Justin, after what felt like many hours' worth of walking over nothing, stood there, holding a torch he made from the glowing mushrooms and a branch from one of the many dead trees that surrounded him. The entire area was pitch-black, with a white fog that clouded most of the exterior, save for the ten meters of light that the mushroom projected.

He groaned, as he continued looking around, trying to find any signs of where the guards might've appeared into, after they vanished. Soon minutes turned into hours, and hours turned into days, as Justin quickly felt a large hint of fear build up with each passing hour.

Once he was sure he saw a pony in the shadows, he ran up to it, and said, "Thank goodness! I was wondering where y'all went!" When he got close enough to see it, his cheerful mood turned into fury, as he lowered the torch in front of the figure, only to find that it was a statue of a tall, strong stallion guard, standing up to Justin's chest, instead. This caused Justin to growl out of anger, and stomp his right foot on the ground. "DANG IT!" He yelled, while his voice echoed through the entire valley he was in.

As soon as his echoes faded, he sighed, and lowered his head downwards. "Well, it looks like I've either failed this trial, or I've been gypped!" Then, he kicked the tree that the statue of the guard was standing in front of, and griped even more. Afterwards, he sat down below the tree's shade, and stared at the mushroom for a minute, cooling his anger by trying to find comfort in the bright blue-green mushroom.

His calmness was lost once he looked to his right, and saw the statue again. Standing up, he looked closer at it's face, and realized something that made his fear only intensify. "W-why does this statue look like it's... screaming?!" Then, he heard the sound of a voice coming from behind his right shoulder.

It was too far for him to understand what words were being spoken, but it didn't stop him from moving towards it to find out. When he was within reach, he saw a stallion guard, but he didn't seem like any of the other three. Instead, this one was blue, transparent, and his hooves didn't make a sound, even though he was trotting onwards. His height, however, surprised Justin, the most, since most of the ponies from above were one third his height. This one was slightly above his chest in height! Justin could tell at first glance that this was, without a doubt, a ghost. When Justin was close enough, the spirit stopped moving, and looked at him, before walking towards him, and in an echoed, whisper-like voice, he began to speak.

"They lied to me... they made me believe I was the fifth 'Element of Death', only for them to reveal their true forms..." Then, he walked through Justin while continuing to speak. "They made me believe I was going to return to Everfree Village, where I would guard my beloved wife, Twilight..." The spiritual stallion stopped in front of the statue, and sighed. "Then, they killed me, before I could even scream... and now, I may never see my beloved wife, or my daughter again..."

Justin slowly approached the spirit, and asked, "Sir... are you okay?"

The spirit looked at him, while his eyes widened. "C-can you see me?" Justin nodded his head, while the spirit trotted towards him. "Can you... can you hear me, too?!" Another nod, before the spirit laughed. "Praises to the Queen, I'm SAVED!" Then, his laughter died down. "Please forgive my ill manners... I am King Solaris, of Ponyland!" He extended his hoof, but lowered it when he looked at his own hoof. "Or rather... I was King Solaris... until those blasted Sirens went and turned me to stone!"

Justin tilted his head, and asked, "Wait... so you're a king from where, now?"

"Ponyland, of course! Haven't you seen it on the maps?" Then, his expression turned to a glum one. "Oh, wait... you're a human. Sorry... I know it isn't easy to find places in these dark times, what with Lord Tirek destroying your cities, and-"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Justin asked, now surprised at this recent discovery, as a few of his memories of the name returned. Tirek, the Centaur from mythology (and Generation One of his favorite show), was the one that captured the ponies, and turned them into monsters to do his bidding. "You mean to tell me that it was Tirek that wiped humanity off of the face of the Earth?!"

Solaris's eyes widened again. "Wait, he did WHAT to humanity?!" Then, his eyes formed a glare. "He drove the human race into EXTINCTION?!" When he yelled that, his voice echoed deeply into the whole forest, or at least close to that level of volume. "The humans were our most reliable allies in history, though! Just HOW long have I been dead?!" His head lowered, while his breathing turned both, heavier and slower. "Then it is true, isn't it? Ponyland is no longer around... and my family is most likely dead, too."

Justin walked closer to the spirit, and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure, to be honest... I was put in some kind of sleeping spell for a hundred thousand years, so I'm kinda new to this whole thing, myself. What I do know, however, is that I'm Undead, so I sometimes question the truth... and wonder if the word 'Human' even describes me, anymore."

