Author's Notes:

Just to earn everypony, there is not a good ending to these new characters. This will be the first character elimination I have ever done so do not hate me for it when the time comes.

Anyway, had to wait until the wife fell asleep for me to finish. But let me tell me, write while on a jet is not easy.

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Leave some feedback and a like.

The emptiness had grown around Derrick faster than he or anyone could expect. The only light in front of him was a single tendril having already changed shape again and erecting a red glass with magic filtering through as a source, which made it easier for other creatures to find him. However, none dared approach the man with the other two constantly turning in every direction with elongated blades ready to cut them down.

Derrick was still nauseous from watching one split a strange shadow-like pony with no face turn it into multiple piles of flesh. The memory was fresh in his mind even when the new stallion leading him through a series of corridors acted as though nothing happened.

When he had first questioned the stallion he was left in silence and wonder, but his toleration of mysteries and monsters had run too thin for him to handle the possibility of said pony being a friend or a potential threat. He had so questions that needed to be answered, but the eeriness of this strange place made him very hesitant.

"This place is fucking creepy. . ." He shivered uncontrollably by the sudden feeling of more monsters hiding in the darkness—watching and waiting for his guard to lower. If only they knew he was not on guard but trusting the tendrils erected from his lower back.

"The outer realm is a place beyond light and darkness," the stranger informed, stopping for a moment to turn to the young lord and gaze at him crucially. "It used to be a fragment of nothing, but the sisters of light and darkness created an impact with their conflict that knotted the threads and gave birth to what you see."

"So it exists because. . ." Derrick had to stop himself. Not a moment too soon in his own thoughts did he fully process the stallion's words. "Hang on, how do you know that?"

"I would prefer you not questioning so much," the strange pony requested, growing very irritated of the man and his overbearing curiosity.

Not long after however, did Derrick stop walking and cross his arms with a deep glare for the pony that stopped shortly after him and turn around. It was obvious that he was very aware of his surroundings. "Talk." Derrick commanded as the stallion shook his head. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'll you give name, but that is it." The pony replied. "It's Violent Haze."

"Alright," Derrick nodded. "And what the hell do you want from me?"

Violent Haze sighed deeply at the man. "This is not the time to be answering questions or filling in the details of my sudden appearance. I have enough trouble in my mind with leaving my lady to the darkness to find you while monsters of this unforgiving realm stalk her."

A tick mark grew on Derrick's forehead as the tendrils understood his emotions and attempted to intimidate the stallion by shapeshifting into claws. His blank expression remained still though, as did the blade strapped to his right flank.

"A little irked are we?" The stallion mused, frustrating Derrick even more. "I can see why lady is interested in retrieving you."

"You're starting to piss me off." Derrick threatened, approaching the pony with intention to interrogate him.

His new ally chuckled beneath his breath. "Then I'm doing my job. She wanted me to test your emotions, but I can see that your magic is fueled by your temper."

Derrick's face become something of a deadly serious glare as he gave the tall pony a small nod. "You know what, it's kind of weird how you just randomly appear and start talking about someone that is very interested in me. Strange enough that I think my mother needs to know."

He waited for Violent Haze to respond, but—damn it—he was not taking the bait like he had hoped. The first thing to come to mind as a way to get the pony to talk could have been better than using the excuse of having a goddess for a mother who has a very short fuse for anyone that bothers him. The bait was still hanging, but the armored pony was not biting on it.

Then again, he wasn't responding at all. Not a word nor an expression as they stood there in silence.

The first thing that hits both males back into the reality of their situation was how close the gorger was and how quickly it had caught to them. Derrick shook the conversation out of his head and spun around to approach a nearby cliff that was illuminated by a red glow at the bottom. He looked down with careful observation whilst making himself scarce behind a rock. His friend did the same and they both watch as the monster used it tentacles to pierce the rock and slowly make it's way up from the other side.

Bleary images of having been dragged into this place by that thing slowly played in the man's head with the disjointed sounds of his plea for Nightmare Moon to help him. If he could describe what it felt like for her to not have reached him in time he would have it written down just to get it off his chest. The replaying images of his attacker and being dragged away, he began to hyperventilate and feel dizzy as the beast across them roared and sniffed the air.

