Chapter 23 Dinner Party of the Damned

Ravager Blitzfire

"He's going to reawaken the sisters if we don't stop him!" Salem leapt up.

"Isn't that what's supposed to happen?" I asked him, feeling a bit flustered by the sudden change in events.

"No! The Black Flame Candle was supposed to restore my memories once it was lit by one of pure heart. I'm not the evil one, he is!"

"Our sex said otherwise," Combat waggled his brows at Salem.

"There can be nothing said for that, but you are correct, it was rather enjoyable." Salem winked at Combat.

"So that's why there were pods down there in the basement." Pumpkin said.

"Pods?" the Guardian turned on her.

"Oh you know, those weird pod thingies that synthetics live in before they get woken up." she twirled a hoof through her poofy orange mane.

"And you didn't think to tell us this!" I snapped.

"It would've done nicely if you had," added Capper.

"Guys, why do we sit and argue! If we don't reawaken Sunlight before Thackery wakes Sand-Ra, we'll be screwed!" Salem shouted. "He's working with the ashlings!"

"Then we best get a move on!" the Guardian stood up. "Come on OJ, lets go stop that cat."

"I do hope we've made it in time. You all sat like idiots while I explained the problem." Salem rolled his eyes as we all ran to the library.

"That's not very nice." Pumpkin said.

"Listen, I may not be evil, sweetheart, but I'm not a nice kitty either. I don't appreciate my 200 year sentence in this shitty prison of a manor. Thackery has poor taste in pretty much everything."

"I'm with ya there! Why is everything so shiny? It hurts my eyes," Orange Juice commented on the gold adorning almost everything.

"Exactly! Cat's can see in the dark, we don't need all this shiny extra plating on everything." Salem called. Then we came to the doors. "By Faust, he's sealed us out."

"How do we get in?" asked Pumpkin.

"Only Luna's magic was powerful enough to lock the two of us in here. She had to when Thackery cast a seal on my mind and made me think I was the evil one. Only an alicorn can break this lock."

"Good thing we have an alicorn," Orange Juice stepped forward. "Oh, my EFS labels this as a master seal. I've never seen a master lock before."

"It's higher than a hard lock," said the Guardian.

"You can do it OJ!" Pumpkin encouraged him.

"You're gonna have to," Salem said, growing more concerned by the second.

"Don't put too much pressure on him." I said.

"I'm just a bit worried here that he's not gonna make it in time." Salem rolled his eyes.

Combat nuzzled him, "You know who could make it in time? It's too bad I'm not the alicorn."

"Oh you!" Salem giggled.

The lock made a loud fizzle noise and then there was a small explosion as the doors burst inward. "You're too late!" Thackery yelled as he read from the book. "From darkest corners come greatest fears, I call upon the ancient magic of my peers. Rise and wake from your slumber below, I call to you from the tallest willow! Sand-Ra!" the whole house began to shake.

Salem dove forward as green magic flowed forth from the book. "I've got it!"

"No!" Thackery yelled.

"Get him off me!" Salem shouted. "There's only room for one party horse, you dolt!" Salem kicked Thackery in the crotch. Thackery doubled over and fell to his knees.

"That's right!" Combat cheered. "Kick em where it hurts!" he dove forward, pouncing on Thackery.

"You're much too late, I can tell you that." Thackery stared up at Combat with a sneer.

"From lightest alleys come greatest wishes, I call upon the ancient magic of…fishes? That can't be right… um…Rise and wake from your sleep down under, I call to you from this deep dark plunder. Sunlight!" a red magic shot forth from the book and the shaking stopped. Then Salem shoved the book into Capper's paws. "Keep this safe!"

"We're home!" came a sing songy voice from the Entrance Hall.

"Yeah, great, we're home. And what are we home to? The walls lined with magic meant to trap us all here." two unicorn mares came into the library.

"And to whom do I owe this awakening?" said the white mare.

Pumpkin's eyes widened, "It's them!" she whispered loudly.

"Ah, Thackery, there you are my precious kitty witty!" said the orange mare.

"You really shouldn't treat him like that." the white mare rolled her eyes.

"I woke you up! I remembered the book!" Thackery punched Combat in the face and shoved him away, jumping to his feet.

"Resourceful as always. And to whom do I owe the lighting of the Black Flame?" the orange mare spun around and I saw her cutie mark was a huge painted lined eye on top of a bright orange disk.

