Fluttershy's POV
After talking with Chrysalis
Twilight's Library

I wanted to talk with Chrysalis first before sitting in on the Pillars as they discussed Stygian. The talk with Chrysalis was a short one. While I am the Element of Kindness I'm also Flutterbat as well. So, a part of me wanted to show Chrysalis kindness because of my element. However, both Flutterbat and I were upset at Chrysalis for how she tricked Emmit. The Tree of Harmony really did change her to the core. What she said about truly feeling regret took us both by surprise. But it did reinforce what the Tree of Harmony said about bringing her into harmony with the rest of Equestria. After that, there wasn't much talking. So, after Emmit and I promised that we would talk with her later, we left her to think some more.

After Chrysalis, Emmit and I walked to the library where Stygian was talking with his friends. In the middle of the library was a coffee table surrounded by chairs and a couple of sofas. Stygian was sitting in one of the chairs with Meadowbrook and Somnambula sitting in chairs on either side of him. Sitting on a sofa by himself was Flash Magnus. And sitting together on a like sofa across from Flash were Rockhoof and Mistmane with Mistmane happily leaning up against him with a content smile on her face. I had to smile after noticing the look on her face because it's a look that mares everywhere are familiar with. The look of sexual satisfaction while content with the choice she made in her pick of a stallion.

Emmit and I walked in while they were already talking and sat on a sofa across from Stygian. Because he is carrying our foals on his back he laid down on his stomach on the sofa and I sat next to his head.

"I'll admit that taking your things wasn't the brightest idea. But I'm not fast as Flash or as strong as Rockhoof. I wanted...I wanted to fight with you because I felt so useless all the time." As stygian talked his voice got a little unsteady and emotional as he talked about what happened all those years ago. He wasn't the only emotional one either.

"And we should have given you the benefit of the doubt, Stygian," Flash told him with a disappointed look in himself on his face.

"Aye, lad," Rockhoof agreed with a slow nod of his head at Stygian. The look on his face also showed signs of disappointment in himself just like Flash. "You're the one that always came up with the plan on what we fought." There were the same looks on Somnambula's face, Mistmane, and Meadowbrook's as well. Each showing looks of regret and sorrow over their hasty actions that fateful day.

"I know how you feel, Stygian," I spoke up with a sympathetic smile over at him. "Whenever I went with my friends, I always wished that I was more helpful. One time, there was a dragon that was napping on the nearby mountain and his snoring was creating a thick fog of black smoke that was harmful to everypony around. We had to get the dragon to move. I didn't even want to go because I was afraid of large dragons. I still am afraid of very large dragons. But I was forced to go and I hid behind a boulder the entire time that my friends were confronting the dragon. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't do anything until my friends got hurt." Emmit put a paw on my hoof and looked at me with a comforting smile that I returned gratefully. And after taking a breath, I continued while gazing at Stygian with an understanding smile. "I'm not strong and I was never a fast flyer either, so many times I, too, felt just as useless. So, I can relate, Stygian."

Stygian gave her a small smile and a nod of thanks.

"I guess we were so used to fighting evil that we started looking for evil that wasn't there. We're sorry, Stygian. We should have thought more about your feelings," Mistmane looked over at him with an apologetic gaze.

Stygian gave her a nod of his own. "And I should have spoken about it instead of simply acting without thinking. And now, because of my actions, the Pony of Shadows is now free."

"The Pony of Shadows being free isn't all on you Stygian," Emmit told him while a small supportive smile. "It was a chain of events with mistakes along the way which includes multiple parties. But what you can do is help us figure out what to do about it now. The only complete library that might contain anything regarding the Pony of Shadows would be the Canterlot Library."

He confirmed what Emmit said with a firm nod. "That is where I found the information about the Pony of Shadows before was in the Canterlot Library. And given how that library is taken care of, at least it was in the past, then shouldn't it still be there?'

"It should, yes," Emmit said thoughtfully. "One thing I know about my wife is that she takes care of her library. She's kind of like Twilight in that regard. However, getting rid of the Pony of Shadows might get more difficult depending on what he'll do now. My worst fear is that he'll take over the Storm King's body and use his army for his own purposes. If he does that then our task becomes harder." After saying all that, Emmit looked at Stygian with a determined look. "Your insider knowledge of what he's capable of will be invaluable to us, Stygian. Don't forget that. Sometimes, knowledge can be more important than physical strength or speed."

When Stygian sighed this time there was a look of resignation on his face. "I know that's true, but brains alone won't attract a mare. There won't be one mare that will ever take one look at me and say, 'Wow, there goes one attractive stallion.'"

