Chapter 5:Tartarus First Strike

Darkness was all that the royal sisters could see as they slept with Twilight and her friends, but they were completely unaware of what was occuring all around them, for a greater darkness had settled into them late last night. All was quiet and peaceful, but it was also cold and haunting, chills ran down the sister's spines as they tossed and turned while the mane six themselves did the same. All they could then hear the most haunting and most intimidating chuckle they have ever heard, what they heard was not normal, not a laughter you would hear from your average villain, it was far more demonic.

Luna was finally the first one to open her eyes, but all she could see was a pitch black void, it was as if she never opened her eyes, but strangely enough she found herself in her attire and standing in the middle of the pitch black void. She could hear the echo of this horrid laughter sound out through the entire eternal void, Luna almost felt a bit scared, but she was never one to let her enemy know she was afraid, all she could do is listen to the laughter as Celestia was next to appear.

Celestia was also dressed in her royal attire and standing right next to her little sister with just as much confusion as what Luna was experiencing, they looked to each other and could feel the intensity through their bodies.

"Tia...? You don't perhaps know exactly what this is do you? I'm a bit lost,"Luna questioned as she looked around before she almost thought she saw red eyes peering down on them,"I could have sworn that we would be awakening to you bringing in a bright morning, but it seems that we are dreaming still..."

"I do not know Luna, but I do not like the feel of this place... It's shrouded in much evil and darkness,"Celestia said as she suddenly noticed red lighting and a sky view of dark clouds in the sky,"This place is evil... We must remain on our guard at all times... This is Tartarus magic...!"

The sisters quickly got into a defensive position as they now stood back to back to watch each other from behind as serpent like red eyes pierced the sky and looked at them before a mouth full of black sharp teeth and red glowing magic like a furnace stretched into a wicked smile. black smoke slowly seeped out of the red glowing mouth with each chuckle it gave to the sisters before a new world suddenly began to twist and ripple into reality as the sisters suddenly found themselves floating at lightning fast speeds up the tower of an old looking castle. Rain even began to pour down on them as they looked at the mountains that surrounded the old looking castle.

Red lightning suddenly crashed and stabbed the sky and mountains making them quiver and quake as the ladies remained in position while slowly starting to recognize this place just a bit from an old past they had always had trouble remembering. The rain came down harder as they got higher and higher up the tower, where this strange world was taking them they did not know, all they could do was wait and see where they were being taken.

They felt the rain hitting them, but their manes and coats didn't appear to get the least bit wet from the rain, yet another thing that gives this away as a dream, or possibly a nightmare as they finally made it up the tower. Once they had arrived to the top, they then found themselves at the top of the tower and were surprised by how big the tip of the tower was, but why they were here was unknown, at least until they turned to the center of the tower tip.

There in the center of the tower lookout, there was two faces locked in a frozen combat that were suddenly all two familiar to the sisters, for they were the Alicorns before them that had given birth to them before the day of their passing. It was their mother and father, the king and queen of Equestria, Cosmos and Galaxia, the mother and father of the royal sisters themselves, this was quite the sight for them.

Cosmos was a large stallion, just a few inches taller than Celestia, his mane and tail looked like Luna's, only there were no stars on them, and they were waving more like fire than wind. His coat was a very dark blue color and it even had small fading stars within the coat itself, and he certainly looked very masculine. His royal attire consisted of a light blue crown and necklace with lighter blue gems in the center of both pieces of attire while he wore light blue horse shoes. He also bared the cutie mark of an eight pointed star that symbolized him as the creator of the night, much to Luna's interest and warmed heart.

Their mother was none other than queen Galaxia, she was a beautiful mare who was just as tall as Celestia, and even looked a little bit like her, only not all of her coat was pearly white, as the color went down to her legs, she had a small shade of orange that was much like the sun's color itself. Her mane and tail were both made of the very night and the dawn itself, the tips of them sparkled with stars from the very night itself, her own wings were made of the dawn sky while her cutie mark was of a galaxy, symbolizing her as the creator of the very world itself. she also wore a golden attire much like Celestia, only her attire had pink gems in them, while her hooves were covered with night like horse shoes.

However the sisters could not enjoy this moment, for their parents were currently in a frozen fight scene with swords both through their chests while their swords of the night and day were within the chest of a dark looking man. His black hair looked unnatural and filled with magic, his black colored eyes matched his hair while his red serpent like pupils glared upon them while his arms were crossed and appear to be holding the black swords that were now through the chests of their parents. Luckily it appeared that the man was also pierced through the chest by the parents as well, the sisters were in a bit of confusion for this, for they realized that this was a memory, and a memory of the day their parents died, and the dark man was their killer.

Celestia and Luna then noticed a small trap door that lead down from the tower was opened and could see that it was surprisingly the two of them as small fillies peeking through the door and witnessing their parents death. Celestia's mane and tail was still pink at that time, and she was tiny for a seven year old filly, while Luna barely appeared to be a child as she looked to be just barely out of her diapers and still had a light blue mane and tail.

That's when all of this all of this began to make sense, this was indeed what they were having trouble remembering, this was the last time they saw their parents and the one who took them away, why this memory was before them they did not know.

"What is all of this...? This is our parents is it not...? Why are we sharing this memory,"Luna said as she dared to approach the freeze frame of their parents,"What is going on here...?"

