~THIRD PERSON POV~

TWO WEEKS LATER

Skye has trained hard with Draigo, slowly getting faster and a lot more cunning with how she used her magic. Luckily, with the red leaved tree still in the open courtyard, she hasn’t had any more withdrawals due to the fact that Clover helped her with some paste to apply to her forehead every few days. Her magic has gotten stronger and she has learned how to control it a lot better with Draigo’s help.

Skye is attending Celestia’s Day Court to try and get a feel for how the ponies handle their issues and politics. With what she’s seen so far, it’s been a lot of the same kind of pony asking for help with various mundane things. So it has been very boring so far.

“What does this next pony have to say?” Skye groaned, standing next to Celestia’s throne and looking like a demon from hell.

“Shhh. Mine subject probably hath a different request rather than the usual.” Celestia said, beckoning for the pony to step forward. A mare with a pale pink coat and a dirty blonde mane and tail with a cutie mark of intertwined cherry stems stepped forward with a panicked look on her face, unsure of how to react to the rather tall, cloaked skeleton.

“Your Majesty, I bring terrible news. Ponies within the neighbouring villages hath gone missing and the ones that come back hath been drained of their life force,” the mare said rather quickly, nearly stumbling over her words in her haste to get them out. Skye reacted before Celestia could speak to the panicky mare.

“Drained? What do the bite marks look like?” Skye asked. The mare looked between her princess and the skeleton, not really knowing whether she should answer or not. Celestia gave a sigh and nodded her head in acknowledgement of the mare’s plight.

“The bite marks art shaped like a triangle. ‘Tis that significant?” the mare gave Skye the details she wanted.

“Bite marks in the shape of a triangle ... oh you have got to be kidding me!” Skye said in an exasperated tone.

“What art thou complaining about this time?” Celestia asked her with a pointed look.

“It’s another monster attack. Which village has it been attacking most recently?” Skye rubbed her forehead and sighed, looking at the mare that raised the issue.

“‘Tis a village southeast of here,” the mare answered.

“Can you lead me there then? I want to make sure the monster is stopped.” Skye replied, gripping her scythe rather tightly. The mare looked to her Princess to see if it was safe for the skeleton to accompany her back to her village.

“Skye shalt accompany thou to thy village as mine representative, after she tells Us what monster she thinks is the cause of these attacks.” Celestia replied to the mare’s look.

“It’s a mythical monster from back home that was said to live on the border between Mexico and America. Not sure how true it was but the monster’s name is the Chupacabra. It does what this mare described to its victims. Drains them of blood and moves on.” Skye explained.

“It is known for targeting goats in our world, but apparently it likes ponies in this one.” Draigo chimed in, having heard what Skye had said as he’d stealthily entered the throne room. The poor mare backed in fright at the sudden appearance of a dragon.

“Th-th-there art also some g-g-goats that hath gone missing too,” the mare responded to this information with a terrified tone.

“Well, there’s no time to lose. I can fly you both there. Unless you’d like to try some long distance floating, Skye.” Draigo said.

“I need the practice. But I don’t think this mare wants to fly with something that she’s obviously scared of.” Skye replied, tapping her foot against the stone floor. The mare shook her head in agreement.

“Thou wants to go too?” Celestia asked Draigo in surprise.

“I’ll be there if Skye can’t handle the Chupacabra by herself.” Draigo told Celestia. “Besides, nothing has happened here for weeks. It’s gotten monotonous.”

“‘Tis true but thy training Skye hath been entertaining for Luna and mineself.” Celestia said with a slightly amused smile.

“What’s your name?” Skye asked the mare, figuring that it would be a nice thing to know if they were going to be together for the foreseeable future.

“Cherry Blossom.” Cherry answered.

“We most likely need to get to the village as fast as possible so, would you mind if I held you to make things flow faster?” Skye asked her, walking away from next to Celestia’s throne and more towards Cherry.

“I wouldst mind that very much.” Cherry said with a slight panic to her voice.

“It’s either you get carried by her or you ride on my back. Cause you’re too slow to run back there.” Draigo told the frightened mare.

Cherry’s panicked eyes flicked between Skye and Draigo before she finally relented and sighed.

“I shalt go with the skeleton. Those spines on thy back look too dangerous.” Cherry said in resignation, knowing that there was no arguing with the two beings.

“They aren’t dangerous when I’m at full size. I can carry about a hundred of you like that.” Draigo informed the pony with a slight pout. Cherry Blossom shook her head at the info, still wanting to go with her decision.

“Since it looks like we’re hanging out with each other for the next few hours, it would be better if you call me Skye rather than ‘skeleton’.” Skye replied.

