“Now I’m going to start pumping up the arm cuff. You might feel a little loss of circulation but I’m sure that you’ll be fine. You’re a big colt.”

Ares let out a raspy, wheezy chuckle as doctor Stitch adjusted her glasses. “Boy; not stallion.”

The doctor rolled her eyes as she began to pump up the arm cuff that she had placed around my human’s arm. “You’re a big boy then.”

“The biggest boy you’ve ever met.”

The doctor snorted as I giggled quietly. “I highly doubt that, Mr. Ares.”

Though she was doing her best to appear nonchalant I could see that the doctor was shivering. While I felt fine and Ares had commented to me about not being so cold anymore I knew that it was freezing in this room. There was ice from the floor to the ceiling with icicle stalagmites and stalactites peppered throughout the room, and while there were no windows and only one door in this solid crystal room there was an odd… current in the air.

The air in the room was never still; it was like something was whipping it back and forth at will. Though I couldn’t see what that thing was I could see Ares warily eyeing something behind the doctor’s left shoulder. When I had asked him what he was looking at Ares insisted that he wasn’t looking at anything, which did very little to put me at ease. But I didn’t say anymore. For the last couple of days, even though there was ice everywhere, Ares was getting better. I didn’t want to go and rile him up while he was getting better.

“Easy with that pumping, doc. You’re gonna pop my arm off.”

“Oh you’re fine. Now stop squirming; I need you to be as still as possible for this.”

From the ice pick that was badly hidden in the doctor’s little black bag I could tell that she had been forced to cut her way toward us. While the servants had done their best to keep our room free of the dangerous spears made out of ice hanging above our heads, they just couldn’t keep up with them. For every one that they took down and dragged away three more would take its place. I tried to do what I could, using my magic to tear up anything around the bed so that something wouldn’t fall on me or Ares, but they just kept growing back.

This made it even more dangerous to come into our room, so it was of little surprise that it became harder and harder to find anypony that was willing to spend any time at all in this room. Most of the doctors had flat out refused to come in here anymore; all except Dr. Stitch, who had stubbornly persisted through the cold and the shadows to check up on the two of us every few days, and the occasional servant who would come in and give us our food.

“Stop opening and closing your hand like that,” the doctor said, adjusting her stethoscope so that she had it under the arm cuff.

Ares made a face, squirming against me. “I can’t help it. My arm’s all tingly.”

Dr. Stitch sighed, checking down at a pocket watch. “Your arm’s “all tingly” because your circulation is getting worse.” She looked up at him with an irritated expression on her face. “Have you been doing those exercises that I told you to do?”

Ares’s hand twitch, and I could tell that he wanted nothing more than to continue to open and close his hand, but with a nuzzle to the cheek he stopped fidgeting. “I’ve been doing it every day like you’ve asked.”

Raising an eyebrow, the doctor looked at me.

“I’ve made him do it every single day like you asked me to, doctor,” I said, pressing my little human a little closer against me as I gave him a look. “No matter how much he doesn’t want to.” From the look on the doctor’s face as I said that I think she would have preferred if I had told her the opposite.

She grumbled to herself as she let all of the air out of the arm cuff and ripped it off of Ares’s arm. “So no matter what I do his circulation is getting worse,” she mumbled, tearing the stethoscope out of her ears. “Now does that mean something’s clogging his arteries or is his heart getting weaker… No, if it was because of that I would have heard something…”

Her brow furrowed up in thought but a moment before she shook her head. Looking up at the two of us she smiled weakly. “Well… tingly arms aside I can say that you most definitely aren’t getting any worse from what I can tell,” she said, stuffing her equipment in her bag. “You aren’t getting any better, and you need to start eating a lot more, but you aren’t getting any worse.”

Ares looked up at me with a grin. I gave him a peck on the nose before nuzzling the top of his head. “Well, that’s great,” I said, watching as the doctor rooted around in her little black bag. “So is there anything else you want me to do with him or are you done? I’d really like to try to get Ares to eat some of the food that you brought for us.”

Ares snorted. “Hey, I’ve been eating every time that you’ve asked me.”

“Yes, but nowhere near enough,” I retorted, giving his belly a poke. “You’re going to waste away if you keep eating just a bite of this and a bit of that you—” Whatever else I was about to say died in my throat as the doctor pulled out a syringe with a long needle.

Giving said needle a flick, a spurt of some mystery liquid flying out the tip, the doctor turned back to us.

Though I couldn’t see the look on Ares’ face I was sure as sugar that he had the same expression on his face that I had on mine. “Doc… You know that thing isn’t going to work right?”

The doctor held the syringe close to her chest. “I had this wrapped up in a pair of blankets enchanted with a heating spell,” she said, taking a determined step forward.

“It’s going to freeze again,” Ares said, eyeing the needle with trepidation.

“Hush and let me work.”

Since the moment that Ares and I had found ourselves in this room the doctors had done all that they could to give us every shot imaginable. Some of them were vitamin shots, some were shots to help the immune system, a couple shots were magically infused concoctions that were supposed to fight whatever was rooting around inside of me, which they were too scared to give to Ares, and I’m pretty sure that a few shots were just for the heck of it. You know doctors; if they’re not sticking something with a needle or asking you questions while you’re in an awkward, embarrassing position they weren’t happy. What mattered was that, in the beginning, the doctors could give us shots.

For days’ Dr. Stitch had been trying to give us shots full of… things that she thought that we needed. She brought in every needle and type of syringe that she had, trying to stick us, but every single time she failed. Before the needle would so much as touch either mine or Ares’s skin whatever was in the syringe would freeze and the needle would become so brittle that it would shatter the second that it touched our skin.

The doctor had tried to use her magic to counteract the cold in a hundred different ways but nothing worked. Every time that she tried to give us a shot the whole thing would shatter in her hooves, but no matter how many times the needles kept breaking the doctor continued to try.

“You need to get this vitamin shot, Mr. Ares,” the doctor replied stubbornly. “You don’t eat anything vitamin-rich and your body is in dire need of B12, K, and D.”

Though he made a face, Ares extended an arm. “You can try, but it’s not gonna work.”

Dr. Stitch eyed Ares’s arm. “It’s going to work this time, Mr. Ares,” she said, nervously pushing her glasses up against her nose as she brought the needle closer. “It’s going to work this time. I know it is.”

Her horn glowed brightly, and the needle in her hooves was encased in her neon green magic. Steam began to come off of it as the spell the doctor had put on the shot fought against the cold. “Come on you bucker. Come on…”

A bead of sweat formed on the doctor’s forehead as she inched the needle closer, her face scrunched up in absolute concentration. Though that bead of sweat froze against her face before it went past her cheek it looked like whatever was in the syringe was still liquid.

Ares raised an eyebrow as the needle came within inches of his arm. “Huh, it looks like—” I felt my little human tense against me as he let out a grunt of pain. “D-Doc, get awa—”

Before anyone of us could do anything, the shadow leapt out of Ares’ forearm in the form of a tiny hand. It tried to grab ahold of the needle, it’s black claws extended.

R̢̪͇͕̮̭̩̤͖͉̯̯̰̜̯̠ͪͭ̌̊ͭ̇ͫ̓ͤ́͐́ͦ̀̂͢ë̙͇̩̤̙̯͉͍̹̜̝̲̥̼ͬ̏̅̃͞T̢̡̥̙͇̖̠̜̝̩̯̤̈́ͬ̅̍̔ͮͣͧ͐́̐͘͡ͅų̶̛̦̘̖̘̗͚̝̯̞̰̼̭̲̟͂̇̔́̃́ͥ͌͛̚ͅͅR̷̨̻̦͍͆͆͊̂̚͢͝n̸̨̩̺͚̝̟̪͍̟͚̟̯̪͚̗̼̤ͯ̾͊͌̃ͯͫ̚̕͜͞ͅ Ares spat, clenching his hand into a fist.

To my surprise the shadow ignored his order, grabbing onto the doctor’s syringe. Doctor Stitch let out a gasp of surprise, her magic dying the instant that thing touched the shot. For a moment she looked surprised and even scared, but almost as quick as the shadow appeared her expression turned angry.

