Inside the ballroom, the mood was quiet and pleasant, small talk was exchanged while the ponies nibbled on whatever tiny bits of food they favored. But the orderly conduct and iron hard etiquette practiced by all nobles during such events was interrupted by the sound of clinking glass.

Conversation slowly died down, and everypony turned and watched as Karon stepped up onto one of the tables. He scowled down at some of the plates laden with food, and kicked them away. Most of the assembled ponies gasped at this, and a few concerned murmurs swept over the crowd.

Karon ignored it and looked over them, then cleared his throat and spoke as loud as he could without actually shouting.

“Good evening every mare and stallion. If you are unaware of who I am, let me introduce myself. I am Karon, human and court wizard of Canterlot.”

A few more murmurs swept his audience once more, but this time it was mostly because it was expected. They all knew who he was, what they didn't know was what he was doing.

“And I must say, it absolutely terrifies me knowing that so much of Canterlot's power is in the hooves of such fine examples of inbreeding and petty rivalry. Truly, never before have I wanted to both cry and laugh as badly as when I saw you all for the poor excuses for intelligent beings that you are.”

Karon bent over and picked up a bottle of Applejack's Daniels that stood on the table, opened it, and took a swig. He grimaced and smacked his lips as the burning sensation hit his throat.

“This is good shit. Of course I ought to know, I was the one that invented it. Now, I have tried to accept you as lost causes, but really, I could only go so long before snapping. Which is why I feel the need to...expand your horizons a little.”

The atmosphere inside the ballroom grew tense, many of the nobles looked on him with varying parts outrage and nervousness. Karon bathed in it and couldn't help but smile at the thought of what was to happen next.

“And to help me in this endeavor, allow me to introduce to you all...Pinkie Pie!”

“Hello eveypony! Are you ready to paaaaarty!?!” Pinkie shouted as she popped up from behind the musicians' stand, to whom she had just given new instructions about the music. They all tapped their hooves in rhythm then began playing their new piece. It was catchy, it was happy, and it was most definitely not of the finer culture.

The quiet murmurs broke out into frantic discussions as every noble turned to those next to them for an explanation. Watching events slowly unfold with twinkling eyes, Karon counted to sixty then began the next part.

“Pinkie! These ponies seem shy, why don't you help them getting into a dancing mood.”

“Come on everypony, it's time to dance!” Pinkie announced joyfully and threw herself into the crowd. Her happy chirping was the only way to track her as she bounced from pony to pony and span them around. She jumped, skipped and twisted in ways that would have been impossible for anypony else.

And like Karon had expected, it did not take long before confused nobles stumbled around, and others tried to escape from Pinkie before they became the next target. Laughing at the sight below him, Karon took another swig and began doing a couple of improvised dance moves himself.

“I demand that you explain what you think you're doing!?” a voice shouted to him over the music. He stopped his little dance and looked down. There stood a blond maned, white coated unicorn stallion wearing what looked like a suit and bow-tie.

“And who might you be?” Karon asked smiling.

“I am Prince Blueblood! And I demand you cease this..this..”

“Foolery?” Karon added helpfully.

“...This FOOLERY!”  

“Wait,” Karon said and stared down at the unicorn hard, to which the stallion responded by glancing around nervously.

“Prince Blueblood...as in the one that hurt Rarity?”

“I-I do not know who this Rarity may be, but I am sure she must only have imagined it.”

“I'm pretty sure she didn't,” Karon said and flashed a wolfish grin. But before he could do anything towards the unicorn, a voice screamed from across the room loud enough to be heard by all, even above the music.

“I will not partake in this nonsense! It is INCONCEIVABLE!”  

Karon recognized the voice instantly and his grin widened as an idea entered his mind. He searched with his eyes until he spotted the blue feathers of the gryphon, then he stretched his hand out towards him while pointing the other towards Blueblood.

Energy flowed effortlessly through him, building itself up, and when he released it the magic lashed out towards the mind of his two target and latched on. Blueblood's eyes went from wide eyed fear to glossy, half sleepy ones in a moment. His mouth hung slightly agape and he shuffled drunkenly towards where the gryphon was.

Karon watched him go, completely satisfied that he had managed to exact a little revenge on Rarity's behalf. But he shook his head. He needed to stay focused, and he wasn't doing this for his own amusement. They needed the nobles away from the castle as quick as they could.

No point in tarrying.

The assembly of ponies in question were a confused, and very unamused, mass of bodies shoving and pushing against one another in an attempt to distance themselves from Pinkie who shot around like a bullet, making sure no guest escaped her dance shanghaiing.

Keeping himself to his assigned role, Karon began doing his improvised dance again and drank another mouthful. They had to believe he was just a crazy drunk and a very uncultured creature that was ruining their evening. They were born schemers, and if they even got a hint of any kind of hidden agenda they wouldn't budge an inch before they knew what was going on.

A pony decided to follow Blueblood's example, a gray earth pony with a top hat, and faced Karon with an indignant frown.

“Explain what you are doing!?” he shouted at him.

“Dancing,” Karon answered as if it was obvious.

“You call that dancing?” the stallion responded dubiously.

“HA! If you think this is bad, you should see Twilight having a go at it,” Karon answered back loudly, and was rewarded with a burst of laughter from Rose Petal across the room. The stallion only looked confused, however before he could question Karon again, the human called out to Pinkie.

“Pinkie! I think they have gotten in the mood now, time to start the real fun.”

“WOOOO!” The pink pony shouted in reply and jumped up unto one of the tables, the gathered ponies stopped moving and even the musicians stopped playing. All of them froze, awaiting what terror the hyperactive pony would unleash on them next.

“FOOOOOOOD FIGHT!” Pinkie screamed at the top of her lunges and began hurling pastries, snacks and assorted food stuff with almost military precision out into the crowd.

Barely had the first pony fallen from a cupcake to the face before the entire crowd erupted into panic. Disorder reigned as everypony tried to save themselves from the merciless barrage. Frosting and fillings of all possible colors splattered the floor and surrounding ponies.

Shrieks of fear, surprise and confusion bounced around the marble hallways and half of Canterlot must have heard it. And standing in the middle of it all, above it all, was Karon. Laughing hysterically to the point that tears were gathering in his eyes, and that he had to clutch the side of his stomach to keep his balance.

“Hahahaha, hit them with the cakes Pinkie!” he managed to get out between the laughter, which only increased when she complied and launched a chocolate cake straight into the face of a pegasus mare.

Clusters of ponies fled from the ballroom, but many remained because they couldn't get through the wall of ponies blocking the exit in their eagerness to get out. A few had even taken shelter behind tables and pillars in a vain effort to avoid becoming a target for Pinkie's assault.

“Hahahaha, get them Pinkie! Show them how to have a little fun.”