“Sky is about all you’ll see for awhile as well.” Draigo said, not being able to resist the obvious pun.

“Hardy har har.” Skye replied to him, crossing her arms at him.

“Skye? Were thou born up in the clouds?” Cherry asked her, tilting her head at the odd name.

“No. We’ll have time enough for questions and answers after we leave.” Skye said irritably. She scooped Cherry up by holding her around the middle after sending her scythe to who knows where, knowing that it could come back to her at any time. She then floated a few feet off the ground and zoomed out of the castle, not bothering to look back and ignoring Cherry’s echoing squeals of fright for the moment. Draigo gave Celestia quick wave before following behind his boney friend.

After getting hurriedly said directions from Cherry, Skye lead Draigo towards the village, nearly dropping Cherry in surprise at all the cherry trees dotting the land. She coasted to a stop and looked for a place to land. Spotting one, she glided over and set down, letting go of Cherry at the same time. Cherry stumbled around before landing heavily on the upturned roots of a nearby cherry tree.

“This is a lot of cherry trees for one town.” Skye muttered an observation before gently helping the dazed mare back on to her hooves.

“I’m just gonna keep flying until there’s a more open area to land in. Plus, I get to watch the frantic ponies scurry inside. It’s been so long since they’ve done that that it’s kinda nice.” Draigo said as he flew overhead.

“You go do that then. I’m just glad that I have a reason to get out of the Everfree.” Skye called out in a joyous tone, giving him a wave as he flew by.

“Which … what … who?” Cherry asked, trying to shake her head out of her daze.

“Snap out of it!” Skye shouted, giving Cherry a rough shake.

“What!?” Cherry shouted back, snapping out of her confusion and glaring daggers at Skye.

“Sorry, you were dazed and I need to know where you last saw a victim.” Skye held her hands up in defense.

“The … pony who died was … where art everypony going?” Cherry switched topics as she watched the ponies in the town flee indoors at the sight of a gigantic shadow.

“They’re just fleeing from Draigo.” Skye said casually, walking into the village. “It’s a small village so I’m not surprised they’ve fled this quickly,” she added.

“’Tis a village that is still growing!” Cherry complained as she followed Skye.

“Yes, it is, but I don’t think it’s gonna get too big.” Draigo yelled down to them. He used sound manipulation to hear everything they were saying even though he was so far away.

Skye looked up and sighed, placing a hand on her forehead to block out some of the sunlight. “Where didst thou sight the last victim?” Skye asked her, barely noticing her words slip into their way of speaking.

“Over here.” Cherry said, directing Skye in the right direction.

“Behind the saloon?” Skye asked, following Cherry behind the building. When they got around the back, Skye ran a hand down her face at the sight of the body. The occupants of the village were probably in the middle of carrying it when Draigo showed up. “There art three bite marks on the neck. ‘Tis doth not tell Us much.” Skye sighed as she crouched over it.

“He was found in the orchard.” Chery supplied, barely containing herself from retching at the sight of blood around the wound.

“Here that, Draigo?” Skye called out, not looking away from her inspection of the body.

“On my way to the orchard!” Draigo yelled as he passed overhead.

“Draigo is taking care of the orchard. Hath there been any other locations that thou knoweth of?” Skye asked Cherry and noticed the sickly look on her face. Putting two and two together, she softly grabbed Cherry around the middle and took her out of sight of the dead body.

“We shalt see a lot of this. Thou shouldst hath told us of thy reaction to blood.” Skye scolded Cherry while she recovered.

“I doth not think it wouldst hath been a problem.” Cherry replied in a soft voice.

“Thou hath better get used to it.” Skye replied and waved in a random direction. “Shalt We find other locations?”

“Other victims hath been found on the other side of the village.” Cherry said helpfully, leading Skye to the opposite side of the village from where the cherry orchard was.

“I hope Draigo found something.” Skye muttered as she followed Cherry.

“Oh, I found something! I found some footprints and some blood. No Chupacabra, though!” Draigo yelled as he banked around for another pass over the town.

“Great!” Skye called back then repeated the word to herself. She rubbed the back of her head and looked at the ground for some footprints and other victim-related evidence on their way to the other side of the village. By this point, some of the local ponies had poked their heads out of their windows to have a look at what this strange duo was doing.

Cherry lead Skye to the entrance of some mountain ranges that bordered the village. “Another victim was found there.” Cherry explained when she pointed to the entrance.

“‘Tis dark … this shalt be great!” Skye said excitedly after observing the shaded entrance for a few moments.