I gave him a sympathetic look. He did have a point. His body was a bit smaller than average and a bit lanky looking. A few years of hard work would help that. I wasn't the only one that thought he was lanky either. The others looked at him with the same sympathetic look. Especially, Rockhoof.

"Then you would have to get the mare to see past that," Somnambula offered him with a small encouraging smile. "Get her attracted to your other attributes."

Stygian scoffed while rolling his eyes at Somnambula. "Name one mare that's attracted to intelligence."

"I like intelligence," came Starlight's voice from behind Stygian. Starlight walked up to him with a sheepish and slightly embarrassed look. "Sorry about walking up on you like this, but I was reading nearby and I heard the conversation. I still can't believe that you are the actual Pillars of Harmony even after speaking to you all before."

Stygian sighed, turned away, and hung his head. "I'm no pillar. Not when I joined with the Pony of Shadows against my friends."

The look on Starlight's face was a mixture of amusement and embarrassment. But I think that there was mostly amusement in her eyes because she tilted her head to the side giving him a slight smirk. "Really? Is that all? Remember Starswirl's time spell? I combined that with the map in Twilight's map room. With that, I could venture into any time period I wanted to." That got Stygian's attention as he lifted his head to look at her with shock and intrigue. She's already told this to the others, so they weren't surprised. I, however, was interested in where this was going. Now, though, she looked more sheepish than amused. "I used that to go back in time to hurt Twilight and take her friends away from her. I messed up the timeline so badly that Chrysalis took over in one timeline, NIghtmare Moon in another, and the last one was nothing more than a deserted wasteland. And to be perfectly honest, if I'd met you when I was still angry, I would've probably had sex with you just so I could use your intelligence for my own purposes. So, don't feel bad for yourself because your not the only reformed villain here."

With his head turned around, I couldn't see his face. But his body language certainly showed keen interest at least. He sat up straighter and even turned his body fully around to face her. "I remember helping Starswirl with that spell. It was only supposed to be used for a few hours to a couple of days at most. To think that it could be used to..." He paused and appeared to tilt his head away as if in thought. Then looked back at her with a hopeful voice. "Where is the paper with the spell on it now?"

"Gone. It got sucked into the time portal and vanished to who knows where," she told him with a look that just told me she was thankful that it happened.

Emmit's POV

More than likely he would have used it to go back and fix his mistake. But of course, I knew that wouldn't turn out how he hoped. Plus it would do more damage to the current timeline. He slumped back in his seat with a disappointed tone to his voice. "That's too bad. Still, I would've accepted sex with you even knowing that you were using me. Stallions like me don't attract many mares."

I watched a blush start to form on her face as she looked at him with a sheepish expression while biting her bottom lip. And had an idea of what she was going to say right before she said it. "Well... Former mare villains like me aren't going to get a stallion. So..."

Is she really going to...?

"Want to have sex with me?"

I watched with a smirk on my face as did Flash and Rockhoof when Stygian immediately got up from the chair with a quick, "Sure." And started walking over to her. "I have studied about multiple sex positions as well as some of the best ways of mare stimulation," he told her while walking up to her. I noticed that they were about equal in height, so at least he's got that going for him. Hopefully, all that studying he said he did would help him. Starlight was still blushing as she watched him walk up to her. Yet, there was also a little bit of intrigue in her eyes as well. And so, we watched them walk away together.

"So, I guess the meeting's over?" I asked rhetorically with a slight chuckle while looking at the others with an amused smile on my face. "One can never truly know."

"I think so?" Flash asked, also rhetorically, while looking over at me with a slight shrug of his shoulders before looking around at his friends.

As if on cue, the muffled cries of our twins wafted out from their little nest under my tails and to my ears. Lifting my tails up showed the twins were awake and hungry. Both of them blinked at me a few times as if their eyes were adjusting to brighter light. My head could turn around almost all the way like pony's heads can. Which is still an odd feeling even after all this time being in this fox form. When they saw me, they both brightened and started crawling toward my head. My heart just seemed to swell and explode with joy as they crawled on my back over to my head. "I think these two are hungry and that means that we need to go to the kitchen."

"True thestrils," Flash commented with the look on his face and the tone in his voice showing part awe and part disbelief. "Even in our day her night guards were disguised looking like that."

Fluttershy got down from her side of the couch to stand in front of me in case one of the kids needed her attention. After nuzzling our son happily, she looked over to Flash. "Yes, it feels kind of weird to be the mother of an entirely new species of ponies. But I am happy to be their mother."

