Chapter 16: Reach for the Skies Ember and I had been laying low for a while, though we were not questioned about Zecora's death, I was not interested in being questioned about my cutie mark change or it's meaning. I had fashioned a black robe that I could wear out in public if I needed to. It concealed most of my body, and I had accidentally made the hood too big, so it covered my face. I had incorporated Discord's gift to me into my robe. Now instead of a necklace, it was was the fastener to my robes. I had been reading about dark magic quite a bit lately. I had found a spell that gave anypony wings. I marked the page to read later. For now, I had to go out with Ember in public for the first time. I fastened my robe on and headed out to Ponyville. We needed some food, so of course I quickly got it. That's when I saw her. Twilight Sparkle. She began to walk my way. "I'm going to go to other stalls. You stay away from me and if that Sparkle asks where I am, tell her I'm in the Everfree Forest collecting some herbs for tea." I instructed him. Ember nodded and I followed through with my plan. I couldn't stand seeing those wings. That... That good for nothing peice of mule waste deserves nothing from anypony, and that dragon of hers. He is so arrogant and doesn't care for others. He was with her. If anything would happen, Ember would be left helpless. I would have to step in. I was standing and watching from afar. I watched Twilight talk to Ember for a moment than look at the stand. Ember was dwarfed in size compared to Spike, but he was much younger than Spike. I then watched Spike mercilessly berate and abuse Ember verbally. I was done. Spike needed to go. I picked a voice that differed greatly from my own and walked over. "Young dragon." I said. I had used a very hoarse voice. Ember and Spike looked to me. "The rude green one." I continued. "I think you should leave him alone." I said. "Excuse me? Do you know who I am? I am-" He started. "I don't care who you are. You have no right to bully anypony else." I hissed, still working with my hoarse voice. Twilight turned to me. "Okay, what's going on?" Twilight asked angrily. "Nothing. I was just leaving." I responded and turned. I walked away quickly. Not bothering to turn back and make sure Ember was following. Ember caught up, but he was panting. I ended up not getting anything from the stalls. "I'm sorry." I said to Ember, though it was cold. "It's fine. I can tell why you hate both of them." He said once he caught his breath. I picked Ember up with my magic and set him on my back. I continued to walk back. "Thanks, by the way." "Whatever. Don't talk about it." I snapped. "They are the most pretensious beings in Equestria. Just because they are favored by the favorite princess means nothing! It's ridiculous!" I ranted on until we got home. My blood was boiling. I had enough. I took off my robes as fast as possible. I tipped a vase on the ground and it shattered. It startled Ember, but he continued to follow me. "What are you doing?" Ember asked. "I'm going to be better than Sparkle." I yelled and opened my dark magic book. I quickly read up on the spell. I slammed the book shut and pushed it aside. In an instant, my horn was charged with three layers of aura and I could tell my eyes had gone green and purple smoke leaked from my eyes. I felt a sharp pain in my back, and I dropped the spell and fell to the ground, shrieking in pain as I felt wings grow. Finally the pain subsided and my eyes cleared. I looked into the mirror and looked at the new wings on my back. They were bat wings. The bone was the same color as my coat and the leathery parts were red. "Aura..." Ember cooed. "They... They are so beautiful." I said. I fluttered them a bit. "It will take some time to get used to." I said. I let out a little chuckle. "But I like them." "Why..." Ember said with a tear in his eye. "To protect you." I said. I looked at my wings again. I flapped them. I provided enough force for it to lift me, but it didn't last long. I fell to the ground. "What do you mean?" Ember asked nervously. "Simple, I'll employ my new special talent." I said. I thought of building a secret room to perform my talent. "Aura Bliss! You can't just kill whoever you want! You just can't kill! You'll be locked up forever!" Ember hissed at me. "Oh, so now that I am targeting one of your own kind, you get defensive? But when I killed the zebra you didn't even bat an eye!" I defended myself. "It..." Ember started. "It's not any different. You want Spike to leave you alone?" "Yes..." "Then let me do my thing." I hissed and walked out. I left the house and used my chaos magic to rapidly build and underground room. Later, when I finished, I covered it up with dirt and returned back to my house. It was late, so I would be able get Spike in silence. "Aura, are you still going to do it?" Ember asked. I nodded. Ember sighed and walked away. I was about to leave the house when he came back dressed in a linen hood. "What's that for?" He asked. "It's so I can help you, but I don't want to be identified." Ember said. I smiled. "Thank you. You mind staying in the new room I made?" I asked. Ember nodded. I levitated a candle to him. It was lit. I led him to the new room and opened it up. "I'll be back as soon as I can." I promised and shut it behind him. I returned to the house and put my black robes on, they still fit with my new wings. I opened them and flapped them a little slower, getting myself off the ground and stay afloat for a much longer time. I landed and walked outside, where I flew above the clouds, occasionally dipping below to see where I was. When I finally found the library, I landed on one of the branches that looked into the bedroom. I casted a sleep curse, that would wear off by morning, on Sparkle and Spike. I went to the door and pushed it open. It was unlocked, like most buildings in Equestria. I wandered in and shut the door behind me. I found where Sparkle and Spike were sleeping and picked up Spike and flew back. I opened up my new room and shut it behind me. I saw Ember sitting in a corner, terrified. "Toughen up, or leave." I said harshly. Ember stood up. "I'll be fine." Ember promised. I sat Spike down in a chair and tied him to it. I lifted the sleep curse and forced him awake with magic. "Morning already?" Spike groaned. "No... It's still the dead of night. What are you doing awake?" I teased him. Spike realized what was going on. "Wait, who are you?" He asked, my hood covered my eyes too well. "Don't you recognize me?" I asked in my hoarse voice. Spike's eyes widened. "You..." He started, but I cut him off. "You made fun of my friend. I don't take kindly to that kind of stuff." I said. "Who are you?" He asked. "I guess you deserve to know who I am before you die." I sighed. I used my magic and set my hood down. "Recognize me?" I playfully asked. "Aura Bliss, Luna's student. You won't get away with this. I'll send a letter to Luna." Spike threatened. "You know about the death of Zecora, correct?" I asked. "Of course I do, stab wound to the chest, no traces of magic or hooves. It's a dead end case." Spike said. "Say, Spike, you are an intelligent dragon. What if there is, let's say, a spell to remove those things." "Then, it would be a dark magic spell, and nopony knows that anymore." Spike said. I looked back to Ember. "Bring me that book on the table. The black one." I said. Ember quickly went out, but Spike yelled for help. "Don't waste your voice, nopony can hear you. It's the dead of night and we arer basically in the Everfree." I hissed. Ember came back and passed me the book. I flipped through the pages and found the spell I had used to clean up the spell and hoof prints. I showed it to him. "It was you." He said. "Surprise!" I cheered. I set the book down. I removed my cape, and Spike stared at my wings. I spread them open. "Like my new wings? I made them myself." I said. "You..." He couldn't get words out. "I can even fly!" I joked and turned to my side. I showcased my whole metamorphosis. He gawked at my cutie mark. I formed a knife with my chaos magic. "I'm also a chaos bringer." I said as I moved to the knife to my normal magic. I stabbed the knife into the board next to his head. "Please, I promise I won't do anything to your dragon friend." He whimpered. "You are too late." I said and begun my process I didn't let him suffer too much, no one deserves that, but as soon as Spike was dead, I had Ember start to clean up while I cleaned up my magic and hoof prints. I placed him deep in the Everfree and flew back. I finished helping Ember clean up. I closed up the room and went back inside, we left all the dark magic books and Ember's cloak in there, but I took my black cloak out and put it in my closet. Ember refused to talk to me for weeks.