying to lift her sister’s head back up so she could look at her. This time Luna resisted, keeping her head tucked against her chest and her eyes on the floor. “Maybe this is all of our fault, sister. Maybe if We had not been so pushy and so greedy that We had to butt in as We did…”

“No, no, I will not let you put the blame of what happened on yourself, Luna,” Celestia growled, her voice like iron. “None of this is your fault do you hear me? None of it.” The Princess of the Sun pulled her little sister into a proper hug, wrapping both wings around her as Luna let out a quiet sob.

“T-There was fear in A-Ares face, Tia.”

“Shhh, shhh, it’s alright, it’s alright.”

“We h-heard him s-scream before W-We left his d-dreamscape.”

Luna closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face as she buried her muzzle into her sister’s chest. “W-We do not want A-Ares to die, sister.”

“Nopony’s going to die, Luna. We’re going to fix all of this. I promise.” Celestia began to rock her sister back and forth as tears began to stream down her face. “I know that this is stressful and that you feel powerless but that’s alright, that’s alright. We’ll get through this together as we always have.”

Luna let out another sob. “We want our friends back, Tia,” she repeated, her heart aching. “We want them b-back.”

Celestia nuzzled the top of her sister’s head, holding her tight. “I want them back too, sister. I want them back too.”

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

P͕̪̫̟̂ͥ̈̑͟Ȓ̢̼̲̲͉̳̫ͭ̈́̇̐̕O̩̲̽ͤ̓͋̿ͮͫ͗͘T͙̻̳̫̦ͫ̓̂͌ͩ̾̏̅̾E̖ͩ̓̋ͫ͘C̵̟̿ͬ̄ͪͩ́̚T̹̘̄ͤ͡ ̧ͧ͋̋̾͏̻̲̭ͅÄ̦̹̪̙͓͓̭̎͝Ȓ̢̩̩̭̪͚̹ͥͪ̀E̡̺ͮ̈̂͝͞Sͣ̄̂҉̡̬̤͉̣̗̯̤̤

I watched as Ares let out a quiet groan, his face contorting in pain as he weakly tried to curl into himself. His fingers tightened around my hoof as I held it there. Though my little human looked a little skinnier and paler than he had been before we had been put into this room I could feel the heat coming off of his hand.

P̺̺͔̮̯͚̐̆͞O̱̬̝͍̠͖̐ͮ͑͋N̫̲ͩ͐ͮ̅ͬ͋̓͛͟Ȋ̜͂̅ͯẼ̹̤͈̺͖ͧ̏́ͭͨ͗̈̀͡S̗̪̬̩̱ͯͦ̑́͢ͅ ̢͛͡҉͍̤̻̠̱̩ͅW̨ͧ̓ͪͤ̔͏̝͇̻͖ͅA̶̛̘̰̻̳͕̓ͥN̖̗̬̯̖͉̭̂̇̀̇̀ͨͮ͞T̷̙̰̦̩ͥ͒̃̈̐̓ ̵̛͚̮̼̥ͧ̾ͯͫͥ̇̃̚T̜̗̘̻͈̦̝ͩ̀̇͗̕Ǫ̫̘̇̋ͧ̌ͭ͠ ̰̮̲͗̐͘H͕̆̍ͫ͂̈Ȗ̱̼̣͍̜ͥ̿̾̚R̼̗̯̟̪̖ͨͯ̂ͣ͠T͉̩̰̼͔̣̙͙̻ͥͫͩͥ̆̇ ̨̥̞͚̬̳̺͚̬̅̃A͗̿̈ͭ̚͞҉̤͓͍̘̤́Ŗ͈̺̱͈͋̒̓̒͟ͅEͧ̋҉̴̲͈̤̙Ṣ̶̜̼̯̿̓̋̑̈́͒͠ͅ

Though I had heard the doctors say more than once that my Ares was getting weaker I knew that they were full of horse apples. Ares was fine; in fact he was better than fine. Sure, he might spend more time sleeping than staying awake now and I have to use my magic to make him chew and swallow the food that the servants bring for us so he could get something to eat but I was sure if I was patient Ares would be up and about in no time.