“Want some light?” Draigo asked as he performed some aerial acrobatics. Skye looked up and observed his aerobatics for a few moments before shaking her head.

“I wilt be fine. I canst see clearly in the dark.” Skye answered, shading her sockets for a few minutes before turning and heading inside. Skye drew a hand across the wall, trying to feel if anything was on there. After a few moments, nothing appeared to be jumping out of her. Just as she was about to turn around and head on back out, a hiss sounded out of a rather large crack in the wall. She stopped in her tracks and froze for a second as a scaled tail slid around her neck.

“Thou shouldst knoweth something. I doth not have any neck to strangle.” Skye said smugly, clicking the fingers of her left hand to summon her scythe. Soon as it appeared, she swung the hooked sickle backwards and found delight in the creature’s howl of pain. The tail slithered off of her neck and back to wherever the Chupacabra was. She followed it with her head, wishing she could smile as she found the creatures hiding place.

Cherry got a panicked and terrified look on her face when the pained howl sounded out from the entrance. “”Twas th-that Skye or ... “ she tried to ask Draigo but trailed off, too scared to complete the sentence.

“No, that was the Chupacabra. Skye has yet to scream like that during our training sessions. Don’t worry, I’m right above you and can intervene at any given moment.” Draigo called down to her as he circled above.

“Got it!” Skye shouted back as she swung her scythe at the creature’s hiding place, getting it stuck in the crack. She tried to heft it out but soon quit when she felt her head fly off her neck. “‘Tis an unfortunate predicament,” she said to herself as she watched her body stand still before running after her head. A bit above her, she saw the Chupacabra snicker as its tail slid back behind it. Her body picked up her head and placed it back on her neck, swivelling it until it screwed on. She spun to look at the creature, only to find it camouflage and disappear from view.

“The creature disappeared on Us!” Skye shouted, floating quickly up and down the mountain range cave-like hallway to try and find it.

“How’d it do that? Is it part chameleon or something?” Draigo wondered as he continued to guard Cherry. “Anyway, try finding its shadow! Even if it’s invisible it should still cast a shadow!”

“‘Tis dark as night in here! How am I supposed to find it then?” Skye shouted back, slowing down and taking the time to concentrate on something that Draigo taught her. She felt around with her magic, sighing in relief as she sensed three different souls, with one just in front and beneath her. “Found it!” Skye announced and stepped on its tail and made it visible again. The Chupacabra turned around and struck her leg, trying to bury its fangs in her bone and made Skye cry out in pain.

“‘Twas a different pained scream than before ...” Cherry reported, laying her ears flat against her head.

“That it was. Seems the Chupacabra is putting up a good fight.” Draigo said as he landed and stood over Cherry.

“Give back mine leg!” Skye shouted, hopping up and down to try and follow the Chupacabra out of the entrance to the mountain ranges. It hissed as it spat out the leg and scurried forward, revealing that it was an overgrown lizard with spines, scales and a tail when it came into the sunlight. When it hissed, the three fangs in its mouth showed as it tried to find its next blood-filled victim.

“You can float! Why dost thou need a leg then?” Draigo reminded the Reaper.

“I doth need a leg to walk around when I get tired!” Skye argued, picking up her leg as she floated over to the Chupacabra. She watched it get poised to strike Cherry and gave it a hearty thwack on the head, effectively knocking it out. “Thou canst thank me later.” Skye muttered as she tried to put her leg back into place.

Cherry had scrambled into Draigo’s back leg to try and get away from the monster. Her eyes were pinpricks but they slowly got back to their normal size when she realised the fight was apparently over.

“I thank thee?” Cherry whimpered uncertainly.

“Cherry was safe whether thou whacked yon monster or not. Tis only proper to thank her, though, Cherry.” Draigo commented.

Skye did a double-take when she realised Draigo was standing near her and not flying around. She was too pre-occupied with the fight to notice otherwise.

“When didst thou land?” Skye asked, testing her leg to make sure it was working properly.

“About the time thy leg was stolen by the Chupacabra. I wanted to ensure that Cherry was safe in case the Chupacabra got away from thee.” Draigo told her as he covered a chuckle at her double take.

“Uh huh. We take this back to the castle for Starswirl and Clover?” Skye asked, poking the Chupacabra with her foot gently.

“I doth believe that they would be grateful for more research material.” Draigo said as he examined the Chupacabra.

“Thank thee for saving Our town.” Cherry said with a grateful smile, having recovered from the shock of actually seeing the Chupacabra.

“We art glad to hath helped.” Skye said with a nod.

