-Leon's Grave, Leon's Location-

Oblivion stood over the table, she had reset the pieces and had begun watching the pieces move. She shook her head. "I never did bother to figure out how to play this game. Light always was the one who rolled the dice when it came to fate."

She blinked, and without thinking exhaled in exhaustion. She had a finished talking with the planet, and had combed through the rubble of the ruins.

"One of the first things Light said to you..."

She looked at the sad environment around her before freezing in place as I approached her. Placing a hoof on her back, I closed my eyes.

"I am Equestria's keeper, guardian of this land..." It rang out from the Earth with booming volume that even rustled the trees.

Oblivion stood there. The voice was of Light, when he had first met me. Suddenly, a brief flash of pain shot through me as I clutched my forehead with my hoof.

Oblivion looked over at me, but not for long, as that was not the end of the voices.

"I am Equestria's keeper, guardian of this land..." This time, it was Twilight's voice.

"I am Equestria's keeper, guardian of this land..." Ace's.

"I am Equestria's keeper, guardian of this land..." Aria's

"I am Equestria's keeper, guardian of this land..." Many stranger's voices.

"I am Equestria's keeper, guardian of this land..." My voice.

"We are the next Guardians of Equestria..." All of the voices called out in unison.

"Then to you, to the next guardians of Equestria... I wish you good luck." Light's voice spoke.

Oblivion looked at the ground. In silence, Equestria watched her message play for the world to hear.

All I could do was smile before looking at the moving chess pieces on the table. As I did, a sudden moment of dizziness washed through my mind, and I fell over on the ground, lightheaded.

-Canterlot Castle-

The voices rang out through the entire town. It, in fact, was so loud and clear that the entire town, for a brief moment, froze.

Celestia awoke with a start, feeling the pain coursing through her body as she jumped with her injuries the way there were. Her sister burst into the room.

"Sister! Did you hear that?" Princess Luna walked in. She had just left the side of Light when she did that.

Celestia smiled, "What, sister?"

Luna looked worried, unsure of what to do. Had she hallucinated it, "I... uuh..."

Celestia giggled, "Don't worry, I'm just teasing."

Luna seemed to be in a panic, "This isn't time for that! What if we're going to be attacked or-"

Celestia sat calmly as her sister ranted on and on, "Does it seem like a warning?"

Luna paused.

Celestia smiled. "I love you a lot, sister, but even if it was something, what good could we do?"

She smiled as she remembered how helpless they were at the battle of Canterlot two years ago. How quickly that Celestia herself had been injured in an attack a few days before.

She smiled as the nurse came in, shaking slightly from the voice that had shaken the buildings of Canterlot. "A-are you alright p-princess?"

The addressed winged-unicorn nodded lightly, reassuring her safety.

-Canterlot Market-

Peddle's money was on the ground, and he was rushing to pick it up. He had jumped when the voices had boomed through the air, and dropped his money pouch in the process. "Oh dear..." Before he knew it, another pony came up and grabbed a few of the coins.

"Hey! What are y-"

"Hey Peddle, what's up?" The voice of one of his idols interrupted his speech, and the two yellow hooves that had picked up his money reached over and placed it in his pouch.

"Oh! Spitfire! H-how... how are you?" He picked up the rest of his coins.

"Confused, I guess. I've been busy, but otherwise-"

"!" Someone screamed through the mostly-silent crowd. Everyone had been looking towards the sky, in the direction of the voice that had boomed.

Through the crowd were several wonderbolts, and of course, Soarin had made a ruckus. "Spitfire, what was that just now?"

Spitfire smiled, "No clue, but whatever it was, I'm headed to Ponyville to rendezvous with Rainbow Dash." She laughed a little, "And to see if Princess Twilight will know something about all of this."

She laughed and patted Peddle on the back. "Don't get in trouble, kid." She took off, leaving the young merchant with the other Wonderbolts.

"See ya, Spitf- oof!" Peddle was bumped by Soarin.

"So you're the famous Peddle? Hear you hung out with the Princess during our last performance." He smiled, "Princess Twilight, Spitifre? Ya got friends in high places, man!" He laughed.

"I.. don't really think that..." His voice trailed off.

"Aww, c'mon man, lighten up! We were just headed over to this bakery. Pony Joe said he just made a fresh batch of apple pies!" He chimed in, and Peddle became unnerved as Soarin started to drool.

"Soarin, you're starting to scare him." Rapidfire said, snapping the new Wonderbolts' leader out from his trance.

"Y-yeah... Anyways, you wanna come?" He said, smiling.

"I have to work and-"

Soarin grabbed his hoof and dragged him towards the bakery. "Well you're taking the day off! I'm sure your boss will understand!"

"N-no, I work for myself and have a meeting with- Wait! Someone, help me!" As the crowd was still confused over the voice the colt, Peddle, was heard screaming loud and clear as Soarin dragged the pony towards Pony Joe's place and the rest of the Wonderbolts trailed behind, acting as if nothing were happening.

