Awkward. Confusing. Those were the best ways to describe the situation now unfolding within Daybreaks home. As he attempted to; get dressed, put his wet things away, find a temporary spot for the baby gator in his satchel, find Scootaloo some new clothes, and get out the door...he also had to contend with the girl running about his home butt naked and going Curious George on every damn thing he owned. She either peered closely at, or touched, literally every interesting thing in his house that she found. The phrase "make yourself at home" hadn't even made it out of his mouth before she'd gone bonkers with excitement! It wasn't so bad though, at least until she ended up in his room whilst he was dressing...again.

Granted she'd already seen him in his boxers a few minutes prior, but that didn't make it any more comforting a second time around, especially having her run about nude while he dressed. She frustrated him enough by touching everything he owned, despite his warning about several items being magical. But what really poked at his nerves, was when she knocked over a large pile of his more detailed drawings and a few special hand paintings. All of which he had organized in a specific order depending on what they depicted, and hadn't taken the time to move them to his and Rainbow's room yet. A last minute self reminder of her previous situation and what she'd been through, kept him from exploding. Though the words "haven't you ever seen a fucking house before?" came dangerously close to slipping across his lips. It was lucky for him that he could relate to her, or he'd have lost his mind the moment his pile hit the floor. He managed to calm himself and fix the mess with a simple wave of his hand, but the frustration could hardly just melt away. So instead of yelling, he settled on

"How can you possibly be ok with running around here naked? Doesn't it make you feel...I don't know...exposed or something? I mean, shouldn't you be les keen about letting a dude see you like that?"

As he pulled a black, long-sleeved shirt over his head, depicting the picture of a snow covered mountain top sunrise in its center, and struggled to squeeze his head through the top, he heard her rummaging suddenly cease. She waited until his hair popped out through the shirt before turning to him and saying "Why should I feel embarrassed? If you're letting me live here, you'll be seeing this sooner or later won't you, just probably not on purpose then? Might as well get used to it"

Probably quicker than he should have, he yanked up his jet black sweat pants over his boxers and gave an shaky laugh. "Y-yeah...guess you've got a point there Shrimp. Do me a favor though?"

"Yeah? What-Oof!"

She squealed as a pillow and several pairs of clothes flattened against her face.

"Cover yourself anyways. I don't need someone walking in here and thinking I'm molesting a minor." His voice came out dry with no hint of sarcasm, but she giggled anyways

"Whose gonna show up, the mailman? You live on the very edge of town. I never even knew this place existed before you brought me here. You're like the guy that lives at the end of the street in all those horror movies."

"Isn't he normally an old man who miraculously saves everyone at the end?"

"Yeah...or kills them."

He couldn't help the smirk that snuck across his lips "How fitting..."

He watched her drop the pillow and the rest of the clothing to the ground, then one by one she began to, reluctantly, slip into them. He'd tried to find something that wouldn't be too big for her, but it was nearly impossible considering the difference in their height and muscle mass. He was no farm worker, but he still had a decent amount of muscle on his arms. Enough to make any shirt that fit him tightly, look like an XL size on her. He was at least happy he'd managed to find something that matched the colors of her previous clothing. That way he knew she wouldn't hate it, probably.

Unfortunately for him, once she'd pulled the long sleeved shirt over her head and it covered her down to her knees, she shot him an ugly glare.

"Ok...this is all I'm wearing..." She angrily thrust her arms to her hips and huffed in a pout. The sleeves made her arms look like wooly tentacles as she struggled to swing about the extra several inches of fabric at the end of each sleeve.

"Can't you just cooperate, it's not like anyone is gonna see you in them?" He sighed with annoyance.

She stuck out her tongue and gave him a firm "hmph!" of defiance "You're damn right no one will see me in them. No one will see me at all if I looked like I'm being eaten by clothing. I'm not wearing the pants, can't you bring out some shorts or something?"

He walked over and picked up the shorts off the floor, releasing another sigh "First of all, these are shorts-"

"Oh goddess, that makes it worse, they look like pants next to me...why do you have to be so much taller than me!"

He raised an eyebrow "You come up to my waist, its not like your at my knees or something."

"Might as well be..."

Another huff of annoyance escaped his lips "Look, can you just put them on. I don't want your...privates...flashing me every time you jump or fall over."

She glared at him, then stuck her tongue out again "No...you can't make me!"

His eyebrows went up "Oh really Shrimp?"

"Yeah, what of...Hey! What gives?!"

She found herself hovering in the air shimmering in emerald aura. The shirt that she had on now was lifted above her head, once again exposing her lower region to the world. This time though, Daybreak didn't care. With careful precision he held her legs still within his aura, and positioned the shorts below her body. With an upward thrust that was probably a little to sensational for Scootaloo, the fabric shot upwards and attached themselves to her.

She squealed as the shorts shot up in between her legs! Flailing until he set her back down and released her, she immediately plunged her hands in the shorts and began fidgeting with them "Ow! Yikes!...That's like...the worst wedgie in existence dude...owie..."

Holding back the urge to chuckle, he flicked his wrist, causing the remote for the t.v to rocket to his hand. He clicked it on, then dropped the controller on the couch. It acted like a beacon for the young teenager, and it took only a few seconds for Scootaloo to replant her roots in the cushions of his furniture. Once she'd adjusted herself he took it as his queue to head back out and attempt to actually make some of his classes that day. Quickly swiping up his satchel as he headed for the door, he took a quick peak inside to make sure the small would-be murder inside was still alive. A quick stream of water squirting in his face assured him it was fine, and he resealed the satchel with extreme prejudice.