“We shouldst get back before the Chupacabra wakes up.” Draigo said. “We bid thee have a good day, Cherry.”

“Good day, Skye and dragon.” Cherry said with a bit of a waiver to her voice then nodded her head to them and ran out from under Draigo and back to the village to tell them the good news.

“How wilt We carry this back to Starswirl and Clover?” Skye asked after waving bye to Cherry and mentally smiling at the cheers the village gave out.

“Same way as the others?” Draigo suggested.

“Entrapped in a mound of earth?” Skye asked as she thought back to how the Jersey Devil and the Harpy were transported.

“Yeah. That way even if it does wake up it can’t get away or hurt us.” Draigo reasoned.

“That is a good idea.” Skye agreed and pulled her hood over her head as she began floating. “It shalt be easier flying back.”

“Much easier for you. You won’t have a terrified pony in your arms.” Draigo commented as he wrapped the Chupacabra in a cocoon of Earth.

“‘Tis true but thou hath flown with earthen mounds before so it shouldst be easier for thee.” Skye said as she floated up and above him. “I wilt see thee back at the castle,” she added and began flying back to the castle.

“Thou shalt not get away that easily, Skye.” Draigo called as he levitated the mound before him and took off after Skye.

“Thou wants a challenge?” Skye shouted over her shoulder when she heard him.

“Let’s see how fast thou can go, Shinigami.” Draigo said as he pulled alongside her.

“Shinigami implies god of death. I am not one of them.” Skye argued and kept looking straight ahead in case any stray birds got in their way.

“Hmm, fair enough. Shall we begin the race on the count of three?” Draigo asked as he kept pace with her and ignored anything else in the sky.

“One … two … three!” Skye counted down and shot forward, keeping her arms by her sides in an attempt to make herself as streamlined as possible.

“Thou wilt find that I am faster than my size belies, my friend.” Draigo said as he increased his wingbeats and slowly, but surely caught up to Skye.

“Oh, really?” Skye asked and let the rushing air move throughout her body, noting that it was an unusual feeling. Getting used to it, she then began to move faster and slowly pulled away from Draigo.

“Thou art fast, but how long can thee keep up thy speed?” Draigo called to her.

“As long as necessary?” Skye called back uncertainly.

“Then we shall see who ends up at the castle first. Considering how long it took us to get to that village...I doubt you’ll last at that speed. I have been known to be wrong, though.” Draigo said as he thought about how far they had to go still.

“If thou sees me slow down, then go on ahead. I wilt catch up eventually.” Skye replied with an imperceptible shrug.

“If thou slows down I will pull ahead, but will keep within sight of thee. Just in case thou gets in trouble or can’t remember the way back.” Draigo told her as he kept his pace steady.

“‘Tis a giant castle in the middle of a forest. I shouldst be fine.” Skye commented as she kept up the pace.

“Tis true... Fine, I shall leave thee in the dust.” Draigo said as he increased his wingbeats and parted the air before him with his magic. Skye sighed and shook her head as Draigo passed her by, wondering why she ever agreed to the race in the first place. “Keep up thy pace. Tis good training for when you need to travel far away very quickly.”

Skye snorted and kept it up, watching Draigo slowly get further and further away.

“Ah, tis been so long since I went that fast. I wonder how long Skye will be?” Draigo wondered as he touched down back at the castle. He set the mound of dirt on the ground and waited to see. After roughly ten minutes of waiting, Skye touched down and nearly collapsed into a pile of bones, unused to flying so far or so fast.

“Art thou alright?” Draigo asked after seeing her rough landing.

“I am … fine.” Skye said, flopping forward in the middle of her sentence. “I am not used to flying that fast … or that far.”

“Tis only natural. Thou hast not needed to do so, but tis good to know how fast thou canst go and how far thou canst float. Knowing thy limitations and then increasing them is part of training.” Draigo said as he levitated the mound of earth and slowly started to walk towards the dungeons.

“Let’s get down to the dungeons. I doth not want the Chupacabra to wake up and howl.” Skye muttered, following Draigo.

“Yes, that wouldn’t be nice. Starswirl and Clover will probably be down there studying the other monsters, again.” Draigo commented as he picked up his pace to a normal walk while shrinking down to fit into the castle.

“Most likely.” Skye agreed, scratching the back of her skull as she pulled her hood down. “They wouldst be glad to find an unexpected third monster to study,” she added. “Is Princess Celestia still attending Daycourt?"

“I think that would depend on how many petitioners she has today. Luna won’t take over until night at the very least.” Draigo said as they continued to travel to the dungeons. Skye tapped her chin in thought for a while, not really noticing they had gotten to the dungeons until they started to descend for a long while.

