7th July, 485 BNM

Late Night

Indo-Burmese sub-continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Malabutu Valley, Vine depths

Temple main hall

The orange light of that accursed Alicorn's horn flickered ahead of his gaze. Siral didn't hide his spiteful gaze as Geldrath wandered into the darkened temple hall, while at the only other way out, the 2 Ape body Rakshasa stood imposingly stoic, their orange eyes burning even brighter at this time of night, when they were at their higher powers.

The orange light from their eyes and Geldrath's horn bathed the hall in an ominous light, like the sunset now 2 hours gone. But still restrained to the stone table turned upright, Siral did nothing as Geldrath came to a stop, chipped hooves and body only 4 feet from Siral, staring into the Unicorn's eyes with a look of satisfaction.

Siral saw the Alicorn's eyes skirting over his form, and he would wager Geldrath was taking some enjoyment from the numerous scars he likely now had.

An orange aura clad medallion floated up, the medallion he'd taken from Siral, the artefact of the Socerer Eastern Dragon Ghung Chian. The medallion that drained life and magical energy, even to the point of death.

"None of what happens now would be possible without you, without this. Your power won't go to waste." Geldrath's smile seemed innocent as he hovered the medallion up and over his neck, clasping it in place.

"I'm sure it won't." Siral murmured darkly, fixing his most hateful gaze at Geldrath that he could manage.

"Too bad Starswirl gave up trying to come and rescue you after one attempt. Not that it would have done any good." Geldrath drawled, taking enjoyment in this.

"Must you gloat?"

"You cannot fault me for indulging in success from time to time. But, you are right. Why waste any more time?"

As the medallion began to glow a slight orange, the silver chained medallion's grey/blue gem at the centre began to emanate its haunting blue aura from itself, stretching out like a tendril to quickly latch onto Siral's horn and chest in a two pronged aura stream.

As the glow in the temple hall began to flicker orange and blue, Geldrath's smile burned into Siral's mind as he felt the medallion begin to drain his magic. He felt its draw, its power, a small mind of its own that could be guided to take power, and give it.

Strapped within the vines, Siral felt them loosen slightly, as they needed to for the medallion to be able to draw on his magic. But he was locked in place of its grip now, and as he mentally resisted, he managed to slow its draining effect on his magic, and his body.

Noticing this, Geldrath's magically enhanced voice seemed to echo around the room, as he saw Siral visibly straining, in pain, but slowing the medallion's effects. The Unicorn had studied it more than he'd drawn from his mind it seemed.

"Now I complete the transfer of your power taken to me. Give up, you've lost now."

Geldrath seemed to visibly shudder with the power as he linked his own magic to it, while it was also linked to Siral being drained of magic and life.

As soon as the medallion's draining magic linked to boost Geldrath's, Siral's eyes snapped wide open, and his mind became solely focused.

"Ghung Chian was smart enough to let it finish draining somepony BEFORE he drew on it."

Starswirl's grey horn then began to glow grey, as the blue glowing aura, coated in a layer of Geldrath's orange magic, became a visible alternating orange and grey hue, glowing brighter with ever second. At this, Geldrath's expression suddenly grew in alarm, while Siral seethed through the pain, as his scarred torso, having being already slightly drained by the medallion to show his ribcage, was slowly restored:

"And he was never idiotic enough to link in the magical chain with a victim who knew the medallion better than he did!"

As he was fixed in place, Geldrath saw the medallion float away from his neck slightly, the blue hue becoming increasingly orange and grey mixed, like a growing star between them. Frantically, the Alicorn turned his eyes sideways, but despite the mental command, the 2 ape bodied Rakshasa charging towards the table were repelled by a mixed grey and orange barrier, Siral's doing.

"All power, no skill!" Siral roared, as the orange and grey light grew brighter and brighter, engulfing him and Geldrath, as the loosened vines binding him to the upright table seemed to be burned away in the growing brightness. Trying to break the connection, Geldrath then felt weaker all of a sudden.