"I lit the candle, at dinner!" Capper called to her.

"Oh great, my spell actually worked, and it had to be an idiot that did it." the white mare rolled her eyes and flipped her black bangs. She had the outline of a sun on her hip, as though a foal had drawn it on a scrap of paper.

"What spell was that, exactly?" Capper asked them.

"Oh ya know, the one that wakes up both good and evil in order to revive us both?" the white mare stared at him with a scowl.

The orange mare circled round, licking her lips, "And who's familiar might you be delectable one?"

"I am neither delectable nor a familiar, but my coltfriend is right over there." he pointed a thumb at me.

"He doesn't seem to be attached to anypony," said Thackery. "He acted of his own free will."

"Pure of heart, Sunlight." Salem nodded to the white mare.

"Oh, how nice, a pure of heart kitty-cat finally woke us up. And what year is it?"

"It's 207 AM." Pumpkin Spice said.

"Pumpkin!" the Guardian hissed.

"What? They seem harmless enough!" Pumpkin protested.

"AM?" asked Sunlight.

"After the megaspells, she means." said Thackery.

"Dear, we are far from harmless. Do you know how old we are?" said the orange mare, who I now assumed was Sand-Ra.

"We are from the time of alicorns, when this little house resided in a place called Salem, Shetlachusetts." said Sand-Ra.

"What is it now, may we ask?" asked Sunlight.

"Little Salem, Manehattan." said Salem in response.

"Well look at that, you're little Salem." she rolled her eyes. "Where is Luna? I must talk to her about freeing the two of us at once."

"About that…" Thackery looked around at all of us uncomfortable. "The only alicorn that I've seen in about 200 years is this here little orange fellow."

Orange looked around, "Can somepony tell me what's happening here?"

"Oh, I can tell you dear. How about you stay a spell, and take a listen to my song," giggled Sand-Ra.

"There will be no singing!" Sunlight stomped a hoof.

"But dear sister, have you forgotten? The Black Candle only burns until the sun comes up. Then we both die. Unless!"

"Unless an alicorn frees us. And in order to free one, he must free us both. So then alicorn prince, you have a choice to make. Free one good witch and free an evil one in turn, or free nopony and you kill not just two ponies but their familiars along with them?" Sunlight stared pointedly at Orange Juice.

"Wait, hold on now y'all. You're saying the only two catlords beside Cheshire and my brother that I've seen in 100 years are going to die if Orange Juice doesn't free not one, but both of you?"

"By sunrise, yes," said Sunlight.

"Why will they die?"

"Oh, that's simple dear," Sand-Ra smiled in glee, "they are our familiar's, they are bound to us by deep blood magic. If we die, they die. How do you think they've lived for more than 300 years? They aren't synths."

"But if you two are synths then you must be immortal, like the sisters, like me!" Capper argued.

"Our synthesis was born of the first ever synthetic magic." Sunlight explained. "We are not true synths. Luna was supposed to wake us up when she discovered the cure for our plight. Alas, I see no Luna. Only this oaf."

"I am not an oaf!" OJ shouted.

"He sure looks like an oaf to me," said Salem behind a paw, making Combat laugh.

"Ah, I see you two have shared feelings," Sunlight smiled at Salem.

"What?!" Combat gasped, "How in Equestria could you possibly know that?" he was blushing.

"Blood Magic doesn't just tie us physically, we're empathetically tied as well." said Sunlight.

"So you two share their emotions?" I asked.

"Yeah, and right now, Thackery is pretty worried he made a mistake tying his allegiance to the evil witch." Sand-Ra turned on him. "How long have you thought me evil, cretin?" she glared daggers at him.

"For as long as Luna had us imprisoned here. I thought Sunlight was a good witch and that you were evil. Why else did you curse Salem with forgetfulness?"

Sand-Ra facehoofed, "You have got to be kidding me! Now dears, disregard everything Thackery has told you. I'm not evil! Sunlight is!"

OOO

"Now I'm just confused." I frowned. "First Thackery tells us that he's the good cat and Salem's evil, and that Sand-Ra is evil and Sunlight is good."

"Then, Salem tells us he's good and Sunlight is good, and that the two of you are evil." Pumpkin continued for me.

"Now you're telling us you're good, and Sunlight is evil?" The Guardian finished.

"It's all in the Book of the Damned," said Sand-Ra. "If you'll just give it here, I can read it for you."

