Chapters The Wrath-Born and The Fallen God
"We had come to recognize them as the Bane of Gods, and though we had sought to remove them from this delicate world, we could not force them to perish; He could only bind them"
The Equestria that is known now is far different from the Equestria known in the past, a timeline lost to the books of history, a time before Discord's ascension to the throne and inevitable downfall to the sisters, a time before Sombra's tyrannical rule over the Crystal Empire, a time before even the first changeling lord set hoof upon the surface; it was a time when the Gods were locked in battle with a ferocious enemy.
What green there was to the fields of Equestria was now ash and decay, its trees, its rivers, its serene beauty washed away in the darkness of death and ruin; beasts of dog, pony, gryphon, of all creature-like shapes had begun to converge upon a mountain that penetrated the heavens, their bodies ashen dark and cracked with violent red magic, radiating a collective of hatred and the desire to destroy everything in their waking path. All that had remained in their path was the very haven of the gods; The Sanctuary of the Alicorn.
Atop the mountain sat various marble structures and small gardens hanging over sides, small fountains spouting colorful jets of pure magic into various pools had been laid apart from each other to supply a constant of magic around and through the sanctuary. Drawing from these fountains of magic, three alicorn had managed to stave off the ruinous beasts below without permanency to their actions; Flarewing, the eldest, bore an orange coat and a mane and tail of pure flame, draped around his neck as it danced along blackened armor. Prism, the second eldest, shined brilliantly with a tan coat and a mane of crystal particles, blinking and shimmering gently with the sunlight. And finally, the youngest and god of magic, Arcanius, stood between the two with a white coat and a mane and tail of blue and surging electricity, violet armor set firmly to his neck, body, and legs. Flarewing was the first to address his siblings.
"We are confronted by an epidemic, brother and sister. As much as we have tried, the Wrath-Born only continue to converge towards us," Flarewing growled, his wings unfurled and the tips of his feather traced the air softly with small flames. "If we do not act soon, then all that we have striven so hard to create will vanish into the winds of time."
It was then that Prism spoke up, "What can we do? These monsters have proven to be ever ambitious towards the ruin of everything that is within their reach. Set them ablaze, strike them with magic, cut them down, and yet they only come back in bigger droves than before!" The sister spoke with worry in her voice. "We have let the spirits of harmony down...we have failed them."
And at last, Arcanius was ready to speak, a spark of ambition jetting across his eyes, "No! I refuse to allow these beasts to ravage the lands any longer! Even if I must do the unthinkable, if it is a means to putting an end to these monsters! Then I will take the cause upon myself!" Arcanius stamped his hoof hard into the ground, a spear had formed at his side, of gold and divine steel, sparking with lightning from end to end.
"Arcanius, I understand where your heart does lay, but listen to your mind as well! What you speak of is madness! Without you, then this world would fall apart, magic binds these lands, this world together in a spiral! If you perish, then the spiral will get out of hoof, Equestria could very well be destroyed!" Flarewing snarled at his little brother, unwelcoming of the idea of martyrdom. Prism could only nod her head in agreement with Flarewing.
Arcanius looked upon his siblings and nodded, "I understand your concern, brother and sister, but please do not worry." He smiled and put a hoof to his chest, "The spirits of harmony have chosen me for good reason, and should my death come, then I am prepared to ensure that Equestria will survive without me."
Arcanius gently reached out to his brother and sister, taking their hooves in his and then he smiled softly, "All I ask is that you trust me to do the right thing." With the look of ambition in his eyes, Flarewing and Prism knew that could not sway Arcanius from his decision. As they released Arcanius's hooves, the younger brother spread his wings far and immediately took flight towards the very peak of the mountain, a trail of divine lightning trailed at his back hooves and tail; Arcanius quietly eyed his spear and held it close to his chest, feeling its power course between him and his weapon, "Magnus, I have released your power once upon a time...I must now do it again. Equestria must once more be swept clean..."
