Cupcakes. Copper wasn't sure how many he had eaten, but he had not had one in...too long. It had been a party that he had enjoyed, even if the entire thing had flown by in a blur. There were new ponies and old ponies, all of whom he was more than happy to see and speak with. Bits of lives correlating into the life of a town. Unfortunately it had not done as he had hoped. It did not make him feel better.

All it was was the life that he had missed out on. Years that he could have spent with these ponies, ponies that he had known at one point in his life but might as well have been strangers. Familiar strangers, but strangers none the less. The party made him feel more apart from the world than he had before, but it was still good. If anything, it was worth it for the simple look on Glass' face. The joy of truly being at a party. He remembered his first true party, that lifetime ago in that far off place that had once been his new home.

Now he didn't belong here. He was not a pony anymore, he was simply a legend. A myth. It was a sobering experience to see first hoof what became of his legacy. What had become of the ponies that he was forced to leave.

He rubbed his face before biting into another cupcake. He had gone to a quiet little place to collect his thoughts. Everpony seemed to have something important to say to him, to tell him that they had missed him, or that they were glad that he was all right. Which he was. He was fine. Just like he always was. Just like he would always be.

Glass was off talking with ponies, having the time of her life. He had to remind himself that this had been for her, not for him. There had been this aching feeling to make sure that she was happy and seeing her like she was now made it worth the thoughts that had crept into his head. Just to see her smile and laugh.

“Copper?” He looked over to see Twilight, who smiled at him. “Enjoying the party?”

“In my own way.” He gave her a soft smile before looking back at Glass. “She's sure enjoying herself.”

“Well it's her first time outside of Canterlot, and the first party she's been to that wasn't some sort of royal get together.” She took a seat beside him.

“Thank you. For taking care of her. I can tell from the way she looks at you, you've really been there for her.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Of course. We all have.” She paused, “Queen Chrysalis has as well, in her own way.”

“Oh I know. Chrysalis has her own way of doing things.”

“I was...actually surprised that she let you walk out of Canterlot with Glass.”

There was a soft breeze blowing and Copper ran a hoof over his mane. “Well to be honest, I stole her.”

Twilight gave him a confused look. “Really?”

“Well, Chrysalis would have preferred she stay in Canterlot, but there was no way that I was going to do that and there was no question of me leaving her there. What sort of father would appear after such a long time, just to leave again?” He looked up at the sky at the few clouds that were lazily drifting through the air.

“Good point,” she said with a smile.

There was a soft silence that washed over them; a comfortable one. It was a while before Copper actually spoke again, “So, a museum.”

“Huh?” She had been gazing at the crowd. “Oh, yes. That was the Mayor's idea. Everypony knew you hated statues so she offered the idea of a museum.”

He smiled a bit and chuckled. “Yes. I think I would have been more upset at a statue.”

“Well, we asked Princess Celestia and she said it was a wonderful idea. She's...actually visited it a few times. Everytime she comes to Ponyville she makes a point to at least pass by.”

He wasn't sure what his insides were trying to do but he did not enjoy it. It made his heart raise while at the same time his stomach churned in an odd way. “I'm sure it brings in a lot of tourism.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Oh yes, quite a lot. Part of the funds it brings in go towards it's upkeep and expansion. They are actually considering adding another wing.”

He chuckled again, shaking his head. “I know it may look like I did a lot, but most of the museum isn't mine as it is. What more are they going to add?”

“Oh there are quite a lot of things that have happened in Griflon. New technologies. Since griffons can't use magic, more and more of them seem to be turning to technology.”

Copper nodded, smiling. “Well, that is a good thing. Magic needs to be something for everypony, but since we can't do that, we turn to technology.”

“Is that why you worked so hard on your designs?”

“I suppose so. I just wanted everypony to be...on more equal ground.” He watched as Glass laughed at some joke that he couldn't hear.

“And so that you can fly again?”

He closed his eyes and let out a slow sigh. “I've given up on that.”