"There will be no reading!" Sunlight snapped, "You must not let her have that book. She is the evil one! Give it here, I'll prove it to you!"

"Now hold on just a minute," Capper hugged the book tight. "How do I know y'all are telling me the truth? You're both sayin' the same thing and I know a trick when I see it."

"You obviously don't." Sunlight rolled her eyes and held out a hoof.

"I imagine you wouldn't know a trick if it hit you in the face," Sand-Ra took a step forward.

"I'm not likin' either of your tones. And I know a perfectly good trick anytime. I used to be a con artist." Capper stood proud and opened the book.

"No!" Thackery yelled, "Opening it is what corrupts the mind!"

"I agree! I'd close that book at once!" Salem yelled.

"You both used it and appear to be just fine!" Capper shouted as orange magic spilled from the pages.

"No! It won't affect us, we are familiars. You have no such bond!" Thackery shouted and pounced on him. The two cats went rolling and the book flew from Capper's hooves. Both sisters lunged for it.

"Ooohhh," Pumpkin was in awe as the book tumbled and flipped in the air. She caught it and the pages shut.

"Give it here, mare." said Sand-Ra.

"Don't demand, ask nicely." Sunlight held out a hoof. "Pretty please with a cherry on top, give it to me?" she didn't sound very sincere.

"Hey!" shouted Orange Juice and everypony stopped. "I'm the alicorn here! It's up to me, not you. Kitty-cats, how do we do this Blood Magic thingie so Capper can read the book?"

"Smart thinking." said Sunlight.

"Yeah, I'm proud OJ." the Guardian beamed at the Puppydog.

Thackery spoke up, "You need the ceremonious knife from the basement." he was frowning, and looking over to Salem it was clear that neither cat liked the prospect of going down there.

"What's wrong with the basement?" I asked them.

"There's a monster down there!" yelled Pumpkin Spice.

"Something beyond your worst nightmares." said Sunlight.

"Something beyond even my worst nightmares!" cried Sand-Ra.

"Why do you think there are barrier spells placed on this house? Everything tied to the foundation by morning will be dead. Including that dark, dark creature. It's why we've told you to stay out of the basement." said Salem.

"Oh, I thought it was because Sand-Ra and Sunlight were sleeping down there." Pumpkin said.

"That too." said Thackery.

"Well, in order for me to make up my mind, Capper needs to read from the book," said OJ. "So it looks like we go down there, as a team. We can face whatever it is."

"I'll have to come, only I know where it is," said Thackery.

"I'll be coming too, if only to keep an eye on you." Salem stared Thackery down.

"And to think it was I keeping an eye on you all these years." he said with a sigh.

The basement was cold and I shivered as we made it to the bottom of the giant stone staircase. I was glad that I was wearing a vest and I'm sure Capper was happy for his trenchcoat. I imagined that the Guardian's exo-suit was insulated and possibly even heated. Pumpkin looked happy to wrap her scarf tighter around herself. However, anypony that didn't have any extra clothing items on were probably freezing.

"So, the cold air isn't normally on and I think it's going to cause a problem." Thackery had his paws drawn inside the sleeves of his brown overshirt.

Salem was shivering, "Someone needs to turn up the heat, I only have my 9 lives you know and I don't plan to lose one by freezing to death."

Thackery stopped and turned to us, "We won't get any further if somepony doesn't turn on the heat. We're going to need to split up."

"What?!" Pumpkin gasped, "Why do we need to split up?"

"Because the boiler room is either left, or right, at the next intersection. Neither of us has been down here in a very long time." Thackery explained.

"I don't like this, I really don't and I hope you all know that in any horror movie, splitting up is the worst thing you can do!" Pumpkin shouted.

"I'll lead one group, Salem can lead the other. We both know our way, once we can get our bearings." Thackery told us.

"Perhaps when we turn on the heat, we can cast some fire on the torches too?" Salem asked, staring at the book in Capper's paws.

"I can't read this until we get that dagger, and I most certainly won't be giving it to you until I can read it."

"Damn." Salem snapped his fingers but his smile did not go away. "It was worth a shot."

"Moments like this, I wish I had Tip and Rig with me," said Combat Zone. "They could cast some fire magic for us."

"Wait a minute!" Pumpkin said out of the blue. "We've all got our own magic, right? We're the Elements of Harmony for Celestia's sake!" She smiled and pulled out a cherry bomb.