"It's trying to find our scent," the crude stallion said coldly, taking his eyes off the monster after hearing the man's breathing accelerate. He was surprised to see Derrick this way. "Hey, what's the matter with you?"

Derrick tried to speak but came up short with his voice completely robbed. His breathing became intense wheezes with one over his chest as he fell back and lied on the cold floor. He tried again to speak, only to stop and wince at the feeling of his chest clenching tightly. He began to sweat profusely and did his best to get his mind on something else, mainly having Nightmare Moon in his mind and how good she was to him. But even that was proving useless with that monster coming through in the background to devour his mental image of her.

"Hey, talk to me." The stallion demanded, lightly smacking the young man on his cheek, only to watch him get worse. "Dammit. Talk to me. What the buck is going on with you?"

Derrick could not focus anymore on the stallion towering over him and fought harder to steady himself, but this was the first time he ever had a panic attack and was unsure what the hell just happened to him. He assumed it was an actual heart attack turned his gaze to the dangling tendrils cooing and rubbing against his skin to help calm him down.

The memory though, it happened again and the shock on Nightmare Moon's face played over and over until it was too much to handle.

"Derrick. . . Talk to me. . ."

He glimpsed at the stallion one last time. . . before shutting his eyes.

"Great. He passed out." Violent Haze scoffed, returning to monster making it's way into the darkness. "Now how the buck am I supposed to get him out of here?"

Pondering his options, Violent Haze tapped his hoof against his chin. He could find an old curtain of rug and drag him with it, but that would mean leaving Derrick alone and unsupervised while there are other creatures stalking in the blackness. He could just carry him on his back. Compared to most ponies, he was muscular and even taller than other stallions. Sure he wasn't normal for being such a size but he had his mare to thank for changing him all those years ago to acclimate their imprisonment.

So Violent Haze was left with few options of taking Derrick where they need to go. He could imagine how disappointed she would be to see that the answer to their imprisonment was actually a coward that feinted at the sight of a gorger. Maybe it was a mistake for them to lure him here. Violent Haze smacked a rock over the cliff and cursed himself for believing that this person might have been the help they needed in this timeless prison they begrudgingly call home.

Everything inside him was screaming at the idea of Raven's son turning out to be a weakling. Like a poison thrust into his veins, the hopelessness drew a tear from underneath his cracked goggles. He released a grunt and kicked some dirt at Derrick out of his own anger. The idea of never getting out irritated him.

"You lose hope too quickly." A familiar voice whispered in his ear, her tone as soothe and gentle as the wing coming over to drape the unicorn with care and love.

Violent Haze shot up and turned around as he prepared to draw his blade to find that she was standing before him and staying his sword with a surprising yet tender kiss upon his dried lips.

The kiss is broken, and he shakes all thoughts of attacking out of his head and looks up to her. "My lady, you're not supposed to be here."

"I may be blind, Violent," the alicorn replies with a warm smile, pointing at the cloth around her eyes. "But I am not vulnerable. I still have my magic and my wits."

"How did you even get here?" He asked, looking past her to see the path blanketed with the hungry but fearful eyes of their every day fears.

The tall, alabaster alicorn giggled, and pressed her hoof to his chest. "Violent, you should not forget that I know you best. Your heart called to me, and I followed the voice."

"But my lady, you endanger yourself by—"

"Oh stop with these fears," she teased, leaning down to nip his nose. "And do not show such respect. I lost my crown when Faust created that fake."

"Of course," he paused for a moment to look back at the passed-out Derrick. "But we have run into a problem. Your cousin feinted at the sight of the gorger."

"Oh did he now?." She mused, approaching the man until she stopped an inch from him. Violent Haze wasn't sure how she could see when her sight was stolen, but after spending his entire life with this pony he did not dare question.

This old alicorn took a moment to drag her hoof across Derrick's face to get a feeling of his appearance, and smiled briefly at him with a familiar tenderness and love she shared when he was just a baby. An old memory never forgotten but kept safe in her heart, she almost wept at the feeling of being in his presence for the first time in four-thousand years.