I mean look at me! A couple of days ago I had been feeling awful and the room had been freezing. Now it seemed as warm as could be, even with the icicles on the ceiling. Since all I was doing was sitting on this bed waiting for Ares to wake up while I stuffed my face with food I really didn’t need any sleep either.

Ÿ͙̖̥͚͇̹̭́ͮ̕̕o̵̾ͨͪ̓̈́҉̞̠̲̼̗̣̰̫͘ũ̧̗͇̦̲͋͐̕ ̟͎̪̤̼̈͐͛̍c̠̯̠̣̰͎̟ͤ͋̅̊͗͢a̙̤̥̥ͩ̾ͩͮ́n̗̺͎̺̙̞̠̼̊͜'̷̘̼̭͓ͪ́͟ț̤̩͔̱̆͋ͩ̄͛ͅ ̞̤̯̖̗ͯͬͦ͌̋̓͜l̢̦̩̯̦͔̰̰̥̼͛ͪͯͥ̓ͨ̉e̸͖͍̥̙͙̍ͪͮ͠t̨̲̳͕͉͌͌͛̍̊ͬ̐ͯ́͞ ̮̫͇̩̝̣ͭͥͥ̂͌̏̋͘a͈͙̫̪͓̮̯ͬ̋̿̿̐̽̒̔̚ņ̷͚̘̗̝̪͔̙̺ͤ͋͝y̛̗̙̟͆ͥͪ̏̀p̻̺̠̰̲͕̈́ͣ͋o̦̜̗͇̘̘̟̎̌̍̌ṇ͍̩͔͊̓ͅͅy̋͐̊҉҉̞̠̠̯ ̧̡͇̗̯̫̯͕ͮ͌ͩh̨͈ͤ͆̾̚ưͩ̒͏̱̞̩̖̭ŕ̢̢̫̮̲̳̥̼̤̃t͎̬̗̣̗̥̝̣̘̅̂̄̍ͧ́͞ ̨͍̣̗̹͂̓͛̅̚h̷̷̦͔͎̘͔̫͔̥͖ͨ̊ͪ́̊̒͢i͕̲̣̗̱̺͍ͤͦ̌̇̔̄̄̚͘ͅm̨ͭͫ̎͋̆̓҉̰ͅ

It was kind of boring just lying there all but it could have been worse. At least I was with my favorite human and he was absolutely adorable when he was sleeping. So adorable in fact that even once in awhile I couldn’t help but lean down and give him a little kiss on the cheek or on the forehead or on the lips. I had to be careful with the lips though; last time I wasn’t I accidently cut myself on his fangs.

H̻̬͉͖͎̤̫̩ͦ͂̉ͥ̒̿̉̆e̢ͪ̐̈ͧͤ҉͖̜̫͓͈̦͔̘͢'̢͕̱̹̭̞̯ͯ͊̋͌͞s̸̹̒ͬ ͬ̐ͧ̓͌͒͏̰̻͞y̳̫̙̙̮̰̫̻ͬ͒͒ͣo̳̟͖͍ͯͧ̅̍ͥ̐ͨ͜u̱̳̞͎̯̹ͣ͐͘rͨ̓ͫ̃̓҉͈̮͞s̡̰̯̯̲ͧ͒̂ͥ̿ͯͥͩ͞ͅ

My eyes widened slightly as a shadow came out of Are’s arm as the human let out another groan. My wing tightened around my human as I watched it form into a hand. The lit candle that I had on the nightstand flickered as it snaked back and forth in the air.