"Pumpkin no!" we all shouted as she took it and slammed it down on the floor. Instead of an explosion however, lines of flickering, flaming light shot out and the three nearest torches all lit into life.

"Huh, I was not expecting that." said Thackery. "You're all magic users, even the earth ponies?"

"That's right!" OJ yipped.

"So then, any of you could be bound to Capper, not just the alicorn…the plot thickens!" Thackery smiled. "Alright. I'll take Capper to find the dagger, anypony who'd care to join, speak up now. The rest of you will go with Salem to find the boiler room."

Salem was digging through a satchel he had brought along. He kept pulling out random objects that made no sense to carry around. "That's not it!" he pulled out a frog, who croaked, before he tossed it aside and it jumped away into the darkness. "This isn't it either…" he tossed a blue ball away and it seemed to bounce in whatever direction it wanted before being invisible in the darkness. "Ah! Here it is!" he pulled out a large piece of parchment paper.

"He had a frog in his inventory," Pumpkin snickered as we all drew closer.

"This is a map of the basement." Salem said. "I can use it to find the boiler room, but I'll need at least two ponies with me. It's a three person job to get the heat working again.

Buck spoke up, "I'll go with Thackery and Capper to find the knife."

"I'll go with Buck!" said OJ.

"I'm with Capper," I said.

"I'll go with Salem," said Pumpkin gleefully. "I like him!" she couldn't contain her giggles.

"I'm definitely sticking with Salem," Combat Zone smirked in the cat's direction and Salem stuck his tongue out.

"I'd be happy to have you along any day." Salem winked at him.

"You all better take a witch's stone." Thackery said, passing us all small rocks. "Just in case we get separated, use its magic to protect yourselves."

"What does it do?" Pumpkin Spice asked.

"They produce pure light magic, to protect against any darkness. Not even a darkling can suck in the light of a witch's stone." Thackery said. We each took one and with that, we all went our separate ways at the intersection up ahead…

Pumpkin Spice

"So what's so important about turning the heat back on?" I asked Salem as I bounced along beside Combat Zone. The black cat was just up ahead of us, leading the way.

"For one it's freezing cold down here, I absolutely hate the cold. Can't believe I have to be the one to deal with this heat issue."

"Thackery did seem to know more about the dagger than you did…" I bit my lip and stopped bouncing.

"For the other thing, the creature that lives down here feeds off of negative energy. The cold air causes a lot of negative emotions, which is why we're all so irritable." Salem told us then stopped and turned around. "We should be getting close to the boiler room…" his voice trailed off. "Where's Combat?"

"He's right here beside me!" I looked around and noticed that Combat was missing. "Combat?" I jumped about, looking to see if he may be nearby in the permeating darkness, but I don't think he was. "He's not behind this shadow!" I said as I returned to Salem's position. But Salem seemed to be gone too…

"Hello?" I called and wandered into a nearby room. In here was a huge furnace with coal in it but no fire. I also saw a few tables nearby, workbenches I imagined. Then there was a huge chain link fence between here and two huge vats. "I think I just found the boiler room."

Just then there was a shadow. "Who's there?!" I looked up and on a catwalk above the vats was Combat Zone. I felt scared, so lifting my witch's stone and activating its light, I rushed forward. "Combat? What are you doing?" I bounced along and shoved open the gate dividing the boilers from the furnace. As the light grew closer to Combat he shielded his eyes and fell into the vat. "Combat Zone!" I shrieked and went up after him, sticking my hooves into the cold water and trying to save him. My witch's stone sat beside me, the light fading as it lost contact with my magic…

Orange Juice

I was shivering as we followed Thackery deeper and deeper into the depths of the basement. "I don't like this place," I said as I lit the way forward with my horn. Thackery was just ahead of me.

"Well, when an ancient darkling runs free from a nexus, there's bound to be spooky occurrences. There's also a spell in that book that can banish him."

"We're not giving you the book." said Buck. "Who's him? You speak of him like you know who he is."

"He is a darkling from the time of alicorns." said Thackery in response. "The first darkling. He woke up when Ritual of the Moon woke up his darklings. It's trying to escape the house to rejoin the darklings in the ranks of the Circle of Ash. He can't be allowed to escape which is why we need that book to be read by a witch's familiar."

"And you're sayin' I can become a witch's familiar by a blood ritual?" asked Capper.