And the same reason the street was so silent was the same reason nopony bothered to hear him.

-Canterlot Hospital-

Light awakened with a slight groan. He was alone. The doctors and nurses were all out, and the IV that administered out a mysterious medication had begun to annoy him. Pulling it out, he coughed up blood on the blanket he was laying in. "It's no use…"

He got up from the bed, thinking thoughts about what was going to happen. He laughed, to himself since he was alone, and shook his head.

"Its about time I left for Ponyville. I won't need any more time here. I'm not…" He paused, coming to terms with the reality he would have to face. "I'm not going to get any better from here on out…"

He shook his head from a slight pain before opening the window – with his hooves instead of magic – and took off to the sky, flying much like an injured songbird.

He would go to Ponyville. He was dying.

He knew this.

This was for his love. And By love, it was not just Equestria.

For everything he had given birth to.

Death, for mortals, has always been something that was inevitable.

But Death ventures much farther than just the realm of the Mortals. Even the most powerful God fears it, for nothing is safe from those jaws.

And for immortals, what's scary is that they aren't sure it's going to happen.

And it gets even scarier when they find they have to come to terms with the fact it will.

Death was coming to Light's Doorstep.

Light would finish his life laughing in death's face.

For death - who could fear death if their legacy could continue on for eternity? A legacy no Oblivion could consume.

This would be Light's last chess match. His Swan Song.

-Profectio, Nyx's Location-

The chess board's riddle eluded me. An hour and the questions I had remained.

What was it trying to say? What drove its internal mechanisms? How could I change what was happening?

Shaking my head, I got back up before bumping into a girl walking out of the room and knocking her down.

"Oh... um... Sorry..." Fluttershy said, backing up.

"It's not a problem, Fluttershy." I smiled. I held out my hoof to help her get up. "Is there anything wrong?"

She, like me, had been thinking about something else. It seemed apparent when we bumped into each other. "umm... well... I'm not sure exactly how I can help... you know..."

I smiled. "I really think that you guys being here, for Twilight at least, is enough. Don't trouble yourself too much." I smiled and glanced back at the chess board.

However, I didn't look away.

For a brief moment, I understood something.

A message the chess board declared.

This chess match is yours alone, Leon. Play the pieces as you see fit.

And slowly, a book formed next to the chess set, stunning the yellow pegasus next to me.

"Oh my!" She said in her quiet voice, "What is this?"

I recognized the book before it had even fully taken form.

Another Day sat open-faced as a picture of everyone in Profectio standing around a large white chess piece.

It was a king, and it wore a crown made of the greenest wildlife. A beam of light seemed to glow around it, and where the light fell were butterflies and grass, though were the light did not fall had trees and such.

I noted, in the background, was a crumbling gravestone and a crystalline lake.

Thank you for protecting me.

I set down the book and smiled, and as I turned to face Fluttershy, who was still standing there, I suddenly felt tired, and passed out before even hitting the floor.

-Between Ponyville and Canterlot, Leon's Location-

I awoke with a splitting headache.

"...your soul tried to return to your other body, I see." Oblivion said she kept walking as I hovered behind her. I had been encased in some odd field of energy.

The ground below me seemed to recoil as I vomited, the dizzying experience left me feeling both nauseated and weak. "The hell was that?"

Oblivion exhaled, "You died, but your body didn't know it. It's all confused now."

I turned to her, partially out of disgust. "You know, you could tell me these things, or you could-" I coughed and vomited more.

Oblivion shook her head. "I don't think that this has happened before. If I hadn't inspected your body after passing out, I wouldn't have noticed it. However…"

I turned my head to her from the ground. "…what?"

She looked at me. "… never mind. It would be useless to tell you anyways"

We began to walk towards our destination. Why she wanted to go there? I wasn't sure. My true question was this – Why did she choose to walk instead of whisk herself to the location of her target?

-Profectio-

I awoke an wandered around for an hour or so before we all gathered in the main room again. Twilight had been going over some things she had discovered in some old texts about different problems in ancient Equestria and how those problems had been solved without the use of weapons such as the Elements of Harmony.

It was, to be brutally honest, useless information. We all knew it, but we gathered here anyways in the faint hope that some miracle would show itself.

Finally, Rainbow Dash voiced a question that took Twilight off-guard, "So why do we need to plan this? If you guys die, don't you just come back, like Leon did?"

A god, an old looking geezer as he appeared, spoke before Twilight's shocked expression had fully formed.