Her brow furrowed. “But...I thought that was your dream.”

“It was for a time. I thought I learned a lot in two years, but I learned more about myself in a few minutes than I had in those two years, just looking at her.” Glass had spotted him and waved.

He waved back. “And so you're going to just...give up on your dreams?”

“Twilight.” He turned to her, smiling slightly. “I don't want anything more than to make sure that Glass is happy. Chrysalis as well, but she is intent on avoiding and ignoring me so...I will take what I can, in the time that I can.”

Glass was making her way over to them now. “You really do love them,” she said with a smile.

“What are you doing over here?” Glass asked as she stood in front of Copper.

“Talking,” he said with a smile. “As I am known to do. Are you having fun?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yes! There's so many ponies here that know me that I've never seen before, and the food is so much better than what they serve at Canterlot parties, and everypony is so friendly.”

Copper nodded, smiling. “Good. I'm glad you're having fun.”

“Are we leaving soon?”

He blinked and then shook his head. “Not soon, no. Later tonight.”

“You're leaving tonight?” Twilight tilted her head slightly at him.

“We have a lot of places to go and the Crystal Empire is quite a long way to go.”

Twilight stared at him for a second. “Why is that your first stop?”

“Well, Glass has never seen it before and it is truly something to behold. Or at least that's what I've been told,” he says with a chuckle. “I have quite a lot of business to take care of on my trip, and that is the first stop.”

“Are we gonna see the Snow Queen?” Glass asked, quite excited.

Copper hesitated, looking down at Glass. “I hope so, if not then it will be quite a let down.”

“She has not been seen since you vanished ten years ago,” Glass said as she sat down in front of him.

“Well she is a very busy pony with lots of things to take care of.”

“It still surprises ponies that she is a real thing...I mean...the first unicorn.” Twilight shook her head. “I can only imagine the things that she could teach us.”

“It's because of those things that she keeps herself so isolated,” he said with a sigh. “When the magic fractured ponies into the three species...there was a lot of turmoil.”

Twilight wrinkled her brow again at him. “I didn't know you read those history books.”

“I have read a great many books. Though you have probably read more than me. Those books are, or were, available in the Canterlot Library. We are lucky that our history reaches back so far.” He did not add that usually when a land is conquered as Equestria was, history like that would have been destroyed. But Celestia was a very different type of ruler than Copper was used to dealing with.

“Oh I've read that one.” Glass suddenly looked very hard at Copper as if trying to figure something out.

But before she could speak he turned to Twilight. “So how is life as the Princess of Friendship?” She told him of many things, stories of traveling to far off lands. Glass eventually wandering off; obviously she had heard them all before.

Eventually more ponies came to join them in their sitting, simply talking of their lives with Copper, trying to get more out of him about where he had been. Of course he just explained that there would be another book, and that he didn't want to keep explaining it every time somepony asked him, as there was quite a lot of details to it all. It was a long and convoluted story.

The question came up as he was reminded of the other world. “Ah, Twilight. Did Celestia ask you about making that book?”

“Oh yes. I worked most of the night on it.”

Copper looked at her expectantly, but it was obvious she needed a bit more prompting. “And?”

“Oh! I'm sorry, yes. It's finished.”

He tried to not jump up onto his hooves and asked, “May I have a look at it?”

“Of course.” She stood up and the two of them made their way off towards the castle. The castle had been quite a shock for him when he first saw it and heard that the library had been destroyed.

They walked slowly, talking of Ponyville. Twilight probably found his questioning odd, as he did not ask normal questions. Things in the nature of, “How is the economy?” and “What sort of shops have been popular?” He knew quite a lot of how towns and cities ran. The infrastructure was important and he cared about that. Eventually they came into the castle Library.

“I was quite surprised to be honest. It all gets rather...intense.” A book floated over from a table, having to shake off scrolls and other books in order to do so. “But I do believe this was the correct world.”