“We wilt need to design a cage for the creature.” Skye said finally, realising that nothing had been prepared.

“Hmm, that we will. I think keeping it in the mound of earth will do until we design it, though.” Draigo said as he began to think about the cage’s design.

“That can work.” Skye agreed, waving at Clover and Starswirl when they came into view. Clover noticed and waved back, eyes lighting up at the earthen mound following Draigo.

“We bring thee a Chupacabra.” Draigo announced.

“A Chupa … cabra?” Starswirl asked slowly, eyeing the pile of dirt. “‘Tis that another monster?”

“‘Tis another one. We got called out to a village southeast of here.” Skye explained, trying to sound apologetic at the same time.

“When didst thou start speaking like us?” Clover asked, noticing the change in Skye’s inflection.

“I noticed it about the time we found out about the Chupacabra. I’m unsure if she’s been speaking thusly earlier or not, though.” Draigo said as he remembered something about Clover. “Didst thou know a guardsman, Clover?”

“I hath been speaking in mine modern tongue earlier. I mustn’t have noticed when I slipped into this dialect.” Skye said with a shrug.

“I didst know a guardsmen. He was mine friend but he died in battle. Why dost thou ask me this?” Clover answered, walking over to the mound to see how big the Chupacabra was.

“When I first started training with Skye I summoned some ghosts. One of them turned out to know you. He had a message for you that he left with us. He wants you to know that he loved you and he wanted to say goodbye.” Draigo told Clover in a reverent voice.

Clover froze in place, registering what he said but not really hearing it. “He said what?” Clover asked, a saddened look on her face and wondered if she had heard him right. “He … loved me?” Clover asked in a small voice.

“Yes, Clover. He loved you. He was probably going to tell you after the battle he fell in. I’m sorry for your loss.” Draigo told her in a comforting tone.

“I … I ...” Clover choked, tears welling in her eyes as she thought about the friend she had lost and slowly backed away from the group. “I need to …” she couldn’t complete the sentence and raced out of the dungeon.

“She needs some time.” Skye said softly, watching her go sadly.

“She does and we need to design a cage. We’ll train after we’ve completed the cage.” Draigo said as he returned his gaze to the mound of dirt.

“What I need to know is what this creature is capable of.” Starswirl said, all business after looking in concern at Clover’s retreating form.

“Turn invisible, bites ponies in three places to make it look like a triangle and has a prehensile tail.” Skye counted off, remembering her fight with it. Starswirl nodded, sighed and magicked a scroll of parchment and quill from under his hat.

“We shalt need these materials. Thou can find these easily enough in the Everfree, near the Drake mountain ranges.” Starswirl informed them, giving Draigo a list of materials.

“Alright. Anything I should know about the Drake mountain ranges before heading out?” Draigo wondered as he went over the list of materials.

“Nothing I canst think of.” Starswirl answered as he tried to think of anything particularly dangerous to do with the mountains. “Dragons couldst be guarding this material though,” he said and tapped one of the materials listed with a hoof to show what he meant.

“Well, if dragons are the worst thing there then this will be cake. The kind Celestia would gobble down.” Draigo said with a chuckle.

“Thou need any help with the materials?” Skye asked Draigo, not really sure if she could help.

“I don’t think I do, but if thou wouldst come with me, just in case. We wouldn’t have to make another trip.” Draigo replied.

“Good point. We shalt see thou later, Starswirl.” Skye commented, giving a wave to Starswirl before zooming out of the dungeon. “Thou coming, Draigo!?” Skye shouted from the top of the dungeon stairs.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Draigo said as he joined Skye. They quickly made their way outside and were soon flying towards the Drake mountain range.

A WEEK LATER

Skye continued to get faster and stronger with her magic. She constantly checked up on Clover to see how she was doing and it turns out that she was slowly getting back into the groove of things, though her eyes still looked puffy and red. Celestia and Luna had tasked Draigo with trying to get some rare fish that was found on the far side of the Everfree, where a giant lake was located.

“Man, it’s been forever since I’ve been fishing. I wonder how long it’s gonna take to catch the fish they want?” Draigo wondered as he looked forward to his trip. He checked the gear he’d been given and selected what to use.

Before too long, Draigo had his line in the water as he waited for a bite. He wasn’t sure how big the fish was going to be, but he was confident he could catch it no matter how big it was. Now, he just had to wait and see what happened.