Y̷͇̩ͩͯ̎͋̇̚o̠̮̜̊ͦŭ̢̜̬̙̼̪̀̌ͥͧ͂̅̆̔͟ ̹̮͓͉͕̌͗̃ͬͩ͟͢l̹̻̗̗͍̮̠̀̑ͪ̃͊͌ͪͯ̀o͚͍̩̖̣͍̱͚̓ͫ̏̄v̜̲͚̘̲ͯể̢̨̼͉̠̫͓̞̲̊͗͒͛ ̶͆̊̐ͮ̄ͅA̟̮̿ͭ͝r̦̙̱̰͙̗̭̎̎͑ͪ̾ͨͦ͟ͅḙ̛̜̤̟͈̂s̨̯̟̬̯̮̰̭̪̍́͐̾̽̋̀

My head cocked to the side as I watched the little shadow, waiting to see what it was going to do. To my surprise I watched as a shadow nearly identical to Ares’ slowly came out of my chest.

“Huh… will you look at that,” I said to nopony in particular, trying to touch the shadow with a hoof. The shadow twisted around my hoof as I tried to touch it, reaching out to Ares’ shadow.

A small smile came to my face as I watched Are’s shadow wrap around my smaller, lighter shadow. “Aw, that’s actually kind of cute,” I muttered, giving Ares’ hand a squeeze myself.

Y͇͇͖͎͔͖̍̉̓̀͋ͧ͟o̓̐͗̽̈ͮ͛̚҉͚̩̦͇͉͚̯̙̝͡u̘̜͕͖͙ͬ̾ͣ̉͂̄ͪ̊͡͠'ͥ͋̈́͗͏̸̙̟̥̦̮ͅl̢̞̲͖͈̩̜̖ͣͫ̄ͨ͢l̡̟̦̖̬̹̓͂͑͊̔̒ ̳̪͖͂̃̍̾̑ͫ͝ͅd̦͇̮̮̥͇̱͍ͥ̓ͮͤ̆ͣ̚o͌͞҉͓͕͇͓͖̣͙ ̨̝͎̥͎́̂̅ͥ̉a̖̗̪̥͖̱̣͙̒̎͗̓ͦͨ̐̚͠n̺̘̖̿̔̿̉̒ẏ̤͇͒̀͢t̡̺͕͆͊̾͒̎ͫͥ͐h̴̡̛̠̥̰̮̫͕͐̌ͭ̈́iͥ̔̃̍͒ͣ́҉͍ṉ̡͈̥̇̃̄͗͐ͨ̚͟͝g̳̻̤̗͆̎͑ͬͮ͜ ͇̘̪̬̖̻ͭͪ͑͆̓ͫ̈͡t̳͌̎͂o̞̞̣͔̝ͬͣ̀̎ͧ͢ ̪͚̮̗̄̏̓̍͜p̞̱̮̑̒ͣ̎ͪ̅̓̈́̈͝ͅrͩ̊̅̋͊͑̑̂͏̣͉̙ǒ̴̱͍̞̮̝͞t̸̬͉ͭ͆̏͢ĕ̛̼̭̮̱̗̪̭͒͐̌̈̔̋̀ͅç̪͕̲͌ͮͦͫ̒́̚t̜̳̗̼̾̌ ̮͎̖͓̘̱̍̈̇͒͠Â̷̛̼̮̍̿̅̇ͦ̃̆͒r̛͙͚̬̣͕̍͠e̯͉ͭ̔͐ͤ̃s̛̳̜͇̯͇̱͍̩̈ͧ

The small smile on my face soured a bit when I remembered what the guards had been saying outside of my room the other day. Could you believe that they were talking about separating me and Ares?

There was nothing “dangerous” about this room. Though I appreciated the guards’ concern there was no way that any of these icicles were going to fall on either me or Ares. I wasn’t going to let that happen. And why on earth would they think that me being around him was making him worse? I like to think that me being around my little human was just as beneficial to him as him being around me was for me. The only thing that separating the two of us would do was make Ares’s condition worse!

