The sound of burning wood and shouts of authority bellowed in the distance. Shouts of aggression and extreme irritation about a foe that blocks their path. There was someone, somewhere, that was preventing them from venturing further into a place that has been locked away for thousands of years. Why they would want to enter such an accursed place, I could only guess as I lay still in bonds on the cold, stone floor, blind from a dark cloth, but that didn't matter. With my Air Sight still active, I could feel the area around me.

Just a few feet away from me was a line of magic resistant iron bars. Behind me was a wall with a bed, to the left and right also was a wall. I could not feel outside of the bars due to the bars, but judging from the echo in the room, I could tell I was in a prison that was similar to the one in the Tomb of The Twelve Storms.

Close by from what I could hear was a pair of guards and a female of some kind talking about the one and only, Ahuizotl. 'Of course, he shows up,' I internally sighed as I made a pair of Air Blades and cut myself free from my bonds.

"Hey! The filly is out of the rope!" one of the guards said as I pulled off my blindfold and turned towards the center of the dimly lit room that cast shadows on every, single, thing.

"What?! Voea dei norva re mehloka!?" shouted the doe that I saw last before I was knocked out via 'sleep dart.'

Both the guards and I tilted our heads as to what the hell she just said, causing her to face-hoof and point to me. "How is that possible?"

The guard mouthed out an 'oh,' and shrugged at the question. The Doe didn't like that and stormed up to me with her glowing crystal staff all the while glaring pure hatred at me and my innocent expression of, 'I am cute, please love me?'

"You!" she pointed at me again. I pointed at myself and said. "No, me," I explained. "What? No! You!" she shouted back. I smiled evilly in my brain. "No. Me!" I pointed at myself again before I shot my hoof towards one of the guards and said, "You!"

"Me?" the earth pony stallion questioned.

"No. I, me. They, You!" I replied.

"Who?" the second stallion said as he scrunched up his face in irritation.

"Me!" the Doe shouted.

"She!" I shouted too.

"They!" The stallions cheered.

I broke out into maniacal laughter as I watched the doe, and the two guards go back and forth about; me, she, they, and you. While they danced like my puppets from my perfect plan to distract them while I looked for a way out of my current situation, but, alas. That thought was as fleeting as the joke that I put The Three Stooges in as they figured out that I was making a mockery of them.

"You! Black Queen," the Doe shouted at me with a red face from the pure embarrassment that I placed her in. "How did you get out of your bonds?" she asked as I made note that fun time was over. I gave the fuming Doe a cheeky smile and flexed my wings, showing her that I was a Pegasus, duh.

"Agh, Shatter Skies felora mehsa," she face-hoofed again, causing me to frown at her constant use of her native tongue of the forests of Elswhere, but I could safely assume that she asked the Great Spirit of the Forest to fuck her. "No matter, these bars are made to prevent any and all...And you are out," she said as I walked right through the bars and sat down by the fire because I was cold.

"Veynis leyiahora, Evelyn. You were told that the Black Queen acts differently. Don't let her strange personality get to you," Evelyn whispered to herself from behind.

"Hey!? Get her back in the cage!" Evelyn ordered to the two guards, but before they could follow her demands, they fell over unconscious from the Air Bubbles that I placed over their heads. "What?" she gasped as I turned around with a shit eating grin. Before Evelyn could respond, I teleported the guards food to my lap and moved their sleeping bodies into my holding cell with my Air Kinesis.

"Jyah?" she gasped as I nibbled on a raisin bran muffin. "How did you do that?"

I gave her a smirk and pointed to the recently freed prisoners with all their gear back on their persons and said, "Magic." She frowned for a second to the biggest middle finger to logic in existence and turned around to see; Nova, Daring, Redbeard, and Stephen out of their cages.

"Felora mehsa," were her last words.

A few moments later.