“No! Not this time,” she growled, struggling with the shadow for control of the syringe. “You’re not going to—”

R̢̪͇͕̮̭̩̤͖͉̯̯̰̜̯̠ͪͭ̌̊ͭ̇ͫ̓ͤ́͐́ͦ̀̂͢ë̙͇̩̤̙̯͉͍̹̜̝̲̥̼ͬ̏̅̃͞T̢̡̥̙͇̖̠̜̝̩̯̤̈́ͬ̅̍̔ͮͣͧ͐́̐͘͡ͅų̶̛̦̘̖̘̗͚̝̯̞̰̼̭̲̟͂̇̔́̃́ͥ͌͛̚ͅͅR̷̨̻̦͍͆͆͊̂̚͢͝n̸̨̩̺͚̝̟̪͍̟͚̟̯̪͚̗̼ͯ̾͊͌̃ͯͫ̚̕͜͞ͅ!̤

I could hear static as Ares snarled at the shadow once more, his eyes wild and his lips drawn back. This time the shadow obeyed my human, disappearing into nothingness. While that would usually be a good thing the doctor was still right there with that needle in her hoof, and the second that the shadow was gone all of her straining and pulling forced her to stumble forward.

The doctor gasped, her eyes wide with surprise. She tried to catch herself while also moving the needle away from Ares so she didn’t just impale him. Both me and Ares tried to move out of the way but the way that we were sitting meant that we really couldn’t move at all, which meant that unthinkable happened.

The needle drove itself about a quarter of an inch into Ares’ exposed arm just as the doctor tried to jerk it away. I could feel my heart jump to my throat as the doctor, after sticking the needle into my little human’s arm, then ripped it sideways.

Ares howled as the razor-like needle cut through his arm like butter.“SON OF A BITCH!”

For a moment, time seemed to freeze as I looked down at Ares’ arm, which was now seeping blood. When I saw that reddish, darkish liquid seeping out of his wound something just… snapped inside of me.

̶̶̰̭̖̘̠̫̱̟̭͕̜̬̦̹̱̳̌̒̓͒͋ͦͨ̽̍̂ͪ͊͑̃͝ͅP̵̨̢̩̬̖͉͙̙̥͓͖̰͖͚͎̞̓̓ͪͭ͑̓̐̄̓̏͛̓̊r̢̼͎̣̞̝̲̥̪̞͕͔͍̘̤̠̼̭͊̆ͨ̽͂ͯ̽̅͂͋̍̅ͣͯ̀O̢̩͔̙͇̻̞̬̪̲͉̭̥͙͇̮͖͕͓͊̓̅̏͑ͬt̷̨͕̖͇̥̣̞̳̦̤̝͚̦̩̲͎̬̥͖ͤ͊̇͂̒͗͌̅͒́͛͐ͯͦ̅̀́͜Ê̡̹͖͇̻͖̦̱̯͕̗̝̭̮ͩ͆͐̂ͧ̓ͯ̃̇̇͑͒ͬͦ̎̌͑͞ͅç̝͖̺̦̯̼͋̎̾̓ͪ͗͗̎̈́̆͌̌̑ͯ̃ͤ̓ͭ͌̀͜͠͞T̷̶̡̙̝̮̰̯̪̩̓ͮͧ͂͗̈͑̊́͂̽̋̕ ̨̢̡̛̛̳̦̝͍̩͌͐̐ͣͬ͗̓̐ͬ̍̎̒̌͊̂ͮ͗a̵̠̠͙͖̤͇̠̫̱̙̼̦̩̼ͥ̅̾̄̊́̉͒́̚͜͡͡Ŗ̢̙̘͎̦͙̱̹̻̺ͫ̏ͫ̄͑ͪ̌̅̽̎̀͛́́̚̚e̛͍̲̹̬̟̘̙͈̠̻̻̠̠̓ͣ̔ͪͯͦͩ́̆̀̚͢͝S͌̈́́ͫͤͦͩ̀͢͞҉̦͖̲̝͍̟̮͙̝̘̱͈̠̮̳̠͓̪̀ͅ

My horn sparked to life, and in quick succession I cast half a dozen spells. The doctor was thrown across the room, syringe and all, I teleported her bag from the floor so that it was sitting next to me, I held Ares still so he wouldn’t start thrashing around in pain and, because I was so upset with the doctor’s carelessness, I blew off a little steam by destroying every single bit of ice in the room.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” I murmured, my voice thick with anger as I spun my little human around so that I could get a better look at his cut. “Just let me look at it.”

My horn glowed again, my magic easily ripping the medical bag to pieces so that I could properly see everything that was in it. Seeing some bandages, I floated them over and pressed them against Ares’ wound.

Ares hissed with a wince before he looked over where I had thrown that hack of a doctor. “Cadence! What the fuck did you—”

“Shhhh, everything’s alright, I’ll make everything better.”

“Cadence, the doctor didn’t mean—”

“Nopony’s going to hurt you. I’m going to keep you safe, I’m going to keep you safe.”

My ears perked up as I heard somepony slowly making their way toward me. Looking away from my poor, abused human I watched as the doctor, who was limping and who looked far more ragged than she had a moment ago, limped over to the two of us.

S̯͎̰̀͊̾͐h̢̞̳̳͎̮̞̟̰̤̋̈́̇̓̐ͯ́e̸̶̢̼̱͓ͪͫ̄͒̈̍'̺͖͍͉͚̖ͩ̇̓ͤͪ͋͒̕͢s̡̈́̽̐̋̆ͧ́͏̫̼͍ ͚̙̗̠̮̩̿̄̓͗̋̎ͦ̅͞ͅt̳̳̟͎͑̈̌͐ͨ̋͜͝r̫̹͈ͫ͌͗͌͒̈́͜y̨̫̯̪̙͗̿̿͆ͦ͡i̶̘̤͙̬̼̟ͦ̋̿͗͂͋͗n̪̲̖̩̈̿ͦ̓ͧͪ̚ģ̡͓̮̣̹͚͔̖̃͌̔̎͑ͨ̋ ͒ͭͮ͂̚҉̧̻̳̘̫̲t̢ͭ҉̼̞o̵̺̜̥̪̱̙͒ͤͭ̆ ̝̦̲̾ͥh͎͓̬̘͈̯͕ͯ͂͐ͤͮ̈́̇̊ͅu̥̹̗̗̖͓̗̭̺͒͋̊ͬͬ̈̀́͟r̝̜͓͇̱̙ͤͤ̏ͨͭͧ̽̋̕͞t̥̱͓͙ͮ́͜ͅ ̢̪̩̳̜̄͛̎͐̓̚A͈̖͇̙̾͗ͣ̓̌̉ͥ̐̒ȑ̨̝̺͌̌ͮͣ͝e͔̤̾ͭs͉̝̑̄̔̒̆̐̈
̢̢̟̦̲̗̞̻͕̔́͠
̛̲̳̘͓̥̙̐ͫ͌̚͠Y̸̜̱̑ͯo̸͙̜̿͡ų̶̱̟̟̳̮̥̬͚͐̂̉̒̌̏͡ ͬ̿̎ͨ͗̾ͫ̇͟͏̢̥h̥̙̭̬͙͍̲̺̒ͥͨͩ͠a͗̏̍̇ͨ̽̂ͥ́͏͕̘̤̻͇v̥̘̇̍͐̌̉ͧͩ̚e̢̹̤͎̖̎͂̍̃̿̅̏͟ ̝̟͖̟̼̮̤ͤͪ̈̋͌͠t̤̿̌ͭ͂͛͗͟ô̵̹̰̔͌ ̧͔̤̻̪ͭͥͪ͛͑́p̄̋̈̈́̉̍͋̾ͯ͝ͅř̮͓̝̦̪̮͛̆ͮ̔͠o̬̱̣̞̟̒͆̓̽̅ͥͩ̈t̳̬͒́͑̀ͯ͜e̩͉̰͚̮̤ͥ͗̓̈́̊͠c͊̓͌̓ͣ͋ͭ̀͏̺̫̠ṱ̛̊̾ͫ͘ ̢̭̞̜̹ͥ́́̒̍́A̧̻̳͍̭̻̤̳̬̪ͧͯ͋̍͆͛̃͝r̖̳͔͖̞͚̙͎͌̅ͥ̂̂ͩ͗̚͟e͉͒ͩͦ̌ͮ̃͜s̺̰̟͇̯͍̠̾̒̀̀
̯̲̲̮̰̟͈̞̌̏͜͠͝
̸̧̪̪̩̻͈̹͍̠̓̄͛͗͂̚ͅỶ̴͎̞̭̥̪ͣ̏̈́̈ơ̖̤͚͚̹̤̊ͣͯu̹̬̒ͩ̉̔͡͝ ͎̬̭͉͈̳̼̳͛ͧͫ̃͌̀͢h̸̵͙̥̋̉̍͌̽̊̀ả͙͛̐ͣ̔ͥ̑̾́͜͝v̛̯̪ͮ͆ȩ̖̞̬̹̠͛ͅ ̨̮͓͎̌ͥ̅̋̅̅ͮ̌̿͟t̛͍̰̲̟̱͂ͭͩͮ͐o̴̧̙̭̫̞͉͐̃̌̂ͦ̐ͨ̏̐ ̴̧̹̱̓͒̀̿̀͠p͔̺̞͓̜ͮ́r̛̙̜͖͉̜̪ͩ͘͢ô͓͕̫̱̪ͮ́ͦͩ́tͫ͌̒͏̨͚̪̪̮͖̺̬e̩͓ͪ̌ͤ̚c̵̘̜ͧͯͮ̓̓̍̀t̛̖͍͙̦̓̈̄ ̒̓̓͋͌ͦ͗́͏̜͍̹h̽͆ͪ̌̊̽ͪ̒҉̵̛͚̺̦̪͇̮̭į̗͉͎̇͐ͦͯm͎̬̩̠̤̖̳ͭ͢ ̷̭̻̜͍͙̜̥̆ͭ̓̊͌̚f͂͐̉̽̇҉̘̻̠̠r̶̨̩̗̘̓ͤ̏ͪ̀ó͎̩̻̯̤̜̥̇̊̀͢m̵̨̬̭͉̹̤̍̋̏ͣ̌̊̍͆̀ ̟̙̜̯͇̙̿̈̅͆̂̆͆e̵̫͐̈ͮ̎͢v̶͔͍̞͕͉̍̃̉ͤe̴̥̠̰̬͇ͩͮͨ͒̚͟r̛̟͍̻͕ͨ̒͜y̶̵̛͚̜̩̱̫̓ͮ̚ȍ̲͚̣͎̘͉͘͞n̲͓͓̦̮̙̆͂ͫ̽̀e̼͕̪͓̘̯ͥ̌́ͩ͛