He had no idea if Pinkie actually heard him and didn't care. The sight of the nobles scurrying around in panic was beyond hilarious. But it didn't take long before his laughter sank from lighthearted belly-deep laughter to sounding more like a sinister cackling.

“Get them Pinkie! Splatter them with cake! Hit them with the muffins! Make them flee and hu-”

Karon froze as he realized what he had just been about to say.

“What just happened?”

“I don't know, I was just laughing at them and then I...I...for a moment, I wanted to hurt them.”

“Why?”

“I don't know...”

All amusement he had gained from the sight of Pinkie attacking the Canterlot elite with pastries was gone. The sudden impulse, that desire to see them scream not just in confusion and panic, but in fear and pain. It had been so strong.

He lowered himself down to the floor and leaned against the table. The nobles were still running around however their numbers were decreasing steadily. They would all be gone soon.

A deep frown graced Karon's face and his eyes were fixed on the floor. That impulse he had felt had been brief, and he had immediately caught it. But that it had even appeared, that he had even for an instant felt that way, it scared him. It made him think back to Cloudsdale for some reason, of the ground that had been coming closer and closer.

No doubt it was now littered with the corpses of the pegasi, and that knowledge brought back a memory and a feeling he couldn't quite place. It was almost like he could still feel the wind whipping at him and hear the sound of hundreds of screams so loud that it felt like his ears were going to bleed.

He had barely had time to think. An army of pegasi had been swarming like angry bees, searching for him so they could kill him. They would have murdered him, they would have murdered Dusk and they would have murdered Twilight.

“We just got to them first.”

It had been instinct almost. Kill or be killed. There wasn't anything deeply philosophical about it, it was survival, nothing more. No one and no pony could blame him for that.

But why had he felt that desire to hurt?

A triumphant shout rang out as the last noble fled the ballroom and only Karon and his friends remained.

“Friends...”

He placed a hand on the side of his head and winced. It was impossible to make anything out in the jumble of emotions and thoughts he was going through. It was all just a migraine inducing mix that made him want to cry, laugh and lash out at everything at the same time. He had no idea why, so he settled for taking another sip of the whiskey and shoving those feelings and thought deep down where he could ignore them.

This wasn't the time or place to play therapist with himself. He needed to be focused. Even with his plans disrupted, More-than Tardy would still be formidable, dangerous and ruthless.

He could quite possibly kill them. That was a thought he had no difficulty going over, and the hair on his arms stood out straight when he considered it.

Karon looked over at the ponies approaching him and his frown deepened even more, they looked ready. They appeared determined, confident and in Pinkie's case even happy. They had all faced dangers before and come out relatively unharmed, and victorious.

“Friends...”

He rubbed his face and forced himself not to grind his jaw in frustration. At least the booze helped to take the edge off of things.

“Everypony has either left or is around the castle talking about what just happened. The party is over. We can go after the professor now,” Twilight said and her jaw set in a way similar to Karon's own.

His eyes went back down to the floor, darting from side to side in contemplation. Then he let out a deep sigh and looked back up into her eyes.

“That would be a bad idea.”

“What do you mean? We talked about this, we have the nobles away and safe now, we can't let More-than Tardy reach the talisman.”

“I know, but his soldiers still have all the hostages. Even if all of the nobles aren't gathered in one convenient location for him to announce a dramatic take over at. That doesn't lessen the fact he can still control them, as long as he has those ponies he can force them to comply to all his demands.”

“That won't even matter if he gets his hooves on the talisman.”

“Friends...”

“I know, which is why I will go after him alone while you seven get the remaining guards and free the hostages.”

All of the ponies, even Fluttershy, shouted their refusal at the ridiculous idea.

“Ah know ye got yer fancy magic an all but ah don't think that'll help much against somepony like More-than Tardy,” Applejack said and the others nodded in agreement.

“Don't underestimate me. I can handle him.”

“We don't all have to go, some of us can go and save the hostages and the others can go with you,” Twilight said, it was not doubt what team she wanted to be on, despite everything that had happened.

“No, you're used to working as a team. You are all the elements after all, plus Lyra. But alone I don't think you could make that much of a difference. Sorry Lyra.”

She gave him a dirty look but didn't actually object. She had never been in a fight before. Well, unless you count that time Twilight put a spell on her doll...but nopony involved in that event ever acknowledged it had even happened.

“You can't go up against him alone,” Twilight stated firmly, she refused to even think about letting Karon go alone. Too much had happened and she was afraid what could happen if nopony was there with him.

“I will go with him,” Feather Touch announced happily as she entered into the ballroom.

Everypony blinked and Karon mimicked their surprise.

“Feather, I don't mean to be insulting but-”

“Nonsense sir, you could never insult me,” she said happily and shifted her eyes to Twilight. “There is a servant with captain Nightchill outside the castle gate right now giving them instructions on where the hostages are. If you hurry, you can catch them before they leave.”

The ponies looked torn, they knew how important it was that More-than Tardy was stopped, but they couldn't just leave the hostages. There weren't many guards left, and if the soldiers outnumbered them too much...

“Karon are you sure th-”

“I can handle him. Now go, all of you. Quickly!”

It was all the ponies needed, and all of them save Twilight turned around and galloped out into the hallway. Twilight looked at Karon with a pained expression. She knew he had power and could be clever when he wanted to. She knew there was a chance that he could defeat the professor even on his own.

She was afraid of what he would do if he did.

“I'll be fine,” he said a little softer to her, after which she gave him one last glance then galloped off after her friends. Karon watched her go then turned to Feather Touch with one raised eyebrow.

“And what exactly are you going to do to help?”

“Whatever I can sir!” she stated and looked up at him with blue eyes overflowing with optimism.

He was torn. His odds of success greatly decreased with sending the rest of the ponies away. But the fact remained that More-than Tardy was skilled and merciless, and if Feather joined him, she would be in danger. But she could be useful...

“What if I say no?”

“I'm not letting you go alone sir!” she exclaimed and her usual ocean blue eyes turned to azure rock.

“I could order you away, you would have to obey,” he said and crossed his arms.

Her lips trembled and at that moment she looked only small and pitiful.

“Please don't,” she asked simply.

“Fine, you can come. Try not to get in the way,” he said and muttered something about women under his breath.

“Of course not sir!” she exclaimed and smiled broadly.

“Let's get moving then. We don't want to be late for this. Lead us to the archives' lower level,” he instructed and followed close after her. She might just be a servant, but she was still a unicorn, she could use magic.

She could be useful.

                        ****************************************************

Twilight caught up to the others as they reached the surrounding gardens, and together they galloped as fast as they could towards the gate. But when they reached it, there was no sign of captain Nightchill or any other of the nocturnal guards.

“Dash, can fly around and see if you can find them?” Twilight asked when they realized that the guards must have already left.