"Now I remember... This was the last time we saw them... This is why we were having trouble remembering them,"Celestia said as she approached the parents as well and stood by Luna's side,"We were so young when this happened... I always thought it was some horrible nightmare, but... I never thought it was real..."

"Tia... This strange man... Why am I remembering him all of a sudden...?"Luna asked as she reached to touch the man in the middle.

"I remember him...! Those eyes... They are the eyes of the master of Tartarus himself, The god of Tartarus himself,"Celestia said as red lightning instantly struck once again making the place go dark for a moment,"The devil... The master of all Equestria's evil... The Shade...!"

"How right you are Celestia...! Very good my little friend...!"Came the dark voice of the Shade himself.

Suddenly they turned to the frozen man only to see that he was not frozen at all, he was now laughing as a smile stretched across his face and his head lifted up as the frozen combat phase dissipated only for the parents to drop and disappear in a poof of black magic. The man lowered his swords and looked to the princesses as he let out a small chuckle at the ladies while they instantly backed away and aimed their furiously glowing horns at him, but this only entertained him as he turned away and continued to chuckle. He slowly raised his hands up allowing his swords to disappear into the black magic as well as he looked to be surrendering, but in reality he was just toying with them.

"It's been quite a long time since I last saw you both... You two have really grown into quite the stunning pair of mares,"He said while letting out a nostalgic sigh,"I even dare to say you both look very attractive for thousands of years."

"I should have known we were being followed from way back in the hallways yesterday,"Luna said loudly while shooting a stream of magic at the enemy."Explain yourself dark one, you are the one who killed our parents are you not?!"

The Shade only let out a small giggle as the blast of dark blue magic suddenly went through him as if he was merely a ghost, it proved to be a bit of a confidence crusher for Luna as the man suddenly became tangible after Luna lowered her attack from him.

"Perhaps I did... Are you going to ask me what all happened here? Or are you going to skip that and get to the part where I make you both join your parents in death,"The shade questioned back with a mocking smirk,"I don't care which one you want first, but just so you know... I've been waiting for this moment for a long time... Since that day you both witnessed you parent's destruction."

The two sisters just glared at him and snorted in sudden fury, they had no remorse or the slightest care for this foe, for this was the one who took their parents from them, he was the reason there was evil in Equestria... He did it all. There was nothing but hate for this man, but their hate was like a work of art to the Shade as he put his hands together in the form of a prayer.

"So you're both speechless huh? That's perfectly understandable, I can compromise and make it short before we begin the fun,"Shade said with a chuckle of excitement as the whole reality around them rippled away and was replaced by the black void,"To put it short, this was the last battle your parents had with me, and what they did here saved your asses from meeting my blades all those years ago...!"

"You killed our parents, you caused all this evil to occur in Equestria, How can you dare to show yourself after so long?!"Celestia questioned as the air around them began to get heavy.

"It's simple really... Thanks to some lesser associates of mine, the link between Tartarus and Equestria was rebuilt from what your parents did in the last battle,"The Shade said as a black hellish sword appeared in his hand,"Now the link is fixed and my demons have arrived into your world, your parents on the other hoof or hand are no longer around to stop me, and as of now my demons are currently at the Griffon kingdom to handle the unsavory descendant of the first Griffon king that fought alongside your parents."

Celestia suddenly widened her eyes as did Luna, they then remembered who else was at the Griffon kingdom and began to panic much to Shade's interest as he went into the form of thick black smoke just as the sisters came to realize the real issue.

"DYLAN...!"Both mares shouted out loud.

Celestia was the first to turn around and try to leave, but the Shade then appeared before her and chuckled as he pointed the sharp tip of the black sword to her nose and gave her an entertained look before rearing back his sword.

"I'm afraid you two have an even bigger problem to deal with!"Shade said loudly while swinging his blade at Celestia.

Luckily Celestia was able to take to the air and narrowly avoid the sword as it almost sliced through the very void itself, he watched Celestia take to the air and smiled as she shot a gleaming golden beam of magic at him. Shade then shook his head as the beam went right through him as if it was nothing and struck the pitch black ground behind him just in time for him to notice that Luna had shot another blast of magic at him as well, but it unfortunately went right through him as well.

He looked over to an angry Luna who had her horn blazing with magic as she shot more blasts of magic at the enemy, but the man fazed right to the sides in a mocking form as he dodged the blasts through his ghostly side steps covered with black magic. He then reached out and made an arm made of shadows shoot from his hand and snake its way over to Luna hoping to make a grab for her, but the night princess managed to take flight and dodge the arm as she joined Celestia in the air.

"Hmm...! Very impressive princesses! I applaud your swiftness,"The Shade said in a mocking tone before leaping into the air,"But do not be so quick to lower your guard, this is just the beginning!"

The princesses manage to throw up a shield around each other as the Shade came in wielding his big sword and quickly striking with a horizontal slice, hoping that the attack would be blocked, the sisters held together strong and braced. Their hopes however were crushed as the Shade suddenly sliced through the shield with little to no effort with a smile on his face and was going for the princesses heads. Luckily the sisters were able to duck under the blade just in time to miss the sword hitting their necks and merely taking small clumps of their manes instead.