My gaze turned as cold as a glacier as I looked down at the doctor. “I think that you should see yourself out now, doctor.”

The doctor opened her mouth to no doubt say something but then she looked behind me. The pained and slightly confused look on her face turned to terror, and she took a step back.

I kept my gaze firmly on her. I didn’t care what was behind me. I needed to focus on the mare that had hurt my Ares because of her clumsiness. If she had been watching what she was doing I wouldn’t have to be holding a bandage against Ares’s arm and he wouldn’t be bleeding all over the bed.

She shouldn’t have been trying to poke us with needles in the first place. After the first few times she had failed she should have just left it well enough alone but she couldn’t. She had to keep trying. She had to go ahead and make the shadow upset. This was her fault!

Couldn’t she see that the shadow was just trying to protect my little human?!

The doctor began to slowly make her way toward the exit, her eyes still glued on whatever was behind me. My Ares had also stopped his yelling and squirming, staring wide-eyed over his shoulder.

“P-Princess, Mi—”

“While your help had been appreciated I believe that Ares and I won’t be needing your services any longer,” I interrupted. “In fact, keep every doctor that you have out there away from us. I don’t want another one of you mauling Ares because you couldn’t leave things well enough alone.”

The doctor seemed to rally at my dismissal, taking a step forward. “Princess, I really must—”

For a moment I could feel the horrible cold all around me. I could tell that Ares felt it too since his eyes widened even more and he began to shake violently.

Whatever courage that the doctor had managed to work up shriveled up as I slowly leaned forward, keeping Ares close in hoof. “I think you misheard me a few moments ago,” I growled, drawing my lips back into a snarl so that the doctor would see my long, dagger-like fangs. “Į̱̮͈̊̌͒́͗ ̵̼͍̭̫̱s̖͙͠ä͙͖̻̦̮͈̾̈̃ͭͤͣi̦̲̤̫̟̤̓d̈́̒̃ͅ ̨̲͎̟ͨ͛G̹͈̠͎̱̤̹ͤͦ̑̂ͫ̉ͪË̖͖̮͖ͭ̏͠T̞͈̮̱̻̭̳ͭ̓͐̒̓ ͏̦̫̻̟̬̘Ỏ̜̻͉̻̰̯̗U̡̬̓ͪͭ̈́T͔̯̭ͪͫ̂ͪ̈́̚.”

~_~_~_~_~_~

“Shining? Why do you think that supervillains always keep their most interesting books hidden away so that nopony can read them?”

Shining looked up from the book that he was reading which, oddly enough, was a cookbook. It seemed that, along with being a Lord of Darkness, Sombra was also an avid chef. Sure, a lot of the recipes that he was reading weren’t really pony friendly—i.e. most of it was meat-based— but this probably wouldn’t be out of place in a gryphon household.

His gaze settled on his sister, who had a literal wall of books surrounding her. Said purple pony was staring back at him expectantly, as if she knew the answer to her odd, odd question.

“I don’t know, Twily,” he admitted with a shrug. “Maybe they just want to keep all of the books that they like in one place so that they don’t have any trouble getting them?”

Though Twilight Sparkle’s love of books was known to pretty much everypony that had met her the unicorn must have been just as burnt out with reading as him, because she let out a hum, setting down the book that she had been reading as she milled over his answer.

“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “If they didn’t want to look for a particular book couldn’t they have somepony to just find it and bring it to them?”

Once again Shining shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know, Twily. Maybe it’s just a thing that villains like to do? Maybe it’s like how dragons like to have hordes even though they could just go out and search for gems whenever they were hungry?”

Twilight hummed again, giving Shining the sneaking suspicion that this out of the blue conversation was going to turn into an out of the blue debate, but then the door to the room they were sitting in slammed open, so hard that the door was nearly wrenched off its hinges. Both Shining and Twilight’s heads snapped over to see an absolutely terrified guard, who was panting like he had just sprinted all the way here.

“Lady Twilight, Lord Shining, please, come quick! There’s an emergency!”

Without realizing it, Shining found himself standing. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

The guard, whose eyes were as wide as dish plates, looked around the room as if he expected somepony to jump out of the shadows. Shining took a step forward, causing the shaking, sweaty stallion’s gaze to snap back to him. “I-It’s Princess Cadence,” he said, sounding shaken. “There’s something wrong.”

In an instant Twilight was on her hooves sprinting past the stallion. Shining was quick to follow, his powerful legs, though stiff from sitting in one place for so long, carrying him through the long, crystal hallways with ease. Though his little sister was never known for her athleticism she managed to keep up with him fairly well, her worry for her friends putting a pip in her step.

Guards were running around the castle like their tails were on fire. Some of them were dressed as if expecting a battle, others looked like they had just gotten out of bed with nothing but their helmet and a spear to show for it. Orders were being shouted, hallways were being blocked. It looked like every single guard in the castle was out. Not just the Crystal Guard, but the Solar and even the personal guard that Luna had brought with her. The closer that Shining and Twilight got to where the doorway to Cadence and Ares’s prison was located the heavier that the traffic got. Luckily for them they weren’t stopped, and there were only a few times where Shining was forced to lower his shoulder and force himself through.

They were nearly there. If they just got past a patrol of guards and turned the corner they’d be right there and they’d be able to help with whatever was going on.

That was when they heard it; a voice so angry and so filled with power that it left a ringing in their ears:

“Leave us ALONE.”

In his surprise, Shining stumbled. Twilight, who was right on his heels, accidently slammed into him—thankfully her horn wasn’t lowered so Shining’s day wasn’t completely ruined—and with a pair of yelps the two fell to the ground in a heap.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, sounding equal parts curious and nervous.

“Get off me, Twily.”

“That sounded like that Royal Canterlot Voice!... Though, it sounded a little bit different somehow…”

“Twilight, you’re crushing me. Get off.”

“It didn’t have the overwhelming force of the Royal Voice but even all the way here we could hear it as clear as da—AAAY!”

Shining, who was struggling to breath as his sister’s butt did its best to flatten his face into the crystal floor, managed to shove Twilight off of him with a grunt. This caused the purple unicorn to flop to the ground beside him, her hooves splayed awkwardly around her.