Siral was turning the medallion against him, he did know how to use it better.

Panic growing, Geldrath stared into the fiercesome grey eyes of the Unicorn wizard before him, that hateful expression suddenly no longer amusing to behold, but a threat.

A few lightning strikes emanated from the growing sphere of visually colliding light in the centre of the temple, and from outside it looked like a miniature sun was shining through the tiny light inlets in the temple's half collapsed roof.

Staring into the vengeful expression of the black Unicorn, Siral the Savant's expression, just 4 feet from his own, Geldrath summoned his will before the medallion, turned against him, took too much.

The medallion was caught in equilibrium, neither the Black Unicorn or Sand brown Alicorn caught in the magical maelstrom losing or gaining. A few moments of building humming and light, but neither side was giving.

"NO!" Geldrath bellowed amidst the blinding light of orange and grey, the blue absorbing aura drowned out entirely as it had merely become a channel of competing magic between them.

Siral, hidden amidst the burning maelstrom, sensed Geldrath's last willpower driven attempt at breaking from this lock, and in a sudden change, he boosted all his magic into bursting the chain too, how he wanted.

The grey and orange miniature maelstrom within the temple suddenly contracted like a heart briefly, all sound and wind sucked towards it in the temple, before it erupted outwards faster than eyes could comprehend.

Temple outskirts, Vine jungle

River shore

The Temple ruins fell dark for about half a second from the lightshow emanating from within its tiny slivers of sunlight inlets, before what could only be described as a orange and grey hued detonation of light and destruction blasted apart the main structure.

Massive stone and temple ruin fragments rained across the vine forests, smoking and aflame as they came to land like meteorites amidst the grey vine forests, lighting up the night jungle as the very dry vines and what little plant life caught in the decaying vine forests caught aflame where the fragments landed. The night sky was ablaze with the smoke and fire rising from what remained of the main temple chamber, and from the now complete ruins of the temple's main buildings.

As a few more pieces of flaming debris fell across the jungle and river, some of them including a few Rakshasa demon creatures blown apart in body, a grey hued fragment was glimpsed by eyeful creatures streaking upwards and down in an arc, before it inexplicably came to slow mid fall to land more gently as a stumbling grey glowing Equine on the fire illuminated shores a 200 metres from the temple ruins.

That Equine, a black Unicorn once the grey glow died down, staggered away towards the river, catching his breath from the massive headache he had, and searing pain across his body outside and inside. Siral had no idea what he looked like after Geldrath's tortures or that blast he triggered, nor did he care.

Geldrath hadn't been ready like he had, and as an Alicorn, he may have yet lived.

By the noises of unearthly howling coming from the vine jungles, and even from the temple's underground areas, his Rakshasa underlings certainly weren't dead.

Siral glimpsed orange glows of what looked like a hundred Rakshasa creatures of varying shapes coming towards him, blazing through even a hundred metres of dense, vine filled jungle.

Flaring his horn a grey hue, Siral knew the way to kill them was to use their fear of light, and their wooden armor in places. And the vine forest was clearly flammable by the way the debris from the temple had already shown.

Taking a breath, Siral charged a powerful attack curse of dragon fire, yelling aloud for for Geldrath if he was alive, or the Rakshasa for all he cared:

"Everything you've built, WILL BURN!"

Fire surged from his horn in every direction he could, and his world, and the jungle, river and what remained of the temple, became fire.

Before the night was out, Siral the Savant would ensure everything Geldrath and his rule had built was in ashes.

Late Night

Malabutu Valley

Chai's territory, hidden bat cave

It had been Starswirl's eyes that spotted something he shouldn't have. Birds flying away visible in the night sky. And a very faint orange light discernible over the treeline, coming from the direction of the temple.

Bird cries sounded the calls in their tongues that Nahia understood, as she limped to the bat cave's mouth to hear cries of a fire, the demon creatures, and a rampage going on by one demon stronger than the others.