Opening the door and stepping out, the storm greeted him by quickly trying to raise his heart rate with a bash of lightning against his barrier...he didn't even flinch. He looked back to see Scootaloo peering over the cushions at him. Anxious. That was her expression, possibly even fearful. Maybe fearful he would not return? He smiled at the thought that she wanted him around, even though they'd just met. He called back to her as he dropped the barrier around his home, causing him to have to raise his voice over the wind to be heard.

"I'll probably be back later tonight to check up on you Shrimp! There's food in the fridge so help yourself if I'm late or you get hungry!"

He waved, unsure if she properly heard him over the raging wind. Then watched her lean over the top of the couch and cup her overly sleeved hands to her mouth.

"Bye big brother! Come back soon!"

Blood rushed to his face, thankfully it was well hidden by the monstrous amount rain flying around him.

"And that's the sound of my heart melting to a puddle...great now there's two annoying girls in my life..."

"Bye Shrimp!" He waved back.

With a flick of his wrist, the door shut behind him, and the barrier shot back up, muffling all sounds of the storm to those within it's protective aura. He quickly checked his pockets, making sure he'd remembered to grab the crushed pieces of the headmistress's cookie before heading out. The wet crunchy feeling within his pocket confirmed he'd remembered, and was now satisfied to proceed. A small smile on his face, he pulled up the hood of his rain coat, and began his trudge back to Ponyville University.

Once again...he was back out in the cold. Though by his own choice, he couldn't help but think of how much he'd rather have just gone inside his home and slept. Waiting out the storm within the warmth of his comforting bed would be preferable, even with the kid scavenger through his home for anything that looked interesting...especially considering this was his alternative.

"Why am I even going back?"

It was a legitimate question, and one that he still rolled around in his mind even as he took the ever painful cold steps back through town. The whole university knew his identity, knew he was the son of Discord, and yet despite every shred of instinct telling him to pack up and leave...here he was, walking back willingly.

"Well...mostly willingly"

Rainbow Dash had certainly been convincing in her approach to keeping him around. He was still just as surprised now as he was when he had given in to her. The fact that a girl he barely knew had changed his mind so quickly, was something he'd never dreamed of before now. Then again, most situations from the past several days were unlike anything he'd dealt with before. A friend. A girlfriend. The reunion with Twilight. The Elements. The girl he now had living in his house. His former life was unraveling right in front of him, and every chance that presented itself to go back...he just let slip by. The question kept coming back to him.

"Why...?"

He heaved a great sigh, both from his own questions and from the unforgiving wind howling around him. The wind on its own seemed to be doing a fine job at making his life more miserable than usual, pushing him back two steps every time he took one. But with the rain added it began to feel like he was lugging an extra fifty pounds around behind him, an extra wet, soaking and cold, fifty pounds. It made hauling the gator in his satchel over his arm that much more difficult by the minute. By the time he reached the center of town square, he was drenched not just from the storm, but from his own sweat as well. He finally had to rest for a moment, when his steps began to drag like weights behind him. Finding a bench whereas he could catch his breath, he sat down, attempting to reclaim a normal heart rate.

"So much for my new clothes..."

The merciless and stinging rain combined with wind so fierce it might strip him of his clothing, didn't help him to relax at all. He couldn't remember any storm, even a magical one, ever being this exhausting before. Just sitting still felt as exhausting as walking around. Several deep breaths later, he felt just as tired as before he'd sat, and could tell he hadn't made any progress in calming himself. The entire atmosphere of the area seemed to weigh upon him, like the sun on an extremely hot day might do. He wanted to simply lay down and sleep. He knew he had to get back to Rainbow though, so, despite his muscles hating him for doing so, he pulled himself from the bench and soldiered on.

Ten more minutes in, and he was already out of breath again. Stumbling to a street lamp for balance, he found his vision growing blurry. The pit of weight in his gut seemed to increase with every step...just standing up felt like unneeded effort. Forcing his body forward...every ten steps seemed to add weight to him, like iron dumbbells were being placed on his back and legs. Every ten steps. Every six steps. Every three steps. Every step, sent pain shooting up his back. He made it three more feet before dropping in the middle of the street. His knees sank into the flooded and rough gravel road, allowing the flowing water on the ground to swim right through his pants as though they weren't even there. Head bent to the ground, he panted wildly, trying to draw in a steady stream of breaths and calm his heart rate!

Even on his knees, unmoving, his body still burned and throbbed, like running a marathon. His breathing refused to slow down no matter how long he stayed still, and each second brought him closer to hypothermia from the cold.

"Pass out from the cold, or from exhaustion...bleak options as usual."

Conceding to death by exhaustion rather than cold, he dragged his aching body to it's feet, and started forward again. However, as the rain began to sting against his face once more, he became aware of a small change in the air. Suddenly his breath no longer just stung in his throat...it was visible...and cold. The air around him felt heavy, and the rain pellets that were assaulting his face were no longer rain, but hail shards. Grimacing as a particularly large shard struck his cheek, and left a small but stream of blood behind, Daybreak brought his hands over his face to shield himself.

