It had been two months now that I’ve been in these restraints and I’ve come to realize just how itchy they can be. I’ve been pretty much just sitting around reading. All the Daring Doo books, twice, and several dozen books on magic and history. The growing sense of unease I’d been feeling lately didn’t help, considering I was in no position to try and stop anything from happening.

Especially since Ribbon managed to get near every changeling, both her hive and the yellow hive, out of the griffon nation. Needless to say, the king was pissed. But it's not like their stupid enough to directly attack Canterlot, right?

Wrong!

Turns out the griffons really are that ballsy, and since an entire army was just knocking on Celestia’s door a few months ago she was smart enough to, with Ribbons changelings, put some eyes in each major city and town. The second they took Equestrian ground, she knew about it. Turns out Celestia can actually be a competent military commander when she puts her mind to it.

Didn’t stop another town from disappearing, though. Likely the work of Akuma.

Currently. Ribbon was off somewhere with Luna fighting the griffons, Celestia was here at Canterlot keeping the rest of the country moving. And what am I doing? sitting on my butt reading.

They pretty much kept me out of it because of my newly formed hair-trigger temper. I’ve even snapped at Ribbon once. I was just thankful she thought to levitate me before I had a chance to do something I would regret. I even tried therapy. I had one session… he moved shortly after.

I closed my book, I wasn’t really reading it anyway. Anatomy, a boring subject but useful.

…

I think I’ll go for a walk.

A lot had changed in the last two months. Those samples of the glowing moss we brought back here had spread like wildfire, covering the walls of nearly every tunnel, resulting in nearly the entire hive being bathed in a soft glow, and greatly helped with how otherwise featureless the main tunnels seemed. Only problem with the moss is it didn’t grow up it followed gravity, which left the ceiling baren. Perfect for when they added the ‘stars’.

After a while, I doubled back to my room, before taking the passage that lead to a private spring for me and Ribbon. The ‘hot’ part had yet to be worked out, but it was still somewhere I could try to relax. I stepped into the water, and eventually just layed back until I was up to my neck.

*Bzzzzz*

...Goddamnit, what's with all the racket? I had to haul myself out of the water, and make my way back up to the bedroom, where the buzzing became more pronounced, and when I opened the door, I saw changelings flying every which way in panic. I grabbed the next one to run by me, and looked him in the eyes. “What the heck's going on here!?”

“Ponyville’s on fire, griffons are attacking the Element bearers! The Queen is headed there while the Princess stays with the main army!” He took off again before I could ask anymore. Ponyville!? I didnt even try to get more information, I just bolted for the nearest exit that would let me see what was going on there. When I finally did get to an overview, I had grabbed the railing, horrified. Ponyville truly was burning. And the hundreds of specks I saw flying around must have been the griffons, and the pegasus and changelings trying to fight them off. I could feel the terror Ribbon was experiencing through our link, and it sickened me.

This was unacceptable.

I felt something stirring within me, a familiar primal rage, before a headache overtook me as those restraints tried to hold back my magic. It turns out they can handle quite a lot of magic easily, but dark magic was just too caustic for them to handle all that I was pouring into it.

Suffice to say, they disintegrated.

And in a flash, I was gone.

*Meanwhile, with Ribbon, a few minutes ago.*

Things were looking good. Not for the griffons, though. They had their muskets, but the ponies and changelings had the home field advantage and several game changers. Although the most ponies seemed to have were spears, magic, or flight. My changelings were more willing to use the weapons I had made, and I’ll probably get some flak for making so many “illegal” fire arms, I can tell Princess Luna is grateful, though.

My changelings were keeping the griffon out of the sky for fear of being shot by a far more accurate weapon than what they have. I still haven’t managed to make a fully-automatic weapon, but the semi-auto ones I have are doing just fine for now. So while we had them grounded, they were doing the same for us. That left only one option. Underground. We had several small tunnels made barely wide enough for two ponies to fit through.

I was just going over the plans with Luna that would finish this little invasion when I got a message from the many eyes I had throughout Equestria.

“My Queen. A large group of griffon soldiers have just entered Ponyville! They have just set fire to a portion of Sweet Apple Acres!” That was not good for us if they captured Twilight.

“Princess, we have a problem.”

“Then what do you suggest we do about the griffons in the eastern part of the city?” Thinking that I was talking about the battle plan.

“No, not that. A group of griffons just set fire to Ponyville. You stay here and go over the plan without me, I’ll inform Celestia and head to ponyville myself.”

“Ponyville has been set aflame? Then go, I shall make sure they pay for what they have done here.” I headed out of the tent that was our war room.

“I want the reserves that are still at the hive prepped and at Ponyville, now! Meet me outside of the town and inform Princess Celestia.”

“Right away, my Queen!” I gathered what troops I could and headed off towards Ponyville. Hopefully my home would still be there.

