“Would you mind explaining why the Skygger are here, Drøm Mester?”

The unicorn shifted his weight, the change in color on his coat hardly making a difference in the darkened Realm of Dreams.

After a moment, he spoke, his voice resonating off of the cold, glowing walls.

“The question is not why, but how…”

Fugl Føniks raised an eyebrow as his Leader tapped the Dream Stone under his hooves, the campfire sputtering as the darkness choked it. Sølv Brann nudged Fugl Føniks, and the white alicorn kindled the fire with a small ember, patiently awaiting his Leader’s response.

However, Hvit Brann was not, as a white ember filled the Elder’s eye, the Darkness unable to choke the passionate flame of his mind.

“Drøm Mester, what do you mean, ‘how’?”

The Leader tapped at the stone once more.

“Look down.”

Fugl Føniks did as he was told, and raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t see anything…”

“Ah, yes…you don’t possess the Eye of Dreams…I apologize, the last pony that accompanied me here was Dag Drøm…”

Fugl Føniks nodded, knowing how hard his Leader had taken the death of the mystical mare.

“Well, I’ll tell you what I mean…see how the stone shifts slightly? This is Dream Stone. It is filled with the Thoughts of many ponies. Each one of these Stones is filled with Thought. Every time there’s an extremely negative Thought, the stone is worn away a small amount. The cracks between them let in the Realm of Darkness that weaves its way between these walls, and therefore let in the mind of Mørket.

“When the wielder of the Seventh Element of Harmony entered the world, certain Memories were torn from his mind, and were stored here, in the Realm of Dreams. The Memories were so dark, and so tortured, that they managed to wear down the stones to stubs in certain areas of the Temple of Thought. And now, we need to make sure that the Skygger don’t break down the Door to Darkness in this Realm. If the Realm of Darkness leaked into here, I’m afraid we would all be dead.

“And while the wielder’s Love may keep him safe, and the Skygger at bay while he repairs the gaps in his memory, the Soul Gems prove to be a rather daunting obstacle. Until he discards of the Fragments, he can’t be fully mended.”

Fugl Føniks nodded.

“Well, that explains how the Skygger are here, in the Realm of Dreams…but...that doesn’t answer my other question…I didn’t really ask it properly, so, here’s my real question:

“Why is Lys i Mørket letting in Skygger? Why is he making Skygger?”

Drøm Mester sighed, and shifted his weight once more.

“Lys i Mørket is dead, Fugl. Yes, he’s alive, but, for all intents and purposes, he’s dead. He still lives on as Mørket, and through the Skygger. But Discord…Discord must have somehow corrupted him, and crushed the Light inside of him…and now, Mørket is Discord’s greatest ally.”

Fugl Føniks gulped.

“Discord’s ally? But…it was Lys i Mørket who helped me guide Gylden Glør! Lys i Mørket helped us imprison Discord!”

Drøm Mester looked into Fugl Fønik’s eyes, and told him something best left forgotten, but safer for all of them kept in their memories.

“And so did Metall Kant. Have you already forgotten how Discord drove Metall to try to kill Gylden? Metall Kant, the most sharp-minded Leader and Elder, was controlled by Discord. Lys i Mørket was weakened by the battle, he had to sleep in the crypts for ten thousand years, in an extremely open state. When Nightmare Moon caused Eternal Night, Discord had a clear opportunity, and he seized it.

“And, just like thousands of years ago, it will be wars and internal struggles that damn this world. The world is on the brink of war. The griffons are preparing an armada to strike out at the Pegasi capital, and only one griffon, a New Age Elder, mind you, has the sense to try and stop it all.

“All of this chaos, all of this disunity, it’s all boiled down to this. The Skygger are here because Equestria is dying, and Lys i Mørket is letting them in because he has no choice.

“We lost fifteen Elders trying to free him from Discord’s grasp, and one hundred years to boot. Now, we must hope that, without the aid of being Chosen, the New Age Elders will willingly donate their powers and service to us.

“The Skygger are here…because Equestria is dying.

“And Lys i Mørket is letting them in because it’s the only way to save it.”

Fugl Føniks blinked, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place.

“He’s trying to get the Skygger out of the Realm of Darkness…and into here…so that we can hunt them.”

Drøm Mester nodded, just as a mangled scream sounded out in the darkness, chilling the three Elders to the bone.

“Prepare yourselves, boys…Skygger are coming.”

Fugl Føniks did just that, as he engulfed the first Skygger in flames, the fire giving off no light in the darkened Realm. The Skygger instantly vaporized.

“But wait…how can this save the Realm of Reality?”

“Each one of them is a Thought…”

Drøm Mester Manipulated the Realm of Dreams, and destroyed the Skygger with a burst of energy. The drain on his energy was notable, as Sølv Brann had to protect him from the next Skygger as he recovered.

“And with the death of that Thought…”

Five Skygger came around the bend, and Sølv Brann lit his Soul Metal blade afire, burning and splitting the beasts asunder, instantly turned to smoke that seemed to disappear.

The halls went quiet, the Skygger slain in that small area.

“The Choices that they present…can never be made…”

Hey!

I’m going to outline a few things for y’all…

I’m mainly writing vacation chapters because ideas for them come to me much more quickly than ideas for actual plot movement.

Also, I’m still on character development, after 55 chapters…so…yeah…