- >Conciousness slowly returns to you
 - >For once, you don’t return to the land of the living with a splitting headache.
 - >Every time you’ve been knocked out, a common occurrence, it’s been by a concussion.
 - >Now you are waking up fairly peacefully, the gentle warmth of the sun on your face.
 - >You shrug and turn away, bringing the soft, silk sheets up over your head.
 - >Just a few more minu-
 - >Wait a second.
 - >You feel your sheets
 - >Very soft.
 - >You also had never been rich enough to afford any sort of silk.
 - >You’re wide awake now
 - >You bolt upwards, and take stock of your surroundings.
 - >You’re in a dull gray room, stone making up the walls
 - >This looked nothing like Canterlot.
 - >This looked nothing like a prison cell for a dangerous man.
 - >This looked nothing like your home.
 - >Where in Tartarus were you?
 - >A large dresser by the wooden door, banded with blackish metals, a writing desk with a chair, and a balcony that was letting in the light.
 - >“Ah, you are awake.”
 - >You spin around, a robed figure standing by the head of your bed.
 - >Small green lights dance where its eyes should be.
 - >It looks familiar…
 - >Oh.
 - >Oh no.
 - “That…”
 - >You choke a little on your own voice.
 - “That wasn’t a dream, then.”
 - >The robed figure, Chronicler if your memory served, cants the shadow in his hood slightly.
 - >”I had hoped you had not received a concussion from your fall, after you fainted.”
 - >Chronicler stuffs his hands into the sleeves of his robe, and simply turns to the door.
 - >”I shall meet you downstairs when you are ready. There is a fresh change of clothes within the dresser.”
 - >The door opens of its own accord silently, and clicks shut as the Skeletal man leaves.
 - >Alone, you now notice that you are butt naked.
 - >Thank Celestia you were covered in these extravagant bed sheets, it would be awkward-
 - >Wait, no, scratch that.
 - >It was awkward.
 - >A skeleton undressed you and put you in this room.
 - >You rip the sheets up and check down stairs.
 - >You sigh in relief as everything is still in place.
 - >Your next worry was if that… thing, you had made friends with had made any attempts while you were under.
 - >Report, Lieutenant?
 - >Sir, dong appears to be unmolested and ready to serve.
 - >Very good Lieutenant, muster the Jimmies.
 - >You rise from your bed and walk over to the dresser, a cold breeze from the open balcony giving you gooseflesh
 - >You also hop, skip, and jump about on the cold stone floor.
 - >You wrench open the Dresser, expecting the same tattered Mobster outfit.
 - >You were only half-right.
 - >In the dresser lie a new, fresh, clean smelling suit that shared some of the same marks as your old outfit.
 - >A new pair of shiny boots
 - >And is that a…
 - >You take the small golden object in your hand, examining it.
 - >You twirl it around in your hands, and set it back.
 - >Whatever it was, you had no clue how to use it.
 - >You dress yourself easily enough, eager to stop that annoying breeze.
 - >You smelled fairly well for a man who had just fought in a battle.
 - >Fairly, being the key word
 - >You still smelled of rank sweat, and blood.
 - >Atleast you didn’t have holes in your coat now…
 - >You pull your boots on, and lace them up
 - >You have to admit, this Chronicler fellow was awfully nice for getting you fresh clothing.
 - >You open the door to the room you had awoken in, and step into the hallway.
 - >You can’t help but gasp at the size of the room.
 - >There were four other doors, and in the center of the room was a spiral staircase.
 - “Down stairs… Right.”
 - >You descend the stairs one at a time, slowly, taking in the scale of this strange individuals home.
 - “Hello?”
 - >You hear your voice actually echo as you come into view of a large, open study.
 - >”Ah, at last.”
 - >Chronicler is sitting in a high-backed, for lack of a better term, throne, a large table covered in books before it.
 - >”Yes, come in. I was just finishing up.”
 - >The scrolls begin to roll themselves up and fly back towards a set of sliding doors.