“On it!” the pegasus said and darted off into the dark night sky, a rainbow trailing after her.

“What do we do if she can't find 'em?” Applejack asked seriously.

“If we can't find out where they are going to save the hostages then we should go back and help Karon,” she stated firmly, eyes scanning the darkness for signs of Rainbow Dash returning.

“Ah dunno Twilight, Karon seemed awfully determined ta send us away.”

“Well Karon doesn't get to decide when all of Equestria might hang in the balance,” she said, her voice carrying an undertone of anger with it.

“Princess Celestia did trust him, an' ah think we should respect her wishes if she thinks it's for the best.”

“But why would he want all of us gone? What is he planning to do that he doesn't want us to see?” she asked stubbornly.

“Have you considered he perhaps just wanted us to be somewhere a little less dangerous?”

“Karon? I don't think so...” Twilight trailed off. “I...just don't know what to think of him anymore, he always was a bit volatile and unpredictable but now he just seems so much more...”

“Evil?” Applejack added softly.

“...yes,” Twilight said, she couldn't object to it, not anymore. “I just don't understand why.”

“Well, maybe he just feels confused because he doesn't know how to handle a situation where he has responsibility for someone else's safety. And maybe he doesn't understand himself, and that's why he does what he does because there are so many parts of himself that he has locked away constantly conflicting with each other. Maybe he's afraid because he's trapped in a world and a life he can't control or want to live, and whenever he tries to regain control he ends up ruining it for himself because he feels he isn't ready to let himself go. And maybe he does what he does not because he really wants to, but because he thinks that it is the way he is supposed to act because of what he is. But that would be really sad,” Pinkie finished and hung her head momentarily.

All the five ponies around her stared with odd looks on their faces. Twilight would have liked to dismiss her rambling simply as Pinkie being Pinkie, but she could have avoided a lot of trouble in the past if she had listened to what the pink pony actually said.

But if there was some grain of truth in what Pinkie had just said, it did not comfort Twilight in the least. A Karon that for some unknown reason was beginning to turn evil was one thing, but a Karon that was beginning to turn evil because he had no control over himself was something a lot scarier.

There was a swoosh of air and Rainbow Dash appeared above them in a flash of prismatic colors.

“Found them!” she announced proudly and pounded her chest once.

“Where?” Lyra asked before anypony else.

“Come on, I'll show you,” the pegasus replied and flew off, but at a much slower speed, allowing the rest of the pony gang to gallop after her.

They followed her through side streets, alleys and small parks before they finally came upon the group of guard ponies. They were perhaps twenty in total, with captain Nightchill in the front speaking to all of them. When he saw the elements come galloping towards them he stopped speaking and watched them come closer with cold eyes. The rest of the guards turned one by one and watched them as well.

Twilight and the rest slowed their pace as they got closer until they trotted up to the waiting captain and stopped.

“Twilight Sparkle, might I ask why you are here?” the captain questioned her in a polite but neutral tone.

“We have come to help with the rescue of the ponies More-than Tardy has taken hostage,” she answered steadily. Though a little out of breath from the run, a fact the guards and the captain could not help but notice.

“I assure you that the nocturnal guard are capable of handling this by themselves,” he said, and the guards around him punched their chest plate once.

“That may be so, but help could make it a lot easier and limit the chance of the hostages getting hurt,” she shot back irritated and looked the captain square in the eye. However the captain remained unimpressed.

“My guards have trained to work as a team and civilian interference will only become a hindrance once inside,” he said without changing his tone.

“Uhm, excuse me mister, I mean, captain. But would it really be a problem for us to help? We promise not to get in the way,” Fluttershy asked quietly after having summoned enough courage to speak.

The captain's ice cold gaze settled on the timid pegasus and she withered under it, hiding behind Applejack.

“The offer is noted, but the nocturnal guard will handle this on their own,” he stated firmly.

Twilight was about to object, but he noticed and spoke again before she could.

“Miss Sparkle, I have told you my decision. You have served this nation before but this is a military operation and I don't need a bunch of amateurs ruining it.”

His voice had been a lot more harsh this time and Twilight and the rest were slightly taken aback by it.

“But...” Twilight started but was interrupted again.

“Enough!” the captain shouted and his glacial eyes shone with irritation. He was not used to being disobeyed. Twilight didn't know what to say after that. Thankfully she didn't need to because Fluttershy came flying out from behind Applejack with a determined frown. She flew up to Captain Nightchill and invaded his personal space until they were almost touching noses.

“Now you listen here mister! You might be a though guard captain but that doesn't mean you can just shout at somepony when they're trying to help. My friends and I are going to go with you and we are going to help you free those poor ponies and all you are going to do is nod and say thank you. Do you understand?” she asked and stared straight into the captains eyes.

Captain Nightchill had earned his reputation fairly, and every story about him was true and very little exaggeration existed in them. He had stared gorgons, cockatrices, hydras and dragons in the eyes before without even flinching. But now he found himself staring into the blue eyes of...he didn't know what, but no pony should ever be able to stare they way she was staring at him. It was like the entire weight of the world hid behind those eyes and was now pressing down on him, crushing his determination and will.

He gulped and nodded, much to the surprise of the guards around him.

“Oh, uhm, thank you. That's very nice of you,” Fluttershy finished and shrank back into her usual self. Leaving the captain wondering if he had perhaps imagined it. But his confusion was short lived as a throat cleared at his side and a guard pony stood at attention.

“Report,” the captain said, his voice ice and steel once more.

“We scouted ahead and came upon the mansion where the enemy is keeping the hostages. They have a perimeter set up around the place with three unicorn providing magical assistance and four earth ponies going on rounds. Swift Shadow managed to fly overhead without being seen and says all the hostages are kept inside a large dining room. It is unknown how many hostiles there could be inside.”

The captain considered what he had just been told then turned to address his stallions.

“I want the earth ponies taken out fast, by air assault while our unicorns keep the enemy unicorns contained. After the earth ponies are knocked out we can remove the unicorns. We'll bind them with magic and I want three earth ponies remaining behind and guarding them. Swift Shadow will be leading the pegasi during this operation and Whispering Bell will lead the unicorns.”

He turned to face Twilight and her group.

“You seven stick with me and provide whatever assistance you can.” All seven of them nodded, content in letting the captain take the lead.

The captain punched his chest plate once and every guard pony turned around and melted into the night with the captain and the rest of the ponies right behind them. They travelled through a small forest before reaching a solitary manor. A few light flashed briefly ahead around it but died down quickly. It was unnerving watching the heavily armored guards moving in utter silence and at such speed. Perhaps they wore some kind of muffled horseshoes?

Whatever it was, its effectiveness could not be denied. Twilight and the rest had barely made it out on the surrounding lawn before the guards had subdued the soldiers keeping watch outside and had them constrained with some kind of magic taking the shape of dark robes. It had also wrapped itself around the unicorn's horns and all of them looked barely conscious.