"He has grown so much," she cooed, resisting the urge to cry. "He was but a bundle of life that could not stop crying until somepony held him. I can still see that smile he wore when Raven allowed me hold him."

"Honey, now is not the time for remembrance." Violent Haze reminded her.

She nodded in agreement, and immediately lowered to her stomach to toss Derrick onto her back with her wing. "You are right. The gorger will find or scent if we do not move." She spun around to face her stallion. "I trust that you can guide us back to our home."

Violent Haze tilted his head at her. "But you got here by yourself, so can't—"

She giggled, nuzzling the back of his neck. "Maybe I enjoy feeling like a princess again when my stallion guides and protects me."

She proceeded to move forward into the darkness ahead with her lover quick to get in front of her, before adding:

"Also, the gorger is not what made my cousin feint. The fear of losing his lover is what drove him to this."

"His lover?"

She made no effort to respond, and instead craned her head to see the marking on Derrick's neck glowing brightly.

Cold, exhausted—Nightmare Moon pushed beyond her limits and followed the violent unicorn out of another room that she blasted into a million pieces with her magic. It should have been confusing for somepony like her to damage the walls when they are coated with iron, but she was solely focused on getting the buck out of the old castle and getting back to Raven and the others so they could work together in locating Derrick.

It had been raining heavily through the cracks of the mountain for the last hour and was filling every room with little to no way through for either mare. Flying was useless for the alicorn and she could barely muster a spell without having the iron-filled walls sap her energy. Lilith however, was still strong and capable of devestating everything that got in her path, but it was obvious that the magic she poured was no ordinary magic at all.

Nightmare Moon began to wonder if this magic beyond reality was actually real.

"Are we close yet?" The alicorn yelled, pushing through another large stream of water that had been flowing through the disheveled throne room.

Lilith was hesitant at first but the promise of an opening came into her view and won her over with a smile on her lips as she stopped and examined a large crack that had some light coming through.

She gave no warning for the dark moon queen and jumped back before blowing another hole with a powerful beam of black and white. The blast pushed her and the startled alicorn back with tremendous before they could see the shred of light now gaping through the opening, revealing the dark world before them and a castle glimpsing over a few low flying clouds.

Nightmare Moon was impressed and ecstatic with what she saw, all that time trying to find a way out and they passed it hours ago without realizing how obvious it was. It just went to show that even she needed to pay attention more.

The realization of Derrick being in danger kicked her mind back into overdrive when Lilith turned to her and started to give her orders.

"Get to Raven and tell her what happened. Inform her that a gorger has taken him to the outer realm through the eastern sector. She'll know what to do."

"And what will you be doing?" Nightmare Moon asked in a crucial tone, stepping forward and spreading her wings to prepare for her flight back to the castle.

"I will be prepping a spell to seal the outer realm," replied Lilith, panting slightly from the last use of her magic. "If that gorger can come and go through that realm as it pleases, then there's no telling what else can escape. The horrors of that place must never break free."

Nightmare Moon scowled at the mare. "I care not about what monsters may find freedom," she snapped angrily. "I only care about my mate."

"If we don't seal that place you will have a hard time keeping your mate safe!" Lilith countered, scowling in return of the angst this pony was putting her through. "Those horrors were born by the imbalance of the two sisters. They cannot die nor be removed from existence. The outer realm is a prison and it is almost broken!"

With that in mind, Nightmare Moon paused and trekked through her own thoughts with Lilith completely drowned-out. She released a troubled breathe both hitched and heavy with the undesired inevitability of trusting this mare to keep things in balance until she returned with help, but the weight of monsters being freed and her lover possibly fighting for his very life pushed her further from her own desires to the extreme of trusting this stranger to her very word.

She'd barely known her, a few hours at best and the entire development of understand this pony was farfetched. Derrick had done most of the talking with her, and that was still little to go by.

Nightmare Moon kept pacing back and forth in the hole and simply told herself that it was wrong to leave Derrick when he needed her the most. She was supposed to be there for him. She was supposed to keep him safe. Scowling at her own failure, the alicorn mentally punched herself for failing him.

"Get going!" Lilith gave her a light nudge.