"They are adorable," Mistmane cooed at the two foals that were now happily batting away at my head, happy to see their daddy.

"Thank you, Mistmane. I'm sure that you'll be happy with your foals when the time comes," I tell her while carefully stepping down from the couch. "Meanwhile, my two adorables need some food, so off we go." After I started to walk away with Fluttershy, I called back to them, "Let me, Tia, or Luna know about anything that Stygian says, okay?"

From there, Fluttershy and I walked to Twilight's kitchen to make some food for the kids. We walked silently side by side with a couple of my tails around her as her hips kept brushing up against mine. After getting to the kitchen, I levitated our two foals over onto the table carefully before morphing into my human form to make something for our foals. "You want anything?" I asked Fluttershy while walking over to the refrigerator.

"Oh, no I'm fine, thank you," she responded as she sat in a chair in front of our foals to watch them while I fixed their food. Now that Twilight is pregnant with her motherly instincts kicking in, she's made up some baby food and put them into jars. She also had some small pieces of chicken there as well which I grabbed. "I was surprised that Starlight asked Stygian to have sex with her," I heard from her while preparing the food.

"So was I, but I think that it could be good for both of them. Plus, I'm happy that Stygian is finally talking with the Pillars again." While talking I filled up a pot with water, put it on the stove to heat up, and then put the jar of baby food in the pot to warm up after opening the lid. After doing that I started cutting up the pieces of chicken into smaller pieces to add to the baby food.

"Things are looking up," Fluttershy agreed while herding the two foals on the table to keep them in one place, so they won't try an explore.

"Mostly. The only wrinkle is the Pony of Shadows. Without Stygian, I'm afraid that he may seek out the Storm King. If that happens then this whole war will get ten times worse." As the water quickly came to a boil and started heating up the baby food, I got done with cutting up the chicken. There was enough room in the pot to add the chicken to the now boiling water, so I put it in to warm it up.

"Hopefully, it won't come to that," Fluttershy commented softly as I turned around to face her while waiting for the baby food to warm up.

"Hopefully not," I agreed with a nod as I leaned back against the counter behind me. "But to change the subject, what do you think about Novo and this whole thing about marrying her?"

After a few seconds of thinking while cooing at and interacting with our foals, she finally told me, "Personally, I think your herd is big enough already." I gave her a nod in agreement at that when she turned to look back at me. "So far I think you've been managing everything just fine. But what's happening with Novo just feels like Ember all over again. Like it's being thrust upon you."

I gave her another nod while crossing my arms over my chest. "I feel the same way. I'm just worried about being stretched too thin with the foals and won't be able to give them enough attention. Especially during the early years when they need it most."

"So, what do you think about Novo?" Fluttershy asked as I turned back around to check on the food.

"I haven't talked to her at length and I need to," I told her after a few moments of thought. I took the jar of baby food out of the water now that it was warm and set it aside on the counter. And started mixing the baby food with the meat into a couple of small bowls. "It's not something to be taken lightly, so we need to talk about it. Even if we all agree to it, just for the sake of argument, I still think that holding off on a foal is a good idea simply because of the ones that I have now. I just don't want to be spread too thin." After preparing the food in two bowls with small spoons, I grab them and step over to the table. And sit down next to Fluttershy to help feed my foals with her.

The smiles on their faces as I sat down and started feeding them with Fluttershy made all the worries seem to fade away. "Why don't you speak to the others about this and see what they think?" Fluttershy asked as a suggestion as she fed our son and our daughter latched onto the spoon in my hand as I fed her.

"Yeah, good idea. I'll do that after I help you feed our foals."

^_^

I knew that Twilight and Ember were still in the Castle...somewhere. So, after the foals were fed and Fluttershy was off toward her cottage again, I started looking for either one of them or both of them after morphing back into my fox form.

Twilight? Are you and Ember still in the castle? I mentally asked while walking down the hallway back to the library again. I didn't know where they were, so that was the most reasonable place to start walking to.

Actually, no, she mentally replied. Ember and I are outside at the waterfall in the herd community. We're talking about a good place for her egg.

Alright, thank you. I'll be right there, I mentally told her and started walking out of her castle and to the waterfall by our homes. Once outside of the castle, I used my shadow ability to fly through the air to get there quicker. It also startled a few pegasi as well as I flew over Ponyville. Both Twilight and Ember were standing by the falls as they watched my shadowy form race over and then land in my fox form in front of them each one giving me a loving smile. Feeling mischievous, I morphed into my human form and then greeted Twilight first with a passionate welcoming kiss before doing the same with Ember. Both returned my kiss with one of passion and warmth for me as well. Then struck a silly heroic pose while saying, "Lafayette, we are here."