Copper took the book carefully, staring at the cover. Broken Gears. There at the bottom was the copper colored feather that made him smile. “Good.”

“It takes quite a lot of turns, I really enjoyed- what are you doing?”

He had opened the book from the back to the last page and was reading. “I will read the entire thing some other time, but I have to know how it ends.”

Twilight did not look like she approved. “You're going to skip the entire thing?”

“I'll read it eventually.” He closed the book and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I just...needed to know.”

She was still frowning at him. “That took a lot of work, you know.”

“I'm sure,” he said with a smile and a chuckle. “But I was only interested in how it ended. I'm sure there are a lot of ponies who will be more than interested in reading it in its entirety. Do you think you could print more?”

“Of course I could. Copying a book is a lot easier than drawing a story from another universe.” She actually seemed fairly annoyed. As if Copper had broken some sort of book rule.

“I'd very much appreciate it.”

Glass poked her head into the library. “Ah! There you are! I went back up to the hill and they said that you'd gone to look at some book.” She seemed annoyed as well.

It was clear to Copper that he had played this in a fairly wrong manner. “Sorry. But I got a little excited at the prospect of finding out something.”

“Finding out what?” Glass said as she moved beside him, looking at the book.

“The end of a life that I lived and missed out on.” The words felt heavy to him. A life that he had missed out on. He felt like he had missed out on several lives at this point. A quiet life in Ponyville. A life with Scootaloo in New York. A life with his daughter.

“Then this is...” Glass looked at Twilight, who nodded. “Wow! And this is the first copy, too?”

Again Twilight nodded. “Yes. Though it seems Copper would like many more to be made.”

“Better than ponies fighting over checking it out,” Copper said, trying his best to smile.

Twilight nodded. “I'll make a copy and send it to Princess Celestia first.”

“I'm sure she's interested in reading it, too!” Glass said, smiling. “And I wanna read it too! But I can wait till we get back.”

“Are you sure?” Copper said with a smile. “That's going to be quite a long time.”

“Speaking of a long time, it's getting rather late,” Twilight said. “You had mentioned you were going to leave tonight, right?”

“Oh right, thank you.” He smiled at Twilight, who smiled back. “It was really good seeing you, Twilight. Hopefully it doesn't take too long before I come back to Ponyville and see you again.” They said their goodbyes and then Copper left with Glass following behind. As he walked, he wondered if he would ever return to Ponyville.

There were so many ponies to say goodbye to, and several books to be signed it would seem. He felt a bit odd signing books like some sort of celebrity, but it was how some ponies saw him. He made a point to say goodbye to as many ponies as he could. He wasn't sure if he'd get another chance to. He shook his head as they waited at the train station. I have to stop thinking like that.

That was easier said than done. There was a long journey ahead. “So why are we going to the Crystal Empire?”

Copper looked down at Glass and smiled. “Well, like I said, there are several reasons.”

“But you and Aunt Cadance don't get along,” she said with the look of somepony who was thinking very hard.

He was not sure how he felt about that. He was sure that Princess Cadance could not think very highly of him after what was written in his books about her. Of course that was nothing compared to the hate that Shining Armor must have. If the book was close to accurate, and Celestia had not cut it out, there were quite a number of confrontations between the two of them. “A lot changes in the years. Ponies we don't like can become friends if you let them.”

She made a sort of hmph noise and stuck her nose in the air. “Well I know there are ponies that I wont ever be friends with.”

“Oh really?” He chuckled softly. “I used to think that, too.” He reached over and gentle pressed her nose, pushing her head back down. That was something she had probably picked up from hanging around high class ponies. “But ponies change.”

There was a frown on her face as she stared up at him. “Yeah, some do. But some don't.”

He nodded, conceding that. “Yes, some don't.”

In the distance there was a loud whistle sound, and Glass suddenly got quite fidgety.

“Something wrong?”

“Is mother going to be on the train?” she said, looking up at him.

The look that she gave him made his eyes water. “No,” he said as he shook his head. “I'm afraid not.”