Twilight gave the captain a questioning glance that he pointedly ignored. The guards gathered around them in a circle and waited for the captain to give new orders.

“Whispering Bell, take every unicorn adept at shadow cloaking and make your way inside. I want to know how many hostile ponies there are inside and where they are.”

A dark gray unicorn with the usual sand colored eyes of all the nocturnal guard nodded and galloped towards the mansion silently with five other unicorns following behind him. The rest remained behind and waited. Twilight and her group were nervous and impatient. They fidgeted and looked at each other repeatedly without saying anything. The guards, on the other hoof, remained still, not moving any other way besides blinking.

After what Twilight could have sworn was half the night had passed, despite that the moon had barely moved at all, the unicorns returned. They saluted the captain then began their report when he motioned them to do so with his hoof.

“There are thirty four hostile ponies inside, seven of them are unicorns and five of them are pegasi, the rest consists of earth ponies. The pegasi are all stationed upstairs in a room with a balcony, there is one unicorn with them. The rest are all in the dining room with the hostages, with the exception of nine earth ponies sleeping inside a bedroom right next to the dining hall. That is everypony we can confirm but the possibility remain that they can have planted several of their own to act as hostages themselves.”

“What's the layout?”

“Three rooms downstairs, the dining hall, a bedroom and a bathroom. Upstairs there are two bedrooms and one large room overlooking the garden with the balcony.”

The captain was quiet for a few minutes as he made a tactical assessment of the information. Then he nodded to himself once slowly and spoke quietly.

“Whispering Bell, take your team of unicorns and make ready to surprise the pegasi and the unicorn in the upstairs room. I want them out of the game quickly, the rest of us will use the front door and the windows to break into the dining hall and assault the hostile forces. I want every pegasi to go in first through the windows and surround the hostages, make sure the enemy forces can't reach or hurt them. It will be dangerous because they might concentrate entirely on you until the rest of us get through, are you up for it?”

The only response he got was a pounding on chest plate, but it was enough.

“Good, then get into position. You have two minutes then we attack,” the captain said.

The unicorns pounded their chest plates and their horns flashed for a moment. From the darkness around them shadows leapt and formed a blanket, keeping them out of sight and turning them virtually invisible in the dark night surrounding them all.

Twilight and her friends tensed up and all of them counted down from one hundred and twenty, except Pinkie Pie who was doing random equations instead. When they reached zero they looked at the captain. He raised his hoof once and pointed towards the mansion. The pegasi flew like hungry patches of darkness and in a few seconds they had crossed the lawn. With a loud crash made all the louder from the silence dominating the night the pegasi went through the windows in a rain of shards of glass and disappeared inside.

                           ********************************************************

Feather Touch led the way through the marble corridors of the castle, they walked down a spiral staircase located at the far end of the castle for quite some time before they reached what Feather announced to be the lowest level of the Canterlot archives.

Karon felt his mouth water a bit when they passed by row upon row filled with tomes and collections of notes and papers written by unicorns and even alicorns throughout history. Karon may have studied with a wizard who had power, knowledge and wisdom likely beyond what this world had seen in a long time, but that did not mean that the same could be said about himself. If left to his own devices down amongst all that knowledge...he could learn so much.

Eventually, Feather lead them to a large iron door. Large runes and symbols were inscribed in it, and Karon could feel the power radiate from them. This door had been sealed with very complex and powerful magic. The thing was, they were open.

More-than Tardy had either studied them and found a way to bypass the magical locks, or he was simply that good. Karon didn't know which he preferred.

“Okay Feather, from here I will take the lead. If we run into anything just...do something with magic.”

“Yes sir,” she said with exuberance, happy to serve in any way she could.

He glanced through carefully in case the psycho unicorn had decided to leave a few surprises, but nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. That is if you consider a ton of dark crystals growing out of every possible surface to be normal.

They walked down a path of ordinary rock. Normally it would have been just a part of the cave and barely noticeable, but against the geometric chaos of the crystals, the relatively orderly form of a straight path stuck out like a flame in a darkened room.

Despite that it should have been impossible to see, however the crystals emitted some kind of light leaving most of the cave visible, although in a gloom. Karon would have liked to ask Tia about the crystals. They had a slight resemblance to the sun crystals he had used in Cloudsdale, and he wondered if these caves were their origin.

“Sir, do you have a plan?” Feather asked, a slight trembling in her voice gave her nervousness away, despite the otherwise happy tone.

“Not really. I don't know how powerful he really is, and if he already has the talisman then we could have a real problem.”

“Won't it be too late if he already has it?” she asked, not even trying to hide her concern this time.

“Even if he gets it, I think it will take time to properly attune it to himself. Perhaps it will be a matter of minutes or days, I don't know. But I doubt Tia and Lunatic has left something as important as this unguarded. Most likely he is busy right now disarming traps or defeating guardians.”

“But what if he has already reached it, what then?”

“Then I guess the only thing left is to face him straight forward in combat, though I would prefer not to.”

“What would you prefer then sir?”

“Sneak up on him while he's busy and stab him in the back.”

“But won't he know were coming after him?”

“Yes, so managing that will be difficult.”

Feather Touch went silent for a moment, and Karon looked back to see her studying the floor intently.

“What if...what if I distract him?” She asked hesitantly.

“No, not a chance,” he said firmly. “ He knows I'm coming for him and will know I'm trying to sneak up on him if you try and distract him...and you could get hurt.”

“I know sir, but if it means keeping you safe and helping you and all of Equestria I will gladly take the risk,” she said with no small amount of passion in her voice.

Karon scrunched up his face at what she'd said. He didn't want her to get hurt, but if she was going with him she could at least be useful. Would it be worth the risk?

“Of course it will be, we ARE talking about the future of all of Equestria after all.”

“But do we really need to put her in harms way for that? Yes, she wants to help, but that doesn't have to mean using her in a way that could get her killed.”

“She choose this.”

“She choose to come with me, not to die, she just wants to help.”

“We need More-than Tardy gone, she can be used for this goal. Simple as that.”

“I don't...”

“It's worth the risk and it's worth the cost.”

Karon couldn't determine whether he was right or wrong in that. The only thing he could say for sure was that he never wanted to work for any government ever again. But she was here, so it would be stupid of him not to use her in some way.

“I'll find some way for you to be useful Feather, don't worry. But we'll see what we can do when we find him,” he stated. She didn't say anything after that and Karon remained silent as well, the only thing left now was to wait and see how things would unfold.

He just hoped he hadn’t made a mistake somewhere.

                     ********************************************************

Loud shouts of surprise could be heard and from one of the large windows upstairs and flashes of bright magic could be seen. The captain, Twilight and all the other ponies raced over the grass around the house. Some headed towards the front door while others ran towards the broken windows. They moved like one mind, reacting instantly to what the other guards around them did.

