Author's Notes:

A short and quick one this time.

Mateus eyes open, greeted by nothing but the dark and the crystalline colors of his bed chambers ceiling.

He groaned, holstering himself upwards on his elbows before fully sitting upright on his bed. Well as upright as his new Equine body allows.

He rubbed her forehead. “Even in this new world, the demons of my past still love to torment.” He muttered while trying to rub the slight stink in his head away.

Whispers and haunting images was all that he has been hunted with once more. Demonic whispers accompanied of his past, his plights and struggles, his accomplishments and finally towards his ultimate defeat. Not by the hands of Firion but rather his most crucial defeat before he even took the crown.

The very reason why he took the paths he took and almost lost his soul and mind because of it. It was basically his way in trying to forget.

Mateus rubbed his eyes as he banished those memories deep down into his mind.

It was far too late now anyways, especially now that he was banished into a completely new world entirely.

With nothing left to do and with his need to rest further now shattered. Mateus simply decided to get out of bed and try to get some more planning done until the first morning rays crick over the horizon.
Or maybe just roam around privately and explore this crystalline Palace some more.

Feeling rather mentally tired and…lazy, he decided for option two. His ideas for this city can wait for now.

Not even bothered to put on his robes and armor simply because, he has fur now and the majority of this new race he now is part of runs around nude anyway.

Opening the door and stepping out into the silent and darkened halls he began to just pick a random direction and simply following it.

There were almost no guards in the upper levels, mostly because beside him there was nothing and no one up here that would need any guarding…yet.

To be honest, he prefers it this way. At least like this he can just roam around freely and not have anyone pester him. He doesn’t need to worry about keeping up his image and just let himself hang.

The halls where truly quiet, eerily quiet. The only sounds echoing through these crystal walls where his hooves and the slight grinding of his ridiculous but still splendid blond tail. Not mentioning the mental whispers he sometimes hears.

Truly, his past has followed him to this world as well. He is just cursed to never truly have a moment of peace or a peace of mind for that matter. His paths made sure of that. But to be fair, he has long gotten used to that.

He eventually reached a hall dotted with many, many doors that have still been unexplored by the fallen emperor. He was about to just pick the closest door to him when a distant sound made his ears swivel. Granted he has yet to see his pony ears thanks to his long thick mane but there were still there regardless.

The sounds were distant and faint, similar to the constant whispers he hears in his mind, but these were real, they were subtle and not too far.

Being more in an exploration and curious mood he decided to follow the sound to see what it’s source was. He moved along the hall, tracking the sounds as it grew louder and louder with every step he took.

This moment was bringing up some more distant memories, this time images from his youth, days when things seemed a lot simpler. But just like with everything else of his distant past, these images that just gave him more frustration and head pain and a clearer picture as to why he took the paths he chose.

It was nothing but a burden to him at this point as it does nothing but cloud his already broken mind.

The sounds were getting more audible the further he followed it.

At this point, the nature of those echoes was clear. It was the sounds of crying curiously enough.

Normally at this point Mateus would just turn around and leave whoever is grieving to drown themselves in whatever it is that torments them. But as stated before, this situation bears an almost haunting resemblance to a memory long shut off. Against his better judgment he just decided to see who or what it is that is spreading its sorrow through these empty halls.

Rounding a corner and found a peculiarly open door, he knew immediately that this is where the sounds came from.

Moving towards the open door and peeking his head through it; Mateus was somewhat surprise to see none other than Thera of all persons. An individual he previously thought was a proud and dedicated warrior is allowing herself a moment of vulnerability.

He does not know what exactly could cause a mare like her so much grief, or what she is doing all the way up here in the middle of the night, but he feels content to find out, especially since he has nothing better to do anyway.

She was just lying on a carpet, in front of a freshly lit lamp in the middle of the room. A room which looked more like a storage room than anything else, even though it had a fireplace at one end and a dusty old bed resting on one corner. It’s mostly these mountains of crates and barrels that gave him this vibe.

Mateus made his presence known by softly tapping the door frame, which in turn caused Thera to gasp in surprise. She immediately turned her head and seemed both shocked and surprised to see the new Emperor of all individuals standing at the open door.

Without his armor and garment no less.

She quickly sprang up as she glared at the indifferent looking Emperor. Her tears still fresh on her eyes and cheeks.

“What the…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” She demanded, her voice shaky.

“I could ask you the same thing.” He casually asked back which only irritated the mare more.

“I asked first.” She retorted back childishly which the emperor secretly enjoyed.

He mentally decided to play along just to see how long he can stretch this.

“Well I am the Emperor and this IS my Palace.” He offered back with a small smirk.

Thera on the other end was about to shout some more before the Emperor just raised his hoof to silence her.

“You know, it does not matter.” He announced. “If you wish to continue wailing about whatever it is that torments you then go ahead. I was never here.” He added.

This obviously took Thera a bit by surprise, even more so when he just suddenly turned away and out of sight, leaving the same way he came from.

This both annoyed and enraged her. “HEY” She shouted which made the Emperor stop.