They quickly flew down avoiding another slice from the crazed attacker, Celestia even saw an opening and quickly swung her back legs to buck the Shade in the face, thankfully she was able to strike him across the cheek rather than go through him. Unfortunately the buck did nothing but make the Shade give them a weird look since her back hooves were squished against his face.

"Heh...! So slow Celestia...!"Shade suddenly said.

The Shade then lifted his left arm up and knocked Celestia's back legs up into their air and away from his face before lifting his sword up to slice her in two while she was now upside down and reeling from the strong arm against her legs. Her eyes widened as she saw the incoming blade and felt that she would not be able to dodge in time, but luckily she was saved by an incoming dark blue blast of magic as it struck the Shade in the back making him move a little while Celestia managed to fly away from him.

Shade quickly turned around to see Luna with her horn once again aimed right at him and began to get annoyed with Luna's pesky interference, and finally decided to get more serious as he suddenly shot a red beam from his eyes that was covered with black static. The shot was small but heavily concentrated as it made its way towards Luna at great speeds, but Luna quickly side stepped out of the way just in time to make her right hoof suddenly glow with her blue magic.

She then quickly charged after him using three legs for running while one hoof was charging up with magic as she narrowed her sights right on the enemy, who raised an eye brow in interest with the team work and magic of the two sisters. Luna reared back and threw a hard right hoof full of magic, but she could only watch as the Shade jumped into the air and looked down at her with a smirk only for her to return the favor with a smirk of her own as she saw her sister come in from the air.

Shade realized this and only had time to look up before Celestia came in with a powerful glowing horn as she drove her horn straight through their foes chest watching black blood explode out the back. He grit his teeth and chuckled with interest as blood leaked out of his mouth only to be surprised by Luna who had shot into the air in flash of speed and came down to deliver her glowing super hoof directly to his gut forcing him down to the black ground hard.

They both looked down as they watched blood drop and leak from his mouth while he chuckled at their tenacity and team work, clearly these two were a formidable duo, this made things interesting as they both pinned him to the ground.

"Wow...! The two of you are strong...! Just like your parents...!"Shade antagonized while Celestia dug her horn deeper into his chest.

"Now you listen to us Shade! I don't know how or why you returned after so long, but we will send you back forever, and it all starts here!"Celestia snapped and even spit a bit on the Shade while he surprisingly welcomed the spit with a chuckle.

"Wow...! Has any pony ever told you that you have become quite the mare Celestia, I would just love to get under that tail and try that flank out."Shade commented with a chuckle as he practically enjoyed this experience.

"Surrender now Shade! You are caught and trapped, you are going nowhere now!"Luna demanded while his laughter finally ceased.

"My goodness, you are quite the big talkers aren't you ladies? You think you have already won,"The Shade mocked as Celestia gripped his robe with her teeth,"That's my favorite thing you know... Seeing the big talkers so confident before their confidence instantly shatters when the big surprise comes."

The princesses raised an eye brow to the enemy as his red slit eyes directed themselves to the left of them, he chuckled as he spat blood out onto the pitch black floor while the ladies gradually looked to his left to get quite a shock. Their minds were instantly blown as they now looked upon the Shade standing on the left watching them with a wicked smile on his face while trying not to laugh at them while the ladies looked back to the Shade that was under them.

That Shade on the other hoof suddenly went blank before the entire fake Shade disintegrated into black magic and quickly snaked its way back into the real Shade's body while they princesses both managed to stand back up to look at him. The Shade at that time gave them a wide eyed look before he suddenly appeared right in front of both of them and kicked Celestia in the chest sending her slamming against a sudden invisible wall and watching her slide down the wall as a bruise on her chest began to firm.

He then turned to Luna just in time to duck under and dodge an incoming buck to the face before spinning around and delivering a swift round house across Luna's jaw sending her flying back as well and landing right on Celestia. Celestia was then the first to get up before helping Luna to her hooves only to see a small line of blood went down the side of her mouth as she let out a breath of exhaustion while holding her jaw for a bit hoping for the throbbing in her jaw to subside.

"Don't be getting tired yet ladies! The fun is only just beginning,"Shade insisted as the ladies looked to him with dagger like stares while Luna wiped the blood from her mouth,"I hope you ladies are better than what I'm seeing right now, or you will never make it through this nightmare alive!"

"We'll see about that Shade...!"Celestia insisted as the ladies prepared to fight once more.

As they both flew towards the Shade once more with their horns lit up and blasting magic at their enemy, their only hope that was going through their minds at this moment as they clashed with the enemy once more.

"I hope Dylan's alright, please be safe our love..."Luna thought in that moment.

Griffon kingdom

Dawn was breaking on a new day for the Griffons at the Griffon kingdom, but all was not quiet and peaceful, for Tartarus had finally struck at the first light of dawn and chaos was spreading everywhere, for the Griffons were now at war. Demons ran from the mountains and charged to the Griffon kingdom in astonishing numbers, most were armed goblins of different colors, while others were larger goblins that were bloated, some demons were even dragon like and could fly.

The demons managed to make it to the castle grounds, but they were fortunately blocked off from the small city just below the castle where the civilians were being kept safe, but the demons were pushing their way into the city. Griffon soldiers and warriors were all taking to the sky and the ground as a great battle was breaking out just outside on the grounds of the castle with the king himself taking the lead as they all clashed with the demons on the ground. All the while, a bloody air battle was taking place just above their heads as demons and Griffons were ripping each other limb from limb splashing blood into the sky as it came down like a rain on the battle field below.