Neither said anything for a second until a frog croaked loudly. After hearing that, Twilight looked up at me with a teasing smirk and jokingly replied, "Lafayette's here, too."

Ember didn't get it, so she wanted to change the subject. "Anyway," she began slowly while dragging out the first word before continuing with, "Twilight and myself have figured out a good place to incubate our youngling."

While looking at the waterfall, I put an arm around Ember and a hand on Twilight's head. "Let me guess, behind the waterfall?"

"Behind and beneath the waterfall," Twilight said as she tilted her head more into my hand while Ember leaned against me. The gentle cool breeze created by the waterfall washed over us as Twilight continued to explain. "Because this area doesn't have lava flows as natural incubators, I suggested going underground. The natural temperature is relatively steady underground. Cool during the summer and warm during the winter." While Twilight was explaining this, Ember reached behind me and grabbed my ass with her hand, and started fondling and squeezing my ass. "So, with that in mind, the ground is natural insulation for the higher temperatures of an incubation chamber. And I thought about putting the entrance behind the waterfall because it's cool to have an entrance behind a waterfall."

"Sounds good, but who's going to dig it?" I asked while enjoying Ember's hand on my ass and my hand rubbing against her arm.

"Oh don't worry about that," Twilight dismissed with a slight wave of her hoof as she kept tilting her head into my hand. "I've already got the local construction company to start planning the dig. It's going to be similar to the Shadow Organization's cave. The deeper we go, the more stable the temperature is. And after it's built, we'll do some trial runs to see just how stable the temperature is. If everything goes well, then it should be complete by the time Ember is ready to lay her egg. Or eggs."

"Sounds good to me." I paused to look over at Ember. "What do you think?"

"I've come to trust her judgment," she said with a nod of her head. "As long as the environment is warm enough and here with you and your herd, my mate, I will be happy."

After leaning over and giving her a loving kiss, which she returned happily, I offered a question while gazing at the falls. "Okay, but what about some type of warning system that the atmosphere is getting too cold? You know, like a notification that the air is getting too cold?"

Twilight hummed in thought for a moment. "Well, there's nothing that comes to mind that we could use magically to accomplish that."

"Okay, what about having some snakes look after that then?" I offered an alternative while looking between them. "Snakes and reptiles love warm and even hot temperatures. During our trials, we'll know just how much the temperature changes over time, but it's always a good idea to have a warning system. And Fluttershy could talk to the local reptiles and see if they are willing to help out and they'll get to use it as a makeshift sauna."

"If Fluttershy says that her animals will safely watch over our youngling then I'll accept," Ember said with a firm nod of her head. With a smile of my own, I leaned down and kissed her again. She returned my kiss and squeezed my ass at the same time, relishing in the show of love and affection. She's come a long way since the first time we met and started getting to know each other and it showed in the level of trust that she's putting in the other girls and their abilities. And while we gazed into each other's eyes, I couldn't help but wonder what our child would look like. Would he look human but with scales? Have a dragon's look but human skin with the same level of protection as scales? Would he or she be four-legged like a pony but with scales? Only time will tell.

^_^

Starswirl's POV
At the same time
Hazel's Village

For days I've been tracking where the Pony of Shadows went and I know I am closer to finding the fiend. And the trail has led me to this small unassuming village near the basin. My eyes spotted the signs of battle as I approached the village. The details of that battle got clearer while walking inside it. Apparently, this village was built around a single water well. That was smart of them. The damage was mainly located in spots on the ground, evident by the magical scorch marks in the hard-packed dirt. And when the breeze blew my way, I smelled the signs of the burnt ground as well. And due to how the local residents were milling about around their individual dwellings, it was very recent. I was so engrossed in analyzing what happened that I didn't see the young filly that walked up to me.

"Hi there, I'm Hazel," she announced herself in the high-pitched excited glee of a young filly. Looking down at her told me that she got her name due to her eye coloring. "Welcome to my home. Who are you? Are you looking for something?"

She seemed still so innocent and wide-eyed with wonder even after what happened here. Perhaps she could help me find out what I needed to know. "I am, young filly," I told her with a smile and warmth in my voice. "I am looking for an evil villain called the Pony of Shadows. A large-looking pony that's all black and very evil. Perhaps you can tell me what happened here?"