The shards cracked and shattered against his exposed hands and knuckles, beating them bloody and cold while he walked. The raincoat protected most of his arms and the rest of his body from the sharpness of the hail, but the physical pain of each ice ball striking him was unavoidable. Each piece that missed him sounded like a firecracker as it struck solid ground, deafening him to all other noises around him, except perhaps, the wind. The wind, the sleet, the sheer presence of the storm seemed to be pulling the energy from him like a vacuum.

Unwillingly to give up without trying to fight back, (for whatever good fighting a storm would do), Daybreak reached out his hands and attempted to form a small barrier around himself, to at least protect from the hail. It was of no use though, mere seconds after the already hazy aura formed around him, it evaporated off his skin like smoke rising into the air.

"Thought so...oh well. I wish I could say there was no harm in trying"

The attempt left him even more drained than before, and he found himself sinking back to his knees. This time though, he could not force himself back up. The satchel on his shoulder slumped off and splashed in the wet street, he would have retrieved it, but his own exhaustion combined with the fact that the gator was in no danger from hypothermia...made him care too little to try. It felt like all his strength had simply vanished into thin air, no magic would flow to him even as he willed it so. Down on his bloodied hands and torn knees, practically face first in the cold sleet of Ponyville's streets, Daybreak realized he would have to ride it out as he was, and hope for the best.

"Whatever this storm is, it's got more than just Chaos magic in it. I can't seem to fight back...The lightning can't harm me, so it must be the part made of Chaos, but the wind and hail can. It feels like its pulling my strength straight out of my body...None of this makes sense."

"Come now Daybreak...What was it your father always said? Where's the fun in making sense?"

A feminine voice hissed across his ears, making the hairs on his neck stand at attention as a new presence seemed to swim through his mind. He wanted to rise and ignite his hands, but the effort to raise his head alone, felt back breaking. He looked around, but saw no one. Yet the voice still seemed to slither through his ear holes, drowning out even the howling rage of the storm.

"What's wrong little prince, can't get it up in my weather? Don't worry I've heard they make medicine for just such a dysfunction as yours."

"Did that voice just make a penis innuendo at me?"

He almost found a laugh reach him, but it caught in his throat and instead he ended up choking out his words.

"That..w-was *cough* awful. If you're g-gonna mock me...at least...d-do it properly, maybe with some better jokes..."

The hail ceased pelting him ceased, the wind seemed to die down and disappear, the pain coursing through his body melted away like ice under a heat lamp, leaving only an empty cold in his chest. His vision shimmered...the scenery around him faded away, replaced instead with a snowy wood. He looked down...and could feel damp soil beneath his fingertips. A light snow fell around him, not enough to obscure his vision, but more than enough to be noticeable.

With the feeling of a hundred tons on his back now gone from him, Daybreak stood and balanced himself against an oak tree that had replaced the light post next to him. He reached back, intending to retrieve the satchel with the gator he had dropped moments prior...but found it was gone, replaced by a log where the leather arm strap should have laid. Even as he looked around, he could not recognize the forest he was in, or comprehend how he had gotten there. His magical sight refused to come when he blinked, and he could not feel any energy flow through him when he attempted to summon his magic.

"In other words...I'm..."

"Completely helpless, yes."

The voice slithered up behind him, he spun on the spot to face his new opponent...but found himself stunned at the creature before him.

"Miss me?"

The woman, if she could be called that, was pale white, paler than him. Her eyes a deep shade of emerald green and held snake-like slits in her pupils. Her long hair flowed with a snowy glow behind her, like a glistening white pearl, much like his mother and aunts own hair did. Her scaly skin was covered from her neck down by layers upon layers of bleach white furry robes. He counted at least four overlapping white fur layers, if not more, that extended down to her feet, obscuring them from his sight and creating the illusion that she was hovering off the ground. Her tail seemed to be the only thing not covered by the robes, but it gave him no help in identifying what she was. It was long and white like the rest of her, but sleek and looked smooth like silk when the light shinned upon it. It coiled around her waist once, then rested by the foot of her robes, lightly patting at the ground every few seconds. Daybreak felt a sting of fear grip him

"Y-you...you're the woman from my dreams...right?"

An unnerving smile crossed her lips revealing a layer of serrated teeth, she nodded.

"I am called Kirin in the current dialogue. But I have many names. Most of which are lost to time. Though...knowing you my young prince, the name you would likely recognize me by, is Famine."

"Famine?"

She gave a small nod. He took a moments to answer back

"As in...one of the Four Horsemen, Famine?"

Another nod.

He stood still, looking her dead in the eyes. His lips quivered, for a moment it seemed like he was going to cry...then...it happened. Daybreak doubled over in the snow, and began laughing hysterically! Kirin looked down at him, hardly amused.

"You find that funny, little prince?"

Face still in the snow and the rest of him nearly rolling in wet dirt, Daybreak was barely able to even speak. Kirin stood and waited several moments for him to finish his hysteria, until he finally managed to work himself back to his feet, giving occasional chuckles as he did. He came back up quickly, not bothering to wipe off the snow now clinging to his clothes.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry. It's just...you expect me to believe you're the Famine. The Four Horsemen aren't even real. They're a story from an old earth mythological book, that depicted the world ending in an apocalypse. Hardly anything credible considering we're here now, and magic flows through the world like water. On top of that, The Horsemen were all depicted as male in the lore...ya know...Horsemen. So...yeah having some white woman who looks like a Dark Souls boss tell me she's one of the bringers of the Apocalypse...That's freaking hilarious!"

Kirin/Famine managed a mocking sneer, her curling lips gave off the impression that she was growling, even while she chuckled at him.