"What is the Overlord up to now?" Nahia wondered, but it was Starswirl who asked:

"When has it last rained?"

"12 days ago, its dry season. Why?"

"That blaze could set the whole valley on fire, destroying everything he's built. Why destroy his own kingdom?" Starswirl wondered, while Nahia staggered up, remarking as she grunted: "My family, they'll be smart enough to flee if it comes to that, as we should be."

"No, I won't let the Overlord get away with this, not after everything he's done. And he may have finally created something that rebelled." Starswirl remarked. At this, Nahia remarked bluntly:

"If I were anyone else, I'd help you. But I can't. I can't face those things again, not like this."

Starswirl grew frustrated, as he finally had enough of anything troubling on this journey. He mentally considered all things:

I cannot leave when her home is going to ruin, and I can't allow that mysterious Alicorn run amok. This leg has already gone wrong, and she has already played her destined part in displayed honesty. Its time I gave something for once, so forget not interfering!

"I can restore your paw to as good as your others!" Starswirl bluntly remarked, to which Nahia gave him a blank stare, silently questioning him. Starswirl finished, knowing he had little time:

"If you let me, I can fix your paw. You fret about your reputation no longer protecting your condition and family? Now you no longer need it, you can uphold your reputation now for all I care, but I could use your help in facing those creatures before they burn the whole valley down."

Nahia stared at Starswirl's now slightly blue glowing horn, then down at her paw. The paw wounded for 10 years as she protected her cubs from Bull hunters looking for skins, the same cubs her injured paw lost her to the creatures 9 and a half years ago. The paw that compromised her running, meaning she had to rely on easy kills, raw strength or more often rumours and threats, a reputation now shot by her understandable breakdown in the Rakshasa underground chamber.

Outside the cave, over the treeline, to which even the occupants of Chai's main cave, the King Cobras and the female Python giant herself, the orange glow of the temple and vine forest inferno grew in brightness.

Geldrath's temple, Rakshasa pit ruins

His body badly burnt, wings ruined and tattered, one eye swollen with burns, Geldrath had been silently healing himself as he dragged himself further into the temple underground, the den of the Rakshasa nest he'd cultivated and given bodies to.

As he mentally summoned them, one by one Geldrath used his magic, and the medallion still around his neck, itself magically strengthened against harm, to heal himself. Rakshasa monkeys crumpled as he sucked dry what life they had, demonic as it was, to ensure he grew strong enough.

As he sucked them dry, Geldrath felt more and more angry, hungry, and sensed the destroyer of his home, THEIR home, burning everything they'd valued and built with his inferno magic.

Crawling, Geldrath found the opening he needed, and with what magic he'd gathered, he clumsily flew to hover down into the deepest chamber of the Rakshasa underground pits, the breeding chamber.

And the crevice in which he'd stored the Rakshasa spirit hive.

"Hear me, unite, and we shall take our vengeance on the Usurper that dares to destroy what we have created as we wait for our time to conquer!"

As the orange hued Alicorn chanted this in the dank, muck strewn birthing chamber, the crevice in the wall a few metres in front of him began to shimmer and emanate in response, as quivering and heat ripple like beings began to swarm out.

One by one they imbued themselves into Geldrath's Alicorn body, and from the charred, burnt flesh and hide, a metamorphosis began to take place, as the orang hue of the Alicorn's eyes and horn magic began to grow fainter, more transparent, yet more powerful as it did.

Meanwhile, the inferno spread, while down in the underground, the Overlord became empowered by his demon horde.

When a Rakshasa bonded to a living creature, it only left them when it died. Geldrath knew this was a last resort option.

And yet, he wanted Siral dead more than he wished to live as a pure Alicorn right now.

Late Night

Temple outskirts,

Vine jungle

Fire was everywhere, and the jungle's darkness was utterly gone now. The orange eyes of the Rakshasa beasts were indistinguishable from the inferno as they charged into battle, knowing they had no choice in hiding or attacking now against this foe.