Rolling his jaw to check and see if anything was broken, Shining slowly climbed to his hooves. “Sweet Celestia are you heavy,” he muttered, reaching over and pulling the now frazzled Twilight to her hooves. “You know you really might want to consider—”

“Cadence, let us talk to Ares please.”

“No. Somepony might hurt him again! ”

“Don’t you use that tone with me, young lady. As I told you half a dozen times you’re making a
lot of ponies nervous with how you’re acting.”

It took a moment, but eventually it all clicked into place for Shining Armor. He knew who the angry speaker was. No matter how distorted or changed her voice was he’d be able to recognize that voice no matter what. Nudging his sister, Shining began pushing through the legion of guards that had crowded the hallway, all of which had their spears pointed down the hall.

“I already— I already told you that I am perfectly calm. You’re the ones that are freaking out over nothing.”

“You threw doctor Stitch across the room, injuring her for no real good reason, Cadence.”

“She tore open Ares’s arm, auntie! He’s still bleeding!”

“Which is why I wish to speak to him and why the good doctor needs to go back in there and—”

“She’s not coming back in here!”

Turning the corner, Shining saw that Princess Celestia was standing a few feet from the “doorway”. Though she looked calm, cool and collect on the surface, Shining knew better. Princess Celestia was on edge. Though it was barely noticeable, the way that her tail flicked back and forth, the way that the tips of her wings were touching the floor, Shining could tell that something was wrong. Pushing his way through the remainder of the guards toward the princess, he soon found out what had everypony in such a tizzy.

The protective runes around the “doorway” were flickering and ice was slowly creeping up the walls and floor outside where they were standing. The glowing light encasing the “doorway” seemed dimmer, and while it wasn’t flickering like a candle it looked considerably weaker than it had since last he saw it. But that wasn’t what worried him, that wasn’t what made his jaw drop and turn the worry that he had been feeling into fear.

At the other end of the doorway, pacing back and forth like an impatient, angry lioness, was Cadence.

Never before had Shining seen the alicorn look so angry before. Her mane and tail were whipping back and forth wildly, her body was stiff and tense, her teeth were bared and she was giving Celestia, the aunt that she loved more than anything in the world, a look of such cold fury that Shining couldn’t help but shiver. This wasn’t the Cadence that had trouble getting out of bed because she was so weak. This wasn’t the mare that liked to play hoofsies under the table during dinner time. This was an alicorn that was a hair’s breadth from going on a rampage.

“Oh? Then you know how to stitch his arm up if the cut is as deep as you claim?” Celestia asked as Cadence growled. “I’m sure that you also know how to stop his bleeding?”

The rage on Cadence’s face subsided slightly. “It’s her fault that he’s like that in the first place! What if she comes in here and ends up poking his eye out with a needle because of an “accident”? What if—”

“Cadence,” Celestia interrupted, her voice gentle. “I don’t know what happened, maybe you have every right to be angry, but right now we need somepony to look at Ares, and we can’t do that if you’re pacing around hissing and spitting like an angry cat.”

Cadence snorted, stomping a hoof as she eyed the hallway warily. “I… um…”

The Princess of the Sun looked over to where a group of shaking doctors were standing. Her brow furrowed as if in thought before she looked back over at her niece. “Alright, if you’re so concerned about one of the doctors coming in there then fine, a doctor won’t come in.” Celestia’s horn glowed, her golden magic encasing one of the medical bags that one of the doctor’s had in his hooves. With a flick of her horn it floated over to levitate by her side.

Shining’s eyes widened. He knew that look on Princess Celestia’s face. That solemn, determined look that was sure to give everypony no end of trouble. It was a look that had adorned his face on many occasions.

Princess Luna seemed to see it too, since she took a step forward. “Sister, thou better not be doing what we think thou art—”

“Move aside, Cadence,” Celestia said, hoisting the bag over her shoulder. “I’m going to go in and check up on Ares myself.”

Those words seemed to echo throughout the hall. For a moment no one said anything, everypony in attendance, even Cadence, who had adopted a slack-jawed expression, too shocked about what they just heard. But then the protest started

“Princess!”

“You can’t go in there!”

“You don’t know what that shadow will do to you!”

“M’lady! Please!”

“You can’t go in there, Princess Celestia!”

Celestia didn’t acknowledge the mass of shouting that was going on just behind her. She simply looked at Cadence and took a deep breath. With her head held high, she stepped into the room, the darkness swallowing her.

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

“Excuse me.”

I stumbled out of the way as my aunt nearly bowled me over as she stepped through the “door” and made her way past me.

“Ares, honey, are you alright in there?”

Though I could hear ponies making a fuss outside in the hallway I just watched as my aunt made her way into the room. My anger was quickly replaced with confusion. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She wasn’t supposed to get anywhere close to me and Ares.

F͚̥̭̥͚̝͔̌͒̾ͦͦe̳̝͔̭͋ͫ̄ͪ̆ă̲͖̖͓̤̥͇s͎̦̳̘̖̉ͭ̽͊ͫ̔̀t̪̰̦͔̒͡

My eyes drifted down to my chest. I could see the shadow growing out of it, growing darker and longer with each passing second. Whatever anger I had left vanished, my eyes widening in alarm at the sight. Celestia needed to get away. She wasn’t supposed to be in here. She couldn’t be here. If she was here the shadow might get her too.

The fog surrounding my mind lifted ever so slightly as I took a nervous step back. The shadow was about two feet long now. It was weaving back and forth in the air, it’s tip forming into a hand.

“A-Auntie,” I said, my voice small.

The shadow began to stretch out of my chest toward my aunt. I gasped, backing away until my rump hit the doorway. Desperately, I tried to force the shadow to sink back into my chest like Ares did but it was no use. The shadow slithered through the air toward my aunt. The ends of the shadows “fingers” grew longer and sharper as its “hand” opened wide.

“C-Celest—”

My aunt didn’t turn her head as the shadow grew ever close, but I did see the tip of her horn glowing. Just as that horrible hand was about to touch her a burst of light illuminated the room, so brightly that I was forced to turn away and shut my eyes. An unnatural, ear-splitting scream filled my years, and I fell to my rump as the shadow slammed back into my chest.

“I would like nothing more than to deal with you in my own way, monster,” my aunt growled. “But at the moment I am far too busy to deal with you.”

@̶̢͉̤̥̗̲͌̑̾͋̐͘#̱͔̘͎̃̉$̧ͣ̽҉̺̬͓͚͕̣̳$̵̹̫̹͈ͫ̍ͨͩ#͍̝͓̮͎̥̔ͨ̓ͨ̀ͧ͡@̝̰̘̙̖͓̙̠̏̎̀!̶̸̛͖̠̟͙̹̗ͥ̊̄̅̀̌

A whimper escaped my throat as I rubbed my eyes to try to make the spots go away.

“Cel…Celes…”

“Shush, shush, it’s alright, Ares. Oh my goodness, you’re in worse shape than I thought…”

“I can’t… I wouldn’t be… the shadow…”

“Let’s just worry about getting you patched up, sweetie. Now, hold still so I can get a good look at your cut.”

W̡͓̲̱̤̙͐ͨͩ̌͆̚͘e̫ͦͩͭ̀ ̛̳̖̦̻̍͒Ẅ̺̤̘̲̠́̊ͭ̔͂ͦ̔̀͟͜ͅͅȋ̞̯̭̟̩̩͈͇̒̐ͩ͗ͨ͂̓͑ͅLͣ͗͒͗ͤ͛̆͘҉͙̤͡l͑ͬͤͪ͏̤̜͚ ̠͔̝͕̪̱͖ͧ̎̆̈́͊ͥ̏S̼̻̜͇͇͋͊͋̔ͣ͆͜͞w̃ͦ̉ͪ͗ͥͪ҉̲A͐̌ͬ̑ͭ̈ͬ͂҉̜̱̘ļ̠̜̜̠̮͖͐̆͜L͕̲͕̋͗ͣ̓͂͜oͭͭ́̏̃҉̨͔͠W̴̨̳̩̤̅̊̇͂͐̀̉̇ ̪͉̙͖̉̾̎̅ͫ́̅̀́̚t̜̥̤͙̙̱̹̻̩͊ͥ̄ͧ̍̊̕Hͩ͗͠҉͇̳̯̥̲͔̖̯ê̢̝͔ͯͦͮ͗͞͝ͅ ͑ͩ̈́ͪ̏̊̐͏̠͈̳͍̖̘͕̕S͕̹̣̱̬̲̗͑̂͆̋ȗ͙̖ͤͨ̀͝N̫͍̙͔̹̩̻ͤ̍ͯ͋͛̃͘

“I’m afraid that you’ll do no such thing. Cadence, once you can see again I’m going to need your help if you’re through with your hissy fit.”