She jumped up and down excitedly with a smile a mile wide as she told me, "Oh, oh, yeah. I remember seeing it on a big ship while it was trying to attack our house. But Chrysalis protected us."

"Wait! Chrysalis, you say?" I asked the little filly while staring at her in total disbelief. I may be a thousand years out of date, but never would Chrysalis protect anything other than her own hive. She doesn't even protect her own drones.

"Oh yeah," the little filly nodded her head rapidly in an excited way that little foals will. "She found me when I was lost in the forest and brought me home. She protected the whole town from the larger ship that the black pony was on. Then this large pretty fox showed up with two mares and started talking to the big black pony. They even rescued a weak-looking stallion from inside of it before the big ship got destroyed and the big black pony flew off."

Hearing her talk of a small weak pony being rescued from within the Pony of Shadows just couldn't be true. I couldn't trust this filly to tell exactly what she saw and not use her imagination. It must have shown on my face because she looked upset and glared up at me with a soft stomp of her tiny hoof. "It's true!" she all but yelled out to me just as a mare started walking up that was probably the filly's mother.

"Hazel? Are you bothering this stallion?" the mare, that was now obviously her mother, asked her daughter in a chiding tone that mothers are known for.

"No, mom. He wanted to know what happened to that big scary black pony that flew off and he doesn't believe me."

I looked over at the filly's mother with a smirk and a slight shake of my head. "Filly's and their imagination. She tried to say that Chrysalis protected this town and that this nine-tailed fox came with a couple of mares and rescued a weak gray-looking pony from within the Pony of Shadows."

"Don't you dare call my filly a liar when that's exactly what happened," the filly's mother shot back at me with more than just a little bit of heat in her voice with eyes to match. "I admit that it was surprising to see Chrysalis actually defend this village, but that's exactly what she did. She brought my daughter home, defended this village, and after that changed."

"Changed you say? How?" I asked while thinking this was totally disbelievable. This couldn't have happened.

"She was developed in some type of cocoon and when she emerged, her colors changed."

"See?! I told you I was telling you the truth," the filly glared up at me, stomped her small hoof against the ground, and then turned around and walked off with a harrumph.

Her mother looked at me with a disappointed look of her own as she reiterated, "My daughter was telling you the truth."

"And there really was a weak-looking gray unicorn that was pulled out of the Pony of Shadows?" I asked again gazing at her with a stern look to challenge her.

She nodded once, firmly, and told me, "Yes, that's right. Our leader along with two mares pulled a gray unicorn from within that big black pony. Then they all left after Chrysalis changed and the Pony of Shadows, as you put it, flew off in that direction." She pointed her hoof toward the east before she, too, turned around and walked off.

All this was just too preposterous to believe. Chrysalis rescuing a filly and protecting a village? She'd never do something like that. And Stygian being rescued from the Pony of Shadows? Not possible. He made his choice. Once a villain, always a villain. However, this lead had to be investigated. And so, it was time to return to Ponyville.

And possibly confront Stygian.

^_^

Emmit's POV
A few hours later
Canterlot throne room

In all the excitement from the day, our daughter had fallen asleep in my arms shortly after my arrival. Which was fine with me because Tia, Novo, and I had to have a little talk about Novo. So, right now I was laying back against the headboard of the queen-sized throne with my daughter happily snoozing away in my arms with a smile on her face. And because our daughter was sleeping we all were talking in hushed tones. Tia was sitting beside me with Novo sitting in front of me. And other than us talking, the throne room slash war room, was quiet.

Novo looked at me with a small smile but a slightly embarrassed look on her face. It was the first time that I'd seen that look about her in the short time that I'd known her. It also told me that she was fixing to tell me something very personal to her. "I know I can be flirty," Novo started saying with a small smile and a light chuckle. After giving her a Really? look, she just rolled her eyes and admitted, "Alright a major flirt." She then looked at me with a more serious look on her face. Her eyes looked at me with an honest intensity about them. "It's just that, I miss being with a mate. I conceived Skystar with my former mate at a very young age. So, right now I'm still very capable of producing another foal. And I guess when you ordered me to get down below on the ship when we first met and then held me down to protect me... That was when I started feeling the urge and the want to be with a mate again. To feel loved, cared for, protected, and to have their legs, or arms in your case, around me. I guess that, until that moment, I never realized just how much I really missed that."

This entire meeting was for me to understand how Novo was feeling right now. And I understood that, which was why, Tia spoke up next as she looked up at me with all her love for me in her eyes. "Now that I know what it's like to love somepony like you and our daughter. I can't imagine my life without you. I'd be so depressed and I'd miss your arms, your kisses, and everything about you. I'd miss you so much." She looked down at our sleeping daughter. "I'd stay strong for her, of course. But I'd miss you so much that if I found someone else, I'd probably feel the way she does."