Chaos began to grow even more as the dragon like demons shot fire balls at the castle hoping to destroy the kingdom and break the will of the golden and black armored Griffons below, but the king kept their spirits up and even thought he was keeping the castle up. How ever not every thing was at war with the demons for control of the kingdom, for they have almost forgot about a certain human who on this day would change the fate of the kingdom when he awoke this very day.

Up in the tower that was blocking off all the attacks the dragons had shot at it, Dylan Stone was sleeping peacefully in his bedroom suit with covers wrapped around him and a pillow over his head, but there was no blocking out the sounds of war. Suddenly the tower shook hard and it made Dylan stir a bit before going back to bed, it was going to take a bit more to wake Dylan from his slumber. Luckily a team of demon made catapults that were dark as night and even had red glowing eyes on them appeared on the mountain tops and began shooting massive fire balls right at the kingdom itself, they appeared to do the needed damage as a piece of the castle fell onto a team of Griffons, crushing them into a pile of red paste.

The impact finally woke Dylan up as he shot up from bed before the quake suddenly rolled him right off the bed and onto the floor before he frantically got the covers off him and got to his feet just in time to feel another quake hit the castle and almost knock him to his feet.

"What the fuck is going on out there?!"Dylan said as he quickly ran to a window and looked out to get quite a view.

He looked out and saw smoke from different parts of the Griffon kingdom smoking with fires while a full blown war had broken out between the Griffons and the most hideous creatures he had ever seen. His eyes widened with shock as he watched Griffons and the weird beasts getting slaughtered right before his very eyes, Griffons were getting their very eyes pulled off their bodies, some were even sliced in half by the curved and twisted blades of the colorful monsters. Griffon females were even worse as some were even being eaten alive once their armor was dispensed, some were even dragged away into secluded corners for even worse crimes to be committed.

Blood was being spilled all over the grounds of the castle, piles of bodies from both Griffon and demon laid upon the smooth stone road that lead to many places around the castle, all roads of which were now preoccupied with dead, and battling enemies.

Dylan shook his head and could not believe the kind of violence he was seeing, but he somehow managed to keep his wits and his head as he let out horrified breaths before looking over to the small city to see that it was under siege. Demons were trying to break into the city to attack the innocent civilians inside, and theses civilians could not protect themselves in the least, and strangely enough, there were no guards protecting the city or even evacuating the civilians from the city.

"Oh my god...! What the hell is going on here, this is all fucking crazy,"Dylan said to himself before noticing the demons were almost through the cities barred gates,"Shit! They need some help...! I... I got do something!"

It was then that Dylan decided to put his self defense and basic magic skills to work as he aimed his right hand directly at the demons that were trying to smash down the gate and lit up his hand with furious white magic. A white beam of magic then suddenly shot from his hand and soared down the castle tower like a fast missile before the attack suddenly struck a monster directly in the chest before exploding and destroying all the monsters around him freeing the gate from further abuse. The crowd of Griffons in the city suddenly began to cheer seeing their precious gate saved as they looked to the tower and gave cheers to Dylan, but the civilians weren't the only ones that noticed his good deed.

A flying dragon like creature had suddenly noticed Dylan destroying the demons at the city gate and roared as it swooped in towards the tower for payback, and Dylan was clearly scared as he saw the incoming attack. The human let out a gasp as he ducked just in time for the beast to miss his head before flying through the window and smashing head first into the door as Dylan quickly spun around to see the creature get to its feet and pounce on him with razor sharp teeth and claws of red.

"HOLY SHIT...! Get the fuck off me!"Dylan demanded as they struggled with each other.

They crashed to the ground as Dylan made a lucky grab for both paws full of claws and held the creature as it tried biting at him, he screamed and yelled for help, but he felt that no help was coming in the midst of all this chaos. Finally he manage to aim his hand right at the chest of the beast and blast more magic right at it, forcing the winged beast off him and slamming it against the wall, Dylan then quickly rushed to his suit case right under the bed and pulled it out as the creature managed to reel from getting slammed again. It then suddenly roared as it went for Dylan once more, but as it was about to pounce on him, Dylan had managed to open the suit case and pull out the sword his loves left for him just in time to turn around and aim it right at the creatures chest.

The beast suddenly widened its eyes as the blade suddenly went right through its chest and felt blood gush out it's back and it's chest as it remained frozen in place while Dylan had the sword plunged right into it. Dylan's free hand on the other hoof was now balled in a fist and shoved into the monsters mouth before the beast suddenly felt a warm buzzing sound going off the back of its mouth and began to struggle as magic was building up in its mouth. Unfortunately it was too late for the dragon like beast as a sudden and strange explosion went off.

*CLICK**BOOM*

The head of the creature then suddenly exploded to pieces of red paste and splashed blood over the walls as the creature flew back and even managed to do a full back flip before smashing through the door and grinding down the steps before coming to a stop at the feet of a visitor. Captain Gilda Griffon had arrived up the stairs to aid Dylan, but it appeared that he did not need her help as she looked to the headless creature before slowly looking up to the bedroom door to see Dylan walk out with a revolver gun made of white magic in his right hand.

"What...?! It attacked me and I fought back, what's the big deal?!"Dylan questioned as he stepped onto the stairs and kicked the beast in the ribs.