It must have taken my eyes ten minutes to get readjusted to the darkness, but the second that I could I was making my way over toward Ares’s bedside.

While the cut that my little human had gotten would have been nothing to a healthy pony Ares was far from healthy. My little human was panting, his eyes hazy and half lidded, as my aunt did her best to tend to him. He was a shadow of the man that he had been twenty minutes ago. He seemed shrunken in, so thin that he looked like a skeleton with skin. Even his hair looked duller, almost taking on a greyish color. It looked like that little cut had taken years off of his life.

My heart leapt into my throat. Blood was everywhere; on our bed, all over his arm and his clothes, all over the sheets. I could feel the bile building in my throat as I looked at him, anger once again building in my chest.

That doctor had done this to him! If she had been more careful Ares would be fine and the two of us would be sitting on that bloody bed right now finishing up that Daring Do book! And My aunt wouldn’t have to—

I blinked as the little black bag that my aunt had stolen from one of the “Doctors” was shoved into my face. “Cadence, please be a dear and grab some antibiotics from the bag would you? I need to stop the bleeding and clean the wound.”

My eyes darted from Ares to the bed to Celestia. My aunt was bent over Ares’s arm, pouring some kind powdery substance over his still bleeding wound. Ares winced, a whimper coming from his mouth as he closed his eyes and wiggled uncomfortably.

Celestia smile, running her hoof along his side. “I know. I know that it burns, Ares,” she murmured, leaning down to nuzzle his cheek. “But it’ll feel better in a minutes or two, I pro—”

Half a dozen shadows leapt from Ares body toward my aunt. Ares’s breathing hitched in his throat, his eyes snapping open. “N͍̙̆̃O̵̲̲̙̠͚̘ͯͪ̈́̆͌̒́
̩͉̻̐͊̅̚!”

The shadows stopped not half an inch from my aunt’s face, each of them desperately trying to touch her. My aunt simply raised an eyebrow, her horn glowing. “Cadence, forget the antibiotics. Please just get a few more bandages so that I can wrap this wound up. Hurry now.”

I could see the strain on Ares’s face as the shadows thrashed against him. This time it looked like he wasn’t able to force them back into him. His eyes darted toward me. “Cad…ence, get… her… Can’t… hold…”

My horn glowed and the bag exploded as I ripped it apart in my frantic search for bandages.

T̗̞̺̗͙͇̈͛ͦͮ͗́͡ͅh͙̭͙͔̜̳̺̅ͪ͠É̲̺͔͖̪̏͛̉ͅ f̘̯͇̝̠̓ͥ̈̆ͭ̄̍l̞̪̗̟̙̲̤̋͠E̴̖̭͍͓͕̞̝ͪ̍͊̃̄̽sͥ̂͒̏H̛̘̤͉͈̫ ̼͟I̜̦̟͓͖͈͙͌̔̽͊́S ̳̫̣̤̓ͭ̔̋W̴̰̞͓̬̠̪̗͂͛͒͆͐e̝ͤa̼̻͂̄K̲̝̬̥͈̬̳̎ͬ͗ͫͤ
͖̣ͩ

A noise unlike I had ever heard escaped Ares’s throat, causing me to drop everything; everything but a single bandage. I looked back up to see that my aunt was slowly backing away from him, the back of her neck standing on edge.

Y̨̜̱͇͇̯̤ͥ͗ͪ̂̊̉̿ͨ͌̀͢͝ͅÓ̷̵̉̈̅̌́ͩͤͤ͊̾҉̦̩̻̘ͅU̵̯͖̪͙̦͈̝͔̦̮̹͍̠̱̺̙ͮ̐͂̌̕ ̱̺̭̻̭̳̤̼͙̻̖̟ͮ̊͗̽̏̆̑͆ͫ̀ͨ͂͂̚͜͞c͙̰̠̪͖̱̘̩̪͉͔̗͙͇̗̰̮̍̑͌̀ͭ̒̒̄͗̐̾͝A͕̗͖̹̯͈̱̼̲̖̅ͯ͐ͪͩͨ͊͐̊ͩ̑ͯͭ́ͬ̾̈́ͪ̀͜N̢̧̤͉͓̱̮͎̙͙͉̮̿̊ͦ̐̏ͣ̆ͮ̊͋̽͗͗̎ͩ ̸̧͙̺͉̝͙̜̳ͩ͂̅ͫ̋͒͒̐ͫ̋̓̑͛ͯh͆ͤ̍ͯ̃ͩ̀ͧͥ̂͊͑͆͋̍͌͂ͯ҉̷̛̜͓̳̗͇͈̪̭̬̜̟̮̟̗̀ͅơͬ̒ͫͦͩ̂̅ͥͧ̓̄͏͇̣̹̪͈͇̙̻̯͕͡Lͭ̏̇̈́͂̾ͦ͏͎̟͈̯͎̘͇͚́͠d̜͎͉̖͌͒͆̌̌ͪ͋͛̒́́͟ ̂̆͐̏̇̾̒ͬ͂́͂ͦ͑̊ͣ̈́̏͂̚͞͏̗̥͔͕̘̫̝̺̞̰̺̪̱̺̩̤͠ͅụ̰̯̳̠̼̦̩ͬ͗͆̓ͦ̋ͬ̏̀̀͢͠Sͪ̆̚҉̛҉͉̼͖̪̟̪͉͝ ͕̯̘̲̼̹̤̞̳̟̤̲͓ͤ̍̐́̍͐ͥ͝͞ą̨̙͎͕̻͈̭͎̭̰̹̳͕̜͓̥̗͔́̃̈́͋͂̋̈́͐̈́͗͊̅̍̓̅̀̔͂͜͟͝t̡͋ͥ͊̓̌ͫ͝͏͉̫̘̬̹̣ ̷̸̡̲̮̦̯̳͖̝̠̮̈́̽̇̽̒͌͒͝͡ͅbͥ̑̆̍͒̐̅͊̇ͪ̿͒͡͏̩͔̟̠͕͓̹͚̯̫͚A̳̝̼̰͚͔̳̮̳̺̜̥̦̮͓̻̘̖̅̋ͭ̍ͧ̌͛ͮ̈́͂͐̕͡͞ͅy̵̵̪̜̣̮̫̥̮͍̺̪̠͍ͥ̈̋̎͐͊ͤ̅̓̅͒̀͝͠ͅ ̷̲̯̗̣͇̰͎̮͛ͬ̂͐͋ͨ͡f̧̛̫̪̤͍̞̦͍̖̹̖̦͈̞̣̬ͪͪ̓͂̽̅ͮ͛ͯͫ͊̓̂̎̋̍́͘O̵̹̱̤͉̗̦̫͇͚͕̣͉̤̰̓̏͒̾̈̌̓̄͌͛͢R̶̘͖͚̹̗̠̬̲̼̳̈̇̇̊ͧͫ̉̅͜͞͠ ̷̢̟̰̥̲͙͕̣̼̪͖̍̑̽̓̒̂͜͠n̷̢̛͖͚͍̳̦̥̻̺̙̹͉͔͇̤̍͌͛̂̈̚Ő̉͂̏̂̉ͣ̆ͦͮͫ̽҉̸̣͈͇̰̫̟̝̲͡ ̶͙̥͖̭̰̩̦͔̗̣̩̲̞̳̣͈͖͌ͧ͆̑̕̕ͅĻ͙̠̘͓͚͇̜̲̯̟͚͇ͣ̿ͦ͘͢oͩ̍̊͊͋͒ͮ̔͂̏̒͒̍̿ͦ͢҉͏̧̤͍̬͍͇̞͎͉̣̼̤̗̫͓̩͉͎̫ͅn̷̨̬͚̤̱͈̟̫̠̱͕̭̻̰͉̭̳͒̊ͬ̑̾̆ͮ͛̏̿̈ͣͮ̓̀̚̕͟G̩̦̼̝̖͔̝͙͚͎̭̟͇̱͙̭͚̀͗͐ͨ̐̊͊̎̈̍̾̈̈̄̂͆̈́͐̀͘͡e̢̝̹̞̭̝̙̰͎̘͉̭̻͕̬͈̱̟̦̎̎̿̈͂ͫ͛͆͗̒ͮͮ͐̄̂͢͜͡͡ͅŗ̴̢̗̲̺̹̝̟̬̳̣͙̦̠̬̠̺̈͌̀͋̒ͫ͌͊ͣͩ̔ͧ͌̋̂̄̽͋̀
̺̬͈̳̜̘̪̘̃̊͋͑̇̃ͦ̋̒ͭ́̚̚͝ ]

“Cadence,” she said with a hushed whisper. “Back away. We need to move away now.”

