Infinity Wars Book 1: The Cult

Coyle literally blazed his way through the path in front of him. “This is boring. I expected to see some sort of civilization a while ago. Those lucky guys can just teleport in when I get there.” He keeps going until he sees a mountain. “Well, would ya’ look at that. Let’s investigate!” He immediately dashed towards the mountain.

Upon arriving to a certain point of the mountain he spotted a gate with two… “Are those ponies? Are those white ponies in armor? How does that even surprise me, for God’s sake Hehkeem is like an anthropomorphized lion or whatever that is!” He ducked behind a rock. “I saw a castle so this city is probably important but how do I get in? Okay Coyle, what are your options? 1: Go there and talk, hopefully getting in… Not one of my fortes. 2: Sneak past… Sneakiness ain’t my type. 3: Run so fast they can’t stop me… Sounds like a plan!”

Coyle got out of cover and ran as fast as he can, being ordered to stop upon sight. He simply kept running and jumped up the gate. “Gotta go fast!” He landed with a somersault and dashed towards the castle, the ponies following him.

Upon arriving to the castle he sees another gate. “Got about 20 guards behind me… Let’s do this!” His legs caught on fire as he ran even faster. Suddenly, as the guards prepared to stop him at the gate, he used his speed to seemingly teleport to the other side. “See ya’ later suckers!” He continued running.

“Coming through!” Coyle runs through the halls of the castle, about 50 guards currently following him. As soon as he can do so away from the guards’ sight he entered a room, trying to escape his followers. Little to no surprise he had when he saw more guards in that room. There were two other ponies, however, who got his attention. Two winged unicorns, one white and the other dark blue. They were taller than the other ones and had several adornments. “Huh… Hi?”

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” Celestia asked.

“Name’s Coyle, codename: Firestarter. I am a general of the Flame Dawn army and I came here because my leader has sent me to propose an alliance.” Coyle answered.

“How did you get all the way here without my knowledge?” Celstia inquired.

“Your guards are not very fast are they?” Coyle grinned. “But I guess you would want to talk to Aberion so…” He takes out a small flat circular device and sets it on the ground. “Now we wait.”

“What do you mean we wait? You barge into our throne room completely disregarding our guards and now you want us to trust you out of the blue? I’m afraid that isn’t going to happen?” Celestia snapped at Coyle and readied her horn.

“Please calm down. Whatever idiocy Coyle has done does not represent the Infinity Alliance. I am Aberion, Hammer of Dawn. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Aberion said as he materialized into the room.

“Explain yourself this instant! What is happening?” Luna demanded.

“Very well. War is coming to your land. The cult of Verore is mobilizing their army and somehow they have managed to take control of the undead faction we call Sleepers of Averrach. We have been at war with those death cultists for long and harsh years and now they are coming this way. “

“Luckily for you the Infinity Alliance always appreciates having more factions to help. If you supply us with troops and resources we shall do the same for you. That is our proposition. Now… may I know who you are?” Aberion asked.

“My name is Celestia, and this is my sister Luna, we are the rulers of Equestria. But can you explain to me who is part of this alliance? And what can they do to protect Equestria?” Celestia was genuinely interested now.

“On our side we have the Descendants of the Dragon from Jinhai. Led by the sage council Daode, Yuanshi and Lingbao, they come from the same world as the cult and they perfected the art of defense which allowed them to resist their demonic forces.”

“We also have the Genesis Industries, masters of technology. Under the command of Orion they have thrived for a long time with their vast knowledge of science and machinery. They are capable of creating the strongest soldiers available, given enough time.”

“As for us, the Flame Dawn, led by myself. We are an army of millions brilliant on the offensive aspect, striking down our enemies without giving them a chance to react. We can overwhelm whoever we are fighting against very quickly but we become weaker once they get defenses up.” Aberion concluded.

“And do you have proof that this cult is coming?” Celestia inquired.

“A scout of Jinhai has spotted several Verore squads mobilizing to a rift. Upon further analysis we have realized that the rift leads to this world. And in the slight chance we are wrong, allies are still a good thing to have.” He responded.

“That scout found all that while I was gone? Not bad.” Coyle pointed out.

“I believe we should discuss this for a while. We shall contact you when we have reached a decision.” Luna declared.

“Very well, our alliance has set camp at the bottom of this mountain. We will await news regarding this subject. Let’s go Coyle.” Aberion walks out

“Aye aye, sir!” Coyle says as he follows the Supreme Commander. Before they leave the throne room, however, they hear a beeping noise. “I think that’s yours.”

Aberion presses a button in his gauntlet and lifts it in front of his face. An holographic picture of Orion appearing. “Aberion we’ve detected a Verore assault squad near your position. We would send some soldiers but we’re still on the road and not at all close.”