 - >They open autonomously for the scrolls, a massive spinning rack accepting them.
 - >That was unnerving, to say the least.
 - “So, I uh, guess you’re to thank for breaking me out?”
 - >No duh.
 - >Chronicler for his part doesn’t seem too put off by the question.
 - >”Yes.”
 - ”And that was you that did the whole zombie spiel?”
 - >Again, his responds fairly calmly.
 - >”Again, yes.”
 - ”Isn’t that kinda…”
 - >Oh shit nigger, what are you doing?
 - “… Kinda mean?”
 - >You could swear you heard a groan and a mumbled ‘Not shit shit again’.
 - >Skeleton’s can’t groan though.
 - >Silly brain.
 - >Stop being silly.
 - >”It would take me an hour to describe to you, Shermanator, the exact intricacies of my magecraft.”
 - >He leans on his right hand, and shifts his weight
 - >”I will not bore you, and simply tell you, yes. It is indeed considered an evil craft by the unenlightened.”
 - >That…
 - >That answered none of your questions, yet you felt content with the answer.
 - >You also thought you might have been insulted, but you’re not sure.
 - “Well… uhm…”
 - >Chronicler rises.
 - >”I ply my dark gifts to the greater benefit of my friends and allies.”
 - “But, isn’t it cruel?”
 - >The shadow in the hood shakes somewhat.
 - >”The dead are not bound to my will, spirit and all. I simply reuse the corpses once they are vacant.”
 - >A pause
 - >You go to speak, but are cut off
 - >”Much in the way that you eat the creatures you hunt.”
 - >Well, damn…
 - >You weren’t sure you had a solid counter for that.
 - >You certainly weren’t one to talk, you’d killed plenty before.
 - >If the dead scum you ended actually served a purpose outside of the pain they caused…
 - >The hell, we’re talking about defiling the dead here.
 - >”In either event, now is not the time. We have work to do.”
 - >Fine, fi-
 - >Wait…
 - >Hold on a tic.
 - ”One more question.”
 - >Silence meets you, and after a pause, you go on.
 - >Here goes nothing…
 - “What Element of Harmony are you?”
 - >Chronicler doesn’t react.
 - >You think your educated guess might have been wrong, before he extends his hand.
 - >A staff of pure black materializes from a dark mist, atop it a greenish flame.
 - >”I am, indeed, one of the Elements of Disharmony, as I have coined them. I am the opposite of Honesty.”
 - >Oh.
 - >Oh shit.
 - >A powerful combat Unicorn, effectively?
 - >Who was everything Applejack was not?
 - >You tense up unconsciously.
 - >Chronicler scoffs.
 - >”Please. Simply because I am the embodiment of deception does not make me a habitual liar.”
 - >Chronicler rises, and walks around the table to you.
 - >You unclench your fists, not realizing you had balled them up.
 - >”Besides. Have I done wrong by you? We are in this together. These other Elements, I am uncertain how well we can trust them.”
 - >Your turn to scoff.
 - “But how do I know I can even trust you?”
 - >The Skeleton looks into your eyes, those burning emerald flames giving no warmth.
 - >”Because, I always get what I want. And what I want, requires you to trust me.”
 - >You didn’t doubt it, not after this thing wiped the floor with Celestia.
 - “Alright.”
 - >Time to take a gamble.
 - “What’s our next move?”
 - >The Skeleton returns to its throne.
 - >”My next move is to track down the Element of Severity, the opposite of Laughter.”
 - >You quirk an eyebrow
 - “And.. What of myself?”
 - >The Skeleton does not bother looking up.
 - >”Go in to town and enjoy yourself. Remember that these are hard times, however, and you will be forign.”
 - >Ponyville.
 - “What of Rainbow Dash?”
 - >The Skeleton doesn’t even seem surprised.
 - >”She, with her five other friends, are currently in Fillydelphia. They shall arrive back in Ponyville in a weeks time, by which point we shall have been long gone.”