"You claim it to mythology, yet you are one of the only few living people who still even know of that books existence. For a nonbeliever to take the time to steal something so old and valuable from Princess Celestia, you must have some belief."

His expression changed drastically, all humor faded from it as his fists clenched by his sides. "How do you know I have that?"

"Apparently we are just skipping by the fact that I compared her to a video game character...maybe it went over her head?"

Her sneer became a coy grin "You just told me. Or rather, you just confirmed what I already suspected. After all, I happen to know quite a bit about your life up to this point, at least regarding your father and mother. I know you not only believe in world ending power, but you've tried to find it on occasion. Though I dare say, for very different purposes according to your father."

He opened his mouth to deny, but thought better of it, letting the curiosity for how she could have spoken to his father sit idle just in case she was bluffing. "And? What if I did? That still doesn't prove you're Famine. Nor does it explain why you're even approaching me with this claim. How about we start simple if we're gonna talk. Since whatever this is..." He gestured to the snowy scenery around them "...is keeping me from fighting, and you haven't killed me, I'd assume that you want to talk? So how about you tell me where I am first?"

Her grin remained ever present, she raised her right hand, her nails extended long enough to double as claws if she wanted. She snapped her fingers, Daybreak felt his body seize up, his muscles locking him in place. He blinked and Kirin was in front of him, one long claw touching the very tip of the underside of his chin.

"Unlike so many others in this world, I don't underestimate my adversaries. So I'll be keeping you still. You know some of my lore, there is a chance you may try and kill me even without your magic, at least, before you hear what I have to say that is."

"Clearly she doesn't know that much about me if she's assuming anything to do with killing. Still no need to give unneeded info, so I'll just play on that small fear for now."

He was unable to shrug his shoulders due to her spell binding him, but he still managed to roll his eyes, taking extra care to let her see. "What makes you think I won't try and kill you after I hear what you have to say? Think you've got something to share that'll change my current opinion of you?"

She loosed a shrill giggle. Her vocal pitch felt like nails on a chalk board, and pained his ears to witness. Just like in his dream, it was worse than banshee song. "How can you even have an opinion of me? You don't even know what I want. Although, considering you've admitted to having the book, I can imagine you've gathered some interesting assumptions from there. It's accurate enough, though it still gets more wrong than right."

He managed a laugh at that, though it was barely audible considering his restrained muscles. "Books written a few millennium ago probably would have more wrong than right. Since you dodged my question about my whereabouts, how about you just tell me what you want?"

Cold emptiness traveled up his spine. Instantaneous agony fast traveled throughout his body as Kirin grasped hold of his chin, licking her lips as her skin brushed his. Her very touch was so cold it burned him, inside and out. "I want you! Son of Celestia and Discord! I want you to help me end the world!"

"Pass" He did his best to narrow his eyes within his frozen features, while also not looking into her own, but instead it just came out like he had a bad itch on his nose. She sneered

"We'll see. This world is rotten, and it needs a fresh start. I'm sure you of all people could appreciate that..."

She released him from her grip, but not before she got right up in his face again, grasping him fully by the cheeks and letting out a long breath of icy air deep into his nostrils. He was forced to take in the smell of her death cold breath. Even her scent seemed to fill him with agony from within, or rather, just leave him feeling agony. "Fill" wasn't the right word, because just being around her made him feel empty, and void inside. The smell of her breath itself wasn't that bad...in fact she smelled like sweat and...cherries...just like...Rainbow Dash during...?

She stepped back and watched him gag on her breath, his chest seized as he attempted to thrash about in her binds, but was kept perfectly still. The moment he stopped shaking like a Chihuahua, she smiled.

"Smell something you like?"

Daybreak gritted his teeth, unable to move, or throttle the woman before him like he desired. "Why do you smell like my girlfriend?"

It was fleeting, but just for a moment, he saw her eye twitch, possibly in aggravation, or anger. It wasn't much, but it was definitely something to work with. She recovered almost too quick for him to notice it, and returned to her cold grin

"Oh, using titles now are we? Not just some girl to you anymore is she? Hoping that little vision I gave you last time can come true? If you're so desperate to know why I smell like your tomboy, take a guess. I'll even give you a hint. Like a game...Jeopardy, perhaps? Here's the hint. This world ending tragedy requires more than just The Four Horsemen to properly commence."

"Can I phone a friend?"

She narrowed her gaze "You don't have any friends, remember, my exiled prince?"

He rolled his eyes "Some game of Jeopardy this is. Fine. I'll take shot at it. What is, I don't give a fuck, now let me go?"

Her eyes flashed bright blue, almost blindingly bright, he assumed with anger because the next moment he found the ability to breathe escape him. Hand extended, palm out and fingers closing slowly, she seemed to be choking the life out of him with just her energy! Her hand closed at a snails pace, as though she were crushing something within it, and he had a pretty good idea of what, considering his lungs felt as though they were being squeezed like a stress ball. His breath caught in his throat, unable to flow in or escape. A pit that felt the size of Manehatten seemed to open within his gut. He blinked, and he was on his knees again.

"Let's try again shall we? Here's another hint. The soul of a fallen royal is required to start this global catastrophe."

Even with the blinding pain of his lungs seemingly being crushed within his chest, and a endless void of odd hunger forming within his gut, he still found the strength to vomit up his answer.

"Go...to.....Tartarus...bitch!"