I let out a long yawn as Redbeard, Nova and Stephen barricaded us in the room. Off in one of the cells was a livid Doe and two sleeping guards. Evelyn must have been thinking of how I managed to knock out her back up and freed the few that were awake with me. In another cell was Spooks, Windy, Night Heat, and A.T still fast asleep from the sleep darts that the Royal Guard used on us. Of course, I could have woken them up from their slumber, but they deserve a much-needed rest, just like the rest of us.

I yawned again just as Nova sat down beside me by the fire. Steph and Redbeard sat in front while Daring rummaged through the few books that we found in Evelyn's saddlebags. I could hear the adventurous mare go over notes about the place we were in, and frowned at several misconceptions that conflicted with what she already knew.

The sound of a sword being unsheathed from its scabbard caught my attention from my mindless thought. Turning around from my blank stare that was directed into the somber flames of a the lone, unlinked fire that warmed the room. It wasn't difficult to find the pony that drew their blade, as it was Nova who was the one that made the sound.

"Kon'nichiwa, samāuindo no yūbe no Hoshi," Nova whispered with profound respect as she traced her hoof against the flat of her sword. Nova cracked a small smile as a single tear met her cheeks and dripped down onto her lap. Though, as much as I wanted to ask what woes her, all I could focus on was her blade.

The black metal that looked like Luna's mane, but even darker and more beautiful was something to behold. I have heard of star metal and how impossibly rare it is to find, let alone have enough to forge into something! Whoever was the one responsible for crafting such mastery deserves a medal or something of grand recognition for their pure skill, but judging from the looks that Nova was giving to the blade as she slowly cleaned it, I don't think that the Smith is alive anymore.

"Hey, where did you get that pretty sword?" Stephen asked, breaking the silence in the room. Nova frown as her hoof stopped halfway down the edge of the sword and looked up to meet the curious eyes of the Faunus wolf.

"Thinking of stealing it?" she acknowledged with a defensive tone.

Stephen's ears flatten as he stepped on a landmine that was ready to explode if he didn't run away in the opposite direction. Redbeard and I chuckled as Steph gulped in slight fear and answered the question. "N-No, I just want to know that story behind its creation."

"Oh, I kinda was hoping to cut you. I guess not now," Nova said with a straight face as she went back to cleaning her sword, and causing Steph to go completely white.

"So what is the story behind 'yer blade?" Redbeard continued as he took a swig from his silver flask. In the corner of my eye, I could see that Evelyn gave up on trying to brute force her way out of the cell and was now listening in on our conversation.

"It was made by my mother Evening Star—" Nova began.

“When I was a little filly, growing up in a small mountain village on the border in between Equestria and the Griffin lands, I was taught in the way of the blade passed down from the minuscule teachings from my father, Summer Wind.”

“My mother was a former member of the Skyguard but was forced to retire early from an injury that hindered her flight. Though, this didn't stop her from seeing the world, getting into fights, sleeping with random stallions and mares, or meeting my father.”

“I still remember him, vaguely, all I knew about him at the time was the stories of mystical dragons, the tales of the white wolf named, Okami and grand colossi vanquished by Wander, hoping to save his taken love. Though, that's all that I could remember him by at the time as he passed away when I was only five. My mother had to fill in the gaps while I grew up in Kitsuki village. It was his death that guided my mother's hoof into teaching me the lost art of the Samurai and Iaijutsu.”

“At first, I hated it. I knew that Evening Star was broken from grief, and showed no sign of healing. She pushed me as far as I could go. I bled, sweat, and cried every day, hoping to make her pain go away, and by the time I turned ten, I outperformed all of the guards in the village, but the blade that I was using wasn’t as strong as my skill. When I told my mother about this, she was more than happy enough to forge me something worthy of my skill. Then, out of convenience of the situation, a star fell from the sky and landed in the sacred garden hidden within the mountains.”

“Like an omen from the stars, I retrieved the large, black meteorite, and gave it to my mother for the creation of the blade that I know hold dear. With Dragon fire, she molded the fallen star while lightning struck her hammer, and thunder exploded from each strike.”