“She loves us, right?” It was like a stab in the heart.

“Yes. She's just really, really, reeaaally bad at showing it.” He ruffled her hair.

She nodded, looking at the train as it came to a stop. “Yeah. She is.”

They boarded the train in silence as the moved to their car. It was a private room on the train, as Copper requested. He wanted to be alone with Glass and not have ponies constantly trying to ask him questions.

He noticed immediately how, unlike most ponies, she sat directly next to him. He put an arm around her, pulling her close. She leaned heavily into him. “You had quite a long day, hm?”

“Yes...” she said with a soft sigh.

“But it was fun, right?”

She smiled and nodded. “Mhm. I had a lot of fun.”

“What did you do?” He listened as she told him about her day, all the ponies that she talked with and all of the things she got to do. It truly did sound like she had a great day.

After several minutes of this, she brought up the story. “Can you...continue?”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Of course.”

~

He really felt that he had tasted too much blood during his life. His own blood and others. Mostly his own blood. “So you were banished here like everypony else. Explain it to me.”

The king looked at Copper with a frown. “The Priest had such power...but I began to have my doubts. Rather than try and convert, they would simply sentence them to death. It was a mistake to mention it.”

“No, it was the right thing to do.” He sighed softly as he moved over to what looked like a bed made of something soft. As he laid down he saw the question the king wanted to ask. “I make no promises. But I will try.” With that he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

~

He felt strange sitting under a clockwork tree. Strange was the first word that came to mind. Usually the dreamscape felt comforting, but now it felt alien. Like he didn't belong there. Nothing had changed about how it looked, simply how he felt about it. There was no sense of comfort. He was alone. It was not the first time he had been alone in a hostile place, a place that didn't want him, but this time he had no place to run back to. No safe place to gather his thoughts. He wanted to be home. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be safe. Tears streaked down his face as he stared up through the branches at the starred sky. Did this world even have stars? Deep breaths did nothing to try and calm his mind.

There was suddenly the pressure of something entering his dreamscape. “Nightmare?” he asked as he looked around. But there was nothing to be seen. “L-Luna?” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “No, of course not...there is no Luna here...” He wiped away the tears, but that did not stop them. He hoped that he was not sobbing in his sleep. “Who is there?”

There was no answer, but he was sure that he felt something moving around in his mind. What sort of things wandered the dreams of the inhabitants here?

“Fine...whatever.” He leaned against the tree, a soft ticking inside gave him some sort of peace. “Don't come out then.” He almost longed for it to show itself, something to take his mind away from the sinking misery. I need to focus... he thought as he stared at upwards. The world is dying, and I've no way of dealing with it. The first problem is the Priest- “What do you want?” he said as he sat up a bit. Whatever it was was getting close.

Yet there was still no response. Nothing to look at. He wasn't even sure what he was looking for. Some sort of Blood Horror that haunts the mind? He shuddered at the thought. “Why do you cry?”

The voice caught him off guard. It had the soothing tone of Nightmare but was drastically different. He leaned slightly to look around the tree, to see a small filly. But she was wrong, not quite there. She hid behind a nearby tree when he looked at her. “Many reasons,” he said as he shifted around to the other side of the tree. A soft smoke flowed from around the tree and her head slowly poked out. “I'm not going to hurt you.”

“That's what the last pony said.” Her head retreated, followed quickly by the smoke. “He said lots of things...”

Copper frowned slightly as he leaned once again up against the tree. “What sort of things did he say?”

“That I was important...that I was special...” He saw her poking out from the other side of the tree. “But he lied.”

“Why do you think that?” Again he wiped away the tears, thankfully this was enough of a distraction.

“Cus I'm not.” She was watching him with a sort of hesitant curiosity. “I wouldn't do what he said...he called me useless...and did something that hurt a lot...”