"Alright!" Nightmare Moon barked, turning her attention back to Lilith and giving her a hard and vicious glare. "But he better be alright when we find him, or it will be your hide that I skin and use as a carpet!"

"His magic will keep him safe for the time being, but every minute wasted here worsens our chance of getting him back. Now go, and tell Raven exactly what I told you."

Without a moment left to spare Nightmare Moon jumped out of the hole and spread her wings with a powerful gust from them giving her speed beyond a sonic rainboom. Her mane colored the sky with the everlasting glow of her darkness, a trail of beauty behind her whilst she alarmed all creatures with her exhausted howl. She was already pushed to her limit and little energy to spare even with the iron walls no longer sapping her. However, a mare obsessively in love was who she became when she brought him to this world, and it was the driving force that made her fly home at the speed of sound.

After watching the Dark Moon Queen disappear in the distance for awhile, Lilith seemed rather calm and collected. She continued to hold herself well, driven by faith in Derrick's magic keeping him alive and desire to get him back no matter the cost. But all in all, with the worst problem finally out of her mane, it was going to be much easier retrieving the man.

But here she stood now, growing a devious grin and a giggle escaping her lips.

"Time to have some fun." She murmured, walking back to the beginning of their problems.

And with mountain far behind her, Nightmare Moon sped to the castle with the feeling of open air gusting across her feathers helping her calm down if but a little. The worries of Derrick being alive and well still plague her mind as she dives into an open field to gain more speed, knowing she had to put her everything into making it back in time with help before the gorger devoured him.

She just hoped that he was not a meal already.

"Please be safe," she whispered, soaring past a farm mare who was turning a timberwolf into firewood.

Although a few minutes passed in her flight towards the castle, Nightmare Moon felt that she had going at it for hours and flanking around homes and trees made her stress skyrocket. It's been quite some time since she had her heart racing and she had to hate herself for not pressing the matter of finding a way home while Derrick was still with her, but the mistakes were made and she understood that bad circumstances do happen.

However, not at this caliber did she expect a bucking monster to take her mate.

With that in thought, she flew through a flock of bats and shook off a couple that latched to her head. A few tears here and there from the irritation but she was back on track and seeing the castle in close distance. She could barely see through said tears the ponies she needed standing on the west balcony, talking to a certain blue alicorn that was stripped of her crown, slippers and chest plate.

Confusion tried to overtake the dark mare as she descended without slowing herself down. So she had the guts to come here!

Roaring to her fellow mortal, Nightmare Moon shot down and prayed that they would move.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

She felt the connection of her lover loosen a little as she came to screeching halt on the balcony and fell over from her momentum, the feeling of pain coursing through her as she rolled into a column and shook the entire room with everyone but the newest pony in thirst castle running to see if she was alright.

Nightmare Moon wasted no time to check herself for blood or injury. If something was wrong she would find out after standing up to face the same alicorn she promised in the beginning to keep Derrick safe. Fear was something she always felt when in the presence of her master, but fearing the very goddess that made this world was nothing compared to the terror of losing Derrick. She shook herself of both however, and darted to the grey empress yelling at her.

"NIghtmare Moon, are you out of your mind?" Raven exasperated, looking over the pony for any injuries. She looked over her student t make sure her wings were intact but found herself flabbergasted the response.

Nightmare Moon breathed for a moment and rested her muzzles against Raven's chest as she tried to process her thoughts. Her eyes fall with the dam of her emotions gushing now. Her bravado and tenacity do not save her from the emotional burst coming from her chest in a heart-wrenching twist of failure.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, her breathing unsteady. "I'm so sorry. I failed you."

"Failed me? How could you. . ." Raven stopped momentarily to look up and find that it as just student standing before her. "Wait, where is Derrick?" She looked back down at the sobbing queen. "Wasn't he with you?"

"It took him!" Nightmare Moon replied hysterically, taking a few steps back to compose herself, which was easier said than done. "It caught us off-guard and took Derrick. We have to hurry before it kills him."

Raven was barely making-out what the mare just said, and decided to think this through with a rational understanding of the situation.

"Calm down, and tell me what happened."