“I watched in awe as she put her heart, body, and soul into her creation. Then, as the ash settled, she handed me the blade that was the pure embodiment of the twilight. The blade was enchanted by a friend so that only I could ever wield it. It is stronger than any steel, lighter than the softest feathers. The edge will never lose its edge nor break by normal means. This blade is called Nova’s blade, just like me. She is my little sister, and it my duty to take care of her as much as my parents took care of me. She was born on my eleventh day of birth, and soon after. I gained my cutie mark. ”

Nova sighed as she sheathed her sword at the end of her short tale. The sound of perfection echoed throughout the prison. Stephen and Daring were leaning in, wanting to know the rest her story about the legacy of her blade.

"Is there more?" Stephen asked as his tail timidly wagged from the slight fear that he had for the pure-blooded Thestral mare.

"Yes, there is," Nova hissed, but the venom in her tone wasn't directed to Stephen, but to the three guards in the cell.

"Care to tell?” Redbeard asked. “I see 'ya glaring at those three over yonder, and I get the feeling that their fellows are a part of your story."

"They are, or at least, those that were," Nova growled before she grabbed the flask that Redbeard was hovering in front of her snout. I raised a brow as she cringed from drinking something that must have been too strong if Redbeards warm chuckle was any indication. She gave back the flask and cleared her throat to finish her tale.

"The birth of my little sister was just the beginning of my journey here," Nova began again as she gulped down some water from a nearby canteen that Daring handed to her.

"Four years later, my mother was killed," Nova said, catching everyone off guard. Even I was surprised as I tried to make heads and tails of what she was about to say.

"She died protecting the Pegasus human that taught me how to fly while I laid dumbly in the grass from a paralysis spell that was used on me," Nova paused for a moment, and cleared the rocks that formed in her throat. "I watched my mother get killed by Celestia's Black Ops. I watched Dark Moonblade, take the only family that I had left!" she snapped before calming back down to continue.

"By the time I was able to draw my blade, it was too late. The last words that my mother told me as Dark Moon fled the scene with a severe wound were that he was the one that killed my father and that she loved me."

"Raven, the Pegasus that told me what my father really was, and who the humans were. I made it my duty to learn about their past and uncover why Celestia hates them so much," Nova said, causing Evelyn to scrunch up her face at the hate that was directed to Celestia.

"For five years, I searched and gathered any and all information on the race that is born from the aether. Why they are so feared and highly honored. Throughout history, their race influenced the greatest creations, from war and science, to medicine and magic."

Everyone looked at me since I was the only human in the room. Stephen gave me a cheeky smirk at the thought that I was feared, which I returned it with a roll of the eyes. I glanced over to see that the three prisoners were listening in with their complete attention. Their faces showed that they were quite disturbed by the fact that humankind was heavily, ingrained, into society.

"At the end of the fifth year, I learned that Celestia, herself, ordered the execution of innocent children, families, and others because of their heritage, thus, I made it my mission to bring all of my information to the young Empress here. And to exact my revenge on the one that murdered my family."

"Now, I am here, aiding my new Lord in her current quest to acquire the Winglets of Alta, and bring them back to Izalith castle to seal their power away, forever," Nova finished.

Once she finished her story, only Stephen, Redbeard and I were awake while Daring decided that a nap was in order. I took a swig of coffee that was made over the fire as Nova told her story, and frowned that I didn't have any sugar to sweeten it up, but that didn't matter. What did matter was the looks of pure doom that were coming from the three in the cell.

I bet they couldn't believe that Celestia wasn't the be all and end all of everything pure and harmonious in the world. Having their belief of their Ruler that has maintained a false security for over a millennia be questioned for her validity about the lies that they were told were true.

"Well, anything else you want to know?" Nova asked Redbeard. "Or are you going to share your story and how you ended up in that mountain?"