 - >Those same Emerald eyes turn upon you.
 - >”Shermanator, this is not the same world as yours. It may look the same, it may seem the same, but it is different. You do not truly exist here.”
 - >You nod.
 - >It would be too much to ask that your closest friend be the same here.
 - >You begin to leave, when you hear a call.
 - >”One more thing…”
 - >Why did that voice sound so damn funny right now?
 - >You shake a mental image of an old asian man from your mind.
 - “Yeah?”
 - >The Skeleton tosses a small golden object at you.
 - >”Don’t forget your pocket watch.”
 - >You hold the small object.
 - >It was a watch then?
 - >You flip it open, and look at the motionless hands.
 - “What good is a broken-“
 - >”A broken watch can easily be fixed. I would see to it, if I were you.”
 - >Alright then. First stop: Doctor Hooves and his clock shop.
 - >The brisk walk through the Everfree was quiet.
 - >Far too quiet.
 - >You got the feeling most wild-life avoided that strange Lich’s tower.
 - >Scars ran all across the forest trail, and destroyed trees were everywhere.
 - >Something big had happened here before, a major fight.
 - >You cast an eye back over your shoulder, and see what looks like an angle to the destruction.
 - >And it ramped right towards the tower.
 - >Yeah, this new friend of yours had done some serious shit before.
 - >You don’t bother speculating.
 - >Whatever happened here, obviously was in the distant past.
 - >The vines growing over the fallen trees were sign enough.
 - >You continue walking until you see Ponyville proper.
 - >Even if this wasn’t your Ponyville, it was peaceful enough, and was unravaged by the horrors of AEther.
 - >You spit on the ground at the mere thought of his name.
 - >It leaves a sour taste in your mouth, one you know you won’t be able to get rid of any time soon.
 - >The dirt road slowly grows more and more well cared for as buildings begin to form into the sides of the roarways.
 - >You look around for signs of a clockshop.
 - >Surprisingly, the Ponies out and about are not scared, shocked, or at all giving you odd looks.
 - >Some wave, and you return the greeting.
 - >It was… Strange.
 - >You stop, and look up.
 - >Huh, here was the clock shop.
 - >Perfect!
 - >You open the door, stoop low as the bell rings, and promptly walk back out.
 - >You check the sign on the door.
 - >Open.
 - >You look at the clock in the center of town.
 - >2 in the afternoon.
 - >You pop your head back in.
 - >Two blushing Ponies shoot guilty looks at one another, and you simply shake your head.
 - “I, uh.. Needed to have a.. watch, fixed.”
 - >You hurriedly put the watch on the counter and try to keep from fiddling.
 - >”Uh.. S-sure. I’ll get Mister Hooves, he’ll uh.. Get the watch.. Fixed.”
 - >You take a step towards the door.
 - “Aaaaah, about an hour?”
 - >”Yeah, yeah! Come back in an hour!”
 - “Okay. Well, uh…”
 - >Fuck this
 - >No explanation, just get out of there.
 - >You don’t even want to know what was going on in there.
 - >It’ll take a lot of brain bleach.
 - >You begin to stumble away when you hear a crash from the alley way.
 - >You carefully walk towards it, and peek down it.
 - >You notice a flick of a tail, a scaly, red tail, with a plume of white fluff at its end.
 - >You take a step down the alley-way, and begin to follow after it.
 - >The path twists and turns, being led in by this strange thing.
 - >You have no idea what it is, but-
 - >”All alone, are we?”
 - >You spin around.
 - >The path behind you is a wall.
 - >You look for an exit, but everywhere you turn you’re blocked in.
 - >”No one for a friend, no one to help you… Not even your precious Rainbow Dash.”
 - >You raise your first, clenching them.
 - “Whoever you are, come out and face me!”
 - >You are returned with silence.
 - >You scream out and swing with your fist.
 - >The walls disappear and you are sent tumbling over a trashcan.
 - >You scramble to your feet, bewildered.
 - >What fresh hell was this phantom labyrinth?