He turned himself back around to look at her, raising an eyebrow at her pissed off look.

“You can’t just walk away like that. How much have you heard anyway?” She demanded while looking ready to pounce.

Mateus just kept calm. “Nothing, besides your distant crying when I was walking around these halls.” He answered.

This immediately calmed Thera’s aggressive stance after she heard that. But she was still both embarrassed and extremely annoyed that someone managed to catch her even at this late hour when most ponies would be long asleep.

Being a natural night dweller she did take advantages of that.

“What the hell were you doing out in this hour anyway, don’t you have to sleep?” She continued with her interrogation.

He just continued to stand there. “Roaming around obviously, and no I don’t, my need for rest has been drastically reduced over the years thanks to my training and magic, giving me more time to plan and work.” Mateus explained.

That was only partial true, while it is correct that his stamina is far greater compared to most others, his need for rest still is more or less the same, the only difference with him is that he can just function much better when tired, both physically and mentally.

Other than that he still needs as much rest as anyone else, the only thing keeping him up are his nightmares and his worries. Worries of losing his soul from the same voices that seemed to have followed him from his old world.

He will not fail to their temptations again, he already lost everything because of them. Even before he was forced to take that deal.

Thera just groaned before turning herself away from the Emperor. “Well, whatever, just…just leave me alone ok…I…I have my reasons.” She asked, the last one having succumbed to more of a whisper.

Mateus was naturally inclined to do just that but something about all of this was just sitting weird with him. Like a feeling of Déjà vu.

He certainly does remember a moment similar to that but thanks to the corruptions he suffered by the hands of Demons back in his world, his earlier memories of his much more youthful days have become nothing but a hazy mess of blurry images and unrecognizable emotions.

A plight that has honestly been bugging him ever since he had the state of mind to realize that. Which was just before his final defeat which should have finally ripped him apart.

But it didn’t instead he woke up in a new world with a new body all together.

Afterlife’s, a topic that is still an absolute enigma to him and most certainly will stay so for the rest of time.

“Where is this sense of sympathy coming from?” He thought to himself.

He knew that this has something to do with this distant memory he can fully place a grasp around it thanks to this haze, but it’s still confusing and somewhat maddening to him that he is still capable of having such feelings despite all the things he had gone through, both willingly and unwillingly.

He just rubbed his chin in confusion as he watched Thera just standing there. Her gaze turned away with her facial fur still wet.

Oh he hated this, he hated this so much. He hated being confused and out of any leads. He needed to know at this point, just to see if what she may tell him would help him crack the haze of that memory and finally give him some needed answers to his past.

He was going to regret this later for sure, but then again he had almost Zero fucks to give at this point anyway. Dying twice in a row and being sent to a completely different world will do that to a person.

“Why are you here by yourself anyway. Especially in such a secluded section of the Palace? Shouldn’t you be outside if you are a night dweller as you call yourself?” He openly questioned towards her which did the trick in getting her attention.

She just glared at him. “That is none of your business.” She harshly replied which did finally succeed in annoying the fallen emperor.

“Oh but it is, especially since I am the new ruler of this place. What you have been doing could be flagged as trespassing, especially in such an unused section of the Palace.” He explained to her while glaring back at her.

“So let me ask you again. What are you doing here and why? You could have easily found yourself a nice alley or left the barrier all together if you wanted to bawl your emotions out in privacy.” He pushed on.

Thera was really becoming irritated but at the same time couldn’t deny the accusing glare the Emperor was aiming at her. She knows very well that he is not your typical run of the mill unicorn. No, far from it. Very far from it, but she cannot ignore her own pride either, especially when it meant saving her face and overall image.

She tried her best to quickly come up with some side story that would divert his attention away from the original topic, but even she knows that he was far from being stupid either so trying to lead him around by a leash would be more or less difficult in itself.

She eventually sighed, as she decided to just give him a small part of the truth that may at least satisfy him.

“I came up here for a reason, I had a dream about a…memory that is rather…touchy for me. So I came up here to just…vent some steam.” Thera explained quietly.

Mateus noticed that her right wing was retracting very tightly to her back, giving him the impression that she was hiding something under it. But he didn’t bother to point that out.

Mateus simply accepted the loose explanation for what it is. Surely she doesn’t feel very comfortable with whatever it is that made her come here in the first place and to be honest its none of his business either nor his concern.

He already has allot of personal issues as it is after all.

“Very well, this can suffice I guess.” He announced before turning around. “Remember to at least close the door when you leave, don’t want anything or anyone start snooping around besides you.” He added.

Thera on the other hand just seemed unsure as she watched the Emperor leave.

“So that’s what he looks like without his stuff on. Not bad I have to say.” She thought while wiping her face off with a hoof.

She groaned after she realized what went through her head just a moment ago, even more so when regarding the fact that she has told him the truth about why she was up here in the first place, even if it was just partially.

She is becoming too soft lately in her opinion. Either she has to go out and kill something to make it up, or she should just try and go home.

If only it were that easy. To just go home.