Y̴̝̖̤̯̟̭ͯ͘͢ͅǫ̘̮͙̮̞͓̋͑́ͤ͝ǘ̧̟̤̠̦̹͆͒̐̕ ͍̳͙ͥ̂̔͜͝͝w̛̹̮̞̔̔̀a̸͇͈̫̺̣ͧͥͮ͗̎̆͆͗͢n̡̛̯̻̼̭͍̞̬ͬ̋͊͠t̸̙͙̜͎̅͑̔́ͧ̌̉̔͞ ̷̰̅ͥ̏̈̓̚͞͡t̥̹͈̟̫̻̩̫͊͗ͮ̊̍ͭ̏͢o̝̯̞̞̾ͣ̄̋̀͗ ̷̴̝̞̻ͨ̽́͑̄͗͋k̘̪̜͍̜̠͒͐̃̕͡e̫̟̪͈̰̤̘̱͎̒͒̈́͂͛e̸͙͈̳̪̜̜̭̟̻̅̂͋͆̀p͔͖̦͖̳̟ͦͨ͡ ̷̤̯̪̂ͤ͑͑̈́̏̑͟t̡̛̠͕̟̣̖̥̞̹̤̿ͯ̽͛̓̏̏ͨẖ̘̤͚̯̩̳̫ͭ͛ͩe̸̮̝̱͇ͧ ̘̖̘͕̣̥͛ͫ̄̅͒̈́ͅp͔̹͔͕͆͂͗͞o̢͓̗͉̽ͮ̓ͩ̏͆͛ň̵̘̘͙̙͉ỉ̥̘̯̮̓͌̿͋͂̒̚é͚͈̠̑̈͂ͧ̓̓̚͞s̘̞̰̤̟̥͙̫̬̔ͫ̂ͨ̒͟ ͕̥̼̺̺̉ͬ́̐͋͑̿͞t̯̼̬̩̼̱̠̤̦ͬ̍͆̑̾͘͠h̶̤̞̻̭͈ͫ͆̓̇ͮ̚a̬͕̝̓̎̒̀̓̔ͨ̀ͅt̠̯̩̩͓̘ͤ̔̆ͥ̂̎ͅ ͍̣̭̼̝̘̒͂̒ͨ͒͘͢͞w̦̠̞̭͓̹̬ͫ̇͌̒̾́͌͐͟ḯ̟͚͚̞̣̝̽l̗̥̎͗̀͌ͬͭͬ͋ͧḻ̬̻̭̲̣̻͍͍̃̾̉̾̎̅̂ ̴̩̠͇͔̑̽̚ͅh̯̻̿͗́͟͡u͚͍͔̖͍̤̱͛ͧ̋̚r͉̳̈ͭ̐ͨͭ͊͘͠t͇̹͎͓͉̼̳ͬ͠ ̢̞̣̠̹̆̃͝yͤͮ̊́͊͏̗͇o̶̡̢̠͔̠͕̭͖̖͛̀ͤ̊ͮ̃̈́͑u̷͈̺͖͖̹̪̰̽͑͂̇ͪ̚rͥͬ͆͛ͩ͑̋ͯ̾͘͠͏͉̪̩̖̳ ̧͎̺̜̦̘͈ͣ͂̎ͭ̑̑̀A̴̱̗̤ͩ͛ͮ̋̕r̐̓ͭͭ͐͐ͬ̑҉͕̭̻̰͕̰̹ẻ̢̞̬͖̠̋ͧͨ͌̔s̪̹̼̫͕͑̎͐ͯ͞ ̷̭̜̞̬͉̠̄̆̋̄̓ͪa̛͍͚͎ͧ̐ͪ̍ͦ̾w̼̬̹̮̹̮̺̪ͫͮ̇̂͗a͗ͨ҉̞̳̤̱y̽͆͜҉̱̜̞̼͉̪͇͈̭

I had tried to talk to a few of the maids the other day so that I could get them to relay this to my aunties but they just ignored me! I can understand that their jobs were stressful and all but they didn’t have to be rude!

I hadn’t taken to being ignored very well if I’m being honest. I might have said a few… not very nice things to my staff, which was why they had stopped coming into the room, but that was fine. As long they left food for me and Ares to eat and they cleaned the toilet whenever I levitated it over toward the door then that was fine. After Ares and I got better I’d just fire all of these rude ponies and get some staff that could interact with others nicely!

