The mane six all sat around the crystal table in the dining room of the castle, eating away at the daisy sandwiches that they had made while talking about random things. After a bit of friendly banter, the group moved onto the main topic of interest, the symbiote that was currently fused with Twilight.

"So, what was with that guy going all black and then disappearing for inside you?" Rainbow asked while crossing her forelegs.

"He told me that's how he survives. He doesn't need to eat like us, but can if he wants to, instead he survives off the energy of others." Twilight explained.

"You mean he's stealing your energy?!" Pinkie exclaimed as she appeared in front of Twilight won pushed her back to her seat.

"No, he doesn't use the individuals vital energy, he uses the energy that goes unused and uses that to fuel himself. Without it he would either become extremely weak or perhaps even die." Twilight corrected, but a frown came to her muzzle as she explained the last part.

"And it doesn't make you uncomfortable?" Rarity asked curiously.

"I may not be entirely comfortable with a creature I've never seen before being inside my body feeding off of my energy, but it's vital to his survival so I'm able to make an exception." She stated with a small smile. "Plus, whenever he is fused with me I feel stronger and more aware of my surroundings, so it's kind of a pleasant experience."

Looking to Rainbow everyone raised a brow as the cyan mare struggled not to burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow managed to control herself for a few moments to speak. "So, what you're saying is, you feel good when that guy is inside you?!" With her question asked she was unable to suppress her laughter and broke out into a fit of hysteria as Twilights cheeks turned a shade of red.

'Don't think too much of it Miss Sparkle, Miss Dash is inappropriate in almost every universe...' Symph commented dryly in Twilights mind causing her to jump slightly. 'Do not be alarmed, we're sharing this body right now, I'm able to speak to you through your thoughts as I gather energy.' He explained in a soothing voice to calm the mares nerves.

Twilight nodded, finding the sound of his voice somehow relaxing as she calmed down and looked back to the mare that was on her back laughing on the floor. "Alright, does anypony have any questions that don't involve any sex jokes?"

"I do have one." Rarity said. "How was he able to fuse with you in the first place? He seemed to just become a blob of slime and jumped onto you."

"His body is made up of black liquid Rarity, he just takes the form you saw him in to interact with others. It's just one of his natural abilities. I think he can turn into a pony or griffin if he wanted to."

'I can yes, but I do prefer the form you've seen me in up until now.' Symph commented. 'Just another two hours or so then I'll be fully recharged.'

'Ok Symph.' Twilight thought. "Any more questions?"

The group all looked around and shook their heads, no questions coming to mind.

"Alright. If you'll excuse me, I want to get some reading done and to have some downtime." Twilight pushed her seat out and walked out of the dining room in silence.

'A bit sassy don't you think?' Symph commented.

'I'm just a little tired is all. After an hour or so of reading I'll head to bed, it's been a tiring day.' Twilight responded.

As Twilight finished reading one of her favourite books she walked through the dark hallways with a candle as her light source until she entered her bedroom. Crawling under the covers and yawning the princess then snuggled into her blanket and nuzzled her comfortable pillow. 'Goodnight Miss Sparkle.' Symph whispered.

"Goodnight Symph..." Twilight responded before she let sleep take her.

A half an hour later, Symph was collecting his thoughts on the day when he felt a strange energy nearby. 'I wander what that could be.' He unfused with Twilight and became a black puddle on the floor. He then started to move across the floor and under the door, entering the hallway without disturbing Twilights peaceful slumber.

Deciding to stay a puddle to keep hidden, Symph stuck to the shadows as he moved around the castle, searching for whatever that strange energy was. As he slid under the front door of the castle he formed back into his body, but kept everything on him a solid black, making him almost invisible in the night.

He closed his eyes and focused on the strange energy, trying to pinpoint where exactly it was coming from. As he searched with his mind he found that it appeared to be coming from the Everfree Forest. 'I should have guessed, everything happens there nowadays...'

He opened his eyes and dashed towards the forest of thorns. As he went deeper into the woods he began to use his tendrils to occasionally swing on a branch or to quickly pull himself behind a large rock or tree if he came across a slumbering beast, while most were now tamed by Fluttershy or just from the energy from the Tree of Harmony, there were still those that would act violently and aggressively, so he decided to stay clear of any beast he came across.

He soon came to a small clearing, but found nothing. Seeing that the clearing had a path that broke through the forest he focused again nad found that the strange energy was coming from the end of the path. He began walking up this new route, looking around carefully expecting some form of attack, but found his trip went undisturbed. As he reached the end of the path he hid behind a tree and peeks over the edge of it, only for his eyes to widen at what he saw.

Atop a small hill that was illuminated by the moonlight, a young girl stood. However, Symph could tel she wasn't human. Four black tendrils grew out of her back, making Symph take a more defensive stance. The girl had long dark purple hair that draped down her back to the bottom of her torso. She wore a dark purple shirt and plain grey jeans, purple sneakers on her feet. Her eyes though...her eyes were all black, save for the red dots that acted as her pupils.

'Wait a minute...what's a Nightmare doing here?' Symph thought to himself as he recognised this girl as a creature he and his father had come into contact with many times. She was a Nightmare Fuel. The Nightmare Fuels were a species made of pure darkness taken physical form, they were a parasite to the multiverse, entering worlds and causing chaos and killing anyone in their wake. But, they were always lacking in detail on their bodies. This girl seemed...different somehow. Symph could feel the darkness but could also feel light from her. That was what the strange energy was, the dark and the light mixed together.

As the girl turned around and saw him, they made eye contact before she gasped and teleported away. Symph rushed out to tray and stop the teleportation but was too late.

He looked around the area confused, his heart beating fast after they had made eye contact. He grabbed hair chest and looked around as his breathing became jagged. "Who was that?" He asked aloud.

Author's Notes:

Strange things are going to start happening now.

Also, if you'd like to see more of Symph, he is also a main character in the story Of Symbols And Ciphers, which I co-write, give it a look, although it is set after this story so a few spoilers may show up.