"I didn't say anything It's just... Wow...! you can really handle yourself, we could use you in this fight."Gilda said as Dylan frowned at her.

"You wanna tell me what the fuck is going on here? I wake up and I see the whole kingdom being submerged in death and violence between Griffons and these freaky creatures,"Dylan ranted as he kicked the creature again,"What is going on here Gilda? Answer me!"

"Okay...! Don't get your tidy whites in a twist, look we're at war right now with demons from Tartarus itself, how all of them got out into the mortal world is far beyond any of us,"Gilda explained while Dylan made his gray sweat pants and white shirt appear and began to dress himself,"Fortunately those demons fight like pups, they're not going to last long in this fight."

"What about the civilians? Those demons are trying to break into the city and kill them! Are you going to do anything about them?!"Dylan questioned much to Gilda's confusion.

"The king gave us no demands to protect them, the kingdom comes first before the city,"Gilda answered much to Dylan's displeasure,"Look...! If you want the civilians protected that great and all, Tyranus bless you, but they won't get support at the city without the kings consent...!"

"Then where is he?! I'll have a chat with him and get those innocent Griffons in the city they need,"Dylan said as he managed to get dress and wield his sword with confidence,"Tell me where he is now!"

"Okay okay! Just relax there big guy! king Tyranus is just outside the castle gates fighting off the demons to protect his home."Gilda answered as Dylan let out a huff in frustration.

"Good! You wanna make yourself and go offer support to the city CAPTAIN?!"Dylan questioned while Gilda raised an eye brow.

"But... I need the kings consent for all that, I can't go against the-"Gilda started before getting cut off.

"I don't give a flying fuck what the king thinks at this time, those are your subjects and the kings royal subjects and they need help,"Dylan scolded making Gilda flinch a bit in fear,"A leader is nothing without his crew and his people to follow him, and they won't follow a leader that will lead them to their death for his own pride!"

"Well... I... Fine...! Okay I'll go to the city and protect them, but I'll need back up if we want to hold the city,"Gilda said while drawing her sword,"Can you get me some back up from the king or his guards? That would be appreciated!"

"You'll get your back up, but for now just get to the city and protect your subjects with your life,"Dylan demanded before a veil of white magic surrounded him,"I'll be back with help, you just wait!"

With that said, Dylan suddenly disappeared in a flash of white magic, leaving Gilda to give a respectful nod before rushing up the stairs and entering the bedroom, she then ran to the window and jumped through it before taking flight into the sky. She looked around at all the battles taking place down at the kingdom before turning off and flying towards the small city to give support to the civilians.

Meanwhile down at the castle grounds, king Tyranus and his personal guards along with the rest of his force were at war with the demons to defend his keep, and for the most part it had appeared that they had the upper hand in the battle. The demons had their numbers, but the Griffons had the strength as many demons were slaughtered at the sword of the king and his soldiers, demons were getting their faces clawed completely off by Griffons while swords were slitting their bellies and beheading the attackers.

The king was merry with this battle, his large sword with the golden hilt and the black serrated blade sliced and grind his enemies to pieces, with each hard swing he delivered, many demons were sent flying in pieces splashing their fowl blood everywhere. One demon even fell down right before him, and the king took the opportunity by lifting up his giant claw and smashing the demons head to pieces before plunging his sword into an incoming bloated demon wielding two axes.

He pierced the beast, but his kill was short lived as the creature smirked before suddenly starting to inflated like a balloon, quickly the king flew away just in time to see the demon explode in a blast of gore and kill all the Griffons around him in the process. Blood went every where as the king grind to a stop right at the castles gate and forced his soldiers to march on as they forced the tide of demons to start retreating towards the mountains, his pride began to get fueled as he urged them to give chase.

"Push them back soldier! SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!"Tyranus roared as the Griffon in the air began picking demons off like hawks attacking mice.

Suddenly the king and his Griffons didn't notice an incoming dragon from above soaring down to take a shot at the king himself, Tyranus unfortunately did not see the creature until it was too late as he was then suddenly knocked to the ground by a spiky red tail that tore open a wound on his leg. The creature then landed and knocked away soldiers with its tail before moving towards the down king as he pointed his sword at it and braced for the worse, but thankfully his life was spared thanks to the sudden appearance of Dylan.

The human had suddenly appeared in front of the king and blasted as shot from his magic revolver, it blew a hole completely through the beast as it stumbled backwards and died while Dylan turned to the injured king.

"King Tyranus, your rescuer is here,"Dylan said as he extended a hand to the king who gladly took his hand up,"Looks like I got here in the nick of time, any longer and you would have been dead...!"

"Indeed... Thank you for the save Mr Stone,"The king thanked as he stumbled to his paws ignoring the pain in his leg,"But... What are you doing here Dylan? You should be hiding and letting us handle things here."

Suddenly Dylan shot three blasts of magic at three incoming goblin like Dylan's of three different colors before turning back to the king just in time for the demons to fall to the ground right behind him.

"I came here to talk to you,"Dylan said in a more serious tone,"There are civilians in the city that need protection and evacuation, but there are no soldiers there what so ever!"

"I see, and what exactly is that suppose to mean to me, our keep must survive for the sake of the nobles and warriors,"The king said ruffling his feathers while Dylan raised an eye brow,"I'm certain that the civilians can protect themselves, but the castle needs protection!"