“Roger that, Orion.” He turned to Celestia. “Where is the nearest town?”

“Ponyville, at the bottom of the mountain. Why do you ask?” She answered.

Instead of replying Aberion looked at Coyle, who simply nodded and ran off. As for the leader of the Flame Dawn… “Be wary of your surroundings, the cult is capable of incredible feats of magical power.” He ran off after his warning.

<…>

“It’s so peaceful out here in the forest.” Emmara said as she was walking along with Fluttershy and Xerath. “I’m still confused as to why you came.” She told the ascendant.

“I have reasons I shall not reveal that easily.” Xerath replied.

“What is so special about it that you can’t tell us?” The Selesnian asked.

“I will not reveal my motives and that’s that!” The arcane being exclaimed.

Fluttershy didn’t step in the discussion, fearing what the ascendant could do if pushed too far. It didn’t take long, however, until she felt something grab her from behind and throwing her into a cage before running off. She wasn’t sure about what was happening but she knew it was bad. Luckily for her, Xerath noticed this and launched a lightning bolt at the masked man in purple clothes, killing him and opening the cage.

“I knew it…” She heard him say. “Group up near me, I knew from the beginning there was something wrong.” He ordered as he shielded himself from a purple beam of energy coming from a nearby tree.

“Lightbulb be stronger than expected.” A huge humanoid creature comes out of the forest, followed by humans in purple robes. Xerath’s body flickered.

“Did you just… call me A LIGHTBULB?” Sparks of arcane energy were released everywhere around as Xerath’s rage was building up. The thing just laughed.

“Is lightbulb getting mad? Boo-hoo!” With that taunt, the humanoid smashed his giant axe against the ones in front of him. Before Xerath could even react, the axe was parried by a sword.

“Easy there brute, you already have enough brain damage without me giving you more.” Coyle grinned.

“Little man does not have right to talk!” The Verorian swung his axe again but, as it was about to impact Coyle, he disappeared.

“I know your brain is small but even you should know better.” All eyes went to the branch Coyle was on top of.

“Get the Firestarter, he is our priority now!” One of the humans declared before launching a lightning blast against the Flame Dawn general.

As it got closer, Coyle only smiled. As it almost hit he disappeared again, this time appearing in front of one of his assailants. Immediately he cut the cultist in half. His eyes analyzed the battlefield, marking his targets and dodging their spells as they tried to desperately get rid of him. Dashing through anything they threw at him, Coyle killed a few more cultists before the brute caught him distracted. Only being capable of dodging the blade, Coyle was still hit by the sheer brute force on in the strike, launching him against a tree.

“Hahaha! What will little man do now?” The brute taunted as he approached the wounded Firestarter.

“This.” When the brute turned around to see the source of the voice he got slammed in the face by a hammer.

“It’s the Hammer of Dawn, we don’t have a chance!” A cultist exclaimed.

“Retreat!” Another completed as they began running away.

As his fists collided, Aberion summoned a wall of flames to prevent the Verorians from escaping. “Now where were we?” He asked as the cultists shrank in fear. “Oh right…” The Hammer of Dawn then proceeded to clearing off the rest of them.

“I believe introductions are in order.” Coyle grins as he looked towards the cowardly pony, the Selesnian healer and the stoic arcane mage. “What’s your name, Sparky?”

“Sparky?” Xerath asked with another twitch of his energy. “I am Xerath, an ascended magus of the Shurima desert. I am more powerful than you can imagine!”

“I don’t doubt that.” Aberion said. “What about you... elf, is it?”

“Yes I am an elf.” The healer confirmed. “But before telling you anything it would be good to know who you are.”

“Of course. My name is Aberion, leader of the Flame Dawn and this is Coyle, the fastest soldier we have and Son of the Summer Flame.” Aberion introduced both of the Pyrians.

“There are still a lot of things to be cleared but I assume you are on our side. My name is Emmara, healer of the Selesnya Conclave and this is Fluttershy… this show of violence might have frightened her.” Emmara pointed at the pony, currently curled in a ball and covering her eyes.

“Relax, we’re on your side. And you better get used to it. We’re gonna find a lot more Verorians soon.” Coyle said.

“Not helping at all.” The elf deadpanned.

“Just telling the truth. Hey Aberion is the camp set yet?” Coyle asked his leader.

“Almost there, we should get going.” Was the answer.

“What are you talking about?” Xerath interrupted.

“Come with us. Everything will be explained. And if there is anyone you consider would be useful in war go call them. We want to warn this world’s greatest defenses as soon as possible.” Aberion warns as he walks away.