"Yes, you can bond yourself to a magic using pony to become their familiar and then it will be impossible for you to become corrupted by the book's evil magic."

"So neither you nor Salem are evil, are you?" Blitz asked him.

"No! Finally, somepony gets it!" Thackery threw up his paws. Then he stopped in his tracks. "Something's wrong."

"What is it?" I asked.

"The Woogyman has ahold of one of your friends. We need to hurry!"

Combat Zone

I was lost in the darkness but when I lifted my witch's stone a brilliant white light shone forth. Up ahead I saw Salem, with his own witch's stone. "Oh thank Faust," I rushed forward.

"Combat! The Woogyman is nearby, we must be quiet." Salem had a finger to his lips.

"Whatever you say, sexy," I winked and we kissed when we got close. Salem smirked at me.

"Combat Zone!" came a shriek from Pumpkin Spice that sounded close by. We broke apart instantly.

"She's in some serious shit," Salem spun around and lifted his witch's stone high. "This will keep the darkness at bay. Follow me."

We came across a doorway that was labelled Boiler Room by a huge iron sign.

"This place is old, isn't it?"

"Older than me!" Salem nodded and we ducked inside the room.

Past a chain link fence and atop a cat walk was Pumpkin Spice, hooves deep in the waters of a huge vat. She was splashing about, and I had no idea what the fuck was wrong with her to think I was inside there. "Pumpkin Spice, what in tartarus are you doing?!" I called up to her.

"Wait…" she looked up. "If you're down there, then who's…?" suddenly a pair of hooves shot up from inside the vat and latched onto Pumpkin Spice. She screamed a blood curdling scream.

Salem held up his witch's stone and rushed forward. "Repeat after me everypony! I am light, I am one too strong to fight, now be gone from my sight as I cast this spell in plight!"

Pumpkin was pulling away from the vat with all her might. "I am light, I am one too strong to fight, now be gone from my sight as I cast this spell in plight!" she shouted. I repeated the phrase too. The three witch's stones in the room flared up in brilliant magic. The hooves inside the vat retracted and Pumpkin flew backwards, crashing into the wall behind her.

"Now grab your witch's stone and don't even think of putting it down! What the hell were you thinking?" Salem snapped.

Pumpkin joined us in the main room after climbing down from the catwalk. "I…I saw Combat fall into the vat…"

"Pumpkin…" I sighed. "It's not her fault, Salem."

"How do we defeat that thing?" Pumpkin asked.

"We start by reactivating the flame in the furnace. The Black Flame Candle upstairs has most of the control, but once we read the full banishing spell from the book, that thing will lose its grip on all of us and we can leave freely."

"I hate ponies that think they can control everypony else around them." I snarled.

"For awhile you did exactly that," Pumpkin stuck her tongue out at me.

"Yeah, and for awhile I hated myself." I rolled my eyes. "Let's just get this fire started so we can get on with our lives."

"I feel you there." Salem nodded and he lifted his stone once more…

Capper Dapperpaws

Thackery opened a door at the end of the long hall and a flickering light shone from within. "Ah, here we are, the store room." inside were shelves and shelves of scrolls and candles and other random things that looked like potion ingredients. On a center pedestal was a dagger on a stand. It was black with red veins.

"That thing don't look safe." I pointed at it and pursed my lips to the side in skepticism.

"Don't worry, all familiars go through the same process. Now, who would you like as your witch?"

"Me of course!" Blitzfire said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." I smiled down at him and he returned it.

Suddenly the candles in the room burnt out in a huge gust of wind. It grew terribly dark. "Witch's stones now!" Thackery snapped. We all rose our stones and the light filled the room. Outside on the threshold was a billowing blackness. It was trying to push its way into the store room but the light from our stones kept it at bay.

"These stones won't last forever if that persists!" Thackery shouted. "Give me the book, please, I can help you!"

"That isn't gonna happen. Just tell me what needs to be done." I hugged the book close.

"If you don't trust me, you won't become Blitz's familiar. Somepony needs to read a spell from the book or this can't happen." Thackery was out of breath.

Slowly I let myself unwrap my arms and give him the book. "You better be right about this."

"You just have to trust me…" he took the book. "Grab the dagger and cut your palm. Blitz will need to do the same, under his horseshoe, then as I read the spell, you must grip each other's respective hands, hooves." Thackery was frantically flicking pages. As he did so I noticed that the light from everypony's witch's stones began to fade away. "There's a spell in here somewhere to banish that monster, but only the bond of a witch's familiar can cast it. Ah, the familiar spell. Grip hands now!"