The compression on his lungs and throat subsided, leaving him with just the pit of hunger in his gut. He drew in breath after breath like it was elixir before he even considered looking up to see why she had released him. He heard the snow shuffling, and raised his head in time to see her standing over him. She bent down quicker than his eyes could follow, and placed a single clawed finger beneath his chin, again, then lifted him off the ground as though he were weightless. He expected to feel her nail pierce his skin, but instead it didn't even feel like she was touching him. But every time he looked down, he was reminded she was. Her eyes were still glowing bright sapphire blue, but now at least she wasn't choking him to death. Instead she was smiling, and that could be even worse. Her smile fitted with flaming blue eyes against her pale white features was a thing of terror to look at, but he refused to allow it to bother him.

"I could just kill you, you know. But sadly, the fate of your soul isn't very clear, and I can't have something so valuable getting away from me in here. So instead I'll let you linger here for a moment, and feel the power of what true Famine can do to you."

He was unable to suppress a chuckle "Well I certainly feel hungry, if that's what you want. But that's hardly anything I'm not used to. I grew up in the streets of Canterlot, eating less than a piece of bread, sometimes for days. It'll take more than you've got to break me. Besides, what do you even mean 'the fate of my soul is uncertain'?...and where is 'in here'? Am I ever gonna get that answer even?"

Ignoring the small growth of hunger in his belly, he floated there, held within her grip and thinking about what meaning her words could hold. She snickered, allowing him to stew in his thoughts.

"She keeps avoiding my question about where we are, so maybe she's an illusion with basic response... Or maybe this whole thing is an illusion and I'm still in that storm, that could be why I'm freezing to death. If that's true, than all I have to do is remember the one key rule to an illusion spell, but still, something about this cold feels eerily familiar...As for my soul...if she really is Famine, and that's a big if why should she care about my soul and it's fate. She said she wanted my help to end the world...but if she's so powerful then why even ask, why not just take it...unless..."

"You need my consent don't you? You need something from my soul that only I can give you willingly...right? The only question then is...what?"

Kirin's hands came up in a slow, drawn out clap, so slow it was beyond painfully obvious she was mocking him "Ding ding ding, tell the man what he's won Charlie!...Well Daybreak you are correct. I need your willing consent. And you know what? You're gonna give it to me!"

"And why would I do that? What do you even need from my soul anyway? My magic?"

Her forked tongue flicked out, briefly licking across her lips, leaving a small trail of steam as her saliva touched air. "I need your soul, son of chaos! Not your magic .The magic that your soul possesses, the magic of both Princess Celestia and Discord! It's what I need to let me and my siblings roam free, putting a very needed end to this broken and dark world! And I promise you, you will give it to me."

He made his eyes do cartwheels in his skull "Oh yeah? You sound pretty confident. What are you gonna do? Threaten me? You can't kill me because, as you've so generously provided, my souls fate is uncertain. So, going by that logic, I'd assume there's Tartarus for the wicked, I'm already aware of that, and then there's a place where all the good souls go. Right? You're worried I might go 'up' instead of down. Well I'm flattered, but speaking from personal experience, I highly doubt you've much to worry about. Still that doesn't mean I won't abuse the advantage you've kindly given me. As for making me help you, you can't kill, and can't threaten. That leaves blackmail or bargaining. I've got no one you can take hostage that I'd give my soul for, I'm sure you know that. Since I don't love anyone or anything. And there's nothing you can blackmail me with that I can't recover from. So I'd say, you're options are looking pretty slim, and of course by slim I mean nonexistent."

Her ever present smile never faltered, not even once. Instead she walked around him whilst still holding her finger delicately in place on his chin. She circled him like a tiger with it's prey, eyeing him up, but always keeping that single finger in place.

"There's another way I can get what I want."

He scoffed at her "What?....Oh please tell me you're going to appeal to my dark side. My 'I hate the world for what it did to me' side? Save your breath. I know the world is rotten and cruel. And you're probably gonna say, and would be right to think, that I'm tired of waiting for it to fix itself. That's also true. I won't lie, Apocalypse would pretty much solve every problem the world has right now."

Her eyebrows raised, for the first time, she looked legitimately curious for what he had to say. "Then why not just help me? Help us? If you know how bad it is, then you know it will never get better"

"Because, ending the world, and saving the world, are two totally different things. I want to change it, not end it. There'd be no point in anything, good, evil or indifferent, if it all amounted to destruction. So I'll never aid you. Never."

She brushed her hand along his cheek. The pit in his gut changed...the hunger was gone...now he felt...something else. Not hunger, but it was stronger...a different kind of need...it felt...warm in his gut...but growing hot quickly. The feeling felt oddly familiar, yet still new...the warmth in his belly felt just like how he had when he first...

She smiled, clearly his discomforted expression betrayed him.

"You know. All beings feel famine. Everyone is hungry for something. Not just food, no. You humans are hungry for everything! Money, power, food, sex, drugs, love, magic, order, chaos, virtue...everything! No one is without it. Ironically of course...you."

"Me?" Now it was his turn to be curious, although he couldn't show it, she could somehow read it off him, or perhaps she just heard it in his voice. Her sneer mocked his curiosity.

"Yes, it's ironic in a way. Seeing as I'm the only one of my siblings that's currently free, and you're the one person we need, it figures that you'd be immune to me. For now at least. After all, think about it. The emotionless sack that you were before this past week didn't really give us much to work with down below, if you know what I mean."