An Ape Rakshasa towered over Siral as it charged, a spiked fist being ripped from its arm, despite demon magic strengthening it, to impale it before it could even begin to slam it down onto Siral.

A swarm of Rakshasa bats, gleaming orange eyes and rotted skin, flew in hordes to try and overwhelm the Unicorn, but they were very quickly being turned into projectiles as Siral's magic crumbled them and hurled them at fantastic speed at incoming larger beasts, particularly aimed at the eyes.

As a trio of large Ape Rakshasa charged him from afar, Siral's eyes glowed a starlike white as he focused on the leading creature, his horn firing a lightning like beam at the creature.

Rotted flesh and wood flew as the creature was detonated mid charge, blinding the second as a few fragments pierced its eyes. The third creature smashed the blinded one out of the way, howling like a thunderclap drawn out as Siral suddenly saw some shimmers of demon magic shoot from its eyes mid charge, plaguing his mind with hallucinations of the creature being bigger than it already was.

Even over the roar of the inferno that had engulfed half of the more vine than tree forest areas in the centre of the valley, the blast of the grey magic beam ripping the Ape Rakshasa in half was audible.

As he finished off the Ape creature, Siral saw a few more flecks of demon magic hitting a grey barrier bubble he'd put up, and a few stray demonic hallucinations getting through. All around him, Rakshasa creatures big and small, Ape, bat, Cobra and monkey, all charged him.

Feeling it all attacking him, Siral focused his energy, and his own roar of utter rage was lost as a last, extremely large burst of dragonfire curse span out from him like a fiery hurricane, blasting out in all directions.

What it lacked in impact and burst, it made up for in sheer heat and burning. Now, with that one blast, everything within a half a mile of the temple was now at least smoking, if not completely ablaze.

Panting slightly, Siral gave a truly happy grin, one of the first in a few days, as he saw vine forests collapsing into ask all around him, and Rakshasa creatures squirming as they died, and their spirits diminishing as they were harmed, but not killed, as their bodies were lost.

Catching his breath, Siral saw no immediate Rakshasa, but as he turned to look around, he saw something that unnerved him. In the river, silhouetted by the flames of the vine jungle on the other side of the water, was an orange aura bodied Alicorn, shimmering with transparent demon energy as well as his usual orange magic.

As the aura form vanished into the water however, something in the river stirred beneath the current, as what looked like an entire riverbed of hidden vines had begun to drag itself onto dry land, forming around itself like netting come to life.

An orange and shimmering glow at its core, the vines rearranged into a slowly growing quadruped shape, low to the ground like a gigantic lizard, hooded like a Cobra, and with a long multi ended tail like a whip end. The head was elongated with a twisted vine like horn, and as he disappeared into the main torso of the river beast, Geldrath's burnt, scarred, and yet bulging veined Alicorn body seemed to ripple with beings beneath his own skin, his burning gaze punctuated by his words, the last one carrying across the river to Siral's ears like a rippling thunderclap:

"Now you face my hordes and I as ONE!"

The vine torso swallowed Geldrath, and the low lying quadruped's long tails flicked back and forth as it stomped out of the river, easily the size of a small dragon at 40 feet long and 12 feet high, body wreathed in Rakshasa and Alicorn magic working as one, the vines that made up its body seeming to ripple and squirm beneath its stomping from the shore.

A sheer bellowing screech, grating in towards the very core of Siral's heart, shook him to his core as the massive creature's mouth opened wide in a ground splitting roar. From the rippling vine mouth, jagged with vine thorns as big as swords, many vines shot forth like spears.

Teleporting back in a grey flash, Siral fired another inferno spell towards the creature, engulfing it in flames. But the creature's simmering energy field made it stronger than the others, as seemed to imbue its vine 'tongue' with the same flames without burning its vines apart. As the smoke dissipated, and the fires raged in the jungles around the incinerated mile diameter, the Rakshasa Overlord surged forwards, vine tongue darting out to strike the ground like a chameleon's tongue, setting it ablaze with fire and demonic magic as it did so.