Y̢͍̹̬̜̋ͪ͑̓͐̆̕o̸̳͖̓̊̋ͣ͒u̶͖̬̻͈̼̾́̕ ͉͎̙̘̉́͋̕ẘ̧̮̟̦͇͖͎̄̉̆́͆̚i̍ͯ̃ͯ̿ͪ́͏͈̺̝̯̜͉̞l͇̪̎̔ͩͫ̓̚͘͢ͅl̷̴̞̈́ͧͫ̇ͤ ̴̐ͬ̓ͯ̀̌̋ͬ͏̠̮̰̼̖h̰̻̲͛̔̿̈́̋̂̈́͡ȗ̱̱̝̀͡r͐ͯͫ̃ͧͯͤ̅̅́͜͏͈ṭ̭̠͓͔̠̈́̎̆͌ͤ̌̿́̚ ̀͊͒́͏̼̭̕t̜̘̮͚͕̓ͭ͐ͭ̓͗ḥ̛͔͔̱̈ͥ͛̂ḙ͕̆̒ͯͬͭ͒̐̓m̶̶͔̳͖̟̥͈̟̹͈̬͓̫ͣ̑ͦ̑̄ͨ̇͋ͯ͛ͯ̚͜ͅ

The candle flickered out and died, but I hardly noticed as I looked down at my little human. His body twitched again and his face once again contorted in pain but he calmed down when I leaned down and nuzzled his cheek.

“If you were awake you’d have torn them a new one, huh honey?” I murmured, laying my head next to his.

My horn sparked to life, and with a spell I pulled the thick woolen blanket that the servants had given us over the two of us. Though I wasn’t cold, and I was pretty sure neither was Ares, I still did it anyway. The coarseness felt nice against my coat and it just felt nice having something thick and heavy like that draped over me.

I winced as a headache hit me like a runaway carriage. “Owowowowowo.”

This had been happening every time that I used my magic, which was why I didn’t use it all that much anymore. I had tried telling the doctors about it when one was finally brave enough to come in but he wouldn’t get close enough to give me a proper examination. And, my knowledge about medicine was laughable at best, we hadn’t gotten anywhere in finding out why my head hurt whenever I used my magic.

Rubbing my temples, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, then a few more. I continued to do this until it no longer felt like my head was going to explode. Cracking open an eye, I once again looked at Ares’s sleeping form.

“You know that the second that you wake up I’m going to give it to you right?” I asked, sounding annoyed as I picked my head up so that I could look down at him. “We were supposed to wait through this together! But with you sleeping I have nopony to talk to, you can’t kid around with m-me.”

A tear fell on Ares’s cheek but I ignored it. “You c-can’t do anything! A-And every day I-I can’t h-help but w-wonder if y-you’re going to w-wake up a-at all!”

My lip began to tremble as I wrapped my hooves around my human and buried my nuzzle into his neck. Instead of the exotic, one-of-a-kind smell that was a signature of my human, the same scent that almost always did wonders in calming me down, I smelt nothing. I shut my eyes tightly, tears streaming down my face as I tried my very best not to start crying.

“Could y-you please j-just open your e-eyes?” I begged. “Please? I-It’s been t-three days, honey. P-Please just open y-your eyes so I c-can see if y-you’re alright…”

Ares twitched again and he sharply inhaled, prompting me to look up at his face.

“Motherfucking… cunts. There’s no way… in hell that I’m… going out like… a bitch…” I felt Ares’s hand tighten around mine. At the same time both of our shadows disappeared back into our bodies. “You fucking… monsters…”

Ares blinked slowly as he looked down at me. “Hiya, Candy,” he rasped, a weak, weak smile coming to his face.

I blinked slowly, my lip quivering as Ares slowly blinked. Reaching out with a hoof, I touched his cheek. “A-Ares?” I whispered. “You’re awake?”

My eyes widened as Ares reached up with a thin, shaking hand and touched my cheek. “Yeah. I’m awake,” he murmured as he gave my cheek a pat. “I feel pretty… Yeah, I’m awake.”