"I think you spoke enough," Redbeard said with a yawn, "Though, hehe...How Stephen and I ended up in the mountain was by accident."

Nova and I raised a brow at that.

"Oh? Please tell," I coaxed as I threw a book called, Fifty Shades of Red into the fire, much to one of the stallion guards dismay. "Tis' only fair after hearing Nova's origin story~" I purred. Redhead raised a brow back at me while Stephen blushed as he placed his tail over his lap.

"Well my little harlot, I guess I should introduce myself since we haven't had the pleasure yet," Red began.

"I was a detective, trying to make my mark in the world of crime, even if it was nonexistent. My department in Manehatten was responsible for all the filth that the Royal Guard don't do," He glared at the two stallions in the cell before continuing.

"From dealing with rape, serial killers, bank robbers and drug dealers and makers, I did them all and was the best in the country, but like all wonder cops in the world. I did make my enemies, and her name was Ruzza." I gave him my best poker face when he mentioned my partner in crime as he wiped his muzzle from a sloppy slurp of his flask.

"I have seen things. Done things. All in order to protect those from the life of the selfish. As such, I never found a mare to call my own from the dark noir that follows me around, or it's just my beautiful complexion, hehe," he chuckled cynically. "In any case, Ruzza was the primary target that no one could take down. Especially now that she has gear and info that make Celestia's Black Ops run for the hills."

"Since that Russian bitch was the bane of everyone's existence, I made it my career ending assignment to see her behind bars, which lead me to find a trail pointing to the Ignis clan from the southern regions of the Dragon lands." Steph cracked a smile at the mention of the Ignis clan, but also causing some worry from the Doe in the cell. "It was there, in the molten city of Ash Lake, is where I met the oversize flame head beside me here, and where I will let him tell what went down there."

Nova and I looked at Stephen who looked like embers were coming out of his smiling muzzle, while the three in the cell went deathly silent. "Yeah!" Stephen cheered, causing all of us to cringe from the sudden volume, and taking a slap across the head from Daring, who was woken up from his sudden outburst. "Sorry," he whimpered before he continued the story.

"Ah, right. Doom and Gloom here suddenly popped into existence in Ash Lake, my hometown," Stephen beamed. "Which is odd since it is near impossible for a pony because of all the fire, lava, and dragons around. So the second he arrived into town, he was captured and thrown into the dungeon!"

Daring, Nova and I tilted our heads and stared at Redbeard if this was true. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and confirmed that silent question with a nod and a "fucking asshat," to seal the deal.

"Anywho! Redbeard was a great concern for our clan since we were currently at war with Equestria as well as the other Six Elemental Clans of the Faunus. Princess Luna is our Goddess and our loyalties from the Nightmare Moon war is still strong to this day, but that could wait for a later date and back on topic!"

"After Red talked to my father, who is also the current clan leader, and confirmed that he was no threat. Red and I had a chat about a rare artifact that was given to our Clan thousands of years ago from a hero known as, The Knight of Courage: A drake named Bob, that was the pupil of Jormungand, The Knight of Valor. Which was stolen a few days prior and Redbeard believed that it was an acco-acco—" Steph frowned as he tried to sound out the word.

"Associate," Redbeard said for him.

"—Yeah, that. So we both embarked on an epic quest to retrieve the artifact that should have lead to Ruzza's location, but that was not the case. We were both captured at sea by Ahuizotl and his lackeys—Who wanted to know the secrets behind the sapphire ocarina and its purpose for entering the Temple of Alta."

"Fast forward a few days of seasickness and we arrived at the shore of the Forbidden Jungle and were greeted by Celestia, and her praetorian guard," he said, causing everyone to gasp.

"What?! You mean Celestia was waiting for Ahuizotl to return with the Sapphire Key?!" Daring shouted, causing me to slap her snout for almost alerting the rest of the guards to our location. She frowned at me while rubbing the spot that I struck and said, "Sorry."