The creature's vine tongue was too fast, as Siral sidestepped a few non blazing mouth vine attacks, the large creature having been forced to attack from half its body length away, only to have his shield all but obliterated with one fiery vine tongue strike. Grey barrier nearly failing, Siral then saw the 7 tails of the beast come surging up and over like a scorpion's, smashing the ground around him to trap him, before they close in and trapped him between the 7 prongs like a predator gripping a squirming prey item.

Overwhelmed, Siral surged his grey magic to keep up a protective layer around himself, but nearly lost his composure as he saw the 7 tails then raise up and slam him into the upper spine of the creature's back, the vines all surging and writhing to engulf him into its torso.

He was oblivious to something else attacking the creature from the outside, blue flashes, and a loudly roaring predator of some kind.

As he was dragged further inside, he saw flashes amongst the vines, searing demon eyes, of a pair of Alicorn eyes of piercing orange and now demonic hue, burning into him like the fires he'd started to his realm.

Siral focused his magic as he was trapped within the creature's torso, as it did its best to absorb him entirely. Geldrath took him close to the heart of his power to finish him off for good.

Yet another mistake of keeping enemies too close to finish them off.

Late Night

Temple outskirts,

Vine jungle, scorched river shorelines

Seeing the grey hued Unicorn get snatched up by the 7 tails of the horrific creature, and then slammed down to be absorbed into its massive back, had been what greeted Starswirl and Nahia as they burst into view by a blue flash. Not even the choking, scorching, smokey air could distract them.

Dead Rakshasa everywhere, and scorched vine forests, and yet a Rakshasa different, bigger, and altogether more evil looking, attacking something with grey magic.

It was Starswirl that had charged forwards first, galloping towards the creature with blue spells and curses blasting from his horn to aim for the creature's vine composed, shifting head.

But as he charged, a pair of Rakshasa Apes burst from the ground, having hidden as dead, while a Rakshasa crocodile surged from the river, mouth wide.

A set of claws and a strong feline bulk came slamming down on the crocodile's head before it could reach Starswirl, as Nahia tore her teeth into its rotting, yet armoured neck scales. The Rakshasa crocodile, 20 foot long, roared in a hiss as it deathrolled, but the Tigress held on, and mid roll, her teeth found the crocodile's soft underneck, and bit hard.

Over and over they rolled, but as she tore away a very large chunk, Nahia kicked too, while the crocodile demon gurgled and spasmed from its injury she inflicted, in its dying throes in the river.

The 2 Rakshasa apes, apparently having left Starswirl as he charged the big one, came for her then. One was crippled, but Nahia focused on the faster one, despite them both being double her size.

Ducking, she dashed around, relishing her paws now all working properly, as she aimed for the weak joints. Claws to the armpits and backs of the knees, and soon the large Ape Rakshasa was keeling down, at which point Nahia jumped up and took its neck in her jaws, crushing the larger than normal ape creature's neck completely.

The crippled Ape was distracted, as it turned to see Starswirl firing away blast after blast at the big creature, who was about to retaliate. As it hesitated, a tiger landed on its back, the bad legged Ape creature falling on its front.

With a roar as loud as the fires that had raged before, Nahia dug her claws into the ape's shoulders, and sinking her fangs deep into its head wood armor, she tore the Ape Rakshasa's head from its body, crushing the skull slightly as she did.

She had no time for celebration though, as the large creature delivered a blow that may have been too much for Starswirl, as its 7 tails came swinging around to swipe at him.

Vines shot from its mouth as it roared at Starswirl, as treelike spikes extended from its pony sized feet and from its 7 tail ends.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE FLED WHILE YOU COULD! THE FOOLISH ORACLES WOULD HAVE WANTED IT!"