Nightmare Moon wanted nothing more than to drag the empress by her mane to where they were and show her what all had happened, but she could see from all the eyes of her confused friends that she was not making any sense. She had to take a deep breath and speak in clear words before she could get what she needed, and that's exactly what she did, albeit a little frantic.

She started from the beginning after collecting her thoughts. "We were at your old castle and came across an Omni-Drake that was carrying a book. The book had a pony named Lilith sealed inside and she claimed to know you and—"

"Wait," Raven interrupted. "Lilith is alive?"

"This is beside the point!" Nightmare Moon barked angrily, tears growing again. "The point is Derrick is in danger!"

"Danger?" Sombra questioned, stepping forward to face the goddess. Even he was worried for the young lord now. "What kind of danger?"

"A gorger," Nightmare Moon replied, wheezing slightly from exhaustion catching up to her. "A gorger attacked us and took Derrick. This Lilith pony said it took him to the outer realm and that only you, teacher, can get us in there."

Struck by the truth Raven went silent and still whilst Nightmare Moon turned her attention to the now infuriated alicorn that once made them halves of a whole pony. The empress looked up to a blank wall and fell into a deep, abysmal terror of the realization that brought forth grief-stricken memories of her old home, with a look harnessed anger and said terror mixed in her shock. She could feel the vile energies of her power boil with her blood and struggle to break free, and as she ignored the world around her, ignored the two mares that are obsessed with her son, a faint giggle from the bane of her pain whispered in the back of her mind.

You cannot save when afraid. . .

"How could you lose Derrick!?" Luna spat, butting heads against the angry Nightmare Moon.

"What does it matter to you?" Nightmare Moon retorted, pushing alicorn back. "You tried to kill him with the elements of harmony!"

"I was manipulated by Twilight!"

"Well that's obvious. You'd fall over your own hooves if you did not know where they were!"

"Well at least I am a real mare. You are fake plaguing my mate!"

"Your mate!?" The dark moon goddess laughed. "You mean he was your mate, but now he is mine and always will be."

"That will change when I end you!"

"TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!"

"ENOUGH!" Raven's voice boomed across the castle as she spun around to the startled alicorns looking up at her fearfully, both immediately bowing to her and cowing at the intense red glare she beamed.

Ignoring the burning sense of fury and hate given by the truth, Raven collected herself and softened with the two ponies waiting for her to speak while everyone else waited for her act. She surprised that after looking at Discord for understanding there was anger beneath the mischief of his eyes.

She turned her attention to Nightmare Moon. "This is not the time to be arguing over my son. She is here to stay and will not be treated as an enemy." Next was Luna, but with a more firm answer for her. "And who you are to Derrick is not your decision. It is his decision whether you are his mate or not."

She went back to Nightmare Moon. "And if by some miracle of a chance he decided that she is his mate as well, then I would highly suggest you learn to share."

A response of denial was about to escape Nightmare Moon's lips, but the stern glare of her master stayed her tongue and she remained silent to follow her to the balcony.

"Can you take us to exact location of where you were attacked?" Raven asked, staring at the mountain.

Nightmare Moon nodded.

"Then let us go before we are too late," Raven ordered, opening her wings for takeoff. She turned to Luna before taking to the skies, adding firmly in her statement. "And that includes you. If you do love him, then prove it."

As soon as Raven took off, the others were quick to follow, including an unhappy Sombra that was being carried bridal style by Discord. However, as Luna readied herself to follow, Nightmare Moon took a brief moment to make it very clear to her how she felt about her being here and where she stood as Derrick's mare.

"Derrick is mine. You are but a shadow of the pain you brought him." Nightmare Moon told her in a sharp tone, before adding in a whisper: "Do him a favor and perish."

Luna's heart grieved at those words, but she shook them away and took off behind the spiteful alicorn, ready to prove herself not just worthy to Derrick but the more ideal mare for him.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the group soaring above the dark clouds, a certain drake who had a terrible urge to use the bathroom returned with toilet paper on his tail to find the empty of all but a few guards that knew better than to not keep him safe, lest they want to suffer the same fate as the guard who first attacked Derrick.

"Where did everypony go?"