By the time I had made it there the reserves were already engaged with the griffons. Half of Sweet Apple Acres was on fire while my changelings tried to escort ponies out of town while fighting back the griffons, and they were failing.

“We need to keep the innocent ponies out of here! Back up the others and get them out, then we can focus on the griffons!” They followed my orders immediately.

I felt like something very bad was about to happen. A rising sense of dread.

“RRRAAAHHH!!!”

*Back with Chi*

When I arrived, it was not in a flash of light, but a whirlwind of carnage, as I blasted a hole through the chest of the first griffon I saw, My armor forming around me and Akumu drawn. The very shadows seemed to stretch towards me, as if drawn to my rage, while any griffon stupid enough to stand and fight met a swift, merciless death. The adrenaline coursing through me made the bullets feel like raindrops, not even making me flinch.

Nothing would keep me from Ribbon!

“RRRAAAHHH!!!”

“Ahhh!” I saw Ribbon get sent from behind a building, across the street and into a solid wall. I was at Ribbons side in a heartbeat, placing myself between her and any further attacks, before turning my glare upon the perpetrator.

“So we meet at last… Akuma.” What I was looking at, was a equine version of Akuma's full potential. A ponified, pegasus Oni.

“Pathetic… To think you would associate yourself with such a weakling…”

That was the last straw. “Heh… hehe… HAHAHA!” I began to laugh and laugh as Ribbon slowly sunk into my shadow, safe from further harm. “Weak? Well, I guess I just won’t hold back then!” An orb of dark magic formed at the tip of my horn, growing bigger and bigger until it was the size of a grown pony, before with but a flick of my head, it rocket into the air. “Feel true fear!” With a single spark of magic, the orb detonated, raining down spears of crystallized darkness.

He didn’t even bother to move. Using his hooves he forced the larger crystals away from himself as they smashed into the ground harmlessly, and in a flurry of movements he picked them all up and kicked them back at me. A simple telekinetic pulse rendered that attack useless, as we begun circling each other, waiting for an opening.

That opening came when he reared back, a black and blue fireball forming between his hooves. He was poking at my defenses, trying to see how I would respond. I melted into the shadows leaving him confused, and on guard. From within the darkness, I pumped every single shard from my opening attack full of miasma, until they exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere, and creating a smokescreen of miasma, which I used like I had when I collapsed that cavern, and ‘felt’ where he was. Now able to move freely within the shadow generated by my miasma, I emerged behind him, only to be hit by a punch that caused me to double over in pain despite my armor. The next thing I saw was his hoof headed for my face as I was pulled into hurricane of kicks, and sent flying, before a ball of electricity smashed into me, sending pain shooting through my body. With my focus interrupted, the miasma begun to disperse, giving me a clear view of his next attack, an excessively large fireball, almost as big as me.

I quickly let my form dissolve, allowing it to pass through me. I split apart into four pieces and rushed into different shadows. He looked between the shadows that I disappeared into as I formed a fake for him to attack, he took the bait and launched a fireball at it. I formed another and he attack it with same move. Now I formed three fakes and came out, keeping all four targets the same. We all rushed him at once and he attacked two of the decoys letting me get in close in an attempt to gore him with my blade. He dodged but did not come out uncathed. I managed to graze his side. “It feels good to be able to move around on my own again.” I breathed deep “And I already have a fair match, even Celestia didn’t put up much of a fight, Going straight for the Elements because she didn’t want to hurt her sister.”

“I do not care for your talk.”

“Then die so you don’t have to hear it!” I unleashed multiple blasts at the demon. Again, he didn’t bother to move. He raised his wings to block and I rushed him with my blade, with the intent of removing one of them off. As I raised my katana to strike, and brought it down, his forehooves shot forward, and with a shower of sparks, stopped the blade mid swing. I started charging a spell and when he wrenched my weapon away from me, I blasted him with bolts of lightning. In the moment that he was stunned, I landed one last hit on him with my own hooves.

’W-where am I?

-Be quiet.-

’Chi? What happened, where am I?’

-The shadows. And I am not Chitsuki.-

As I took a few steps back to distance myself, I noticed the muscles in his forelegs twitch twice in rapid succession, before the ones in his hindlegs did as he took a small step forward, and then another, more noticeable twitch in his forelegs…

That pattern seems awfully famil… oh shit! I teleported away before he could reach me, a new surge of adrenaline flowing through me as I realized he nearly got me with the Raging Demon, before getting nailed in the back by another ball of electricity, this one noticeably stronger, causing me to seize up for a moment. Before I could recover, he jumped into the air, and brought his entire body weight down onto my back, focused at the tip of his hoof. The results where agonizing, as something broke, and a searing pain spread through my right wing, as it flopped uselessly at my side.

’Who are you, what have you done with her?!