His blue magic blew away a vine whip, severing it and sending it flying away like many others that had fired at him. But as he sent the vine flying, through his shimmering blue shield, Starswirl saw 7 tails come swinging around as he finished throwing it, the Rakshasa Overlord's tails too fast for him to teleport from.

His shield stopped the barbs, but the impact sent Starswirl flying across the river, crashing into the muddy banks on the other side, his shield failing as he first hit it, mud flying as the grey Unicorn painfully skidded through the shore mud.

Seething, the Overlord charged, though not before it glanced sideways with its massive head to see, to its amusement, a Tigress it recognised from 2 cubs its minions had taken 9 years ago.

"You won't harm him!" Nahia roared, standing her ground.

"AS IF YOU COULD STOP ME…" The Overlord drawled, his voice shaking her to her core, but she stood her ground. The creature turned from the recovering grey wizard on the other shore, stomping towards Nahia with an ear splitting roar.

Nahia responded in kind, though she stood rooted as the vine bodied, creature over three times her height and more times that length bore down on her, vine tongues, one of them still on fire by magic, ready to launch.

But the creature stopped as the large Tigress finished the roar, turning its long head back to glance with sudden alarm at its torso.

From inside, like a series of spotlights, grey and blue mixed light burst through in a series of beams, before fire in addition to this surged from it. Squirming, on fire and being attacked form the inside, the Overlord's creature form reeled to stagger away, its own 7 tails striking its own back in a vain attempt at attacking the parasite within.

A bulge began to grow very quickly, before a large gurgle from the massive creature followed vines that made up its body, and demonic/alicorn magic bursting into the air, exploding in all directions.

A crumpled mostly grey, slightly blue glowing form fell to the ground, whilst a orange hued form flew away, crashing more painfully to the ground. Nahia didn't waste time, she knew orange was the enemy.

Charging forwards, Nahia leapt onto the orange glowing form as its light diminished, and as she landed, claws outstretched, she saw the Alicorn give a shriek of agony from her claws snapping his wings off, burnt and damaged as they already were.

Geldrath squirmed painfully under the Tiger's grip, the Alicorn facedown in the burnt earth as he felt the Tiger's breath on his neck. As he resigned to his fate however, he realized two things as he lay there, death inevitable.

The medallion was gone, Siral having taken it within the creature form. And now Siral had issued a loud proclamation of victory to the demons that aided him, of Geldrath's defeat.

Sure enough, the Tiger's claws eased off him, out of fear. Fear of the shimmering, transparent horde of demons that had come for him like a horde of locusts.

Geldrath's eyes widened, but he accepted. He knew the dangers of tampering with demon hordes, but this was the deal.

It was his magic that bound them to him for their gain, and should he ever die, in a bargain sturck with him to them, his form would become their last sustanence before they were expelled. Geldrath's magic was what let them take form, let them exist in such concentrated forms in that crevice.

As he died, they'd be scattered. The Rakshasa would ensure they get one last meal before they were scattered to the winds.

Backing up, Nahia suppressed a tremble of fear as she saw the hordes of unseen demons drag Geldrath's wheezing Alicorn body through the dirt and ash quickly, back to the same tunnel she and Starswirl had dared venture down to enter the temple.

As he was dragged away, Geldrath saw the faintly recovering Starswirl on the far shore, and the barely moving Siral amidst the ruins of his largest creature form. With a slight laugh at Siral in particular, Geldrath made a mental resignation to himself as the Rakshasa dragged him down into the breeding chamber underground, towards their crevice where he'd implanted their main hive in the deepest dark he could muster.

They struggled against just me, a single Alicorn with a more confined, long term plan.

They will grow in power, and thus wish for more power. I was told Alicorns, when I became one, were the beginning of a new Era of Equestria, of greatness.

Greatness is not always good.

They're doomed, all of them. And they will likely earn their fate, as I did.