She gingerly pointed the index finger of her free hand towards the ground with a smirk

"When you were a child you craved love, then forsook that same principle after receiving nothing but hate, your soul was too young to harvest for that brief time. I couldn't use that. Then there were the years just before now. You didn't crave anything then either, you just went through the motions of your life. You did bad things, some of which I thoroughly enjoyed watching, you had goals. But you and me both know, you were dead inside. Although you may have been immune to me for all these years without knowing it, I question whether it was worth it in the end. After all...A man without want, without desire, without a reason to live other than to spite his mother, what's he worth?...To be honest your life until now really pissed me off, such a waste of potential."

Even through his bound body, the satisfaction he felt at her obvious aggravation bled through onto his face "Guess I'm good at fucking up peoples plans. You and Twilight should start a book club about it. It'd be great, she can whine about how much of an asshole I am for not loving her, and you can bitch about how I ruined the Apocalypse for you. I'll bring the tea and cru-!?"

Once again he found his breath seize halfway down his throat, her free hand extended in a griping motion. "Oh I'm sorry, did I break your train of thought...please...continue."

The next second the air flowed back through him, like nothing had happened. He felt the nail under his chin give a firm push upwards. Sharp pain and a trickling sensation told him that he was now bleeding onto her fingers. With an uncomforting gaze that made him feel like she was looking through him rather than at him, she removed her finger and slowly licked the blood from her nail. The scent of fresh sweat and cherries filled his senses again, then, that new feeling...deep in his gut resurfaced, only now it was hotter. Like he'd swallowed a few jalapeño peppers on a dry throat.

"Tell me, I'm curious..."

Feeling suddenly coursed back through his body. He took notice as his legs buckled, released from her spell and instantly dropping under him. He hit the snowy ground, face first. A legion of half frozen water found its way down his throat upon impact, further brightening his already swell day. Now, with fresh slush shifting its way down the front of his shirt and esophagus, he slowly lifted his face and looked up at her as she stood above him. A sour expression of annoyance and mild anger showed across his features as he spit up dirt flavored snow.

"Tell you what?"

She waited for him to pick himself up before she spoke.

"Tell me, how does it feel to know you're trapped?"

"Beg pardon?" He looked around, confusion etched onto his muddy features. She just smiled at him.

"No, not here. Trapped in your destiny I mean."

Now that he could move, he took great joy in over exaggerating his eye rolls "And what destiny might that be?"

"Why, the Apocalypse of course. You're going to help end the world, it's inevitable. Then our children shall reshape and rule over it. Forever."

He chuckled "Our? As in, our children? You and me?"

She nodded.

"Ha! Now that's a laugh! What kind of drugs are you on, cause I gotta get some of that crap! I'll never have kids, and especially not with you. Why would I want to spread my seed anywhere, condemn my kids to a life of hatred and discrimination just for existing...no thank you. Besides, ignoring every other logical reason why that'll never happen, you're not my type anyway."

"And what type might that be?"

"Not you."

Watching her smile was severely uncomfortable, for some unknowable reason it sent chills down his spine. The air temperature around him felt a dramatic change, as though a random wave of heat suddenly burst through the ground and surrounded him. Kirin's skin slowly began to steam, almost like someone had poured a bucket of hot water over her icy form. The steam seemed to pour from within her robes, quickly creating a small cloud of haze-like air which he could not see through. He heard an assortment of sounds that were not identifiable, but sounded horrifying, like sizzling meat in a fryer. Loud thuds of fabric hitting crunchy snow reached his ears, and waves of new cold air brushed past him. The icy air quickly began to burn his eyes, and he brought up an arm, keeping the painful moisture from freezing to him. The quick burst of wind seemed to be pushing away the small steam cloud around Kirin as quickly as it had appeared.

He waited until the momentary moisture cloud had gone completely before removing his hand. He found his jaw drop slightly by what he found waiting for him in its place. Where Kirin/Famine had been standing before, there was now a fully nude Rainbow Dash in her place. Her body seemed to glow in the snowy air, practically casting a rainbow-like glow around her form. Her breasts were assuredly a size larger and seemed to bounce each time she took in a breath of air. Her whole form seemed to radiate with an allure of sex appeal...of desire. It was hardly a feeling Daybreak could describe, seeing how he was so new to it himself. He was seemingly unable to look away, but also didn't want to. For a moment, he allowed his eyes to travel, revisiting the sight he'd seen a few hours earlier in his room, practically savoring it. That is, until, he came to her smile. Her form was perfect, there was not a single flaw about it. In fact, she seemed to give off a more welcoming glow than he remembered. But her smile...her smile was nothing like the Rainbow Dash he knew.

There was something about it, in her eyes too. Her magenta eyes held no light. It was something hard to describe. When he looked at the Rainbow Dash he had come to know, he could see things in her eyes. Things like attitude, almost like a fire to compete, to fight and be the best at everything she did. It was a presence she held that seemed to dominate everything around and about her, truthfully, it was one of his favorite qualities about Rainbow.

But here...with this Rainbow Dash, there was a coldness, an emptiness, it was something he could not explain any better than the fire in his Rainbows eyes. It had nothing beyond the surface, no attitude, and no feeling. He didn't need any magic to see that this was not his Rainbow Dash. It most surely snapped him out of his momentary stupor though, but he had no idea how. Then she spoke, and her voice was like Rainbows, but filled with an icy sting to it. Like there were two voices overlapping within it, Rainbows voice, and the cold voice of her imposter within.