Rainbow Dash Looked up and saw one pegasus break out from the balcony room and flew outside, he stopped momentarily and scanned the scene below before turning around to flee.

“Oh no you don't!” Dash shouted and in a heartbeat shot up towards the escaping pegasus with a rainbow trailing after her. She collided with him hard in the air and both of them fell down towards the ground before righting themselves in the air once more.

Twilight lost sight of them when she and the other elements followed after the captain in through one of the windows. Inside the room was almost in complete darkness save for a few lit candles, and in the flurry of punches, kicks and magic launched the chaos was complete.

Twilight jumped to the side to allow the others through, then shut her eyes in concentration. The tip of her horn glowed purple and then launched a bright glowing orb up into the ceiling. It stuck there and spread a bright light over the entire room, illuminating everypony inside.

In the middle was a circle of pegasus guards standing around a cluster of ponies old, young, big and small. In the rest of the room complete chaos reigned. More-than Tardy's soldiers had reacted instantly as they had been trained. They had formed up in circles and were systematically guarding each others backs and bucking any guards that tried to get close. Because of this the guards couldn't flank them and now with the darkness dispelled they had lost the confusion that came with the enemy not knowing how many they faced.

But now it was apparent that they were in greater numbers, and with a renewed confidence the groups of soldiers began moving around and tried to chase down all the guards one by one. The guard tactic was based on diversion and stealth, flank them and hit them from the sides and back from darkness while the enemy was distracted.

The guards would have had a difficult time countering the soldiers' tactic, and might even have lost the battle completely if it hadn't been for the fact they had brought the elements with them.

With a “Yeehaa!” Applejack span her lasso above her head and easily caught one of the tightly formed groups of soldiers. With a twist of her neck and a step backwards powered by her strong back legs, all ten of the soldiers heads clashed together in a circle with a very audible clunk. Disoriented and hurt, the soldiers didn't have time to react before several guard ponies darted forward and delivered swift kicks to their heads, knocking them unconscious.

Twilight had chosen to take an easier route and held her head low in concentration as she levitated ten other soldiers individually and spread them apart from each other. One by one they were knocked out by the lightning swift strikes of the guards around them.

But not everything was going well. Several of the guards had been knocked out by the soldiers' group tactics and a few of them looked to have fared even worse than that. The remaining soldiers, after witnessing the fate of their comrades, had all banded together. They had formed a big cluster in a circle around their remaining unicorns, who were busy countering Twilight's magic in order to keep the cluster intact.

The group was too big and moved around to much for Applejack to use her lasso, and every attack made by the guards were beaten back with ruthless efficacy. It didn't look bright for a moment, but that was only until a certain pink pony interrupted their fighting with her loud shouting.

“Hey everypony! What's big, loud and a sure blast at every party!?”

All the soldiers and guards stopped and looked at her like she was crazy. But her friend had guessed what was coming next and had dived to the floor and covered their ears.

“THE PARTY CANNON!” she answered happily, dragged said cannon into full view and aimed straight at the center of the soldier cluster. Their eyes widened as they realized what was about to happened before Pinkie slammed her hoof down and the party cannon erupted in a loud explosion of high velocity confetti.

The blast slammed into the soldiers and threw them around like pins from a bowling ball. In the haze of colorful confetti the guards rushed in and quickly subdued the dazed soldiers and with that the battle was over.

“Do you get it? 'A blast'?” Pinkie snickered then giggled to herself.

Captain Nightchill walked up to Twilight and quietly asked.

“Does she have some kind of permit for that thing?”

She looked at the giggling Pinkie then at the cannon then back to the captain.

“Do you want to try and take it from her?” she asked with a slight smile.

The captain observed Pinkie for a moment, then he shook his head and walked over to his guards. It was time to go through the wounded. Twilight looked around at her friends and noted they were all relatively unhurt.

Fluttershy had been hiding behind a curtain, but was now busy going around and comforting the guards that had been hurt in the fight. Applejack hadn't received a scratch and neither had Pinkie, but Rarity had been busy using her magic to glamor a few of the soldiers and had received a small cut on her flank from a punch that had just scratched her.

Surprisingly enough, it was Lyra that had been hurt the most. Blood ran out in a small stream from the corner of her mouth and there were several red spots around her face and body that would no doubt turn into very nasty bruises later on. As soon as she had entered the mansion she had thrown herself straight into the thick of things, and together with the guard pegasi had helped defend the hostages, which she was now busy helping to untie.

Rainbow Dash came flying in through one of the windows and unceremoniously dumped the unconscious form of the pegasus she had pursued on the floor. She drifted over to Twilight and looked over the room with a disappointed frown.

“Ahh, I missed all of it? Couldn't you have saved at least a few for me?”

Twilight smiled, but it quickly disappeared as she considered the fact that Karon was right now hunting for More-than Tardy and only Feather Touch was with him. She didn't doubt that the unicorn was a good pony, but she hadn't seen him in Cloudsdale. Only herself and Dusk Keeper had.

Speaking of the pony, she hadn't seen him anywhere with the other guards. She was tempted to ask the captain where he was, but right now there was truly only one thing on her mind she was interested in.

Karon.

                   **************************************************************

He reached out a hand to stop Feather. Before them there was a heavy looking door made out of wood. Like the metal door leading down to the caves, this one had many symbols carved into it's surface. They glowed faintly with a golden sheen, but like the metal door this one was open as well, the magic of the symbols broken, or at least temporarily suspended.

Karon leaned forward and glanced through the open crack between the door halves. If this was the room were the talisman was contained, he would be a fool not to trap it some way. Yet despite how hard he tried Karon's magical senses not his eyes could pick up even a hint of a hidden trap. He was sensitive to energies, so he should sense them. However since he couldn't, that meant either More-than Tardy was so good that Karon virtually didn't stand a chance, or he hadn't trapped the entrance at all.

Bracing himself for a big explosion, or perhaps a vortex that would drain all life force out of him, Karon pressed his palm to one of the door halves and pushed it open.

It was an old door, and one that had seen little to no use in a long time. It screeched as it opened, and in the silent caves the noise echoed repeatedly, making sure even a deaf pony would know they were there.

Grimacing to himself Karon abandoned his attempt at stealth and just slammed both the halves wide open and marched in to the cavern room.

It was grand, carved in a circular fashion with a great dome stretched up in the ceiling. Crystals had grown out of the walls here and there and added to the alien, yet artistic, feel of the place. In the middle of the room was a great gaping maw. How deep it stretched Karon could only guess, but the darkness that covered it seemed to swallow what little light the crystals inside gave out.