"So you're just going to leave your innocent people to die in the city, what the hell kind of leader are you,"Dylan snapped in the kings face before drawing his sword,"Will you Griffons for once in your life forget about defending your pride and think about others for a change here?!"

"And what exactly is that suppose to mean Mr Stone, all I'm doing is protecting what is important to me and all other Griffons of my kingdom!"The king snapped back as an explosion went off near the city gate,"What...! What on this good soil just happened?!"

"That's why they were retreating before Tyranus, it's not truly the castle they want, they're going after the one thing that a kingdom cannot be without,"Dylan yelled as he took a glance at the city before Tyranus came to realize what it was,"They're after your civilians Tyranus! If they kill all them your kingdom will be nothing, you are their king they expect you to guide them and protect them, not protect your pride and personal bearings!"

"But... I was only doing what I believed was best for my kingdom...!"The king said as a sudden heavy feeling gripped his heart.

"If you think that protecting your personal pride and your own hide is the best thing for your kingdom, then you are a shitty king,"Dylan snapped before turning to the small city,"You can stand there and wallow in your failure, but me and captain Gilda are going to save your innocent civilians from the demons, whether you like it or not...!"

With that told, Dylan once again surrounded himself in a veil of his white magic and quickly disappeared in a white flash once more to leave the king to drop to his knees in sudden shame and injured pride. The demons had fooled him and played him like a heart, they took advantage of his pride and his kingdom so they could kill what was truly most precious to him, the one thing he never bothered to worry about. Now he felt it was too late to do anything, his pride was broken and all he could do is look to the ground while his soldiers finally manage to send the remaining demons back to the mountains and away from his precious kingdom.

Meanwhile at the small city just on the lower grounds of the kingdom, the gates had exploded and groups of demons were rushing in to attack the Griffon civilians, but one Griffon was standing in their way, and she was giving them hell. Gilda flew around as she at that time slashed the belly of a dragon demon open and watched it fall while it's entrails spilled out before turning around in a flash of speed and slicing the head of another completely off before swooping in towards a group of demons below.

The demons had begun lighting the stone houses with the hay roofs on fire as they progressed and attacked any civilians they could find, but Gilda did not let them get too far before swooping in and picking pairs of demons up like a bird of prey. She then dropped the pair straight off the mountain before coming back down and slashing the throats of three more demons with her sword while also kicking one demon at the gate right off the mountain. The demons were frantic and were too busy with Gilda to notice the Griffon civilians escaping out the south entrance, no matter what they did they could not catch the Griffon captain of the guard.

Gilda came down for another air raid and blocked one incoming curved sword before slashing the chests of two demons before finally landing right in front of them just in time to duck under two horizontal slices of swords and digging her claws into the throats of the attackers. She ripped her claws out of the goblins throats just in time to black a vertical jumping slice from another demon and roar at it with her big lion like roar before swinging both her legs around in the form of a round house and kicked the beast straight into a small group of demons.

"Well...! What are all of you beasts waiting for?! You're all better than this right you stupid demons!"Gilda mocked before two more demons came in and slashed at her.

Gilda ducked under the horizontal slices this time and did a quick spin while slitting the bellies of the demons and watching them drop to the ground while she looked down at them and spit right on their bodies. She then looked up to see the demons backing away from her as if they were retreating, and it was quite a good feeling for her as she sprouted her wings proudly while her golden and black armor gleamed in the sunlight.

"Yeah that's right! You beasts better run, or as Dylan would say, run away you little pussies...! RUN!"Gilda said with a hearty chuckle before everything around her suddenly went cold.

"Silly Griffon...! They were not retreating...! They were just making some room for me!"Came a very dark and chilling female voice.

Suddenly Gilda felt the wind get knocked out of her as a large discolored appendage much like a spiders leg slammed Gilda right under the belly with tremendous power and sent her flying right into a stone wall of the city. Gilda smashed into the wall hard sending dust and debris flying as she laid in a small crater in the wall, the wind left her body, but thankfully her sight still worked as she looked to see a strange pony like mare with red hair and covered in a cloak standing where she stood. With her were three human like females also in cloaks as well, but the human ladies eyes were easy to remember, for Gilda had read about the infamous Sirens of Equestria, but the red haired mare was unknown to her.

"What the...! Who the hay are you...?!"Gilda said as she slid down the wall and landed back to the ground.

"Oh...! My apologies little Griffon, where are my manners, you do remember the Sirens correct,"The mare questioned as Gilda stumbled to her paws to see the appendage that struck her coming out of the mares back,"These are new colleagues of mine, and I am this kingdoms destroyer...! The one mistress of the seven evils...! I am... The Maiden of Anguish!"

The mares very hiss sent a chill down Gilda's spine as she wielded her sword and took the time to let her catch her breath before preparing for battle, the maiden of Anguish just chuckled at Gilda while Adagio and her girls couldn't help but be afraid of the Griffon's resistance. The Sirens backed away as the mare just looked away and shook her head in disappointment as Gilda suddenly shot towards the mare making the Sirens jump back from the surprise attack and fall on their back sides.