Amidst the stifling darkness of the crevice's rocky depths, as his magic confining them faded, Geldrath was ripped apart in body and mind, as the Rakshasa hive took their last feast before the dispersal.

Temple outskirts, river shores

As she paced over to Siral's prone form, facedown and slowly breathing in the ash strewn ground, Nahia turned to see what Starswirl also stared at as it flowed from the temple.

A shimmering mist flowed from the temple in all directions, like a dispersal of pollen from a flower would. But inside that cloud of shimmering mass was the thousands of Rakshasa demons dispersing, no longer to be so concentrated.

Flowing in the skies, and across the ground, instead of a concentrated mass of malice and evil, it was more a soft breeze of discontent and insidious mischief now.

But amidst the transparent emission, lit up by the now smaller forest fires around the temple outskirts, a single orange light rose with them, as it resembled an Alicorn in silhouette for a moment high above the temple, before it too gradually dispersed across the night sky.

High above, what looked like a new, faintly orange twinkling star poked into existence in the night sky, growing in plume like a translucent, moon sized shape in the night sky, orange in hue.

It wouldn't be the last Supernova to appear in the night sky to coincide with an Alicorn's death.

Geldrath became the first ever Alicorn to die, injured in battle against 2 Unicorns and a Tiger, consumed by the same demons he mastered when they saw he, their master, was guaranteed to die.

Across the valley, Rakshasa beings began to grow placid, and eventually fall too, the magic source keeping them in their bodies failing. The wood and decaying flesh bodies fell, and those Rakshasa joined their others to spread across the world in a much less potent ambience, as they were naturally, before Geldrath formed a way to concentrate them into usable entities.

Turning the barely conscious Siral over, Nahia couldn't help but grimace at the scarring and injuries to the Black Unicorn's form.

Nearby though, as he avoided looking at his heavily mutilated friend's body, Starswirl used his blue magic on clouds he had seen up in the night sky by the fires, as well as slowly sucking water from the river to spray gently down in micro-showers across the distant parts of the forest still ablaze.

They decided to remain here. While it was in the open, and it was still night, there was no risk of predators after what happened here tonight.

But the healed Tigress felt this was not enough debt repaid for healing her paw. She would protect these two until they left, even if it meant she was gone for a few extra days. She had told her family 3 days only, but now with the Overlord actually vanquished, she could spare them longer.

For Starswirl however, as he finished setting the small showers of rain and water across distant parts of the forest with magic the Equestrian Pegasi had originally conceived, he examined Siral with a hardened expression, looking over the Black Unicorn's condition. The only uncharred thing was the medallion of Ghung Chian, wrapped around Siral's hoof, that he'd reclaimed in battle inside the creature's innards.

He'd apologized for seemingly leaving Siral for dead already. Sorry may not be enough for that and more after all this. And beyond his knowledge, Siral had other issues his experience with Geldrath had brought up.

Issues, and seeds of doubt and even distrust Geldrath had sown with cruel skill, about a great many things.

All the while, the simmering flames of the jungle died beneath their small magical rainfalls, and the jungle became natural after 63 years of the Overlord's increasingly cursed rule from the shadows.

Author's Notes:

Siral snaps and spring his trap, knowing Ghung Chian's medallion better, and his first experience with an Alicorn leaves a lot to be desired. And Geldrath's union with the Rakshasa has its price for failure, though not beyond his knowledge.

And a concept I introduce now is that of an Alicorn's death being signaled by a supernova's appearance in the night sky, as their magic means their death is heralded by a well-timed supernova being apparent on the planet they die on. They are about the size of the moon, as described in the story.

The end of the chapter, and Starswirl finally relinquishes his desire to not interfere beyond the prophecy in wake of desperate need to save his friend.

And Nahia does live up to her brutal reputation now that she has her agility back, along with her bolstered by lack of speed strength, bite and claws, and no constant pain slowing her movements. Honest, yes. Nice, ehh...she is a Tiger.