There was a small bridge, barely wide enough for one pony to cross over, leading out to a small circular platform suspended above the maw in the center. There stood a small pedestal on it, and Karon could only guess that the talisman rested upon it, for blocking his view was More-than Tardy.

He stood with his back turned towards the bridge and faced Karon and Feather Touch in a confident stance. Every single part of him oozed confidence and control. Karon walked towards him with Feather touch trailing behind a few steps. He halted five meters from the unicorn and stood silent, waiting for the inevitable villain speech he would give.

It didn't come, and the silence stretched uncomfortable long, More-than Tardy stood unmoving and unresponsive. It took a few minutes before Karon realized that it was he that was supposed to begin. After all, he wasn't a hero facing a villain.

“How long have you been waiting for us?”

“Not all too long. It took careful work to unlock the gateways despite the preparations I had made.”

“So what now? I have killed almost your entire army and right now the elements of harmony are working with the remaining guard to free the hostages you have taken.”

“I expected as much, but it doesn't matter at this point. Though I must admit, I am impressed you have managed to usurp so much of the princesses' authority so quickly. I never once thought that using Twilight Sparkle was an option. Her loyalty towards princess Celestia is well known, but then again you have spent considerable time together with princess Luna, so no doubt you have managed to trick them into believing you're an ally of some kind.”

“You have no idea the tricks I have up my sleeve little unicorn,” Karon replied haughtily. His best chance right now was to act so utterly confident and superior that More-than Tardy would hesitate throwing down with him. Karon was not a face-to-face fighter, testing himself against the professor in fair combat wouldn't be the brightest of ideas.

“You have garnered quite reputation as a powerful force yes, some of it must be true if you dare to face me alone with nothing but your servant at your side.”

“Oh she's just her to sweep up your ashes.”

Despite that, the professor's air of control remained unchanged and his stance as strong as ever. However a slight contraction in the muscles around his eyes gave him away. Karon's behavior was unnerving him. He had, after all, faced an entire army and won. At least in the professors eyes, he didn't know Karon had employed a magical version of a scud missile and cheated.

All Karon needed to do was make More-than Tardy hesitate and drop his guard for an instant, maybe offer a truce or a deal. And then when the unicorn wasn't prepared, send a lightning bolt right between his eyes.

Thing is, it's hard to successfully plan treachery towards someone, or somepony, that is planning exactly the same. The professor opened his mouth as if he was about to reply, but right as Karon shifted his focus to his hearing a bolt of obsidian darkness erupted from the tip of his horn and slammed into Karon.

The spell didn't transfer a lot of kinetic energy, it merely made Karon stumble backwards a step but he still fell down on his back. The darkness clung to him like slick oil, sucking all strength and focus from him with an unrivalled hunger. He felt himself slipping from consciousness and sent out a strong pulse of mental energy. It travelled to one of the crystals growing out of the walls and was absorbed, 'bouncing' repeatedly within its facets. The darkness was meant to suck Karon's energy from him, so when a large mass of it tried to escape it left in pursuit, flying off after the field of mental energy, and then became trapped within the crystal as well.

It had happened within seconds, and it had been a gamble from Karon's part, but on the other hand, crystals were of little use besides trapping energy anyway.

He sat up and saw how More-than Tardy was halfway across the bridge. He was facing them once again and a sapphire bolt of some kind bounced off a reflective surface of energy the professor had just conjured forth. Feather had gone after him and her horn still glowed sapphire blue after having thrown the magic.

However, before she could try something different, an aura the color of winter night seized her in it's grip, lifting her up into the air and holding her over the abyss. More-than Tardy had her. Karon watched as she tried to work her magic, but the field of energy he held her within negated whatever magic she tried to use, leaving her entirely at his mercy.

And he had none.

Karon got up to his feet, slowly and carefully, doing his utmost to appear calm. He took a few steps forwards but the professor shook his head.

“That is quite far enough. You might have to power to face me in a duel but your servant does not.”

“I assume this is the moment where you gloat and make demands,” he replied and forced his voice to remain steady. Feather was looking at him with uncertain eyes, eyes that he felt he had seen before somewhere.

“Oh no need for that, my victory is all but assured now. But I will make a demand of course, since I am in such a good bargaining position.”

“Let's hear it then,” Karon said, a tremor of anger running along his tone, his eyes went between Feather and the professor.

“Either I will drop your servant, or you jump,” the unicorn said, not caring to keep the sadistic glee out of his voice or eyes.

“What!?” Karon blinked repeatedly in shock.

“You heard me quite well. You have a choice, either your friend dies, or you do. The choice is yours, of course if you choose to let her die and face me in combat you will die anyway.”

Rage was seething inside of Karon, the damned unicorn had him.

“We can't let him know that.”

“You seem awfully confident,” he told the smug pony.

“I appear to have good reason to be,” was the only answer he got. The professor began talking small steps backwards, feelings first with his hooves to make sure he didn't fall of the bridge. Karon could only watch as he got closer and closer to the talisman on the pedistal.

But...something was wrong.

It was if he suddenly finding himself in a bad fantasy novel. An ancient artifact with the power to rule the world? Kept over a gaping maw on a small platform? Only a few very non-lethal sygils guarding it? It made no sense, it was like a D&D dungeon master had a bad day and decided to steal the story from a Hollywood B-movie.

Why would the power of the sun and moon, who's celestial movement was the duty of the alicorns or the unicorns to upkeep be bound through a talisman? Had it always existed? Why would it only be possible to access those magical streams through it and it alone? It had no logic to it. Celestia and Luna weren't stupid, so why had they kept the arguably most important artifact in the entire kingdom in a barely secured room far of from their watchful eyes?

Something was very wrong.

Karon tore his eyes from Feather and set them entirely on More-than Tardy, or that was what it looked like. His eyes were directed towards him yes, but Karon stretched out his senses and focused instead on the area behind the unicorn. On the pedestal and the talisman.

There it was! A faint tremor, a vibration so delicate and strings of energy so carefully weaved together that he hadn't even noticed at first. It was built into the rock of the bridge and platform, all the strings of masterfully crafted magic joined together and went up the pedestal and joined at the talisman. Then he realized what it really was, what those string of energies meant. There was no talisman, there was only a trap.

They were standing above an abyss, on a platform of rock that would collapse as soon as somepony laid their hooves on the illusion. A trap More-than Tardy did not suspect, a trap he was now just a few more steps from activating. And when he fell down into the darkness, Feather would go with him.

“We have to stop him!”

“No we don't, if he activates the trap he will die.”

“And Feather Touch with him!”

“Yes, but he will die, it would be over.”

“I can't let Feather Touch die.”

“Why not, you had no trouble watching the guards you lead to Cloudsdale die. You knew the chance of them returning from there alive was slim at best, yet you took them with you anyway.”

That was different!”

“How so?”