I ignored her, by gaze fixated on my little human. Dozens of shadows were forming out of his body.

“Ares? Ares! ARES!”

~_~_~_~_~_~

“Motherfucker…” Ares muttered, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked all around him. “That was a bone. That was a bone! I just picked up a fucking bone!”

He was about to take a nervous step back, now thinking that he was in some animal’s den or worse when the sound of someone wheezing perked him up. That was a human; as far as he could tell that sound came from a human. At the end of the cave, not ten feet away from him, he could see something shifting around near the ground. That something wheezed again before it went silent.

“…Hey, are you okay?” he asked, taking a half step forward. He flinched as his foot collided with what felt like more bones but he did his best to ignore it.

“Listen, buddy, you really need to start talking to me.” Dozens of tiny bones cracked and broke underneath his shoes as he took another step forward. “I need to know if you’re alright, and if you’re not alright I need to know if you know where I can go and get some help. We’re in a cave full of bones, motherfucker, say something.”

As he grew closer, Ares noticed that whoever was at the back of the cave was laying down on their side. They had a blanket wrapped tightly around their body, covering their face. Through the blanket he could see that the person was shaking hard from the cold.

Did someone leave him here? he asked himself as he took another step forward. Did this guy get injured and his buddies went out to get some help? No, that doesn’t make sense. If this guy’s hurt then why would they leave him here? Was there only one other guy? Did… Did someone just dump him here and leave him?

Quietly, or as quietly as he could with bones breaking underneath his feet, Ares quietly crept up on the figure. When he got within arm’s length of them he squatted down as best as he could, reaching out to place his hand on the small of their back.

“Hey, are you—”

“AAAAARRRRGHGGGGHGGHHHHHH!”

With a yelp, Ares landed on his butt as the figure let out an unholy shriek that seemed to shake the whole cave. The figure threw off its blanket and leapt to its feet, revealing it was, in fact, not a human.

It must have been seven feet tall. Thick, white fur covered its entire body except its chest. Its arms were unnaturally thick and long and its legs were unnaturally short and even thicker than its arms, six pink, stout little finger-looking appendages sprang from the ends of both its hands and feet. Its body was muscular, though it seemed overly skinny. Its face looked horrifyingly ape-like, with two sets of long, thick fangs poking out of its mouth and three sets of eyes, two above a too-thick nose and one in the center of its forehead.

Ares’s eyes widened as the creature looked down at him, its lips drawn back into a snarl. It puffed its chest out, grunting under its breath as it’s three milky eyes narrowed. For a moment neither of them moved, just staring at each other in the darkness.

“…I don’t think I’m home anymore,” Ares muttered. As slowly as he could, he began to paw at the ground for a weapon. “What the fuck are you?”

B̓ȅ͍͛͑á̈̈ͯ͆r̗ͬ͡e̡̱̪̦ͤr͉̹̥͉̯̦͎͡

The creature lurched forward, its arms moved mechanically, as if something else was moving them. The anger on its face disappeared, replaced with fear as it slowly made its way toward him. Ares began to crawl backwards, his hands running along the bone-riddles floor trying to find, something, anything.

“Easy there big fella. Easy. Everything’s alright, everything’s—”

Y̦̬̩̖̯̗ͣ͛̇͑̏̋̂ò̜̮̘͕̼͢ŭ͔̖͚̫̯͕̲̈́̆̑͢r͚̱̪̝͒ͯͨ̅ ͓͝f͓͈l͔͙͚e̯͒ͦ̏ͧͣ̑s̭̬̮̖͕̭͎H̰͒̌̅̔́ ̯̖̫S҉͍̻̤̖͉̮h̲̰͉̙͋̊ͮA̭̹̰̪͐ͪ͛͛̀̌L̶̟̦̤̤̞̆́̋ͅḺ̯͔̝ ̹͈̱͈ͩͦͦ̚H͈͚̮̺̪͌̊ͯ̂ͅO̥̤̯̜̒̊̌͌́ͣͯȕ̷͚̭͕̩̙̮͋͆͗͆ͅS̹͚̫͇̘͉͂͛ͥE̠̙̥͉̊ͪͩ ̪̈́͒ͯus̙͖ͫͮ͐!̠̯̱͈̟̦͎̈́ͮ͑ͨ̄ͦ̀

The creature’s eyes widened. As close as he was to it now, Ares noticed that it looked sick. He could see bones poking out of its fur, which was overly scarred and dirty and mangy. The skin underneath the fur looked yellowish and sickly, and it didn’t look like it could even see out of any of its eyes.

Just as he managed to grab onto something, the same femur that he had picked up in the first place. The creature’s whole body tensed as if ready to lunge.

W̩͎̩̉͂͂ͫ͝Ẹ̈ͮ̌̒̌̔ͫ́ ̸̲̰ͭ͌ͥ͢S̵̤̟̺ͩͦ̔͟H̶̟̖̐͒̅͛͞A̵̡͇͎̥̪̩͎͋̇̓͑̓ͦ͡L͚͈̟̲̼̫̇̅̅ͭ͊̉L̩͔͈̟̬̟̻̒ͥͪͧ͟͡ ͈̳͙̝̋͂ͨͣ̔͊̃̌E̛ͫͤͤ͏̷͔̙̭̗͉̦A̟̜̱̅̉͛T̫̪̙̥͋̿̃ͤ͛͘͜ ̴̥̲͇̜͉̼̗̝̉̅̓̉́͠O̤̱̼̺͂͌́͡Ů̧̧͎̙͊͒R̨͙̠̯̓́ ̫̙̯͎̹̜̿ͧͬͫͤ͞F̷͙̝͖̭͎̜̮ͥͅI̛̮̰̾ͨ̄̊͐̓ͮ͒̚L̷̴͓̯͇̻̣̖̹͎̿ͤ͊ͨͧ̓͗Ľ̶͈̝̫͖̥̤̫̼̳̈̿̔͂ͯͩ

With another ear splitting roar, the creature jumped. Ares, with a yell of his own, swung the bone in his hands as hard as he could. A thunderous crack echoed throughout the cave as the femur hit the monster’s side, making the thing howl as it landed on top of him, it’s too-big hands pawing at his shirt.

“GET OFF ME! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!”

Ares, with adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream, swung his weapon again and again and again as both he and the creature rolled around on the ground. The creature, though sick and weakly, was still more than strong enough and still had more than enough mass to overpower him; he could tell that the instant he began rolling around it. The only thing that kept it from eating him was the bone in his hand.

“THIS IS SUCH FUCKING BULLSHIT! I TRY TO SEE MATTHEW IN HIS DORM AND END UP FIGHTING SOME FUCKING SKINNY GORILLA!”

The monster lunged forward, its jaws snapping at his neck, only to reel away as he smacked it in the face with his bone, hitting it so hard that he knocked out one of his yellow fangs. There was a cracking sound as the femur snapped clean in half as the monster clenched its jaw and growled threateningly. Finding himself on his back, Ares managed to kick the creature off of him before he rolled onto his stomach. Grunting, he tried to launch himself to his feet so that he could make his escape, but the creature was too fast.

F̵̷̶̗̭͚͍̜͚̦͍̖̝̙̠͇̉̅͊͒̒͊͞o̴̩̻̩̗̜͇̜͔̱͇̱̼̦̖͋̑̑̐̏͝O̸̸͔̝̮͕̮̦̝̼̣͇̥͙̻ͭ͂͊͌̒̊͊̀͢͞ͅd̴͑̋͆̋̃̍ͮ͗̈̎̈́ͬ͌͏̭̲̩̟͔̙̝̘̫̼̙̟̟̪́ͅ

With another roar, the creature wrapped its massive arms around Ares’s chest and began lifting Ares into the air.