Ever so slowly, the Wrath-Born had begun to ascend the mountain, sinking their claws firmly into the exterior of the massive spire of rock; from above. Flarewing and Prism descended and flew over them, their horns glowing brightly and their spells conjured; Flarewing called forth boulders of blazing magic, rolling down the mountainside and toppling over their ashen assailants, while Prism conjured up spires of crystals to jut outward, throwing off and penetrating the Wrath-Born within their vicinity. Yet as much damage as they have tried to deal to the Wrath-Born, it had come to no avail, the beasts pulled themselves up and climbed over their fallen comrades as though they were immediately forgotten.
Prism had cried out to her brother, "It is no use! They proceed without fail! Flarewing, what shall we do?" And she received no reply from her elder brother; No enemy had ever baffled Flarewing, no conflict he could not handle, no problem he could not solve, and here before him, presenting itself, was a situation he could not fix himself. Flarewing kept to himself out of the Wrath-Born's reach, out of ideas and, soon enough, out of time. "We cannot do anything, Prism...we can only pray Arcanius will pull through and save us." Flarewing spoke quietly and turned his head towards the heavens, towards their brother floating in the sky.
Arcanius floated with wings spread far apart, his spear held above his head and his body stretched vertically, softly gritting his teeth as his chest pounded with various colors of magic, flashing violently and rippling energy across the sky, forcing the clouds back with each pulse. A sudden gasp flew forth from his mouth and a gemstone had formed in front of him, glowing softly and emitting a soft, colorful light, "In you, I gift the element of Kindness." One by one, Arcanius endured a great pain in separating a vast portion of magic into various gemstones, bringing forth Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, and Laughter. Finally, Arcanius released a soft breath and removed the final portion of his power and imbued it to the final gemstone, "And you...I gift the element of...Magic." The alicorn now had but one last task: to ensure that the Wrath-Born would not succeed in their conquest.
Falling from the sky with his spear held close, Prism and Flarewing watched in shock as their young brother descended into a dead drop towards the surface of equestria, Magnus pointed towards the ground and violently radiating divine lightning, trailing downwards with great velocity. Arcanius released his final breath into a roar of might and, upon meeting the ground, plunged Magnus deep into the soil, releasing a world wide wave of divine energy, sweeping across the lands and forcing the Wrath-Born to fall backwards; as the massive ripple traveled over the surface of the world, pushing across the oceans and blowing up deserts, it had caused an audible snap of magic as it reached its center point and begun its travel back towards where Magnus had been plunged, now pulling the Wrath-Born forward forcefully. What had started as a ripple had then became a tower of magic, pulling Wrath-Born tightly together in the vast pillar and trapping them inside; to the despair of Flarewing and Prism, Arcanius had trapped himself inside with them, likely as he intended. Arcanius panted quietly, his wings and body had begun to slowly burn, trapped in the confines of his compressed enemies, yet even still the young god smiled, albeit weakly, but a smile nonetheless.
"The Elements are safe, Flarewing and Prism will carry on in my stead...and the Wrath-Born are stuck with me until the spell resolves itself." Quietly, Arcanius closed his eyes and hung his head in silence, allowing the world to recover, to prosper and start anew; The Changeling Lord would rise and release his daughters upon the world, Sombra would rise and claim the Crystal empire, Discord would be hailed as a tyrant and Nightmare Moon would be banished to the moon. With time, Nightmare Moon would return to Luna, Discord would be toppled not once but twice, The changeling Queen Chrysalis would be thwarted and Sombra would once more taste defeat at the power of the crystal heart; time passing with each event, with each happening of the timeline, the spell is chipped away at, housing the eager beasts.
It was clear, Magnus's spell was coming close to its resolve, it was clear that darkness would soon come back to Equestria!
The Wrath-Born are returning!