“They were guard ponies, they had chosen to become protectors of Equestria. Just like everypony that followed More-than Tardy had chosen to become murderers and outlaws.”

“That's quite some hypocrisy coming from you, but even if it is true, Feather choose as well.”

“She's innocent!”

“She still made her choice.”

“She didn't chose to die. She trusts me!”

“So jump.”

“What...?”

“Jump, you heard what he said, if you jump we will die, but she will live.”

“Are you that stupid!? There is nothing to stop him from dropping her afterward anyway!”

“Yes there is. More-than Tardy is a class one egomanic, he thinks he is going to take hold of the one thing that will grant him as close to ultimate power as he dares to dream about. And he will be forcing what he thinks is his worst rival to commit suicide, he wants an audience. His ego is what will guarantee Feather's safety, she doesn't represent a real threat to him anyway. Once we jump he will put her down safe and sound so she can watch him take power, but will instead watch as he falls to his death.”

“But...I...”

“Make your choice, one has to die in order to bring More-than Tardy down. We...or Feather Touch.”

“I...”

“Hurry, he's almost there!”

Karon blinked and returned his focus to the professor, he was no more than three steps away from the illusion of the talisman. Three more steps and he would turn around and activate the trap, three more steps and he would die. But so would Feather.

“I can't make that choice!”

The professor took another step backwards, his eyes fixed on Karon, noting his increasing distress.

“Two more steps...”

“I don't want to die!”

“Then let Feather take the fall.”

“I can't.”

Cold sweat trickled down his spine and Karon's breathing only came in hurried gasps of rising panic.

“One more step then it is over!”

“No...I...”

“WAIT!” He finally shouted, his face twisted by indecision and fear. He had stretched out a hand involuntarily towards the professor as he shouted, a pure reflex. But it alone had stopped the unicorn from turning around and grasping the imagined prize.

The unicorn had been growing more tense with each step he took, seeing how Karon had grown more and more agitated the further he got. He had been preparing for whatever kind of magic the human might employ in order to stop him. So when Karon had flung out his hand towards him he had fully expected him to launch a strike of some kind, and for the first time in a long time More-than Tardy found himself utterly confused as to why he had done nothing.

That confusion alone was what stopped him from reached around and grasping what would he his death.

“And why would I wait, there is a kingdom in need of ruling and two graves awaiting a pair of princesses.”

“Don't you dare tell him!”

“I can't chose, I have to try another way.”

“There is no certainty in that! If you tell him you lose the only chance you have at killing him for sure, the price of his death if either us or Feather.”

“I can't, I can fix this another way. I can trick him, I don't have to pick.”

“There are consequences for every action, if you pick now you know what they will be. But if you try and use deception and gain everything and lose nothing we won't know what will happen.”

“I will not chose.”

“It's a trap.” Karon said, his voice ringing out loud and clear in the cave.

“What?” The unicorn questioned, even more confusion making it's way unto his face.

“The talisman, it's a trap.”

The confused look twisted into a crooked grin, and the unicorn replied in a mocking tone.

“I must have overestimated you if this is the best you can do.”

“Look around yourself. A tiny bridge leading out to the treasured artifact hanging over a black abyss. It's as cliche as they come and you bought it. I bet if you looked at the bottom of that pit you would find the skeletons of other would-be usurpers. It's a carefully planted lie, meant to attract those that would try and overthrow the princesses and let their own ambitions kill them.”

For a second the professor looked uncertain, his mind was a well oiled machine and quickly processed what he had just heard. And with a dread feeling the unicorn realized that it could be true, it was something he would have constructed if he had been ruler. No need to chase after rebels and treasonous nobles if you could just give them a false hope to chase after and led them to their own graves.

“And why would you tell me this if I was just about to walk into this...trap?”

Karon said nothing but pointed at Feather.

“A servant? That's it?”

“It's enough for me,” Karon stated firmly.

“Don't deceive yourself. You know she is but a tool, their value extend only as far as their service and use to us.”

“I'm not like that.”

“You are like me court wizard. I can recognize a reflection when I see it.”

There was a part of Karon that shied away from what the unicorn said, not in fear or denial, but in shame. He clenched his hands and turned them into fists, his teeth clenched hard together and the next words were hissed more than spoken.

“Enough! You have lost, there is no talisman or other source of power to draw from. Even if you could defeat me the princesses would hunt you down, I offer you one chance to make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Let Feather Touch go and I won't hurt you. I will leave you alone. It will be Celestia and Luna's task to find and bring justice down on you.”

The professor stood still, digesting this sudden turn of event with cold precision. He knew Karon to be an excellent liar, just like he was. And also a great manipulator, just like he was. If it was just a trick then he would have to fight him, and possibly lose the chance to gain the talisman. But if he was speaking true then he would perish together with the fool servant.

The risk and gain was clear, and the logical choice was obvious. There was always tomorrow. And there would always be weak minded ponies he could break and bend to his will. Greed, hate and jelousy were easy things to breed in others after all.

“Swear upon your life and magic that you will let me go,” the unicorn said. This would just be a temporary setback. But there was a part of him, that part of him he always had difficulty controlling as thoroughly as the other parts of himself, that still yearned to put his hoof on the talisman. His ambition screamed inside of him, told him to turn around and grasp the power that as rightfully his.

“I swear upon my life and magic that I will let you go,” Karon sighed. It was foolish of him to agree to it. A magic user ran a very real chance of losing much when they swore things upon their powers, much like a regular person binding their life to a promise by a blood oath.

The professor remained still for a second, than he twisted his horn marginally and Feather glided through the air and was released from the aura holding her right next to Karon. She fell down and landed on her hooves steadily, balancing herself for a moment then turning her attention to the professor like Karon.

The human in question breathed a sigh in relief when Feather landed safely on the ground, he was so relieved that his lips turned into a grin and a looked on More-than Tardy with a victorious face.

That was a mistake.

“Your bluffing!” the unicorn shouted, and instead of the ink like darkness from earlier, a regular ball of fire leapt from his horn and headed for Karon. Just as it was about to hit him Feather threw herself towards Karon and they spun around a few times before crashing to the floor.

Scarcely believing it could have missed him Karon jump up and watched as a large cracking sound split the otherwise silent caves. It reverberated through the air and rock around and everything began to shake slightly. More-than Tardy screamed as he realized it had been true. It was nothing but a trap, he had been fooled by Celestia all along.

His horn glowed black and as the rock upon which he stood fell in pieces and began subject to gravity's rule once more he jumped towards Karon. The boost his magic had given him carried him over the empty space and he hit the edge of the cave floor hard. He seemed to be fine for a moment, but his balance was off and he slipped down on it. He scrambled and somehow managed to lock his hooves on some small crack in the floor, but just barely. The slightest of push would send him down the dark pit.

Karon walked towards him with determined eyes, but was stopped when he heard a weak, shaking voice behind him.