I sliced my paw and winced as I did so. Blood dripped onto the floor. The black pulsating mass in the doorway was pushing forward and the Guardian's light went out. "Hurry!" he shouted and dropped his stone.

"Mine's about to go out…!" Orange Juice cried.

Blitzfire sliced his hoof and I grabbed on. "Now!" I said to Thackery.

"Under the light of witch's stone we call upon this witch's favor. I wish for this lasting bond to savor!" Thackery read. "Sorry, I had to tweak some of the words for the circumstances so it's going to sound weird."

A light spread from where we held onto each other. "It's working, keep going." Blitz said.

"A witch and his familiar, a bond to last, don't fail me now, this spell I cast!" Thackery shouted and a violet red light exploded forward. The color of Blitz's magic. I felt it intermingle with my own purple magic and Cheshire was lifted up.

"This feels rather odd, but I do like the rhyming." Cheshire smiled as the violet magic encircled him.

"Whoa!" Blitz's eyes widened as he saw Cheshire there.

"What? What's happening?" asked Orange Juice.

"Only the witch and his familiar can see what is happening to them in this moment." Thackery said. "The spellcaster can as well and it is spectacular, I must say."

"Spectacular is an understatement, black one!" Cheshire was smiling as he floated down to the floor. "Give Cappy the book, he can now cast the spell."

Thackery handed me the book. "You can open to the page the banishing spell is found, but only Blitz can cast it. You two must work together."

Ravager Blitzfire

"Can you see me now?" the Cheshire Cat was floating in front of me.

"I can see you…" my EFS showed him as a brightly colored purple cat, and it was hard to look at but he was a cat all the same. "But how? Capper isn't using magic right now."

"I can explain what's happening later, but time is of the essence!" Thackery exclaimed.

"Here, I'll let Cheshire hold the book. He seems to be the middleman in our connection to each other," Capper handed the book to Cheshire.

"Whoa! How are you doing that? It's just floating there!" Orange Juice was wide eyed.

"Actually, Cheshire is holding it," I looked over to him who held it in front of me.

"Only the familiar can touch the book and open its pages, remember." Thackery warned.

"Okay…" I said slowly as Cheshire flipped through the pages. "Slow down a little please." spell after spell flashed before my eyes but there was nothing about banishing a Woogyman.

"What am I looking for?" I asked Thackery as I continued reading.

"I am light, I am one too strong to fight…" Thackery recited.

"There! Go back!" I shouted and the Cheshire Cat did so. I read aloud. "I am light, I am one too strong to fight…"

"Everypony, hold up your stones and repeat after him!" Thackery commanded. They did so.

"I am light, I am one too strong to fight. Now go away and leave my sight, and take with you this endless night!"

The witch's stones all flared up at once, so did the candle flames in the room and their was a loud shrieking sound from the billowing mass of darkness as it screamed and shrank away. The air suddenly grew very warm and we watched as the torches in the hallway all lit one by one. The darkness was still fighting back.

"I am light! I am one too strong to fight! Go away and leave our sight! Take with you this endless night!" we all shouted in sync and the shrieking grew louder still. Then a huge gust of wind swept through the area and all the flames flared up. The Woogyman was no more.

"We did it!" Thackery whooped. "Now, let's go check on the sisters, they should be cured of their evil afflictions."

We all met up upstairs in the library where we found the two mares talking in hushed tones. "Ponies!" Sand-Ra gasped. "You have saved us!"

"Looks like it." Sunlight rolled her eyes. "I suppose I owe you all my gratitude."

"What happened to you two?" I asked them.

"The Woogyman took control of our minds and forced us to use the book without the help of our familiars. Luna trapped us all in this house, promising to return and save us, but she never did." Sand-Ra explained.

"Whoop-di-do." Sunlight said. "I wonder what ever did happen to the princess? I have a few words I'd like to exchange with her."

"She hasn't been seen in Equestria for over 200 years." said Buck. "You guys do know a war happened while you were stuck in stasis?"

"Wait, you're saying this Prince Orange Juice is the only alicorn left in Equestria?" Sunlight narrowed her eyes.

"I am not so forward as my sister, but even I have doubts," Sand-Ra frowned.

"Well get used to it. The past is the past! I don't like being treated like a child." Orange Juice snapped.