"Death, in itself, is a complicated thing. Still, there are rules which govern them, and some take precedence over others," The god dragged out the "th" sounds in a way it made him sound both annoying and frail, "Beings exist in a body, but are separate from it. Think of it as a shell in which the soul resides. This soul, normally, cannot be harmed while in this state." He paused to let the unusual description sink in. "So, this means that when Leon died before, his soul left his body, and went to a different place. Normally, this place would be though a place called 'The Halls of Eternity', this place is a form of "in between" for worlds where souls gather. They form the halls themselves. Soon, these souls are transported to their next life with a new body generated from the fabric of that world's existence. However, Leon is a slightly different case. He was tampered with from the beginning, his soul always not quite in his body. He'd been pushed about by gods and his future had never been written. Instead of being sent to the Halls, Light pulled him to his own Domain, here. This is where his second confrontation – with the Figure of War – happened. Not even a figure could kill Leon while he was in his body; that is how absolute his defenses were. Gods also adopt a defense similar to this, with the primary difference being they are not quite as strong, but are able to be slipped in and out of without experiencing what you call "death". Only figures have ever materialized as a pure spirit within a mortal realm, which is how come the Figure of war had such immense power in the human realm. However, he was also able to be killed, for he was not protected by this shell that gods and mortals have. This, plus he stretched himself thin being in two places at once, lead to his death." He shook his head. "The problem lies with this 'Oblivion'. We fear these rules will not apply to her. If she kills one of us… we may very well die in the true sense of the word… and stop existing. Something," The god paused as he turned to me, "Something that Leon here probably should have done."

I shook my head, I barely heard the chatter. "Uh, yeah… whatever…" The chess set had engulfed all of my attention. The pieces, oddly enough, had begun moving in a way I could guess their next move. It was odd, watching them perform the actions I laid out. There was no special rule, I would simply think a tile, and moments later the piece would move there.

"Leon has been a special case. After he died that final time, with his body not able to be retrieved by Light…" His shook his head, interrupting himself, "Now this is all speculation, but-" He paused again, deciding whether to say the information. "He disappeared for two years. He literally stopped existing during this time. He actually did die, and when he returned, he became this small fragment of his soul, and from what we've seen, there are two of them. These two fragments may be how the spirit, through some odd circumstances, materialized once again. Whether it is because of the tampering with the Figures' powers when he died, intervention by Light, or the fact he was always incomplete, his spirit reassembled into the two Leons we see today." He paused as he let this information soak in. "I think… If these two Leons exist this way, something prevented the souls from returning to be one whole, and it sounds like – from what Aria and Ace have said – that the other Leon formed on Earth. Their souls are attuned to different existences. You," he pointed to me, "are the Leon of Equestria, and the other Leon is of Earth." He stopped again to see how I would react, and indeed, I looked up from the chess board. A piece finally moved in a way I hadn't anticipated.

"… I guess that makes sense… or as much as it's going to, but what does any of this have to do with anything?"

The old deity shook his head. "It is still speculation, but I'm almost positive what I believe is true. If one of you dies, then the two attunements will clash, causing what should have been your true death two years ago to the other, still living you."

I blinked, unsure of what to say.

"Simply stated, the surviving Leon and anything around him will simply cease to exist." He finished off.

Twilight looked over to me worriedly with a slight expression of fear, shock, and sadness on her face. Mine, unlike hers, was of stone. "…okay."

Everypony looked at me.

"Okay? Okay!" A female god spoke up, "What the hell is wrong with you!" She began to walk up. "You know what I've seen from you these past few days? A lazy piece of crap who has no recollection of the time he actually did something! Two years ago you may have killed some "Figure", but while the rest of us go about preparing for this attack - training, planning, studying and so on! – All I've seen is you either wandering around or staring at that damned chess set!" She smacked the set off of the table and kept her verbal onslaught up, "You have no memories of the past, you sit around not even bothering to pretend to train, and now you hear about how you could die, and even kill the ponies around you and all you can say is 'okay'? I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but I'll tell you this, I don't even know why the hell we even keep you around. You're a damned waste who simply leeches off of the rest of us! I don't even know why we bother with you!" She stood there breathing heavily after her screaming bout for a few moments.

I stood up, trying to appear as calm as possible, and walked away from the table and through a door to the sleeping areas. I didn't hear Twilight calling out my name. I didn't witness the silence after I weakly closed the door.

Was I truly useless?

… I…

I hadn't realized…


Well, 5 1/2 weeks to get out a chapter is more than ridiculous. I'm planning on ending this in 1-2 chapters because of how my life has gotten. I've found that the work I've recently gotten is inhuman lately. I would think that since it's near the end of the year I'd have more free time, but no. I'm more busy than ever.

On the brighter side, I won some national k'nex thing for my school (never used them before), and have decided to try to make a short story that will take almost all of my free time once summer begins. I also just found out today some musical/play (kinda serious to be a musical imo, but there is singing) I auditioned for (Never did anything like this before) is giving me a small part. Sadly, that small part has ~4 solos in the play.

But I digress. I'll keep working on this story, but I'll give a small teaser of the other short story I'm working on if I find that the next chapter is taking too long. Sound fair?

Read on fellow Bronies! - Eyeclops