“GET OFF OF ME!” Ares snarled, slamming his first against the creature’s stomach as hard as he could, again and again and again. “GET OFF!”

The creature didn’t seem to register the blows, firmly holding Ares against it as it opened its mouth impossibly wide, revealing rows of jagged, yellow, broken teeth.

B̠̺͈̗͑̓͡eͨ̏͑͗͞͏̗̰C͚̳̜̫̥̭͙̈́̅ͩͫ̃o̸͖̘͚͈̭̔ͣ̄ͫͧM̶̯̦̙̎ͩ́̚͜e̛̎ͩͩͣ̾̂҉̼̜͕͚ ̱̭͖͂̆̅ͬ̆́u̲̫̺̠̜̫ͪ̓̄ͤ̎ͤ͟Ŝ̜̼͉̳͖̮͓ͧ͆ͅ

It bit down on Ares’s shoulder, just above the collarbone. The human’s eyes widened as pain erupted from the bite mark.

“AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”

With all of his might Ares thrashed and kicked and wiggled as hard as he could, trying to loosen the monster’s grip on him, trying to send the two of them to the ground, doing anything and everything to get away from it. But the monster’s grip was ironclad; he couldn’t even budge it.

“MOOOOTTTTTHHHHHHEEEEEEERRRRRRFFFFUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKEEEEERRRRR!”

He could feel its spit coating his shoulder, he could feel its fingers digging into his sides as it held him. Though it had looked warm, the creature felt cold against him; so cold that it sent shivers up and down his body. Even its ragged breathing against his skin as it bit down on him felt horribly chilly. It was just like when he was outside in the tundra, but somehow colder, harsher, darker.

Though he didn’t see it, screaming in pain and thrashing like he was, something flashed in the monster’s eyes: a shadow.

The yeti, one of the last of its savage kind, stiffened as the shadow left its body and traveled into the screaming, bleeding human. Though its species was incapable of it, it appeared to smile even as it bit down on Ares’s shoulder, the light leaving its eyes as it slowly fell forward, what little strength it had left finally leaving its body.

Ares’s screaming turned into a yelp as both he and the monster fell to the ground in a heap, the monster’s grip going slack against him. This gave Ares the ability to scramble out from underneath the beast, bleeding heavily and shaking like a leaf. With wild eyes, Ares found himself grabbing ahold of another bone, and with a snarl he turned around and slammed one end of it against the monster’s head.

“YOU. FUCKING. DICK. SHIT. MOTHERFUCKER. BITING ME. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK!”

The monster was, of course, already dead. It had been dead before it had hit the ground. But Ares didn’t know that, so wail away at the creature he did. He hit it again and again as hard and as fast as he could. He continued to hit it until this bone also broke in his hands, wherein he grabbed another one of the many bones lying around and beat the monster some more. It was only after exhaustion and blood-loss took its toll did Ares, now pale and breathing hard, let the splintered, cracked, pale white bone fall out of his hands onto the ground. Not two seconds later he found himself on the ground with it, his head spinning.

“Owowowowowowfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…” Still out of breath, Ares closed his eyes, holding his bloody shoulder as he wiggled around in pain.

T͚͔̭̱̂͌̏͋̔̿̈́o̱̠̘ͤͭ̿̄̄̈̓̄͝͝ ̘̲͍͖͖̲̙̥ͩͦ͑̒̐t̖̖̘͗ͧ̈ͮͦḩ̷̺̜̲͍̜͓͔͈͐͌ͩ̈̔̔̃͆e̬̲ͭ̉̓ ̃̓ͮ̃͏̺̱͔̦̖̘s͚̮̥̭̣̯͙̯̽ͭ̽͜ơ̸̆ͦ̌́̇̋̓҉͖͎͉̩̮̥ͅụ̥͙͎͓̯̅ͭ̍ͧ̄ͩ̚͞t̰̓̑͛̋̎̑̚hͧ͒͏̟ͅ
̴̱̝̯̫̟͇̬̝ͫͭ͋̊̎ͣ̈́̅͂

Ares perked up.

̷͎͉͈̘̟̎ͫG̸̞͙͐̃̍̈̑̆̋ǫ̱̜̖̺̦ͤ̀ͮ̑͗͑͝ ̛̲̝̜̦̣͇͍̠̖ͨ̆͊ͫ́̕͞t̲͚̗̫͇̦͇̅͑ͦ͊͗͆ͥ̓ͮͅo̙͛̃̕ ̜̭̟͙͓͇̤̩̖̒ͩ͜tͯͩͭ͏̙͖̹̳͖̗̱̬͍͢h̪̟̬͗ͮ́̏̉̽͟͡ḙ̻͖̼̤̝͊̽́́ͦͧ̚͘ ͇͍͍͔̉ͤͥ̀̀̐s̘͚̩̮̮̿̀̏́͟o̸̰̹͛͒͟u̶̗ͩ̌ͯ̔͗̿̾̊́t̶͕̹͉̘̖̓ͨ̌̑ͥ̇̽̒̉͡ͅh̰̩͙̣̻͚̝͎̍͂̐̽̂́

With a pained whine, he found himself getting to his feet.

̶̶̭̱̹̠̲͈̏͑ͤͤ̆̿ͩ̕T̡̝̙͍̙͓̹͙͚̞̏h̨̖͇̘̦͆̑͛͢ȁ͈̥ͩ̄ͩ͆̏͋̓̀t̢̳̲ͤ̎̌̈̌͜ ̴̳͔̦̞̻͙̥̊̐͌́i͔̩̱̫̖̼͖̪̝ͧͦs̸̢̛̗͎̞͔͈͖̪ͭͧ͒̚̚ ̶̛̫̞͙͓̯͐̋̂̊̅̂͒͛̚ͅw̐ͬ͟҉̖̦̰̬̥̩̞̬h͈͙̆̽͡ḙ̙ͤ͒́r͕̞̞̪͇̭̈́͞è͇̯̹̽ͫ̾̑ ̺ͤͭͦͫ́͒͂w̯̤̦̤͚͎̜̏ͥ̽ͫ͗̈̿̃ͅą̪̫̯̽ͣ̀̌̿̽̋̚͞ͅͅr̲͉̬͐̀ͧͥ͐͂͆̀͞m̴̡̙̥͂̑̽́ͬ͘tͮ̏̐ͯ͏̧̤͍h̦ͪ̈́̂̀̌̋ͩ͗͘͡͝ ͖͍͇̫͔̦̃ͦ̃̑̋̎ͧi̸̵͇͇ͬͦ̄ͨ̀͊ͪş͕̪͎͖͈̳̦̒̔ͤ̽̿ͥͣͮ͞͠

Another whine escaped Ares’s lips as he tore off a piece of his ruined hoodie and began to wrap it around his bleeding shoulder. “Fuck. Fuuuuuuuck. Fucking, fuck, fuck!”

With one last look at the fallen yeti, making sure that it was in fact no longer moving, He began to make his way over to the mouth of the cave. Though he didn’t know why, he now knew where he had to go. He had a destination that would get him out of this tundra, out of this cold, to civilization where he could get warm and someone could patch him up.

He smiled at the thought, even as he stepped out into the cold. He was going to be Ä̛͕̲̻͖̖͕͖́ͨ̽́͠l̡̥͙̖͕̓̓̒ͤͩͭ͢r̛͖̱͚̣͕̦̔ͅi̡̤̩̱ͪͣg͙̫̝̲ͧ͂͂̿h̭͇̜̗̏̋̃͌t̠̮̍̎ͣ̋͂̋́
̵̣͓̰́͒͒̋͗ͅ

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

Both my aunt and I began to back away as Ares climbed out of bed. A group of shadows converged upon the cut on his arm. The blood flow ceased as the cut quickly closed, the parted skin fusing together until it was like Ares hadn’t been cut at all.

“…Ares?” I whispered, my ears pinned against the sides of my head.

Ares, his eyes as black as night and his skin pale, pale white, let out a growl as he took a step toward us. Dozens of shadows, all many feet long, were coming out all over his body. He seemed bigger as he lumbered forward, his arms, torso and even legs terribly, unnaturally skinny. He moved his head back and forth, an almost animalistic look on his face as his nostrils flared.