"Okay! Faust! I'm sorry." Sunlight held up a hoof in defense.

"I am sorry too…you must be a very powerful pony to be granted Prince status and we apologize for the disrespect." Sand-Ra said. "May we be freed from these bonds now? Before all four of us die?"

"Yeah, I've already proven myself. What more could you need?" Thackery said.

"I for one would love to see the outside world." Salem smiled smugly and Combat smirked in his direction.

"I bet you would," Combat winked.

"Well OJ? It is up to you." Capper asked, pawing the cover of the book.

"How much time do we have left?" OJ asked.

Sand-Ra pointed at the Black Flame Candle, which had been placed in the center of the library in our absence. "Until the wax has all melted away and the sun rises in the morn." the candle was only a couple inches tall by this point and my EFS read 5am.

"I think there's only an hour until sunrise." I told everypony.

"Thackery didn't do anything against us down there. In fact he saved our lives. He is Sand-Ra's familiar and I say he's telling the truth! Do it!" Orange Juice nodded to Capper.

Capper handed the book to Cheshire who flipped the book open. He seemed to know exactly where it needed to be turned. I looked into the pages and read the spell. "From endless night was their plight now banished and gone from sight. Returned to dark where shadows run, we now save these sisters Sand and Sun." my red magic lifted from the pages and the Black Flame Candle burst into activity. My magic caressed the black flame and turned it red instead. Then it flared up, a huge gust of wind billowed and the flame was put out.

The wind continued to blow and it lifted Sun's black mane and Sand's red mane. They closed their eyes and both smiled, what seemed like the most genuine smiles they must've had in a long time. They lifted into the air and Sun's mane turned orange and so did her cutie mark. Sand's mane turned from red to pink and the eye mark residing over her sun disk cutie mark faded away to nothingness. They landed on their hooves.

"Thank you travellers…" Sand said.

"We owe you a great debt of gratitude." Sun inclined her head.

"It was really no problem." I told them.

"Sun…" Salem bit his lip. "I know this isn't up to me…but I really really want to go with them…"

Sun smiled lovingly, "Salem, you know I would never restrict you. We are always connected, no matter the distance. As long as I still feel our parabatai bond I will be fine."

"I will come back someday, I just need some fresh air for once in 300 years." he stretched and smiled.

"Very well." Sun nodded.

"I wouldn't ever think of leaving my witch's side," scoffed Thackery.

"Perhaps I'll go outside and explore the city of Salem…" Sand nodded toward us.

We all shuffled in place, feeling awkward. "Um…about that mistress." Thackery started.

"Ma'ams, the outside world as you know it is in ruins." Buck said. "You won't be leaving to find a lively Salem, Shetlachusetts, but instead a desolated Manehattan."

"There's something else too," I spoke up. "Ashlings of the Circle of Ash and darklings of the Ritual of the Moon roam the streets. They look to steal the Book of the Damned from you.

"It's actually called the Book of Shadows. It was only damned because of the Woogyman. Now that we've been freed we can now use it freely again." said Sun.

"Sounds like we've got some work to do, dear sister."

"Salem, go with them, explore this world, draw your maps, and tell us what we need to know in order to continue better protecting the Sand-Sun Manor." Sun instructed Salem.

"Yes!" Salem pumped a fist in delight.

"And I want more about Combat Zone when you come back." Sun winked in Combat's direction and the stallion blushed.

"Wha-what? How do you know…?"

"We're parabatai, remember?" Sun smiled.

"Then it's settled?" Buck asked them. "You'll protect the Book of Shadows from and ashlings and darklings and we'll bring Salem along with us?"

"Sounds like a delectable plan!" Sand nodded. "I'll work on putting the barriers back up, dear sister." she nodded to Sun.

The sun outside the window rose and light filled the room. It was a happy ending here, and perhaps Manehattan could be made into a fast travel point as we worked to reconnect Equestria. Orange Juice cast a gate spell in the middle of the library and we all jumped through, returning to Sanctuary.

(Footnote: Did anyone catch the House on Haunted Hill vibes? I know, you guys probably haven't seen that movie. It's alright. At least nopony died! This little sub plot had a happy ending. I hope you guys liked Thackery Binx and Salem Saberhagen. Salem is gonna be a background character, kind of exploring the world with the main characters but I won't really mention him often. Alright, on to the next chapter x3)

Brohoof! /)