Gilda went for a downward slice to try to kill this demon quickly, but this one proved to be different as she blocked the sword completely with her spider like appendage and forced Gilda away with a powerful swing. Gilda then surprised her by pulling out a knife from her chest plate and throwing it right at the mares head, but Anguish continued to smirk as she opened her jaw and caught the blade in her green sharp teeth. Gilda then watched as the blade suddenly melted into green slim and oozed to the ground before burning a hole into the very ground itself.

"Okay...! So she's got venom in those teeth, not a good idea to get bit,"Gilda said as she dodged the incoming appendage that also had green ooze on a sharp tip of it,"And the strange spider arm also has venom...! This mare is definitely no ordinary demon."

"Oh you are so right about that little Griffon, I'm not even a pony in reality,"The demon pony chirped vilely from behind Gilda before smacking her down with her bloody red hooves,"I am one of the seven evils of Tartarus! And I am here to claim this kingdom in the name of my master!"

Gilda quickly crashed to the ground just in time to look up before Anguish suddenly landed hard on Gilda's chest plate, cracking it up while the wretched mare lifted it's appendage up and tried to impale Gilda through the chest. Gilda managed to grab the appendage with her on free claw, but then widened her eyes as three more of the same limbs suddenly tore out and shot out of the mare's back and dangled right in front of her. Gilda was now trapped, she was pinned by the mare and was about to take three spider like weapons through the body, and this was going to be the end.

Gilda closed her eyes and waited for it as the mare reared back her appendages and was about to drive them right through Gilda, but then a miraculous rescue arrived as a blast of white magic suddenly struck Anguish straight in the eye. She creamed demonically in pain as she stumbled off the Griffon just in time for Gilda to fly up and slash at Anguish's face tearing off her cloak in the process before kicking her back away from her. Gilda then turned behind her as the sirens did the same only to smile as Gilda's savior turned out to be the human himself.

Dylan was now right behind the Sirens as the three of them looked to the hulking human while he directed his magical white gun right to Adagio's forehead while Sonata suddenly lit up with sudden attraction. Aria on the other hand was blushing furiously as Dylan towered over them and showed the signs that he was ready to kill them in an instant, but that didn't stop Sonata from saying what she was thinking right now.

"Oh my gosh...! He is Gorgeous! Where are all these hotties coming from?!"Sonata suddenly exclaimed before winking at him with a cute giggle.

"Get on your knees, and put your hands on your heads, or I will fucking kill you...!"Dylan said harshly as Aria and Adagio dropped to their knees and did as he instructed.

"Oh...! You go fast don't you...? I'll gladly get on my knees just for you hot stuff, you don't mind if this is my first time doing oral right?!"Sonata said dropping to her knees while reaching for Dylan's pants.

"That's not what I meant you fucking idiot!"Dylan snapped while pistol whipping Sonata right on the head making her reel back a bit while rubbing at her sore head.

"Serves you right you moron, since when do you go that fast with men?"Aria questioned while Adagio attempted to reason.

"Now just take an easy there big guy, we're just spectators here, we didn't mean to get caught up in all this honest,"Adagio begged as Dylan moved his head infinitely close to Adagios,"We... Are victims in all this, I swear, we are no harm, we're not your enemies...! Anguish is your enemy!"

Dylan raised an eye brow in complete unamusement by Adagio's sudden betrayal to Anguish as he looked over to the mare who was now standing on her hand legs and had suddenly grown a lot bigger while her hair became wavy and small horns grew on her face. She bared her green teeth that were dripping with venom while she roared at the human, but Dylan kept his wits about him as he turned to Gilda just as the Griffon flew to his side.

"Thanks for the save, I thought that crazy demon was going to tear me a new one,"Gilda said while Dylan replied with just a small nod,"Just so you know, this one is pretty tough, she's the Maiden Of Anguish apparently, she's one of the seven evils, not something you would want to take lightly."

"I see... You wanna watch those three bitches for me while I handle her?"Dylan asked as he stepped forward much to Gilda's shock.

"What! Oh no, hold on there big guy, you can't possibly hope to best this one, she's one of the seven evils,"Gilda warned while Dylan appeared not to be listening,"What about the princesses, I don't want to be the one to tell them their lover just died protecting us, It's not right!"

"Your king already lost the will to protect what was really important, his own civilians... But I won't allow the innocent to die so unfairly by the clutches of this bitch,"Dylan said while wielding his sword to challenge Anguish,"If I don't stop her right here, If I don't do something...! Then who will?!"

Gilda widened her eyes with complete shock and surprise at this brave human, he was actually going to put his own life on the line to save the creatures he had come to despise the most, how he could do this she could not tell, but it was the bravest and most selfless thing she had ever seen. A smile slowly grew on her face as she watched the human slowly walked towards the Maiden of Anguish, ready to fight and possibly die for her and her entire home, this was truly some one she wouldn't mind leading her from now on, this man was what a real king looked like.

"Alright then...! Then good luck Dylan,"Gilda said as she moved towards the Dazzlers to secure them,"And... Don't you dare lose to this bitch!"

Dreamscape Void

Meanwhile back in the black dreamscape void of Celestia and Luna, the two sisters were not having as much luck fighting off the Tartarus arrivals as they were on the losing end of a battle with the Shade himself, and they were losing badly. As a blast of red and black went off, both sisters flew back now covered in scratches, bleeding cuts and bruises as they stared down the Shade, who was laughing at them and completely uninjured by the sisters.