 - >The way back was a solid stone wall.
 - >You turned towards your only direction.
 - >You force down some mounting tension, gulping.
 - >You did not like this situation, at all.
 - >You are tense and tired.
 - >You have no clue how much time has passed, but you are certain it has been more than an hour.
 - >You’ve been stumbling around these back alleys, which seem to stretch on forever, all alone.
 - >And that accursed voice…
 - >”It’s not like it matters, does it?”
 - >You whip around, and finally see what it was that was making the noise.
 - >It’s a strange amalagram of various creatures, and it floated in the air above you.
 - >You charge it.
 - >”Now, now…”
 - >It floats about and above you as if physics were a toy of children.
 - >”You fight so hard, but you never once stop to think.”
 - >You swing out at it, but it avoids the attack impossibly easily.
 - >”You have no allies here. That Lich, it is playing you, can’t you tell?”
 - >You pause.
 - >You had felt this nagging doubt sense you got here…
 - >”You have been lied to your entire life. When Celestia brought you to Equestria, when your ‘friends’ turned their backs on you.”
 - >You can’t help but think on his words…
 - >No, your friends save you after everything you had done.
 - >”They didn’t believe you, no matter how hard you tried, and were about to send Lyra away in your stead.”
 - >Your eyes become unfocused.
 - >What was the point of fighting, then, if-
 - >”All you ever fight for, is a lie?”
 - >You stumble backwards, unable to handle this ‘realization’.
 - >Was it true?
 - >Did your friends just see you as a tool?
 - >A blunt force object?
 - >Of course they did.
 - >That was, after all, how you saw yourself.
 - >”Let go, and let ol’ Discord help you out of a bind.”
 - >You feel a sharp talon land upon your forehead.
 - >You suddenly feel more clear-headed.
 - >You look up, but whatever you saw was gone.
 - >You walk out of the Alleyway, and look up at the clock.
 - >Exactly fifty-nine minuets had passed.
 - >Not wanting to be late, you return to the Clock shop.
 - >You enter to find a tired-looking tan pony standing behind the counter, who perks up as you enter.
 - >”Ah, I take it you were the one who brought in this watch?”
 - >You nod.
 - “Indeed, I was hoping you could restore it fully?”
 - >Whoah, where in the heck did all these big words come from?
 - >Nevermind that, it felt.. Good.
 - >You knew exactly how to get your point across, you knew exactly what to do.
 - >You weren’t in the dark any more.
 - >The pony nudges the watch across to you.
 - >”Took a few rare pieces to re-set it. I’ll need Thirty bits to cover the expenses.”
 - >Hold your Ponies.
 - “Thirty bits?”
 - >You quirk an eyebrow.
 - “After walking in on your assistants doing unknowable things in the middle of the day?”
 - >You pocket the watch
 - “You’re lucky you even got my business. Five bits.”
 - >You toss the money on the counter and casually stroll out.
 - >You had him by the balls, and he knew it too.
 - >You fiddle with the chain, trying to get it strait, as you set your sights upon your new home.
 - >That back-stabber could not be trusted, you knew it.
 - >You would make a new home, here, in Ponyville.
 - >And no one could stop you.
 - >You make to stroll away, but notice a figure in the shadows.
 - >You wheel around, and see him approaching.
 - >That infernal Lich.
 - >Celestia damn his scheming bones.
 - “What do you want, Chronicler, I am very busy.”
 - >The Skeleton cocks his head slightly
 - >”Busy? Mind your tone, my friend.”
 - >You scoff
 - “I am not your Friend, liar.”
 - >That got his attention.
 - >”You seem, off, Shermanator.”
 - ”And you expect me to trust a word out of your mouth?”
 - >You don’t bother looking back over your shoulder as you walk away.
 - >You don’t even notice the way his head tilts down-wards, as if to pantomime a growing grin.
 - >You don’t hear his parting words either as he fades into the darkness.
 - >”No. Not yet I do not.”
 