"At least that explains all your flirting and fondling," I told Novo with an understanding smile and a light chuckle. Pausing for a moment while Solar shifted in her sleep then settled down again. "I've talked with the rest of the herd and they've pretty much all agreed that adding one into the herd right now, especially with the war with the Storm King, isn't a good idea. But let me be clear, Novo, I'm not saying no. And I don't think that even they are saying no."

"Just not right now," she finished with a slow nod of her head and a small smile that told me she understood. "I understand."

"I would like to speak with others from Seaquestria and I could do that with the ones already here," I told her while voicing my thoughts aloud. "And I'd like to do that with the ones still in Seaquestria, but I can't do that right now. Leaving here at this point in time wouldn't be a good idea." Then a thought hit me and I looked over at her quizzically. "But why me? What makes you come after me? Isn't there somepony there that can fill that need?"

Novo shook her head with a sigh. "No, because they won't treat me as anything other than their queen. Celestia knows this problem well. Trying to date a subject is problematic at best because there would always be that little bit of fear. There will always be that part of them that will treat us as rulers instead of equal partners in a relationship. When you forced me down for my protection on the ship, I knew right then that I wouldn't have that problem with you. Because Celestia didn't have that problem with you."

I heard Tia giggle softly right before she leaned against me lovingly and softly mused, "I saw that in him when he unexpectedly kissed me shortly after we met. I was interviewing him to see if he would be dangerous to the general public and I was testing his patience." She paused just long enough to look up at me with a knowing smirk. "He surprised me by suddenly kissing me. I knew then that even though he'd respect me as a ruler, he wouldn't be afraid of me in the least. I saw leadership and strength in him that I admired. He knew when to treat me as a ruler and when to treat me as just a mare with needs."

I nodded slowly. "I get it." Then looked at Novo as Solar snuggled in my arms with a happy soft hum of contentment. "The world I came from had kings and queens that were mostly in the past. A few countries still had them, but not the country that I came from. The country that I came from was built off of individual freedom and the self-worth of life that is given to us by nature. That no man has the right to control me, to enslave me or any other man, but that I have a natural right to be free and happy. We had a leader, naturally, but we called him or her a President. A president that we elected through a voting system. Through that voting system, he ruled the country at our consent. A king or queen rules by the right of lineage as if they were literally born to rule. This could always lead to corruption because absolute power corrupts absolutely." I shrugged a little with a chuckle. "It's a saying back home and was proven right time and time again in past leaders." Now, it was my turn to look down at Tia. "By getting to know Tia, I saw a leader that bucked against that saying. A leader that wasn't corrupted by the power she was given. That's what was so intriguing about her." My focus returned to Novo again as I said with a firm, yet gentle, tone, "The issue of your fellow Seaquestrians wishing us to marry will have to be dealt with after this war is over."

"I understand," she said simply then looked at me with a hopeful look with hints of flirtation. "However, I'd like to get to know each other better."

"I'd like that as well Novo. Just try and keep the flirting down to a minimum, please?" I asked her with an amused smile and a light chuckle. And even though she agreed, I knew that the odds of her actually letting up on her flirting were pretty much zilch. But I had hoped beyond hope that she would at least let up around the other herd mares. At least around Fluttershy and Ember. And maybe Rarity.

Little did I know that at the same moment, everything about the Storm King had changed dramatically for the worse.

^_^

Storm King's POV
Dusk
His Flagship

"How?! How can he keep defeating my forces?!" I shouted out my question to nobody in particular and used my staff to smash a flask of water that was sitting on the table I was using for the map. Water sprayed everywhere including on the map that rested on the table in front of me. The two cats that were standing near me ducked for cover as my staff went flying over their heads.

"I..I don't know, s-sir," the short black cat nearest me cowered beside me and trembled in fear. When I looked over at him, he started backing up away from me with his tail between his legs. The other white cat with him hid behind him.

"I know you don't know, you idiots," I shouted back, leaning down to get in their faces in anger. "You two are useless as generals for my army." Even after straightening up, I continued glaring at them while gripping my staff and seriously thinking about executing them. "Why couldn't you two have learned from Tempest? The both of you are alive simply at my mercy, so you two better start thanking me for not killing the both of you because of your incompetence at being soldiers much less anything else." Both of them started doing just that as they rushed up to me, knelt down in front of me, and started kissing my feet. I loved it when others did that to me.