"What about now? Am I your type now my prince?"

His will to summon up flames and ignite the woman before him rose to a new height, but he was still unable to so much as feel magic around him. Nevertheless, he said it all, with the glare he pierced her with. He could have stayed silent and his feelings would have transferred to her easily, his eyes were stabbed into her like daggers.

"You're not even close to comparing to Rainbow Dash. You're just a cheap imitation, and you know it too. Why else would you assume her form to try and lure me in. It's pathetic really."

One a flash of white, and the image of Rainbow was gone, Kirin stood before him once more, but now she looked angry. Not angry like before, but truly enraged. Even without his magic, he could feel the soulless black energy rolling off her in bounds, surrounding him like vines on the ground. Her voice grew deep, it was the Exorcist in surround sound stereo...truly terrifying

"YOU THINK I NEED HER FORM TO GET WHAT I WANT!? LET'S SEE THEN, HOW LONG YOU CAN LAST AGAINST TRUE FAMINE! I CAN SEE INTO YOUR HEART SON OF CHAOS, YOU'RE NOT HOW YOU WERE BEFORE! YOU CAN'T KEEP ME OUT FOR LONG! NOT ANYMORE! I'LL BREAK YOU FROM WITHIN! BY THE TIME I'M DONE, YOU'LL BE BEGGING ME TO TAKE YOUR SOUL!"

Despite the sheer weight of her energy changing the very environment around them, from an icy tundra, to a snowy mountain peak, to sandy beach's, and back again, he knew she could not kill him and that gave him the confidence he needed to see how far he could push his luck. With a mocking chuckle, he turned his back to her, making extra sure to over exaggerate his shoulders when he shrugged.

"Hmph. I'm not impressed. Maybe the book was accurate after all, since, clearly you are certainly the weakest of the four and that was a stressed point in the pages. Take you out last since you're the least threatening. I can't believe they think you can end the world, you can't even seduce one guy to do your bidding. How do you expect to take on the whole planet if all you can do is shape shift and epically fail at seduction, like some stupid changeling or a siren whore?"

That was it. That was the end of her tolerance. Before the final words had left his lips, he felt his body being thrown through the air. It felt as though he'd been hit by an eight person carriage...full of elephants...and anvils...and pain! He crashed to the ground, shutting his eyes upon impact and sliding until his body removed several piles of trash cans from their natural habitat next to a dumpster! He laid still as he felt the metal containers fall over him, smacking him every which way as they did.

For a moment, all he did was lay there in the mud and await the beating he knew was assured. But when it did not come, he creaked open his eyes...and found nothing. No snowy tundra, no woods...just him on his back, in the mud and covered in metal trash bins.

"I'm back? Or maybe I never left and she just got so pissed she ended the illusion and catapulted me for kicks?"

Slowly rolling over to escape his metal predicament, he let out a sharp gasp of pain when he attempted to sit up. Everything below his shoulders burned with agony, and he found himself down on his back before he'd even risen. He looked up to the sky...it was still storming...still raining. The rain was falling onto his face, cold, wet, and surely unpleasant...but he could not feel it. Nor could he feel the bone chilling blaze of the wind that was causing frost to form on the plants in citizens windows around him.

Realizing he was going nowhere soon, and curious as to why he could not feel his face, he slowly squirmed his right arm from under the metal lid of the trash can to his left. Gingerly, to avoid any unnecessary movement, and therefore unnecessary pain, he slid his hand up his chest, past his neck and to his forehead. Gently, with the caution and grace of a surgeon, he lightly tapped his index and middle finger to the center of his temple...and felt nothing. He jabbed again, slightly harder, and was rewarded with...nothing. Mildly annoyed he jabbed hard enough to normally cause a small twinge of pain, like one being zapped with a shocker pen...but still felt nothing. However, as he pulled his fingers away, he felt something sticky covering them.

He held his two fingers above his eyes, and waited for them to be lit by an inevitable flash of lightening, seeing as neither the sun, nor the moon seemed to feel up to an appearance in this storm. He didn't have to wait long, the next flash was bright enough for him to get a perfect view of his fingers. Regret filled him the moment he realized what was sticking both of them together.

"That's my blood...my head is bleeding"

Before he could discover the severity of his wound, two hands gripped themselves around his shirt, pulling him up, and freeing him from his metal prison. The sharpness of his saviors nails shredded through his shirt and left fresh holes, but he knew later he could simply fix it with magic if need be, and so paid it little mind. His head inclined slightly, curious as to who had pulled him from the debris. The answer almost made him wish he was back in the garbage.

Holding him by the scruff of his collar and digging her sharpened nails into his neck, Kirin's lips were curled into a mixture between a sneer and a malicious smirk.

"You think you're so clever don't you. Think you're untouchable just because you've got nothing to be used against you. But that was the old you. You're becoming different now. You don't see it yet, but I do, and soon...oh yes, very soon the time will come and I'll be back for you. Until then, the plague of Famine shall be spread over this little town, then all of Equestria!...But not the world yet, I'm saving the rest of it for my siblings, I'm sure you'll meet them soon enough..."

He found focusing in on Kirin's appearance to be difficult, a slight throbbing was growing in the back of his head, blurring his vision and making any kind of focusing difficult. He longed to just close his eyes and let sleep consume him...but he knew he needed to do something first. A light fizzling in the corner of his burred vision briefly caught his attention. Squinting, he saw there was a hazy white portal off to the distance, just about the correct amount of feet away that he had flown when he crashed. Like a light bulb went off in his head, he understood. There had been no illusion, it had all been real.