He assumed that she was talking about the Priest, or perhaps the Other. “I know what that feeling is like,” he said with a sigh. “But I've never let that stop me.” He looked back up at the sky. “I thought I was useless, so I did everything I could to make sure I wasn't. I did a lot of bad things...made a lot of mistakes...but I'd like to think I did a lot of good in the end.”

“So you are a bad pony?”

He could hear her closer, but didn't look down. “Sometimes I think so. Actually, more than sometimes...”

“Then that's good...the other pony said he was a good pony.” Copper looked down at the little Nightmare that was sitting in front of him. That's what she was, a filly Nightmare.

“Why is that a good thing?” She was staring at him with inky black eyes.

“Cus the good pony wants the world to die. That means the bad pony wants the world to live, right?”

He chuckled softly and looked back up at the sky. “Yes...and I wish I could save it...but I can't...” He took a deep breath. “My name is Copper Feather.”

“They all call me Nightmare...” she sounded miserable.

“How about just Night, then?” He smiled slightly at her. “That sound better?” She nodded slightly. His mind was bubbling with questions. Why was she so small? Nightmare had never been this small as far as he was aware. “Where do you come from?”

Her brow furrowed. “The big glass things.” She waved her hooves vaguely in the air, trying emphasize something large.

Copper tilted his head to the side slightly. “Big glass things? Like, towers of glass?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes...the pony said that I was...” Her face scrunched as she tried to think of what he had said. “Compressed magic?”

It clicked in his head. They must have built something that absorbs all magic, but since they can't destroy it they simply pushed it all together and it made her... “Odd...”

“He said that I would help make everything better. But everything he told me to do made things worse...” She had curled up in front of Copper. “There are so few ponies now...there were so many... Where did they all go, Copper?”

Copper felt his heart sink. He had explained death to young ponies before, but it was not something he ever enjoyed. “How do you know there are less?”

“There are less sleepers. Do they stay awake to avoid me?” She was not looking at him, instead she was staring down at the ground, at the inner workings of the ground bellow them.

“No...” He gently brushed her mane, for smoke it felt oddly solid. It reminded him of one time he had touched Celestia's mane when he was young. Something that felt like it wasn't quite there. “They are gone.”

She looked up at him, her head tilted to the side slightly. “Why did they leave?”

“They didn't have a choice...sometimes ponies leave, because it's their time to go. But other times they are forced to leave. To go to a place that only those that leave know.” After all, he only knew part of the journey, not its end.

“There are lots of sleepers near you...but so few anywhere else...” She laid her head down.

His mind was working out new plans. If he was going to save ponies, he needed a firm hoof hold to start from. “Do you think you could help me?” She looked up at him with confusion. “I cannot save this world...but I'm going to try to save the ponies living in it.”

“Even me?”

He couldn't help but smile, stroking her mane once again. “Of course you. Especially you.”

“How can I help?”

“I need to find a pony who calls himself the Doctor. He has a...strange blue box.” She had moved closer to him. “He can help me. And I'll also need your help getting everypony together...so that if I can figure out how, we can all leave.”

She was smiling softly and she nodded. “So I need to find a Doctor with a blue box?”

“Or somepony who knows where he is, or how to find him.” It was the only thing he could think of to start.

“Is he really that great?”

He looked up at the sky for a moment. “I think so...”

There was a few moments of pause before she nudged him gently with her hoof. “Do I have to go now?”

He looked down at her and smiled. “No,” he said as he shook his head. “I think it can wait until tomorrow.”

~

He awoke to the noise of arguing. There was a rather heated debate going on amongst some of the bat ponies on the other side of the room. He had to be honest with himself, he didn't want to get up. It was the first time he could remember that he didn't want to get up and do something. There was a lot to be done and he didn't want to do it. It wasn't that he was even that comfortable, in fact the floor was misshapen and very uncomfortable, but he did not want to be awake.

Night had been an odd comfort, one that he would have not expected. There was something so comforting about her presence; something he couldn't explain. He let out a soft groan as he sat up, he was sore from sleeping in an awkward position. He felt oddly stiff and began stretching. The arguing had stopped. “No, please. Go on with whatever you were talking about,” he said with a vague wave of his hoof. He hadn't been listening to what it was about. “Could I have some water?”