The shadows lengthened while Draigo fished, slowly going from day to night as the sun set. Two glowing white eyes appeared behind Draigo and they moved about, casting an afterglow wherever they moved. A gnarled hand stretched out and gently tapped against Draigo’s back before zipping back into the shadows, the eyes disappearing as they moved to another spot.

Draigo spun around and tried to find whatever had tapped him on the shoulder. Seeing, hearing, and sensing nothing around, he returned to his task. The glowing orbs flashed red for a second before moving behind Draigo, fully moving out of the shadows. Oddly enough, it didn’t cast a shadow itself. A dark brown hood covered its head and a small cloak covered its spindly torso. A belt with odds and ends was wrapped around its waist with bandages covering its upper thighs. Its hands moved in circular motions as shadows moved above Draigo’s head and slowly descended down into him.

Draigo noticed some movement in the corner of his eye and quickly looked to see what was moving around. What he saw made his blood run cold. Shadows, nothing but shadows. Draigo gave a cry as he tried to fight the shadows, but he was only able to get the cry out before he blacked out. Satisfied with his work, and the way Draigo slumped backwards onto the grass, the creature nodded to itself before stepping into the shadows and retreating to someplace else.

When Draigo woke up he felt as if something was covering his body. He changed into his draconic form to try to get rid of the feeling. When the feeling persisted, he examined his body. Finding nothing there, he looked into the lake.

His features had changed. His sclerae were now black and his retinas were red with golden slit pupils. Purple flames, that provided the bit of light needed to see, were flowing from the corners of his eyes. His scales no longer showed the multitude of colors, they were purple and black. Every spine, claw, and fang was now serrated instead of smooth and conical. He looked...evil and he liked it. His instincts were telling him to go seek out prey and to claim everything that was valuable as his own. It sounded like a nice idea so he did just that as he flew in the direction of the castle.

By the time the moon was high in the sky, a great shadow fell over the castle, causing many of the ponies inside to cower in fear, even though they had no idea why. Skye shivered as she felt something move across her window and looked outside to see what it was. Her mouth fell open though when she saw a purple and black dragon heading towards them. She floated out the window and went to confront the dragon, keeping her guard up in case it was dangerous.

“Why, if it isn’t Skye. How are things?” Draigo asked as he got close enough to see who the blob of black was.

“Draigo!? What happened to you?” Skye asked, sidelining the question once she was close enough to hear him, shocked at his new appearance.

“Draigo? No, I’m no longer ‘Draigo.’ I am now Kar’Voth. I’m here to claim what’s mine. If you get in the way. I’ll have to eliminate you.” Kar’Voth told her.

“Kar’who? What sort of name is that?” Skye asked and looked into his eyes, trying to see if she can access his most recent memories.

“It’s an evil name that is fitting for a being like myself. Now, stand aside. I’m going to go claim the Elements of Harmony. Well, I already did that, but now I’m going to take them. After that I’ll raise an army of dragons and take over the world.” Kar’Voth told her as he flew by, on his way to claim the Elements.

Skye moved out of the way and thought about what he said for a minute before going after him. “I can’t let you do that, Kar’Voth!” Skye called out and summoned her scythe to her side. She swung it behind her and then at Kar’Voth, aiming for one his back legs.

“I won’t allow any delays to my plans!” Kar’Voth cried as he plummeted toward the ground before opening his wings to stop himself from crashing. He continued on after sending some black lightning towards Skye.

Skye followed him and nearly crashed into the ground herself when Kar’Voth suddenly changed course. She felt electricity hit her, making her bones clatter together.

“That wasn’t nice. So, I’m a delay now, huh? What happened to me being your friend?” Skye called out as she flew after him, trying to discharge the electricity at the same time.

“Well, when I woke up I realised that everything should belong to me. You already do. So, you’re just a delay to me owning everything else.” Kar’Voth explained as he shrunk and dove through the library’s window. Skye went after him, shooting through the window and nearly crashing into the wall opposite.

“I hate to do this to my own friend, even if he’s corrupted.” Skye muttered and watched him closely before sending a tendril of dark magic out towards him in hopes of draining his life force.

“You think I can’t sense your magic? Well, I can and it feels so familiar. Like the Underworld.” Kar’Voth said as he dodged the tendril of magic and rushed out of the library and towards the throne room.

“I thought you wouldn’t be able to.” Skye muttered and gave chase, swinging her scythe at his back legs once she was close enough.

Kar’Voth cried out in pain as the scythe bit into his legs. He slowed a bit due to the pain, but sent black crystals careening towards Skye to drive her back as he continued forward.

Skye groaned out in pain as the crystals bit into her arms and stuck there, making her drop her scythe.