The sisters were starting to feel weakened and fatigued by the battle, they were losing and the Shade to this very moment was still toying with them, he chuckled while they both were forced to make a quick landing before Celestia dropped to one knee. She trembled while Luna also struggled to stay up as she then blasted a beam of magic at the Shade, but the Shade had already disappeared from that spot and now stood right behind her and chuckled while putting his lips to her ear.

"Is it just me... Or are you two starting to get painfully slow,"Shade asked before Luna turned around just to get slugged by a right hook to the jaw before flying back,"I must say I'm dreadfully disappointed in both of you, I thought this was going to be much like the fight I had with your parents that night, but this is what I got instead...!"

Shade then suddenly grabbed Celestia by her neck and lifted her into the air before throwing her right at Luna, the night princess quickly caught her sister in a levitational hold only to be surprised by the Shade now right above her. He quickly delivered a kick to her head and knocked her down to the ground watching her crash before grabbing Celestia again while she glared at the pure evil demon master, but she felt helpless, all she could do was stare at him while he giggled at her anger.

"Curse...! You Shade...! We...curse you!"Celestia cursed as he released her before kicking her right in the gut.

Celestia was then sent crashing down right next to Luna before Luna was able to get up and help Celestia to her hooves, but they were cornered and almost out of options, no matter what they did, the Shade was brushing it off like it was nothing. He slowly descended from the air and landed only ten feet in front of them as he watched their legs tremble and struggle to keep them up.

Blood was leaking out of both corners of their mouths as Luna was now the one to drop to her knee and struggle with all the pain she was feeling, and her whimpers of pain were bringing sweet tunes to Shades ears as he began walking towards them slowly.

"You know...?! It was a little like this back then...! When I fought your parents, both of them injured so bad, and me...! Not harmed in the least,"Shade antagonized as he drew near,"They were bleeding, beaten, bruised and bashed to a bloody... Fucking... Pulp!"

"Yet they still bested you in the very end Shade...! You and your demons were sent back to the pit that spawned you that night!"Celestia snapped as Luna trembled while getting to her hooves.

"That may be...! But they were the king and queen after all, and you are nothing but mere princesses,"Shade said drawing his black sword once more,"You are no queens... And you never will be without a proper king! Face it...! Your time is over!"

"Then... Kill us... Already... You...coward!"Luna said as she spit blood right on the Shades cheek.

"Gladly...!"Shade growled while licking the blood off his cheek.

His eyes glared and glowed as they stared down their targets, Shade drew back his sword and jumped to them about to take their heads clean off, that moment went by very slowly as the princesses saw their lives go by in a flash. They then thought about Dylan, for they felt for this very second that they were going to die and never see their love ever again, it brought a tear to both their eyes as they waited for the end.

Suddenly in that moment, a sudden blast of red magic instantly tore through the black void and blasted the Shade right in the ribs forcing him away from the princesses and even making him drop his sword as the princesses opened their eyes to see themselves still alive. They looked to the Shade who now had a scorch mark through his robe and a burn mark on his side as they all turned to see who had come in and rescued the princesses and their eyes widened with shock at all they saw before them.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Are you two alright?! We got here as fast as we could!"Came the voice of Twilight Sparkle as her and her friends arrived at their side.

Along with them was one old friend Discord the draconequus, and the mighty god of chaos who was now floating before Shade with his arms crossed and giving him an angry and very serious look, a look that was very rare for the draconequus. However there was another guest that really got Shade's attention as he saw a gray unicorn stallion appear right next to Discord in a flash of red magic giving himself away as the one who had attacked the Shade at the last moment.

Shade knew this stallion all too well, there was no mistaking his red colored eyes, the only difference was that he no longer had his black mane and tail flickering like a black fire, and his horn was normal now instead of red and curved like he left him. He currently wore no royal attire that really gave him away as the disciple he once was to the Shade, now he was an enemy of his and a friend to the princesses.

"It's been far too long my little pupil...! I see you were busy Discord,"Shade said with a frown at the two old enemies of Equestria,"I'm surprised you brought this one back, I would have thought he would have been easier to forget."

"Well that's where you are wrong my former dark master, I have awaken from your haunting corruption, and now I will finish what I started with you all those years ago!"The stallion said firmly with his horn glowing red.

"How right you are my new friend, it's time we settled our issues with you once and for all Shade!"Discord agreed as he raised his arms up into a fighting stance and made the whole void shake.

"Twilight...! It is so good to see you, and I'm glad you could come to our aid, we would have been dead if you had not arrived,"Celestia said fearfully as she looked to Luna,"Are you alright Luna?"

"I'll be fine, just a bit weak from the fight, the Shades just too strong,"Luna admitted as she looked to Discord and the mysterious new stallion,"Would some pony care to tell me who that stallion is, and where he even came from?"

"Trust me princess Luna, It took a bit for us to believe and trust this guy, but he's on are side,"Rainbow Dash admitted as she looked with narrow eyes at the stallion,"Trust me, you will not believe who this is...!"

SORRY, CHAPTER MUST END THERE FOR SUSPENSE, AND CAN YOU GUESS WHO THAT STALLION IS? HINT: WATCH THE TALE OF ONE SHADOW ON YOU TUBE, I FEEL THAT VIDEO NEEDED A HAPPY PIECE OF CLOSURE TO IT.