Present Day, Equestria:

Seven always held his guard at high standards. The majority of them were recruited from the few times Equestria had ever been at war, usually former soldiers or guardsmen from either side of said conflict. They were a mixture of various ponies and gryphons, and all had signed a contract with Seven guaranteeing protection from age as long as they served him. At any time, they could ask to be freed from their contract, at which point they would promptly die. He had never had a guard cancel a contract: he made sure they were well paid, they got to keep their own homes outside of Haven while having a room at the fortress ready for when they needed it, and were even occasionally given vacation time. All things considered, signing on with Seven was a pretty sweet deal for most of them. The fact that many of them were hundreds or thousands of years old helped Seven as well: he had a small army of well trained and highly experienced guardsmen ready at a moment’s notice. Because of this combination they don't usually die often. So when one of them winds up dead under mysterious circumstances, Seven does not take long to act.

"What happened?" Seven asked as he looked upon the corpse of one Lucifer Strider. He had been carried into one of the supply closets as to avoid rumors amongst his guards: discipline is another thing Seven held as a high priority.

"I'm not sure, sir." Swift said as he gazed at his comrade mournfully. "Me 'n Crackshot were just hanging around when he flew past us. We took flight after him and noticed that he was bleeding and crying. When we caught up with him, he was in a frantic state, saying he needed to see you immediately. After that he just... died. Right in front of us."

Seven closely examined the body. A single cut had grazed him somehow, staining his coat a crimson red, but otherwise he was completely unharmed.

"Shyvanna." He addressed his personal bodyguard sternly, prompting her to position herself in front of him immediately. "Get one of the unicorn medics to survey the damage. I want to know what exactly killed him. And while you’re there, set up a date with our good friend, the mortician. We aren't just gonna dig a hole in the ground and leave him without a headstone." Shyv nodded solemnly and trotted out the door, towards the infirmary.

"As for you, Congratulations. You and 'Shot just got promoted." Seven said, never letting his gaze escape the corpse before him.

"Sir?" Swift said in confusion.

"You two are going to be taking over Lucifer's old duties: Personal guards to one Vinyl Scratch." The young colt blinked a few times in bewilderment, not entirely sure of what was being asked of him.

Seven finally looked into Swift’s eyes before letting loose a sigh. "Just make sure she doesn't get hurt, okay? It’s that simple. I would assign just you, but given that we don't know what killed Strider yet, I want to make sure you have somepony watching your back. Your previous duties as an Eye have now been diverted towards Vinyl until I say otherwise, do you understand?” He asked Swift, leaning closer to get his point though. The stallion only nodded and Seven resumed. “Somepony else will take your place concerning your duties with Miss Shade."

Swift Wind gulped once from nervousness before solemnly saluting. Seven stifled his internal laughter. "You don't have anything to worry about." Seven assured the colt. "It was likely an accident, or a coincidence. I'm sure his demise had nothing to do with his position. You are dismissed to go and inform your friend of your new duties." After Seven nodded in permission, Swift turned around and galloped.

"Maybe they would be a bit more open to the idea of guarding her if you told them who she was?" Shyvanna suggested as she trotted slowly past the colt in the doorway, a pair of unicorns following her in. They levitated the body off the floor of the storage room before trotting back to the infirmary to begin their analysis.

"I would if I thought they would believe me, or if I thought it mattered."

"I would think it would give them a reason to put some effort into their work, if they knew the pony they were protecting was-"

"It doesn't matter, and we're leaving it at that!" Seven took a deep breath, realizing how angry he had become. ‘The implications of that guard's death... No...' He thought. 'That's stupid. There is just no way that anypony would ever figure that out on their own, and I've only ever told a few of my most trusted guards...'

"Sir?" Seven looked up to see his bodyguard eying him with some measure of concern. He smiled at her, thankful for having as good a friend as her to spend eternity with.

"I'm fine, Shyv. Just... thinking I guess." He shook himself from his daze and adopted his 'serious' stance. "I assume you recovered the Elements?" She smiled and nodded. Just as he thought. "Good. I want you to put them in a nullifying container. Nothing too big, mind you. Something somepony could put off to the side and forget about." He said, gesticulating with his left forehoof.

"Might I ask why, sir?" She asked curiously.

Seven chuckled. "I thought of a great place to hide the Elements until they're safe at the castle again. Not to mention we get to visit two of my favoritest ponies in all of Equestria."