“Ares?”

Ares’s head whipped over to look at me. He opened his mouth, and the sound that came from it was unlike anything that I had ever heard. It wasn’t like how those voices spoke, it didn’t make your head fuzzy or make you feel nauseous. It was… almost like a high-pitched whinny.

Though seeing Ares standing up and all of those shadows moving around his body and the way that his wound had healed was scary, I found myself stopping my retreat, a frown coming to my face.

My aunt, not noticing my confusion, gasped. “I have heard that noise before,” she all but whispered.

Huffing quietly, I began to make my way back over to Ares.

“I had thought your kind had all fallen after the pony tribes had come together to combat you…”

The shadows darted forward to touch me, but I ignored them, continuing my march forward.

What were they gonna do? Turn me more into a monster?

“The Eaters of Hatred, the Bringers of Death, the Icy Chill, the… the Windigo—”

My frown deepened as Ares’s eyes instantly changed from black to bright, glowing, icy blue. He threw back his head, no doubt ready to release another whinny, but I was too quick. My hoof reared back, and with another huff I slapped my Ares right on his bottom. Hard.

You heard me. I, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, slapped my honey bunny, my Ares, my little human, right on the bottom. Because one: I was upset, not only with him but with myself, so I needed to vent and two: I wanted him to stop scaring the horse apples out of everypony and I felt that a slap to the buns may be the best bet to get what I wanted.

I also might have wanted to touch his butt but you didn’t hear that from me.

Ares stumbled forward, the shadows frantically waving to and fro as he tried to keep himself from falling. I managed to grab him by the back of his pants before he could fall over and yanked him back toward me.

W̜̞̲̦̗̮̯ͯͮͭ͂͌͑ͮ͘͢é̴͍̹̮̮̼͉͍̏̎̅͌̎͗̓͂̀ͅ ̣͚͓̪̱̝̙̆ͦ̚͞͝a̸̖̤̝͎̅ͩ͒̅͋͆͟r͇̮͈̲̩̠̖̆ͭ̂͑͋ͯ͒͝e̮̝̻͙̠̰͗ͦ̃́͊̒͑ͬ͘͞-̈̂҉̯̩͇͉͓-̴̷͖͇̜͕͍͛ͤ͐
̷̻̟̗̯̞̦̰̼̽̿̓ͤ̓̈

Buck off, I thought, staring sternly up at my human.

Ares, as dark and as misshapen as he had become, looked back at me with surprise. At the other end of the room my aunt was looking at me like I had grown another head, her jaw on the floor and her eyes the size of dinner plates.

“Ares!” I said, stomping a hoof. “You stop that right now!”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “I’m not going to have my honey bunny turn into the kind of monster that makes those bucking sounds!”

In hindsight, I have no idea why I said that. I shouldn’t have walked into all of those shadows, I should have backed away with my aunt, I should have done something else, anything else, but I didn’t. I just looked up at Ares with all of the authority of a fillyfriend and I glared.

For the first time in a long, long while the voices that whispered to me were absolutely silent. My head didn’t hurt and I didn’t feel chilly or hot or tired or gross. I don’t know what it was about hearing Ares make that sound but it just... made me upset. Very, very, very upset.

Ares took a step back. Still frowning, I took a step forward. He took another step backward, the shadows all around him retreating away from me. With another angry huff took another step toward him. The two of us kept that up until I had Ares’s back against the wall and I was standing on my tippy hooves with my nose pressed against his.

“Ares,” I growled. “You get all of those shadows back in your body right now or so help me…”

Ares blinked. His eyes lost their haunting, pale blue glow, changing back into pure black spheres. I scrunched up my nose hard and narrowed my eyes. Ares blinked again, and when he opened his eyes I noticed that they were no longer black.

“Are you… giving me shit about being possessed?” he asked, his voice sounding warped and twisted.

I nodded. “You were doing good until a little while ago and now you’re just going to give up over a little cut?” I demanded, poking him in his chest.

The shadows receded into Ares’s body as one of his eyes twitched. “You’re gonna give me shit over damn near passing out from getting cut? You were the one that nearly went nuclear because the doctor cut me!”

“I was upset because that doctor hurt you, honey!” I said, poking his chest some more. “And I wasn’t in the best state of mind because all of those voices in my head, so that wasn’t really my fault!”

“I have the same voices in my fucking head, women! How do you think I feel?”

As the two of us glared at each other something happened to the two of us. The color of Ares’s skin started to return to it’s healthy, pinkish color and the shadows had completely disappeared. My wings became more pony-like and the color of my fur changed back into its bubble gum color.

“I think you were about to try to ransack the castle, mister!”

“Will you stop poking me?!”

“YOU WERE WHINNYING, ARES! WHINNYING!!”

“DAMMIT WOMEN, WILL YOU JUST GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK FOR TWO SECONDS?! I WAS A LEGIT MONSTER NOT TWO SECONDS AGO!”

“I KNOW! YOU NEARLY SCARED THE HORSE APPLES OUT OF ME YOU JERK!”

“YOU WERE SCARED? WHAT THE FUCK ABOUT ME?! I WAS THE ONE THAT WAS THE MONSTER!”

My aunt slowly sat down as Ares and I argued with each other, covering her mouth with a wing. “Sweet lady Faust what is happening before my eyes?” she muttered.

“AND WHY DOES MY ASS HURT, CADENCE?! DID YOU SLAP ME ON THE ASS?”

“OF COURSE I SLAPPED YOU ON THE ASS!” I roared, my purple eyes blazing as I glared up at him. “IT WAS THE ONLY WAY THAT I WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO SNAP YOU OUT OF IT!”

Ares guffawed, tucking a piece of his golden hair back behind his ear. “YOU JUST WANTED TO TOUCH MY BUTT YOU—umpth!”

There were tears in my eyes as I pulled my human into a kiss. Ares stiffened in surprise, losing his balance and sending the two of us tumbling to the ground.

“You’re alright,” I muttered, smiling as I looked at him.

My fangs were gone, my mane and tail were resting against my body like they were supposed to do, I could ruffle my feathers because I had feathers again. I was Cadence again; me, myself, I, and while Ares looked a lot thinner—not as much as he had before I noticed but still pretty thin—but he was Ares again. He had those pretty green eyes that I loved staring into. His teeth were back to normal as was his widdle bitty nose. His skin was what it was before.

He was back; my Ares was back.

“Are you fucking nutty, women?” Ares snapped as I nuzzled his cheek, tears streaming down my face. “What the fuck are you—”

“PRINCESS! WE’RE HERE TO HELP!”

Both Ares and I froze, looking at each other. Slowly, we turned to look toward the entrance of our room. There, standing right next to my auntie, were Twilight and her friends. Each of the mares were wearing their elements, their chests puffed out as they glared at us.

“…Oh fucking shit,” Ares muttered.

“I’m sorry Ares, I’m sorry Cadence,” Twilight sadly said with a shake of her head. “But you’re becoming too unstable.”

Both mine and Ares’s eyes widened as the girls’ elements started glowing.

“I’m not unstable!” Ares assured.

He opened his mouth to say more but stopped, his nose slowly scrunching up. “...Alright, you but me. But that doesn’t mean you have to come in here and beat the hell out of me!”

Realizing what was about to happen, I shoved Ares behind me, my horn glowing.

“Twilight!” Celestia barked. “There is no need for that! Stop this at once! STOP! TWILIGHT!”

The walls seemed to shake as the girls were lifted into the air. Closing my eyes, I placed a small, thick magical shield around both me and Ares.

I couldn’t let him get hit with the elements. Almost any kind of magic hurt Ares; I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if he got hit with the magic from the Elements of Harmony. So I layered my shield, making it thicker and thicker and thicker, pouring every last ounce of my magic into it.

Please don’t let it hit him, I begged, even as the element’s light illuminated the room so brightly that I could see it even through my eyelids. Please just let the shield work. Please just let it hit me. Please just don’t let it hurt him…

A boom, louder than the loudest lightning strike that I have ever heard, filled my ears as the girls unleashed the power of the elements. I threw back my head and screamed, using the Royal Canterlot Voice to full effect as I poured the last of my magic into my shield.

The last thing I remember before everything fading to white was the sound of my shield shattering and my little human’s screams, after that I knew no more.