Solaris looked back up at Justin, and smiled. "Of course, you're still human! Any race can turn Undead!" Then, his eyes closed. "In fact, that's what I was, before the Sirens did this to me." At once, Justin's eyes shot up.

"Wait, so these sirens can kill an Undead?! How?!"

"By Magic, of course!" Solaris replied, followed by a confused stare by Justin.

"I thought being Undead makes someone immune to Magic, though... right?"

Solaris sighed, and nodded his head. "That was what I thought... until they used a forbidden class of Magic that could harm an Undead... by restoring their souls to normal, again."

Quickly Justin looked around, worried that they might've been following him this whole time, until Solaris sighed. "The Class of the Magic they used was the forbidden one... 'Blood Magic', or as most humans would call it, 'Necromancy'." Justin nodded. "The Magic of the Dead... and with it, they brought me back to life, by..." Suddenly, Solaris's eyes glowed blue, similarly to Justin's, and at once, memories started filling his head.

"I... remember..." A ghostly tear fell from his eyes, and went through the ground. "They said... before they showed me their true forms... they needed to sacrifice somepony dearest to me, in order to bring me back to life, as the Rituals of Blood would require... they chose..." He began to slowly cry in pain, as he stuttered, "...T-they chose... my wife, Twilight!" At that statement, he burst into relentless tears, only for the tears to all fade into the ground.

Justin bowed his head, and walked up to the ghostly king, and tried to pat him on the back of his right shoulder, only for his hand to go through. "I'm... sorry for your loss... I know how it feels."

Solaris glared at Justin, and yelled, "You do not! How would you feel if you lost your one true love, and you knew you couldn't do anything about it?!"

At once, Justin's concerned look turned into an equal-leveled glare, as he replied, "Oh, don't even get me started there! Do YOU realize what I've been through, since my wake?! Look at me! I'm a freakin' HUMAN! A race that's actually gone extinct, and yet YOU are a Pony, the MAIN sentient being in the world to this day!" He stared the spiritual king down, while the king's glare soon weakened, and turned into an even more saddened expression. Justin, however, didn't stop there. "Yeah, you knew that your wife was dead, but you know what? She probably didn't have to deal with hearing about your suffering, because she probably died quickly, and painlessly! You know how my family died? Natural causes, with a hint of sorrow and confusion, because some of them thought I was dead, and some of them thought I just shut them out of my life, while most of them knew that I was asleep, and was going to probably wake up after they died, even leaving me messages that told me so! While hearing that, do you have any idea how I felt?!" Solaris was lowered down to the ground level, while he shook his head nervously. "Picture this, then! You go to sleep one casual day, everything is alright, your family and friends are all healthy, and doing well, while you just feel like you need to take a little nap. Anyways, you go to sleep, expecting it to just be an hour's worth of rest, or so. Then when you wake up, all of your family and friends are guaranteed dead, your whole race is guaranteed dead, you didn't even see it coming, and they never saw you wake up for the rest of their lives, even though you were still alive, and unable to wake up, while they were unable to even go near you! How would you compare to that, when you were even given a fair warning before you died?!"

Solaris stared wide-eyed at Justin, who had tears forming in his eyes. Then Justin sighed, sat on the ground below the tree again, and stared at the torch he made once more, trying to find peace. The peace, however, was quickly broken, when Solaris spoke again. This time, however, it was in an apologetic tone. "I'm... I'm most terribly sorry... I don't know why I snapped like that, when it actually is clear that you seem to have it worse than I. Please forgive me."

Justin took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "It's alright, Solaris... we've both been suffering a lot more than most could take." Then, he smiled, and stood back up. "Oh, and my name's Justin, by the way." Solaris nodded again, before turning his head to the torch that Justin was holding. Then, his eyes widened even more.

"W-wait... what's that on the edge of that torch, there?" Solaris asked, motioning his head to the mushroom. "Would that happen to be a... yes, the smell confirms it! That's an Everglow Mushroom, isn't it?!"

Justin looked at the Mushroom again, and raised his right eyebrow. "I don't know... but I guess so, yeah! Why, do you have a plan on getting us out of here?"

Solaris nodded his head, and pointed towards the statue. "That statue there... I want you to place half of the mushroom in it's mouth, while you eat the other half." Justin was about to ask why, until he interrupted him. "The Everglow Mushroom is a rare thing that projects eternal light, yet in a Spiritual method, it brings the spirits of the Undead back into their body, while restoring their body through death. When you eat it, you will die, and you will return to your 'Resting Place'. By the way, where exactly is your 'Resting Place', though?"