"Thank you so much for not killing us, sir."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for not killing me."

I rolled my eyes at them anyway and started walking away from them, around the table, and toward the door of my cabin. "Fine! Fine. Both of you can live for another day," I snapped back at them with the butt of my staff hitting the floor the whole way. "Thankfully for the both of you, I'm feeling generous to let you both live because I've decided on a course of action." The two soldiers on either side of the door snapped to attention as I walked up, opened the door, and stepped through it. Then turned around and walked up the steps up to the soldier behind the wheel. "Signal all remaining ships that we are going to attack Equestria all at once."

"Where, sir?" the soldier asks as he holds up a communication orb in his hand.

"Maretropolis," I said with heat and anger in my voice while gripping my staff and narrowing my eyes toward the horizon. "I'm done testing the waters."

Suddenly from the front of the ship, one of his soldiers called back to him with a hurried shout of alarm. "Something approaches the bow and coming in fast."

"What?!" Even though I asked, it was largely rhetorical. But something had obviously spooked my soldier, but considering that almost everything spooked them I wasn't worried that it was one of the ponies. They seemed to watch and wait for my move, so as I walked across the deck toward the bow I wasn't expecting them. And about halfway across the deck, I realized that it wasn't any creature from the pony kingdom but the Pony of Shadows returning. Not only returning but returning quickly. He was all shadows and flying through the air like something was after him. Figures. One more loss to add to this miserable excuse of a military force. I was fully expecting him to land on the deck and tell me that he failed. He didn't do that, but instead attacked my soldier at the bow that first spotted him. His shadow form completely surrounded the soldier and all I heard was his screaming in terror. Not pain, just terror.

Trying to stop him I used my staff and shot out a bolt of lightning at him. However, he moved to the side just before the lightning bolt hit him and instead of stopping him, I killed my soldier. "Stygian?! What are you doing?!" I yelled out, demanding an answer. However, he didn't answer me but flew off to do the same to other soldiers on the deck. One by one, I watched my soldiers get surrounded by his shadows and... Taken over? Controlled? After the Pony of Shadows had control over my soldiers, their bodies were surrounded by a light haze of shadows and black smoke with black smoke coming from their eyes like black flames. "What are you doing?!"

He finally answered me as he flew up in front of me and all I heard was a whisper of a voice that tickled my head.

"I'm not stygian anymore. And I'm taking over."

A split second later, I was surrounded by complete darkness. I wasn't in pain. But I couldn't see or hear anything around me. Not even the hand in front of my face, nor the sound of my own voice.

^_^

Starswirl's POV
Evening
Twilight's castle

It didn't make any sense. What happened in that small village didn't make any sense. But it wasn't just the little filly that said it, but the other residents as well. All of them told me the same thing. While Chrysalis protected the small house containing the villagers, two of my friends rescued Stygian from the Pony of Shadows, and then the Pony of Shadows flew off. It didn't make sense.

Once a villain, always a villain.

If that was true, then I had to confront Stygian first. Now that I knew where he was, which was back at Ponyville, it didn't take me long to get there. It didn't take me long because I used special teleportation techniques to get across the land quicker than I normally would, so it only took a few hours. However, I was tired when I arrived in front of Twilight's castle.

But I wasn't spent.

And so, I walked through the door with my mission to find Stygian and confront him for his evil acts. My hooves pounded against the crystal floor and echoed in the entryway as I stomped my way through the foyer. I used my magic to yank open the door that was across the room from the entrance...

"OH!" And almost walked into a startled Princess Twilight. "Starswirl, you're back," she exclaimed happily as she stepped up to me, ears pointed my way.

"I am back and ready to confront Stygian for his evil deeds against Equestria." My voice was firm as I glared at her then proceeded to step around her to find Stygian. I wasn't expecting her to stop me and step in front of me. The happy look that was on her face after first seeing her was replaced by a look similar to that of the Empress whenever she was upset.

Twilight got in front of me and almost got in my face as she spread her wings wide in royal fashion which was a clear way of reminding me that she was indeed a princess. A young one granted, but still a princess. She even looked at me with the look of a princess, too. "I know that you are angry with him, Starswirl. And while Stygian admits that taking your things wasn't the wisest thing to do, he didn't do it maliciously. He wanted to make his own weapon from them so he could fight with you not against you. He's been talking with the others as well as my friends ever since he willingly separated himself from the Pony of Shadows."

"Impossible!" I nearly shouted back at her with a firm shake of my head. "Once a villain, always a villain."