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and wrap Ares in the tightest hug that I could, but all I ended up doing was crying my eyes out again. “You’re alright, you’re alright, you’re alright,” I said, over and over and over again, nuzzling my human’s chest.

I could feel Ares’ hand running through my mane as I cried like a little filly, tears of joy streaming down my face. He was awake, he was alright, he could talk to me! He woke up when I was starting to have doubts that he would! My little human wasn’t going to make me suffer in this darkness by myself any longer.

A sudden but violent coughing fit from Ares wrenched me out of my cry-baby state, and without a second thought I levitated over a glass of water. Trying not to wince in pain I propped him up and placed the glass to his lips. Giving me a grateful look, Ares quickly drained the water.

“How long was I out?” he asked after I pulled the glass away.

I opened my mouth to assure him that it hadn’t been all that long but a look from Ares made my mouth shut right back up. “It’s been… a while,” I admitted.

Looking away from him my horn glowed again, this time bringing over a plateful of crackers and a jar of peanut butter. Even though I would have preferred giving Ares soup or something that would be easy on his stomach the servants weren’t going to bring any food for the next couple of hours. While I had done my best to feed Ares I knew that it would probably be a very good idea that he got something in his stomach before then.

Picking up a lone cracker I guided it toward Ares mouth. I expected him to turn away from the food but, to my surprise, he quickly ate the whole thing. Wiping my face with a hoof to clean myself up as best as I could, I eagerly offered him another one.

“How long is a… while?” Ares asked as I got him another glass of water, making him drink a few mouthfuls before stuffing another cracker into his mouth.

“I’ll tell you in a little bit, hon,” I promised. “Now, do you want me to put some peanut butter on one of these crackers?”

Ares shook his head. “Nah, I’ll just… have some plain… crackers.”

I nodded. That was fine, as long as he kept eating the crackers that was okay. I could always make him eat a few with peanut butter on them after he woke up a bit and I calmed down.

“Cadence? Do you still have that book that we were reading together the other day?”

My vision swarmed as a particularly nasty wave of pain ran down from the tip of my horn to the bottom of my chin. The glass of water and the crackers nearly fell out of my magical grasp but I managed to keep them floating in place.

Fight through the pain, Cadence. This was for Ares. You have to make sure that he’s alright. You have to keep him safe. You have—

Both of Ares’ arms wiggled out of the blanket and he grabbed both the water and the plate, putting them both in his lap. “Easy, Candy, you look… like you’re gonna… pop a blood vessel.”

My nose scrunched up in pain and I was forced to close an eye because of it. “Thanks, hon,” I murmured, gratefully, turning toward the nightstand to look for that book. “Let me just get—”

“No magic, Cadence.”

“…Yes dear.”

Leaning over, still holding Ares’s hand, I fumbled around blindly looking for the book in this darkness. Now, for some reason, I couldn’t see in the dark as well as I could before, which was a load of horse—

I blinked as the candle suddenly sparked to life, illuminating the room. I winced, the light hurting my eyes a bit.

…What? How in Faust’s name?...

Shaking my head of the thought, I managed to find the book, grab it, and open it up to the page that Ares and I had left off.

Ares let out a shaky sigh, giving my hoof a little squeeze as he forced himself to eat another cracker. He was opening and closing his other hand, almost as if it was in pain. “You go ahead and read first, Candy,” he said. “Let me get a bit more food… and water in my stomach and I’ll… read after you.” I peered up at him nervously and he smiled. “And don’t worry. I’m not going to fall back… asleep. I’ve had enough sleeping… for a long while.”

I had to blink away tears once again as I looked back down at the book. One of my wings wrapped itself around Ares’ back, pressing him up against me. The sounds of crackers being eaten was like music to my ears, and feeling my human’s exhausted but expectant gaze was a feeling so wondering and amazing that I couldn’t even describe it.”

“Alright,” I said, clearing my throat as my little human took a sip of his water. ““You have no power here, Daring Do,” the tribesmen cries, the tip of his spear glinting in the moonlight….”