“I can’t stop him. I need help with this.” Skye said quickly, changing course and flying over to the east side of the castle. Once there, she burst into Princess Celestia’s room, startling her awake. “I’m sorry to wake you, Princess but we have a problem..” Skye said hurriedly.

“What problem art thou speaking of?” Celestia asked, recognising the panic in Skye’s voice.

“I think Draigo has been corrupted and he’s after these things called the Elements of Harmony.” Skye said and watched Celestia quickly get out of bed.

“Draigo hath been corrupted? We need to get to the throne room.” Celestia ordered and ran for the Elements with Skye following behind.

At that moment, Kar’Voth had just reached the throne room’s doors.

“Hello, dear ponies. Don’t mind me. I’m just here for the Elements. Keep pleading your cases to Luna.” Kar’Voth said as he burst through the doors and headed towards the Elements of Harmony.

Luna stood up from her throne at what the dragon said, shock evident on her face. She recovered from it and ordered the ponies in attendance to flee the throne room. The various ponies listened and ran while Luna put up an ice-cold shield around the Elements.

“Thou shalt not get these Elements!” Luna shouted at the black and purple dragon.

“Dear Luna. I already own the Elements. You and Celestia allowed me to do so. Now I’m here to take what’s mine. That’s all,” Kar’Voth told her.

“We didst no such thing!” Luna protested, running towards the Elements in case her shield wasn’t enough.

“Oh, but you did, my beatiful night flower. Don’t you remember having that secret conversation with your sister as Skye and I had our own?” Kar’Voth said as he advanced on the Elements.

“Yes but that was when Skye and Draigo were present … thou art Draigo?” Luna said, now noticing the slight resemblance between Draigo and this one. She saw him get closer and desperately shot a spell at him to make him freeze in place. Kar’Voth raised a piece of dark earth between himself and Luna. It shattered when Luna’s spell hit it.

“I am Draigo no more. I, Kar’Voth, stand before you now. I don’t want to hurt one of my lovely and precious belongings so step aside, Luna.” Kar’Voth said as he continued to advance.

Luna shuddered in disgust at his words before letting off another ice spell, this time taking flight and flying above him.

“Thou art not getting the Elements, I wilt not let thou!” Luna repeated, hoping the repetition would get through to him.

“You see, Luna. That’s where you’re wrong. I always get what I want. I wanted to keep you from becoming Nightmare Moon. I got it. I wanted to claim this entire area as mine. I got it. I wanted to share your bed. I got it.” Kar’Voth said in an increasingly slow and creepy voice as he rolled out of the spells path and plunged the room into darkness. His voice never stayed in the same spot while he talked.

Luna made a disgusted look before the room was plunged into darkness. She lit her horn up to see if she could shed some light into the throne room. A yellow light joined hers as Celestia flew up to meet her.

“Sister, hath Draigo come by?” Celestia asked her sister, barely registering the disgusted look on her face.

“He is somewhere in this darkness.” Luna said in disgust and concentrated on her shield around the Elements. “I am not sure where he is at this point.”

“Why, hello, Celestia. Skye. Come to join the party? I was just explaining to Luna that I always get what I want. Isn’t that right, Luna?” Kar’Voth said. His voice moved around the area once more. “Oh, I do have a question for you. Which is your favorite Element? Personally, I like honesty quite a lot.”

“Loyalty.” Luna answered immediately while Celestia said that she liked Kindness the most. Skye wasn’t sure what they were going on about but she made use of this chatter by walking around in the darkness and trying to swing her scythe at Kar’Voth’s front legs this time in an effort to incapacitate him.

“Now, Skye. We can’t have you interfering so I’m going to trap you for awhile. Kay?” Kar’Voth said as he raised a black crystal to stop Skye’s scythe. He then raised more crystals that encased Skye on all sides with no gaps between them. Skye tried to get her scythe out but was soon caught in a crystal trap.

“Let me out of here, Draigo!” Skye shouted out to him, banging her fists against the inside of the crystal.

“I’ll let you out once I have the Elements...maybe.” Kar’Voth said as he made his way towards the Elements once more.

“Let me out right now, or so help me!” Skye growled at him, not believing he would let her out for a second. Celestia tried to fire some heat waves towards Draigo, momentarily lighting the entire room up before they dissipated.

“If you’re going to attack in the dark, Celestia. It’s much better to do something like this.” Kar’Voth said as he shot a stream of black fire at her.

Celestia felt the heat coming off the flames, letting her duck under them before trying to find Draigo again.

“If thou art such a coward, why not fight in the moonlight?” Celestia taunted.