An hour and one trip through a red orb later, the two were outside Ponyville, on a dirt-road that looked suspiciously familiar to Shyv. Seven chuckled, remembering the road itself all too well. It was the exact spot they had been in when they first saw Ponyville all those years ago. Shyv mentally thanked that the town wasn’t burning and no zomponies were shuffling about instead of the ordinary ones.

"Smell that fresh air! Does a pony good to get out every once in a while, wouldn't you agree?" Seven asked, awaking her from her memories. Shyvanna grunted in response. Causing Seven to shake his head. "Lighten up a bit! Why does everypony seem to have a stick up their rump these days?" He said, chuckling a bit.

Seven paused for a moment before looking to something in the distance. "I think I know a pony that might help with that!" Before Shyvanna could pose a question, she suddenly found herself teleported into an apple tree, caught in its branches. Seven looked up at her from the ground and laughed heartily.

"Hello? Is somepony here?" A voice called out from behind him. Seven turned to meet the owner, who trotted into view a few seconds later, dragging an empty apple cart behind her.

The unicorn mare eyed them quizzically before realization overcame her. "Oh! You! You're that earth pony from before! Uh..." She rubbed her head with her hoof, trying to remember his name. "Starts with an 'S', right?"  

Seven nodded, chuckling. "Nice to see you too, Shade. How have things been?" Nightshade gave Seven a warm smile, obviously delighted to see him despite the fact that she couldn't remember his name.

'Mental note: She's not wearing illusion glasses. Eyes are normal though...'

"Actually, things have been kind of nice. At first things were a little weird, since a lot of ponies seemed to know me already, but it's been okay! I was a bit confused when Shadow said we had to look like unicorns until I saw that book." Her smile turned to a frown at the memory of what she read. "I can see why now, I guess. At least I don't have to hide from everypony! Like Rainbow! She's fun. And Mac! I don't really know why he knew, but I don't mind! And Fluttershy! Even though she doesn't seem to like me very much..." She trailed off, her voice betrayed sadness.

Seven couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. "Still a child at heart, I see?"

"That's weird, Mac said the same thing."

Seven raised an eye. "Oh, really now?"

"Yeah. He also-"

"Uh. Little help?" Shade and Seven looked up to the pony, still tangled in the branches. Shade let out a giggle as she used her magic to move the branches away, causing Shyv to fall to the ground head-first, connecting with a dry thump.

"Ow." Shyv glared at the two, who simply laughed to their hearts’ contents.

"Took you long enough to get down here!" Seven mocked her, eliciting a disgruntled snort from the mare. "Alright, that's enough of that." He turned to face Shade. "You know where your brother is at this time of day?"

"Nope. But he's probably at the library, helping Twilight organize something or doing something on 'magic' theory or whatever it is they do..." She said, visibly bored just by remembering the Shadow's recent enthusiasm towards the subject of magic.

"Have they been getting along well?"

"Yep! Shadow spends a lot of time with her! She says she's impressed at how good we are at magic and how Shadow showed her some things even she didn't know! She seems really smart, but she doesn't really talk to me much." She finished with a shrug.

'Child at heart indeed.'

"Okay Shade, it was fun talking with you, but Shyvanna and I have to get going, okay? Say hi to your brother for us in case we don't get to see him." He said, turning around and gesturing Shyv to follow.

Shade nodded and waved them off before she continued on with what she was doing, using her magic to separate the apples from the trees in the orchard. It was something trivial for somepony like her, whose abilities could probably be put to much better use, but Seven shrugged at the thought. They didn't have that responsibility. Not yet, at least. Whatever they did was fine as long as they were happy.

"I would think she would be done with this debt by now..." Shyvanna said as she looked back and saw Shade fill the large cart she had been dragging along with a tremendous amount of apples in a matter of seconds. She hummed a tuneless melody as she pulled the cart into a nearby barn effortlessly before coming back out again to get more.

"Technically she is." Seven commented as they trotted away.

"What?"

"Macintosh keeps budging the debt back a bit. She incurred the debt a month ago, and according to what the Eye's tallied, she's repaid it about four times over by now."

"Why would he do that?" Shyvanna asked, a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Why do you think?" Seven shook his head. "Young love. Right and blind."

"You keep saying that whenever you talk about those two, but they're over a thousand years old!"

"You keep forgetting that I'm older than ‘millions of years old’." Seven retorted. "All love is young love to me." A smile crept across his face. "Besides, in Alicorn years, they're barely teenagers. Compared to Celly and Luna, that is."

Shyvanna shook her head and sighed. "Some days with you are more than just frustrating, you know that?" Seven was still smiling, only now he was smiling to himself. If even for just a moment, he had the informal, playful Shvyanna he knew and loved back. She reminded him of his sister.