She pointed down the hallway toward her library as she turned to the side to let me by. "Then go see for yourself, Starswirl." But right after I took my first step, she used her magic on my beard and brought my head over to her, almost nose to nose with her. "On the condition that you don't attack him or accost him in any way or you answer to a pregnant and moody princess. And as Emmit will tell you, you don't mess with a princess when she's pregnant and moody. Do you understand me, Starswirl?"

I gave her a slow nod in agreement, though I didn't like it. "Yes, I understand." I thought that she would let me go, but she didn't. Not only did she not let me go, but she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Yes, what?" she demanded. And when I didn't know what she wanted and just stood there, she clarified for me, "Yes, princess, I understand."

She really ruffled my fur with that, but I yielded and said it. "Yes, princess, I understand." Then after a quick nod of her head, she let me go and walked away outside of her castle to do whatever she needed. After she left, my fur was still ruffled, but I decided to heed her wishes and wouldn't attack him when I saw him. Therefore, I turned and started walking down the hallway toward her library where I believe Stygian was. My hooves were all but still stomping on the ground, this time for another reason. Just an upstart young princess throwing her weight around.

After yanking open the door with my magic, I saw Stygian with the rest of my friends as well as that nine-tailed fox and another mare sitting next to Stygian all around a table in the middle of the library. Stygian didn't even hide that he was still in league with the Pony of Shadows as he was talking about the fiend even now.

"The Pony of Shadow's ability to infect others and to control others with shadows for a short time before they die is his most dangerous and deadly ability," I heard Stygian say to the others. That ruffled my fur even more because he sat there bragging about it.

"STYGIAN! YOU...FIEND!" I shouted into the room and stomped my way across the room over to him. However, before I even got halfway across the room Flash was the first one to get in my way, then Rockhoof, then followed by the others. "Stand aside so that I can deal with this fiend," I commanded them but they didn't move or stand aside.

"We will not," Rockhoof stomped his hoof hard against the crystal floor of the library with a stern determined look on his face. A look that was clearly echoed by the others.

"We knew how much of a hot head you can be, Starswirl," Flash began saying while I stepped up to them, determined to go through them to get to Stygian. "And when we found out that Stygian took our things we followed your lead. That was a mistake. He didn't want to use them against us, but to create his own weapon so he could stand with us, not against us."

"And I suppose he told you this, did he? Once a villain, always a villain. They'll lie to get their way," I told them, irritated that they couldn't see what Stygian was really doing. Then Mistmane stepped forward and I really got a good look at her. It shocked me so much that I almost forgot why I was there, to begin with. She was young and beautiful again. "Mistmane? You're young again. How? Is this Stygian's doing to get you on his side?"

She simply shook her head with a look of disappointment that I've seen other times, but none directed toward me. Until now. "No, he didn't promise me anything for he was not the one that restored me. Emmit did and his healing ability," she said and that further shocked me. "Stygian willingly left the Pony of Shadows and is now helping Emmit and us find a way to defeat him."

"What happened years ago was a misunderstanding," Somnambula said as she, too, stepped forward with a firm look on her face. The same look on her face that I imagined she had when she faced the Sphinx. "He did take our things, but not to use against us."

This time, it was Stygian himself who walked around them and started talking. "I realize that taking your things without voicing my concerns and wishes was wrong. But as I told them, I didn't do it maliciously. I'm not strong like Rockhoof and I'm not powerful in magic like you." He sighed with sorrow and regret on his face as he continued. "All I've been able to do is research our enemies and foes. I was never able to physically fight alongside you and I wished it so for a long time. Because I felt so useless every time you went into a fight and I did not. I watched you fight while I didn't have the strength to, no matter how much willpower I had. I would have just gotten in your way, so I watched. Until I found a way that I could make something that would make me strong enough to fight with you. But in order to do that, I had to borrow your things and take them to Ponhenge."

"He did the wrong thing for the right reason," Meadow Brook said as the unknown mare walked around the group, up to Stygian, and put a hoof around him. "At that time we were fighting so many enemies for the good of Equestria, that we started seeing evil where it wasn't. So...Stygian was right in a sense. We did turn our backs on him."

"No more," Rockhoof lightly thumped his hoof against the floor again with his firm resolve clear in his eyes.

"We know how stubborn you can be, but for harmony's sake pay attention to what your heart is telling you," Flash pleaded with me with an exasperated expression. As were the others. Maybe, just maybe. This was one of the times that I'd gotten it wrong.

Next Chapter: Chapter Eleven: Darkness Approaches Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 7 Minutes