“Taunts, Celestia? I’m far smarter than to allow you to know where I am while fighting you. For you see, I know how both you and Luna fight. I’ve experience this first hand in my world. So, I’m just going to take what’s mine and return later on with an army of dragons to claim even more things.” Kar’Voth explained as he once more blended into the darkness as he slowly made his way toward the Elements.

“Luna! To your left!” Skye shouted helpfully, seeing where Kar’Voth was. Luna responded by firing an icy beam towards her left, trusting Skye’s judgement on where the corrupted dragon was while Celestia went after the Elements herself.

Kar’Voth sent a stream of flame to counter Luna’s bolt and a flat pillar of crystal from the top of Skye’s encasement was sent to hit the skeleton’s skull to knock her out for awhile.

“Why are you making me hurt my precious belongings? All I want is what’s already mine.” Kar’Voth said and rushed toward the Elements as he heard rapid hoof beats getting close to them.

“Thou art saying non-sense!” Luna shouted at him. Celestia heard Kar’Voth’s claws beat faster against the floor and wondered why she didn’t do this earlier. In a desperate attempt on her part, she tried to levitate the six gems out of their housings and back to her so she and her sister could use them against the corrupted dragon.

“Well, time for a change of plans. I guess I’ll just have to get rid of one of you now that you’re this close to the Elements.” Kar’Voth said as he sent another flat pillar of crystal that hit Celestia on her skull, knocking her out. He let the darkness dissipate and stood between Celestia’s unmoving body and the Elements.

Luna fought down tears when she saw Celestia’s state. No longer believing it was Draigo, she gritted her teeth and flew down to Kar’Voth, putting a magical shield around herself as she barreled into him.

“That’s a good idea, my dear, but it’s all too easy to grab the ice and stop you through sheer brute strength!” Kar’Voth said as he dug his claws into the ice and pushed against it, stopping Luna just short of knocking him over. Luna flapped her wings to try and get some more speed out of them but soon realised it was all for nought. She felt Kar’Voth’s strength as he pushed against her ice wall and got an idea. She locked her wings against her sides and plummeted to the floor, rolling sideways as she tried to see if her plan worked. Kar’Voth flew through the air as he desperately tried to get his claws out of the ice. He ended up hitting the floor as the ice barrier shattered, leaving him free but stunned.

“Finally.” Luna muttered and ran up to the Elements herself, taking advantage of Kar’Voth’s stunned state. When she reached them, she tried to magick them out of their housings like Celestia did moments earlier.

“I see one problem with your plan, Luna. Celestia is needed to use the Elements. Unless you bear all six elements. Which I highly doubt.” Kar’Voth said as he saw Luna try to get the Elements free. He then charged towards Luna.

Luna ignored him, managing to free three of the Elements, the ones that worked only for her. She then heard him about to ram her and with tears flowing from her eyes, she made a desperate and possibly idiotic move and wrenched out the other three Elements, a small bit of the crystal remaining inside their housing. Luna made them rotate around her with her magic just as Kar’Voth got to her.

“That’s not possible! There shouldn’t be a single bearer of the Elements!” Kar’Voth shouted as he ground to a halt and stood rooted to the spot by fear.

“There is not a single Element bearer, true, but thou hath made me desperate.” Luna said angrily, making the elements rotate faster around her as she turned to confront the paralysed Kar’Voth.

“But you and the elements belong to me! How can some belonging turn on its owner and win? How? How!?” Kar’Voth shouted as he tried to think of a way out of the situation.

“We never agreed to let Kar’Voth claim us!” Luna shouted furiously, stepping forward and feeling a tiny bit of delight at seeing the tables turned.

“Curse you and your logic! I shall return and endeavor to make the world mine! You know I speak the truth for I’ve done nothing but that from the beginning!” Kar’Voth shouted in rage.

Luna didn’t bother answering, instead, she moved the ring of Elements from around her to her front. She felt them light up and quickly rotated the six gems, tears stinging her eyes as she watched a rainbow stream hit Kar’Voth, surrounding him in a bright light. Kar’Voth roared in agony as the light consumed him. The light then swirled around and out a nearby window before going to the moon and placing Kar’Voth in it. The dragon’s fearsome profile could now be seen on the moon’s surface.

Soon as she saw Kar’Voth’s profile outlined in the moon, the Elements dropped and clattered to the floor. With a pang of guilt, Luna observed missing pieces from three of the gems. She left them on the ground and quickly checked on Celestia, breathing in relief when she was found to be breathing. Luna knew Skye was going to be fine but wondered if Kar’Voth will ever let Draigo resurface.