Sadly, that moment came to an end all too soon as they arrived outside the library. Seven hadn't noticed the curious stares the pair had elicited from various ponies as they passed them in the street, and likely would not have cared.

"Quaint little place." Seven commented. "I don't think this tree was here last time we came to Ponyville, was it?"

"Not when we were both here, no, but when you sent me here on Nightmare Night I remember seeing it. I don't know how long it's been here, though."

Seven inspected the massive specimen. "Interesting. Maybe we could pick up a book or two about the tree itself while we're here?" He chuckled from the irony and knocked on the door.

A loud crash was heard from the inside. A long period of what was mostly silence followed, occasionally broken by a trio of voices muffled by the door. Shyvanna trotted closer Seven, thinking about all the possible ways as to how a trio of ponies might manage to attack them from behind the door. She positioned herself near to him and tensed as the door slowly opened. She relaxed a bit when a black unicorn appeared at the doorway, still looking towards the library’s interior.

"Sorry about that. Twilight's been sick and Spike is-"He trailed off when he saw Seven.

"Hello Shadow. Helping Twilight around the library?" Seven began as if his visit were a casual one.

Nightshadow tensed, barely recognizing the voice. He turned to meet the soulless red eyes of the earthpony. His face betrayed a variety of emotions before settling on a neutral glare. "Just a bit. Good to see you again." His tone of voice seemed to display more curiosity then actual gratitude, but Seven paid this no mind.

"I just came here to drop off a package for Miss Sparkle... As a favor for Celestia." He quickly added. Seven focused for a moment and soon a black case and a letter dropped to the ground next to him. He reached out with his aura and levitated them over to Nightshadow, who warily took the objects in his own magic. "So how have things been with Shade?" Seven asked, trying to hold a somewhat friendly conversation.

"She's... been better. Still crazy, but better. Thanks for that." That time there was real gratitude in Shadow's voice.

Seven's smile widened. "No need to thank me. Just don't get used to it."

"Right, right..." Shadow said, shrugging the memory from his mind.

"I noticed that you aren't wearing those glasses of yours anymore. Using something new to hide your eyes?" Seven asked innocently. Nightshadow gave him a confused look before he remembered exactly what he was talking about.

"No, and I don't know why, but they just stayed... like this." He said, motioning to his perfectly normal irises with his hoof."I thought maybe somehow the enchantment had affected our eyes in some way, but I'm not sure."

"Interesting... Well, make sure Twilight gets that stuff okay? And make sure she reads the letter first. From what the Princess told me, it would be bad if she opened the case. I'll let you two get back to whatever you were doing." Seven said, trying to seem as innocent as possible.

Shadow smiled a false smile and nodded, shutting the door. Seven and his bodyguard trotted away.

"What was that all about?" Shyv asked. "He didn't look too happy to see us."

"He's suspicious." Seven replied nonchalantly. "If I were in his shoes, I would be too."

"And the mare? Twilight? We heard yelling."

"She was genuinely ill. Nothing to worry about there." Shyvanna huffed, having just then fretted over her best friend’s life and then basically been told it was no big deal to him.

"Just relax, Shyv. I'd think you of all ponies would learn to lighten up by now."

"Right... right." Shyv said, ignoring the remark. "Where are we headed now?"

"The pastry shop." Seven replied nonchalantly. Shyvanna looked at him as though he were insane. "What? I like to eat every now and then! Besides, I figure a present for the guards wouldn't be so bad."

"What for? Nothing has happened, other than the death of Lucifer."

"Then we celebrate his life, as it once was." Seven frowned. "The guards don't die very often, Shyv. They get attached to one another. When one of them dies, it's like losing a sibling. Just a little something to cheer them up wouldn't be so bad."

She shook her head. How he had survived this long with his naivety, even with her help, was sometimes beyond her ability to reason. Regardless, she followed her charge to Sugarcube corner, where he haggled with a pink, overly enthusiastic mare and her employers over how much a shipment of muffins enough for over a hundred guardsponies would cost them.

Past times:

"You never told me your name, little one." Seven told the filly, trying to make small talk. It had been a few hours, and he couldn't tell if they were any closer to Canterlot or not. Or whether they would get there in time.

"I... I don't have a name yet..." She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Seven stared blankly for a second before smacking his forehead with his hoof, silently berating himself. 'Dragon hatchling rituals.' He thought to himself. 'Most dragon younglings don't get names until after they 'sleep' for the first time. Idiot. How could you forget that?' He turned to the young filly and tried to change the subject. "That's alright. It won’t be long until we get to Canterlot... I think."