Justin scratched the back of his neck, and replied, "Are you familiar with 'Diamond Heights', by any chance?" Solaris tilted his head in confusion. "The town you have to go through in order to reach this place, right before you go through the invisible road?" Then Solaris nodded his head, making Justin sigh in relief.

"Then meet me in the entrance to the invisible road when you wake up. There, we can both find a way out of this wretched landscape!"

Looking up, Justin smiled, and said, "Yeah... okay, then. You ready?" Solaris nodded, while Justin plucked the mushroom from the branch, and snapped it in half, before placing one half in the statue's mouth. As soon as it reached the statue's tongue, Solaris's spirit began glowing, and in a manner that resembled water going through a straw, his spirit was pulled inside the mouth of the statue, before the eyes of it glowed pure white. Then, the stone around the statue began to fade, and was soon replaced by armor that highly resembled a set of Canterlot Elite armor, only the pattern of the Coat of Arms was a golden sword that went through a blue hoof on a black surface. His coat was a white color, while his mane was a dark purple, with a golden highlighted strip of hair close to the edge of his tail.

When he opened his gold-colored eyes, he began chewing on the mushroom, before swallowing it, and choking. "Don't forget our plan!" were his final words, before he fell to the ground, and vanished into thin air.

Justin stared wide-eyed at the spot, before looking around, and nodding. Then, after concealing the branch in his black hooded jacket, he sat where Solaris was, and took a bite from his half of the mushroom. The taste wasn't good, yet it wasn't bad to say the least. Like a jelly, made up of grass, with a hint of dirt added to the mix. In an instant, Justin's vision started to blur, before his breathing stopped. Then, in the matter of seconds, everything faded to darkness.

When he woke up, again, Justin sighed a breath of relief when he saw the golden door at the entrance to his room. He stood up, and was about to open it, when Solaris's voice rang through his head. "Don't forget our plan!" Thinking back on Solaris, he agreed to himself that he was real, and not a strange hallucination. Turning around, he began to walk towards the bed to think of a plan, only to be interrupted by the sound of hoof steps on the road outside. Turning around, he rushed out of the house, and into the streets, only to be face-to-face with a completely unexpected stallion that he recognized from the start; the leader of the three that took him into the Valley of Death. The stallion, however, wasn't nervous when he saw Justin, but was smiling, instead.

"It took you long enough to figure it out..." he said, before smiling. "Don't worry, though... it won't be long now, until your friends start looking for you in the Everfree Forest. Then we can complete the ritual, perform your revival, and enjoy the title of 'The Fifth Element of Death', ourselves!" Then, he looked both ways, and said, "Though in the end, only one of us will take that title... and it will be me!"

"Like hell you will!" Justin replied, before rushing towards the stallion with his right arm stretched back, and ready to strike, while the stallion floated backwards in an otherworldly way. Then his armor faded into his fur, which turned from pure white to black, while his body folded itself into a black glob, which made Justin stop running, and back away slowly, while the glob only got bigger, until it was twice the height of Justin. After it reached it's maximum height, the glob molded itself to slightly resemble a skeleton wearing a pitch-black robe, while it's feet were missing, and it was floating in the air, shifting left and right. At the sight of it's face materializing, Justin realized that he shouldn't look it directly in the eyes, and turned his head away.

In a demonically low voice, it asked, "Now that you know our true forms, we can finally be rid of our annoying disguises!" With his eyes closed, Justin gulped, as he started trying to get his brain to work it's magic.

As if by a stroke of luck, he remembered some of the interesting features from some of the old movies he saw. How Medusa's gaze was avoided by using tools that had reflective surfaces. Quickly, Justin reached into his pocket, and pulled out his Cell Phone. Then, after tapping the power button, he silently cursed to himself. "Why did I even bother turning it OFF?!" he thought to himself, before hearing a bone-chilling scream come from the siren. He didn't even have to see it to realize that it was flying after him.

Quickly, he ran towards the right, while checking the screen of his phone, using the reflective surface of the back of it, and the light from the numerous mushrooms, to see the Siren indirectly. What he saw next was the most horrifying feature that this siren had... swords for fingers. "Blade Magic?! I'm going against a siren that knows BLADE MAGIC?!" Justin thought to himself, while gaining speed in his running.

He was about to make a sharp turn to the left, when the siren said in it's demonic voice, "You know there is no escaping from me! I'm a Dark Spirit, so I can easily go through the walls!"