"True...Space..."

She'd moved them to the True Space when she'd first appeared, that was why the cold emptiness felt so familiar, because he'd felt it so many times before, but never quite like he had then. The hunger...the deep heat of want in his gut, that must have been from being near Kirin, and the rest was just the Space's own power over him, draining him. Just at a much more excelled rate than he'd ever felt before.

"If this really is Famine...then I need a sample to...study..."

Trying to lift his arm was more strenuous then ever before, the slow throbbing in his head was growing more constant by the second. He was able to depict the glow of her hair though, and that was all he needed. Summoning, what felt like all his strength, he reached forward and grasped a firm hold on her hair! The rain and his own blurring vision kept him from understanding how she reacted, but the slow chuckle he heard emitting from her gave a pretty good idea.

"Look at you, one good blow to the head and you're barely able to lift a finger. All that chaos, all that...Wrath, just swimming around inside of you, longing to burst free and give you divine power...yet you deny it, your true self. Such a waste..."

She released her grip on his shirt. He started to fall towards the ground, but kept a tight grip on her snowy hair, even while it was wet and slick from the rain. He scrunched his fist tight to hold onto the water logged locks as he fell. Feeling his hold refuse to loosen as he fell, Kirin quickly spun on the spot, and planted a single footed mule kick, straight into his gut! The air left Daybreaks body and he was quickly propelled backwards several feet, but he still refused to remove his hold on her hair. So as he was thrown away from Kirin, the sharp ripping sound of hair leaving her scalp, combined with an aggravated shriek of pain were audible when he struck the brick wall some feet away from her.

Despite the blood, now dripping down both sides of his face, he managed to roughly shove the few locks of her hair into his exposed pants pocket with the arm that he could still feel. He hoped they'd survive the trip back long enough for him to find a container for them. If he even made it there himself...

Slumped against the wall and barely holding onto his consciousness, he was only partially aware when Kirin grasped hold of his neck and started to lift him from the ground again.

"hehehe...guess she didn't like me pulling out her hair...bitch..."

The feeling of warm blood running down his face and through his hair was only half as uncomfortable as being denied air while she strangled him. He didn't bother trying to focus his sight, the rain combined with his now splitting migraine...and the blood in his eyes, left him with little more than fuzzy colors and shapes to see. He was able to feel Kirin's cold breath on his neck as she leaned close to him, he heard her give a brief exhale of breath before hissing at him...

"Daybreak!"

"Huh?...That's not her voice..."

A surge of heat surrounded his face...then Kirin shrieked in pain! A blistering heat seemed to burst through the cold air around him, giving him back his breath and the feeling in his body. Kirin dropped him to the ground and retreated back as several blurry orange spheres materialized and struck her in the chest! There was a brief hissing sound, like hot water striking cold metal, then Kirin's form seemed to explode into snow...or rain, he couldn't tell through his half closed eye lids. A half hearted chuckle freed itself from his lips as he slumped back on the ground

"Yeah...that's right bitch...you'd...better run..."

White hot orange light consumed his glassy eyes when a familiar shape appeared standing over him.

"Daybreak?! Daybreak are you alive? Say something!"

A orange sphere dominated his vision, outlining his current savior from behind and giving him a small bit of visual aid. He made out the shape of poofy red and yellow hair through the hazy orange light, identifying his rescuer and allowing him a breath of relief.

"At least it isn't Twilight...I'd never hear the end of it..."

"Would you say something to let me know your alive already, give me some kind of sign here!" Sunset Shimmers voice came out with noticeable hints of panic, he could only wonder how bad he must look to warrant such concern. He did his best to form a coy smile, if only to shut her up.

"What's...w-with the...interference...miss referee....c-couldn't you see...I had her, right where I wanted her..."

He didn't have to have eyes to tell she was rolling hers, he could hear it in her voice.

"Right, sure you did, I'll save the 'who was that' question for later then...thank Celestia you're alive...Rainbow might have killed me if I came back without you..."

He smiled, he didn't really know why. Something in her voice just had, a knowing tone to it, and that made him smile. He could only wonder what kind of a scene Rainbow had caused when he hadn't returned, or maybe she'd found Fluttershy herself and tried to go back out after him. Either way, he doubted it had gone smoothly.

"I really hope Twilight was there to see it if Rainbow lost her shit...that would just make all this worth it...ah ~ just picturing the look on her face makes me all warm and fuzzy inside"

With the self assurance that Sunset had to bring him back safely, he had no problems letting himself pass out. His eyes dropped like drawbridges and his head slumped back over in the mud. As his thoughts faded to static he vaguely heard Sunsets voice in the background.

"Daybreak! Daybreak! Oh Celestia dammit don't pass out! How am I supposed to carry you in this storm?!"

"Figure...it out...I've done enough...Don't...forget...the...gator..."

"The what?...Oh come on! Daybreak wake up....Daybreak?....Daybreak!...You ass..."

Author's Notes:

What's this!? You mean this story is actually developing a plot?! Who'd have thought!
Anyways, The newest chapter is delivered as promised. Hope you enjoy, literally spent all day editing it. Sadly this means you guys have a months worth of wait time for the next chapter. Probably. So I hope you have your thinking caps on, cause all you get to do is assume and think about this stories future until then
As Always Until Next Time-
Daybreak