There was a mad scramble of ponies as they moved about. “How did you sleep?”

Copper looked at the king a moment and then shrugged. “I've slept worse. But at least I have some things in motion...” He had already felt Night leave.

The king looked confused, but didn't question it. “What are we to do now?”

“Well...” He drank some of the water that had been rushed to him. “First thing first, we need to get out of here and back to the surface. The Priest needs to be dethroned.”

“And...how are we to do that?”

“By killing the Blood Horror,” Copper said as he stood up. There was a lot of ponies shifting away from him. “There has to be a reason this place is safe. Who has been here the longest?”

“That would be me,” the king said as he stared at Copper.

“What was here when you got here?”

“Here?” The king looked around. “Nothing. It was the only dry area and I was exhausted from running...”

“Nothing at all?” Copper was looking around as well. “Just these empty rooms?”

“Yes...I am sorry.” His brow furrowed slightly. “I...it's been twenty years...I had resigned myself to die and simply laid down. But after a few days it did not come to kill me. I sat and waited for death, eating these mushrooms.”

“So the mushrooms were here?” Copper was trying to jog his memory, any little detail could be useful.

“Yeah...the mushrooms have always been here. The caretaker of our sewers grew them...and sold them in the market. They weren't very popular, for obvious reasons.”

“Anything else?” He only had two things to go on, the fact that it was dry and the mushrooms. “Was the sewer always filled with blood?” The thought had popped into his head.

The king shook his head. “No. That was something caused by the Blood Horror...it like...pours blood from itself. The Priest never explained to me where it came from, or even what it was. Nothing but that the Other had brought it from the depths. Whatever that is.”

“How did the caretaker get down here?” He looked towards the ceiling.

“I don't know. He was reclusive, kept to himself.” Copper was looking at the large mushroom patches that the ponies were cultivating. Apparently the argument had started back up again, it was over food. They did not like the fact that they were not to eat meat anymore.

He pulled one of the mushrooms carefully from the bed, examining it. Things were usually not this easy, but he wanted to find out. He stretched a bit more before heading to the other chamber, the one that lead out to the sewer. He wondered what sort of pony used to live down here. He did not want to think about what sort of lifestyle it would have been. He stared at the flowing blood, it looked as unwelcome as ever, but he trudged out into it, holding the mushroom in his mouth. “What are you doing?!” somepony called out.

“Experimenting,” he muttered as he headed towards a crossroad. There was nothing ahead of him but he had a feeling the Blood Horror was not far. A feeling that was confirmed when he saw the soft light off to his left and heard the dripping. He threw the mushroom down the tunnel, pushing the blood in such a way to cause it to flow down towards it. “C'mon ya bastard...breakfast time.” It moved towards him at a slow, meandering pace. “Remember this?” Shink. The light actually stopped. “So it can be taught.” He was watching the mushroom float down towards the light.

“Please, Prophet! Come back!” There were ponies trying to shout to him as quietly as they could. They dared not follow. Copper could actually see the tentacles now, slithering along the cracks in the wall as it continued its approach, it had quickly shaken the fear of pain. It was much brighter here than during the last encounter and he had adjusted quickly to the darkness of the underground.

But Copper's focus was on the mushroom, floating down towards the Blood Horror. Then it cringed, quickly backing away. “Oh really? Is that so?” Shnikt. Copper was almost frustrated that it was as simple as that. How does a fungus have such an effect. It writhed and retreated quickly back the way it had came and went down a side passage. Copper made his way back to the group fairly quickly. “Well that is very interesting. Lucky and very convenient.” Once on dry land he tipped his arm to pour the blood from it.

“What was that?” The king was there to great him. “What happened? What did you do?”