-I said be quiet! I’ll deal with you later.-

I whirled around and back hoofed him, I tried to follow it up with another but he blocked it, before grabbing onto my limb and judo tossing me over his shoulder. I landed hard on the ground and slide before getting back on my hooves, as he charged at me. His forelegs alight with blue flames. I teleported behind him as he swung at me, aiming for the back of his head I delivered a powerful blow. He used his wings to propel himself forward as spun around to face me. I cringed as a fresh wave of pain came from my wrecked wing, and he took that opening, closing the distance and peppering me with rapid jabs, before catching me under the chin with a wing propelled uppercut, which sent me straight into the air, leaving me a sitting duck for the barrage of fireballs he shot at me, they stung quite a bit, but the last one was more of an orb then a fireball

Searing pain shot through me as it impacted my chest, and begun practically drilling into me, before I felt it pulse within me.

A massive burst of dark energy erupted out of my back as it detonated, searing and blowing away tissue and armor alike, leaving a blackened crater where it had entered. the force was so great it cauterized the entry and exit wounds when it detonated. As I shakily stood up, he rushed me again, hoof enveloped in blue flames.

Those flames were snuffed out as the star speckled cloud of my miasma wrapped around the limb, and slammed him into the ground, before picking him up and slamming him down again, and again, and again. I did not, however, expect him to strike the ground with his hooves hard enough to send dirt flying into my face, causing me to drop him.

’I demand that you let me out of this place, right now!’

-Silence! There are two of you creatures that keep me alive and I only need one of you.-

I growled in anger. “You. You die now.” Before I could take any further action, he charged at me again. I teleported behind him as I did before, aiming for the back of his head. Before I could connect he change position and threw a fireball at me and singed the fur off the of my neck. he took the opening to move to my side hit me between my shoulders forcing me half way to the ground. He leaped into the air, and brought an flame wreathed hoof down upon my back with the force of a train.

*SNAP!*

“AHHH!” I screamed as I instantly lost all feeling in the lower half of my body, and crashed to the ground, my breath labored with pain. He broke my spine.

I looked at him with all the anger I could, ready to spite him before he attempted to end me when I spotted my blade behind him. It wasn’t to far away. As he walked towards me I in cased his hooves in crystals. He freed one hoof as I reached out for it with my magic and he freed another as I brought it down on him, impaling him, and causing him to cough up blood. I must have hit a lung.

“He has been sufficiently weakened now, I shall bring him back to Tartarus.” My eyes widened immensely as a portal opened in midair, and what could only be described a malformed arm made of lava reached out, and like a snake lunging at its prey, grabbed Oni and retreated back into the portal. “As reward, I shall remove this… parasite from your being.”

“What? No! I just escaped!” I watch helplessly as the vile hand came back from the portal and stretched out towards me. It pointed a finger at me as I shouted at it. “You can not do this to me! I didn’t even get a chance to cause eternal night! No no no no NOOO!” I could feel the heat burning my coat as it neared and the searing hot pain when it touched me. As it pulled away I felt myself being ripped off my host in a horrid manner. Akin to being skinned alive by a red hot knife.

Once I was ripped away, it balled me into it’s fist and threw me on the ground mangled and in pain.

”Chi, come on. Wake up!”

Where am I? Why does it hurt so much?

”Hey, get up. I know you can’t die!”

“R-ribbon?” I cracked an eye open to see where I was, only to become painfully aware of a massive migraine trying to split my head open.

“There you are. Tell me, what do you remember about what just happened?”

“Anger… the urge to maim and kill, pain, and I… I wasn't really feeling like myself…”

“Well, you seem ok, now anyway. Can you get up?”

“I-i think so…” It was a bit difficult to get back onto my hooves without being able to see what I was doing, courtesy of even opening my eyes slightly causing the migraine to intensify tenfold. “My head…”

“Here, let me help you with that.” I felt the pain lessen a bit, enough that I can probably open my eyes. When I did, Ribbon gasped backed away from me.

“W-what’s wrong with your eyes?”

“Huh?”

“Uh, here, use this.” She took off part of her arm guard handed it to my. It was finely polished so it wasn’t too hard to see myself, even with a few scratches. I looked at my reflection and gasped.The first thing that caught my eye was my now ivory coat, and the second the that caught my eye was my eyes. My eyes were still red, but the whites of my eyes have turned black. What the bloody fuck had happened to me? “I hope for you sake that that’s not permanent.”

“What the hell happened to me!?”

“Tartarus… I removed the parasite that was attached to you and contained it. Now that the creature has been removed, this is what you truly look like.” I looked at my chest to yell at him that it was the same thing but there was nothing there. I slowly applied hoof to face and groaned in exasperation. “As I said I would, I have removed my presence over you.” I turned to look behind me just in time too see a large runic circle start to crack and splinter like glass before it shattered.

“I’m still going to call it Hell.”