“S-sir...”

He turned around and something inside of him broke.

Feather Touch lied on her side, her left side exposed and turned upwards. Which was why he could not avoid seeing the sight of her burned chest. Her beautiful white coat was now the red and black of burned and charred flesh. The heat of the fire had been so intense it had burned off the skin and flesh, exposing her ribcage and the mass of organs and bones inside.

Karon's limbs turned to lead and he shuffled over to the burned unicorn, falling to his knees and holding his hand above her. Like he didn't know where to start fixing her, but he couldn't fix her. Not something like this.

“Si-ir,” she tried again, her voice gurgling with the blood leaking throughout her entire body, not only had the fire burned her. The energy feeding it had channeled straight into her with enough force to break bones and rupture tissue. Several ribs stuck out and blood pumped out of her wounds with every beat of her heart.

Heartbeats that should make her draw breath, heartbeats that should fill her with warmth and life. Not slowly drain her of it.

“I'm here Feather,” he said in a disbelieving voice. He put a shaking hand on her head and looked her deep in her eyes. He could see how one of her back legs was twitching, the cutie mark right above it covered in blood.

“You're gonna be just fine.”

She smiled up at him, but the smile was broken as spasms went through her entire body and she shrieked when the broken bones clawed against her naked flesh. She shuddered as it stopped and her voice was barely above that of a whisper.

“No-o I'm not sir.”

“Yes, you are. You can't die here, not when we have won. You can't die from one ball of fire. Not one meant for me.”

“I-t's f...fine sir. I'm just...happy to serve.”

“No, no, no I am not letting you die. If you want to serve you can do that by staying alive.”

“”I'm s-sorry I c-”

“NO! I'm sorry, I should have just jumped. It's my fault this happened. I'm so sorry Feather, I'm sorry...”

“Ha, look at you! Mewling over a simple servant, she was meant to serve and nothing else. She has served her purpose and you can now discard her. We both know it is our way,” More-than Tardy said, desperately trying to gain attention to his predicament.

“SHUT UP!” Karon screamed at him and his voice broke.

“Shhhh,” Feather breathed out through her cracked lips, her breathing ragged and dry. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth and produced tiny bubbles as she continued speaking. The little strength she had left was slowly leaving her.

“You're...not like h-him,” she said.

The magic binding the stone into a bridge and platform had unleashed as the trap activated, and the stray energy had been caught and absorbed by the crystals around the cave. They emitted soft blue light that fell upon everything inside with a serene glow and produced a distant chime that echoed through the chamber.

“Yes I am. I could have saved you. I could have done better, everypony else would have. I didn't because I'm just like him.”

“N-no you're no...not,” she said firmly, summoning what force she could to put behind her words.

“How can you believe that after everything I've done,” he said, looking down at her broken and disfigured form. The pool of blood that had gathered around them, the acid smell of burned flesh and singed hair burning in his nostrils. This was his doing, it was his mistake.

She didn't answer, with a pained cry she shifted herself a little and brought her right hoof up to his face. It shook badly and the blue light of the crystals joined with her azure eyes, and despite the pain there was something in them. Something he had seen before he couldn't understand.

Hope.

Her trembling hoof touched his cheek, right underneath his eye and she held it there for a brief moment. Then she smiled a broken, bloodied smile up at him, and her hoof fell down unto his lap.

Karon didn't move, didn't breath. He just held his palm on her head and stared into her eyes. Those big, beautiful, joyful eyes. He watched as something in them disappeared, and felt her heart stop beating.

He remained frozen, staring down at something that was suddenly dead. Something that had just a few minutes ago been a sweet, living, happy creature was now a slowly cooling corpse, dead and empty.

He started swaying forwards and back,  though unsure why until he looked down at her hoof still in his lap. There was something on it that reflected the blue light around him. His mind tried to focus on it, but it took several minutes before it managed to understand what he was seeing.

They were tears.

Karon slowly brought his hand from Feather's head to his cheek. It was wet and sticky, and now that he focused on it he could feel the stinging salt on his skin. He didn't understand what it meant, what she had meant. His mind didn't work, it couldn't understand anything. This wasn't supposed to happen.

“Not to interrupt but could you save the mourning for later perhaps?” More-than tardy asked acidly, the strain of holding on for his life obvious in his voice.

Turning his head as if in a dream Karon blinked slowly and looked at the unicorn, staring into his eyes. Eyes the color of empty space. Eyes the color of rotten flesh. Eyes the color of charred bone. Eyes...that held no life.

Karon carefully moved the hoof in his lap to the floor and gingerly closed Feather's eyes. Then he rose and walked over to More-than Tardy. He knelt down and looked on him, and something stirred, deep inside, something that fought against the numbness he was feeling.

“We had a deal!” the unicorn spat out, “You promised to let me go!”

Anger burst forth from Karon's heart and a fire roared inside of him. Fire, the thing he hated above all else.

“Yes,” Karon replied, his voice a growl so hateful the unicorn's black eyes showed fear.

“I promised to let you go,” he continued. Sparks danced on his palms and he leaned forward, his lips peeled back to reveal his teeth and he snarled. He grasped the unicorn's hooves with his hands and electricity ran through him. A shrill scream bounced around the cave and tuned into the crystals.

Karon brought the unicorn up to eye level, half of his body safely on ground, the other still dangling in the air, kicking desperately to gain some footing.

“And I will let you go.” Karon opened his hands.

He watched More-than Tardy's black eyes widen in disbelief as he slid down the edge and fell into the hungry darkness of Celestia's trap. Joining countless others who's ambition had led them to challenge the harmony she had fought to bring to life in the lands.

His feelings no longer kept at bay with numbness, Karon crawled away from the edge and began dry heaving. He tried to stand and he shook so badly he couldn't see. His teeth chattered and when the smell of burned flesh became obvious again he threw up. Tears streamed down his face and fell into the pool of vomit.

Exhausted, he fell over to his side and curled up in a fetal position. A cold had seeped into him, something that chilled him to the bone.  And at that moment the only thing that truly kept him from throwing himself off the edge to join More-than Tardy was the blue light still shining over him. Azure light, the color of ocean. The color of happy, innocent eyes.

He remained as such, shaking and crying as emotions long suppressed ravaged him. No fickle amusement, no forced laughter or hysterical insanity could save him. No anger, no sadistic pleasure, no haughty pride could distract him anymore. Inside of him was a squirming seed, planted long ago. But kept at bay with walls, thoughts and foolish games. A seed that had grown with each mistake, each pain added and each life and innocence stolen. There was no defense in place anymore, and Karon could only weep and hold on to the image of a pair of hopeful blue eyes as he was tortured by an emotion he had forced himself not to feel.

Guilt.

Next Chapter: Chapter 31: No happy ending Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 58 Minutes