Silence hung in the air for a while, prompting Seven to silently berate himself once more. Moments passed before the filly spoke up again. "You never told me why you helped me." She said with uneasiness; she didn’t want to seem ungrateful.

"Yes. I did." Seven cracked a smile. "You just weren't listening."

"Then why?"

"Because I could. It's as simple as that." Seven said and resumed trotting. She gave him a confused look, which suddenly darkened. A loud buzzing sound interrupted the chance for any further conversation. Seven sighed and levitated the blue crystal out of his pocket, which was sparkling impatiently. "What is it, Six? I'm already far away from-"

"Just shut up and listen! This is important!"

The filly looked at the crystal with a growing curiosity. Seven frowned. "I don't like your-"

"Listen to me! Eight has been looking for you! I don't know how, but he knows your in Equestria and he knows where you are now! You need to go now before he-" The crystal exploded, startling both the filly and Seven.

"Hello again, dear brother..." A voice manifested itself from all directions, as if it ominously hung on the wind itself. Seven held a defensive stance and stood ready, anticipating the absolute worst.

He felt something hit him in the side, hard. He stumbled over a bit, the filly tumbling off his back. When he got back on all four hooves, an arc of lightning came barreling towards him, which he dodged by mere inches. Seven turned to meet his attacker and had to fight to keep from grimacing. Piercing green eyes met his own gaze.

"You don't look particularly happy to see me..."

"Why would I?" He spat back at Eight. Eight simply laughed. It was a horrible, deep laughter that fit the 'evil villan' stereotype perfectly in Seven's mind.

"Because, we are kin, you and I!" He said. The forest seemed to get darker with each word he spoke. A few trees behind him fell over, dying from his mere presence. The ground seemed to dry up and crack with each step he took. "I would love to debate morality, how heartless a monster I am, and eventually come out ahead like we both know I would, but I'm afraid you and Equestria are out of time."

Seven heard a loud crumbling noise and suddenly found it very hard to breathe. When he tried to move his legs, he discovered to his horror that the earth itself had been raised up to his chest and had him locked in place, crushing the air from his lungs.

Eight cracked a wide smile. "Goodbye, brother. Let the rest of The First know what happens to those who-"

Eight felt a sudden burning feeling on the entire right half of his body. He yelped and broke his concentration, causing the ground that wrapped around Seven to lose its grip. Eight raised a leg to see what was burning him and saw what appeared to be liquid fire dripping from his coat. Seven looked to his brother and saw the filly standing not too far away. She was panting heavily. Eight took notice of the half-ling, and glared at it menacingly.

"You little whelp!"  He was prepared to erase the filly’s existence from the face of Equestria when she was suddenly surrounded in a red fog. The fog made it impossible to see as it seemed to dart through and around trees at a hurried pace, completely under it's own power. When Eight could finally get a good look at his surroundings, both Seven and the filly were gone.

"And so the fun continues..."

"They will just have to wait their turn- Yes I am aware that they are- Tell the gryphons that- ENOUGH!" The Queen shouted over the bickering delegates, using the Royal Canterlot Voice to get their attention. "I think that is enough for today! We will resume court tomorrow where hopefully some of you will not be so impatient! Every matter is important in my eyes."

As the various delegates and advisers filed out, she found herself wondering why exactly she had this court put together. She let out a weary sigh and looked out the window.

Equestria was dying. Even the sky seemed to lose its powerful colors; although no clouds could be seen, it felt grayish. Ever since the Monster had overtaken Terra, the world around her was decaying. Wearing away. Many of her friends had died to the Monster, and she had not bothered to go into hiding with the rest. She held out the faint hope that perhaps she could overpower it somehow. It wasn't the soundest of plans, but it was all she could hope for underneath this perpetual eclipse of the sun and the moon.

She saw a red fog seeping in through a window at the far end of the room. She sighed and prepared herself for what was likely her death. The fog dissipated and left behind a grey earth pony who haggardly carried a strangely tinted blue foal on his back. The Queen looked at them with some measure of surprise. The earth pony opened his eyes, and upon gazing into his red orbs the Queen tensed.

'His eyes... They are like the Monster's... but different somehow. Could it be another? Or something like it?'

It looked at her with an expressionless stare, covered in cuts and bruises. It stuck a leg out and elegantly folded it inward, leaning forward in an attempt to bow before falling over and hitting the stone floor with a heavy thud.