“You are the luckiest bunch of ponies. I cannot believe you're- we're all alive because of dumb luck.” Then again, he knew that his own life had been saved by dumb luck more times than he could count. “But I'm not about to question it at this point.” The king looked very confused as Copper walked back to the other room, dripping in blood. “Take half the mushrooms, and starting floating them out the left tunnel.”

“But...why? That's our food.”

Copper looked at the king a moment. “I am aware. We can gather them up and wash them later.” He began carefully picking the mushrooms and noticed that most of the ponies had joined him. Apparently he had higher standing's than their own king. “It does not like the mushrooms, for some reason and I'm going to use that to my advantage.”

“But...are you sure? Are you sure it's the mushrooms? Not because it's dry here?” The king was grasping at the same straws Copper had held moments ago.

“It is not in the blood at all. It clings to the walls and crawls through the tunnels. I got a good look at it and it's definitely not even touching the blood, if that even is what it is...it's more like some sort of secretion that drips off it. It just mimics blood.” He was helping the ponies push the mushrooms out, but he was the only one who actually went into the liquid. “That's enough.” Copper said as he began guiding them to the best of his abilities.

“Good luck, Prophet,” the king said as he watched from the dry land.

He watched them all crowd around, but not one touched the liquid. He would have thought them cowards if he was not afraid himself. It was a lot to throw at a hunch; a guess. He tried to push as much of the mushrooms towards where the Blood Horror had gone and when he got to another cross road, he saw the light. “C'mon...” he said, struggling to get the mass of mushrooms to float down the liquid. The light paused as it caught sight of Copper. There was a slight shift as it moved towards him and then it fled.

Copper pursued. He had probably started with thousands of mushrooms, but now only had a handful. But as he had lost them, they had drifted about the tunnels and now the Blood Horror was trapped. It had backed itself into a corner of sorts, behind it Copper could see daylight. This was the way out. It made chittering noises at him.

“That's right. It's either face me, or face the daylight. I bet the light hurts your eyes, doesn't it?” He continued to push the few mushrooms he had ahead of him. “Which is worse, the light or the mushrooms? What is it, the smell? You don't have eyes...” He could see the mass of it in the daylight behind it. The mushrooms did have a distinctive smell, and he could smell it over the blood easily. “That has to be it...it is a smell you do not like.”

“Prophet.” Copper glanced behind him and he saw the king and all the other bat ponies behind him. “We are with you.”

Copper focused on the creature. These ponies were a group in search of a leader. The king would have stayed behind, he was sure, but the majority pushed him to follow. But none dared come close, not as close as Copper. He was trying to figure out what the creature reminded him of. Some sort of octopus with a dozen more limbs. It had a large sac, bellow which sat an orb on one of its many tentacles; its angler. But Copper saw no mouth. He saw it flinch, shink. He slashed as the tentacle lunged for him and the creature shrieked as it retreated further. “Face me, or face the light!” Copper shouted as he charged it.

It made one more attempt to hit him, which did not even come close to Copper, before it fled into the sun. It screeched as smoke billowed off it. It clambered out of the hole, trying to find respite; trying to find cover from the harsh sun of this world. He came after it and saw that they were near one end of the city coming out of what Copper guessed was a large storm drain. There were several ponies around to witness the event. The Blood Horror flailed and shrieked before it finally slumped to the ground. It withered, baking in the sun. This was a creature that was never meant to be in the light and it was showing. It was a creature of darkness, one that thrived in it.

Copper held the gauntlet upwards and the blade retracted with a loud chink. The blood liquid poured from his arm, splattering the ground. Ponies ran as the others came out behind him. “Bathe in the light of this day,” Copper said as he looked back at the group. “It is a day of importance. It is the day that we begin to save the city and all who dwell within it, and outside it.” It was an impromptu speech and Copper would regret it later; there were many words that he could have used that would have been more appropriate, but it was what came forth. The cheering of the crowd behind him only stirred his adrenaline.

“What are we to do now, Prophet?” The king had relinquished any doubt he had had in Copper.