At once, Justin's eyes widened, while that last statement gave him an idea. "Dark Spirit, you say?!" he asked, while continuing to run the path he planned out.

Finally, after going behind the wall of a fallen building, he quickly climbed on top of a counter, and waited. Then, once the siren went through the wall, his eyes glowed blue again, while time froze for him, and his conscience gave him a plan of action.

This one's going to prove to be quite a challenge, due to the fact that this time, it is armed with physical weapons that are known to cause harm to an Undead. Using that as a precaution, I have to deal with this threat as if my very existence depends on it...

To start it off, I'll need to pull the branch from my jacket, and leap towards the siren. No doubt it'll strike with it's right claws, as it's left one is too close to me to do much damage compared to the other, besides maybe a weak stab, even a poke. So, I deflect it's upcoming attack with the branch, while catching it's retaliating left claw with my left hand, burning it due to the contact.

Then I release the branch, and close my eyes to block it's gaze, while getting my phone from my pocket again, and using it to view my next actions, while opening the camcorder app. Enraged, it will attempt a tackle at this point... dodge in it's lower-right direction, catching it's right claw, which will burn it again, as well.

Out of pain, it will attempt to turn around, and use it's glare, even moving up to my face, while I hold the phone in my right hand. Unaware of human technology, though, it will not see that I'm looking directly at it through my phone. Therefore, I use my left hand to grip it's forehead, while blindly, it will attempt a few swings with it's left hand in a thrusting pattern towards my chest. Release forehead, and catch the incoming thrust, burning it again, resulting in an attempted right claw slice to the neck. Deflect with left arm again, while switching hands for the phone, then gently place on the counter. Finally, when it tries to sneak-attack me with it's eyes, block my vision from it's gaze by placing both of my hands over it's face, burning it, while drawing it into my hand via the previous method with Twilight.

Conclusion; it will most likely give me Blade Magic, and enhance my Wind Magic, due to it's levitation capabilities, although as I can already tell from the results of the last soul, I will either have to study up on how to cast it, ask for lessons from Twilight, or somehow run into the way how to cast it manually. All in all, this battle will be won, but not the war, as there are still two more I need to hunt down, before the others end up in this dark abyss.

When his plan was set in motion, it worked smoothly. Drawing the branch from his jacket, Justin quickly jumped from the counter, and deflected the Siren's right jab, before doing the other actions he foretold.

When it was close to his face, it said, "Feed me your soul!"

At that point Justin glared at it's face through his phone, and replied, "Nah, but you can eat this, instead!" while deflecting the Siren's left blow, and placing his phone on the counter. Then, as soon as the Siren saw the opening, it's eyes glowed red, while it's mouth opened widely... until Justin placed his left hand on it's forehead, which stopped the glowing immediately, while it's face started to erupt into black smoke. While screaming in agony, it swung it's left claws high, only for Justin to remove his hand from it's forehead, and catch the blades, now incinerating the entire arm into dust. Then, in a quick fight against time, he placed his left hand on it's forehead again, while his right hand hovered over it's face, middle finger on it's forehead, right thumb on it's right cheek, pinkie finger on it's left cheek, and his pointing and ring fingers hovering over it's eyes. In the matter of ten seconds, the Siren started vaporizing into a smoke, until all that was left floating over Justin's right hand was a purple orb with a black core.

With a small chuckle, Justin looked at the orb, and said, "...And you can feed me your soul, instead!" before crushing the soul with his right hand, while it's black and purple aura flowed over his arm, and around his whole body, until it vanished inside him.

With a sigh, he walked out of the house, only to smile at the sight he saw before him. "Huh... no wonder they crowned you king!" He said, as he walked towards King Solaris, who was standing over top of the other two Sirens in their true forms.

Solaris looked at Justin, and smiled. "Well, hey! You'll get there, someday!" Then, he looked at the two Sirens, and smirked. "These two weren't even worth the effort, to be honest! It's a shame they didn't have their leader to bark orders to them!" Looking behind Justin's left shoulder, he asked, "Wait... where exactly is their leader?"

Then, Justin explained the situation he just went through, while Solaris nodded in understanding, only for his eyes to widen at the whole "Soul Absorption" part. "Wait... you mean to tell me that you were able to absorb it's soul?!" Then, he looked at the other two sirens, and back at Justin. "Can you... show me with these two?"