After that sudden blowout, I looked over to see that the two guards were frowning and both of them turned to look at the Doe who had gone white for being exposed as a person that worked with bad press, but then again. The premonition that Celestia was working with them also was enough to suggest that she lost her mind. I put my thoughts aside for the moment and went back to listening to Steph's story to get a better view of what happened to Celestia's sanity.

"After our arrival and meeting of the Princess of the Sun, Redbeard here got all pissy about her working with Ahuizotl. She, of course, said that he was a Luna worshiping traitor, and condemned him to banishment while I was just spat on, which was also nice," he said with obvious sarcasm. "Then she left and the dog-faced freak took us to the prison that the Empress freed us from, and Daring—Who joined us a few hours later. Red care to finish?"

"You left out the part where the mare over yonder was going to be used as a sacrifice to activate a shrine that would play the song that was supposed to be used to gain entrance to the temple," Redbeard sighed.

"I think I was asleep on that part," Steph chuckled sheepishly.

"And the part where Former King Stronghoof sold out the entire Cervus race to slavery to Ahuizotl in front of Celestia, and how she accepted it and teleported out before a small rebellion ensued, causing an entire war in between the tribes of the Sun of the Khajiit people with the tribes of the Moon? Or how we were captured again, just as we got Chief Squirrels Flight into the hooves of the Shadow Guard in Arcadia for peace treaties, then we ended up in Mount Sif?" Redbeard blankly said.

"Yeah, I think I forgot about that. All I could remember was burning those cats and thought it wasn't important," Steph replied, reminiscing of something rather morbid in his mind.

"Riiight...Well, Nova and Empress Rose, that's what happened on our journey to Mount Sif. We shot stuff, got new clothes, got captured, started a civil war in the Forbidden Jungle, and all because I followed a smuggler that had a lead on Ruzza's location into the Dragon Lands. Aren't I a lucky bastard?" Redbeard chuckled again.

"What? No! There has to be more!" Evelyn shouted out as she clung to the bars of her cell. We all turned towards the Doe that had a dour look of concern on her face as she begged with her eyes towards the old detective as he placed a bent fag in his maw and had Stephen lit it up with his pyromancy.

"And why would you want to know? Last I checked, you are a praetorian guard and daughter of Stronghoof. You know, the one that sold out the entire Cervus race for slave labor after the forests of Elswhere were taken over after the war of the Four Season where the four Deer Kingdoms were completely obliterated into Celestia's rule."

Evelyn cringed at that while Darings eyes shot open from the amount of insight that Redbeard had on the matter, which brings up the question of how long ago was the war of Four Seasons? If Stronghoof sold them out, then the war meant that I could gain potential allies if I make peace with the Chiefs of the Forbidden Jungle, and cut the link to the continent of Elswhere and rebuild the four Deer Kingdoms. 'More work for me I supposed,' I internally sighed.

"That's none of your business," she replied, adding more questions to my conundrum. "I just want to know the lies that you are spouting so that I can see you behind bars!"

"I don't lie, missy," Red shot back. "And judging by your reaction: I can confidently assume that you hold a bit of hate towards Celestia and the treaty of Valor since you were the prize that came from it. So right now, it is our business."

"Tsk...I don't know what you are talking about," she denied. I quickly knocked out the two guards in the cell with her, causing her to jumped from the sound of their limp bodies kissing the floor.

"Yes you do," I growled. "Red just called you out and the guards are going to be asleep for a long while."

"So start talking."

Author's Notes:

YAY! Another filler chapter! Anyway, hope ya'll enjoying the references. Though, some of them are just bad while others are very obscure...Not really, most of them are obvious.

Anyway....

Even though this is a filler, and was mind numbing at times. I hope that ya'll has some eye candy and I hope that I can start pumping these out daily again. My time has been on tumblr a lot recently...I had to switch to my other arm because the one that I use was getting too big lol JK.