“As I said. We dethrone the Priest.” Copper knew that this would not last long, he knew how crowds worked and he was working out several of his next moves as he walked towards the palace followed by the large procession. It seemed even the city was turning on to Copper's side. All that had to be mentioned was the word 'Prophet' and ponies leaped to his side. He had stirred doubt in the Priest with his speech on the stand, and now he walked out with dozens of ponies they all had believed dead.

Nopony tried to stop them, and in fact the guards pushed open the door, as if they had expected him. “For the crimes you have committed against our Lord, you are-” the Priest stopped as he saw Copper walking, once again, to the stage.

The other pony saw his chance and leaped away, Copper saw that they had already shredded his wings. It was a brutal punishment, robbed of the ability of flight and then stood in front of ones peers and dropped to certain death. But Copper was not foolish enough to get on the platform and instead walked around it. “Now then, Priest. As I was saying before you ended our conversation...”

“H-how?!” the Priest stammered, looking around for somepony who would come to his aid, or more likely somepony who he could throw between Copper and himself.

“You have doomed your world by following the will of the Other. Your world and all your people.” Copper stopped, not very far off from the Priest.

“How do you still live!?” the Priest screamed.

“Your beast is dead, choosing to take its own life rather than face me.” There was utter silence aside from Copper's own voice. He hated it, but he had to play up the part. He needed these ponies to believe he was far above them to buy himself time to work out a plan.

“The Horror is...dead?” The pony who was about to be sentenced was the closest to the two of them, as he had been unable to escape very far; now he was trapped in a corner.

“That is impossible,” the Priest said, having regained some sort of composure.

“Then how do I, and your king, still live?” The Priest's gaze stared beyond Copper at the king and the ponies he brought with him. “You have made mistakes, Priest.” The gaze snapped back to Copper. “Everypony makes mistakes, but now is your chance to change that. To be reasonable, to admit that you were wrong. I have made more mistakes than I can count, but please...this needs to end. The Other seeks nothing but your destruction.”

“No!” The hair on Copper's neck stood up as the Priest moved. The Other had given him power at one point, that was certain, and the Priest had kept some of it in reserve. The bright light that shone from him was entirely for show, but the energy that gathered in front of him was not. It would have been easy for Copper to say it was simply magic, but there was no magic, he could feel that. This was whatever power the Other had, something beyond magic. It was what was destroying the world now that the magic was gone.

Copper threw up his arms in an attempt to shield himself and black smoke billowed from around him, swallowing up the power and slamming the Priest into the wall. He lowered his hooves back to the ground, staring at the Priest. In his head, he heard a soft voice, “I-I can not do that again...”

“There is no need,” he said softly, smiling. He was draped in smoke, which was dissipating now. “How long have you been back?” He approached the Priest, who was trying to get back up onto his hooves.

“When you were shouting,” the voice said.

“H-how?” the Priest stammered as he slumped against the wall. “Why does the Nightmare fight for you?”

“Because she does not like you.” He stood over the pony as the last of the smoke faded, a pony who stared up at him with bright red eyes. “Now, I will not offer again.” The Priest's brow furrowed. “This is your last chance to tell the truth. The Other has left you, abandoned you, why do you still defend it?”

The Priest closed his eyes. “What choice is there? The world is dying...all I can do is try to comfort my people...”

“And that is why I wont kill you.” The Priest stared at Copper, who was walking away. “Even if you went about it the wrong way, I can see why you did it.” Copper went to the king, who was looking as amazed as any other pony. “Do not hurt him. He has to live with what he has done.” He moved past the king, the crowd quickly parting ahead of him. “Now, take me to one of these glass towers.”

~

“Now, did you find the Doctor?” Copper was in the dreamscape again, while they rode in a cart towards one of the towers Copper had decided to take a nap.

Night looked sheepish, kicking her hoof slightly at the ground. “No...but I found the blue box...”

Copper blinked, looking down at her. “How?”

“It dreams.”