Justin nodded, before walking up to the two Sirens, and flipping their unconscious bodies to where they faced him. Then, one after the other, he repeated the process, resulting in a gasp from Solaris. "By all that is Holy..." He looked at Justin wide-eyed, before smiling. "It would seem that perhaps it is you who may be the Fifth Element, after all!" Then he turned around and sighed. "But if it is true, then that would mean that I... have no purpose anymore."

Seeing the mood change in Solaris's personality, Justin walked up to him, and shook his head. "That ain't true, Solaris! You may not be king anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't be a respectable citizen! Come on, let's get out of here while we still can, in case more of those show up!" Before Solaris could refuse, Justin walked in front of him, and placed his hands on his shoulders. "I know some friends who can help you fit in. So there's no turning back now, okay?"

Solaris stood there silently, before a smile formed on his face. "Very well, then... please lead the way."

In the matter of minutes, they were back in Justin's house, where the two of them stood in front of the golden door. Then Justin turned towards Solaris, and smiled. "Within this door is a portal that will hopefully take us to Canterlot... the current Capital City... Are you ready?" Solaris nodded, but said nothing. "Alright, then... here goes nothing..." With that, he opened the door, as the two of them were greeted by the blinding light of the room where the Elements of Harmony's chest stood, opened widely, and standing out from the pure white room with it's purple and golden colors, rested on the marble table in the center of the room. Justin walked in, while Solaris backed away, hiding from the light, so his eyes can adjust easier.

Justin was about to look around and feel the walls for a secret way out, until the wall facing the left side of the golden door glowed light blue in the center, and slowly opened, revealing an angry-looking Twilight Sparkle, a happy-looking Pinkie Pie, a bandaged Applejack, a worried Rarity, a hiding-behind-the-nearest-pony Fluttershy, and a hunched-down-and-ready-to-charge Rainbow Dash. Each of them were wearing their Elements on their necks, save for Twilight, who wore her crown over her head. Their expressions soon changed to a shocked one when the doors were fully opened. At that second, all of their gazes, including the gazes from the ten guards in the room, were all on Justin.

With a smile, Justin waved his right hand, and said, "Hey, everyone! How long was I-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was tackled to the ground by the group of mares, and caught in a possibly bone-crushing group hug, as all six of the mares wept, and called his name. Then, he lightly chuckled, while asking, "Um, ladies? What's with the long faces? I wasn't gone that long, was I?"

Twilight, who was wrapped around his chest, looked up at him, and replied, "Try THREE days! Where in Equestria WERE you?!"

Justin looked back at the golden door, and shrugged. "I honestly don't know, other than in some vivid nightmare of a jungle." Then, Celestia and Luna rushed into the room. In the matter of seconds, their eyes widened, and they soon rushed to Justin, and helped him back up, once the mares ended their hug. After that, Justin explained the events that he went through, although he didn't mention Solaris, until the end.

"...But I didn't go through the whole trial myself. Ladies, I'd like to introduce y'all to a new friend I made in there. Come on out, buddy! It's safe!"

As soon as he said that, all eyes turned to the golden door, until the tall figure that stood taller than Celestia herself trotted out of the room. Once he, Celestia, and Luna all locked eyes, their jaws dropped immediately, while Justin and the others stared at them blankly. Solaris tried saying something, only ending in stutters. Finally, Celestia managed to say something comprehensible.

Author's Notes:

:Sneak-Peek:

"Hear-ye, Hear ye! From Princess Celestia of the Kingdom of Equestria! To celebrate the return of King Solaris, the Father of Princess Luna and I, we are hereby giving you a personal invitation from your three rulers themselves, with tickets to the 'Grand Galloping Gala'! Sincerely, Princess Celestia." Spike's voice echoed.

"Oh, come on! It can't be that bad, can it?" Twilight asked Justin, who had his back turned, his arms crossed, and his face hung low.

"It's not that, Twilight! It's just that... well... I don't really know how to dance, and I don't feel comfortable learning how to, either. Not to mention the fact that, due to my sudden disappearance, there's already rumors around Ponyville that I might be some sort of monster, giving the fact that I used Blood Magic to draw the dark spirit from you two weeks ago!"

"If it helps... we could go together! When they see an Element of Harmony around you, then there's no doubt that they might see you for who you truly are!" Twilight said, smiling at him, and placing a hoof on his shoulder, while he sat on the floor.

"Yes, but just who am I, exactly? I'm Undead, I'm Human, and I've already been given suspicious stares from just about anything that moves! Honestly, Twilight? What else could I possibly be?" Justin asked, before Twilight looked concernedly at him.

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To Be Continued...
...In Another Story...

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