The Bane of-
--
"Xheda! Stop reading the bloomin' book and come down f' breakfast!" A rough female voice shouted into a wooden room.
"Coming!" A young changeling spoke up and put down a hard cover book on his bed, hopping from his bed and running out his room. To his young mind, the passages of the book were nothing more than a means to a doorway of imagination, but had he the wisdom of the gods, he would soon come to realize that passages were far more than a story; The spell is nearing its resolve and the Wrath-Born are nearly free.
"These old bones have endured the test of time, but for the sake of Harmony, they will endure the Wrath set upon them."
It was a warm summer morning for the melon farm, muggy and muddy from the previous day of rain. A few bugs and the occasional parasprite had been seen circling the biggest of watermelons only to be quickly swat away and out of the air by a large mare, a blue and orange polka dot cloth tied nicely around her thick and curled brown mane and a few gardening tools at her disposal in her saddlebags. Always by the end of the day, her orange coat is thick with sweat and covered in mud, With a mark bearing a stack of melons on her flank, Melon Drop worked day in and day out on her farm; her sons all grown up and moved to big cities like Manehatten, her daughters all married to the rich blooded ponies and never having to worry about working a day in their lives again, and finally her husband who had perished two years back, leaving her with the great melon farm to tend to by herself. Well, that is incorrect, the farm had been left to both Melon Drop and their adopted child, a changeling boy that Melon Drop and her husband had come across in...Heh, well, perhaps that should be explained first.
--
With his final suit case packed and ready, the last son of Melon Drop and Fruity Seed had left the farm to live out his life following his destiny. The house now an empty nest, the crop lifted and ready to be sold, all was quiet on the melon farm. But even with the peace finally attained, it could not shake the feeling of sadness from Melon Drop's heart. A big family, four sons and three daughters now reduced to just the parents and a large settlement of farmland.
"Fruity, what do we do now?" Melon Drop asked her husband, her form back then had been smaller and lacked the great muscle it would soon have in the future.
"Ah, don't fret y' pretty head, Melon M'dear! We've known th's day would be comin' soon didn't we?" Fruity responded with a cheerful tone to his wife; a gray stallion with a cut black mane, a series of seeds with various fruits on his flank bore itself as his cutie mark. "C'mon, lets git to town and relax fer the night, eh?"
It had been two whole years since the new princess had been announced to Equestria, Ponyville flourished greatly and had expanded, both becoming the kingdom to the new princess and home of the elements of harmony. Dubbed New Ponyville, the new kingdom was vibrant with nature and color, yet of course also retaining the history of Ponyville as well with a dividing gate between Old Ponyville and New Ponyville, not to separate two factions, but to preserve memories and history. Within New Ponyville, just beyond the gate, was a variety of markets, granted to the various races. Housed under marble rooftop and held up by fine carved Corinthian pillars and positioned in a circular formation, the markets were perhaps the loudest section of New Ponyville and carried with the hustle and bustle the variety of scents too.
Acting as a free land, one would find an assortment of characters as passerby folk, ranging from goats who brought forth their whimsical instruments and highland music to Diamond Dogs that traded gemstones and metals for means of expanding their strongholds beneath the ground. Just beyond the markets stands the keep of the princess, standing tall with the six banners of the elements fluttering in the wind from the poles on its surface; Under the caring eye of the new princess Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville, both new and old, was a safe haven of tolerance towards all races. Save...for one. Tolerable as many can be within the walls of Ponyville, a natural hatred is still shared amongst them towards the Changelings, for not even the princess herself can change the minds of thousands who had endured and lost many to the emotion feasting creatures that crept and sneaked about.
With a day of celebration and cider in their bellies, the sunset soon greeted Equestria, letting all know of Celestia's time to sleep and Luna's time to rise. But though Fruity Seed's heart was content, Melon Drop's was longing, she had loved to work on her farm, but she loved even more to be a mother, to look after her children and raise them. With her sons and daughters now gone, her heart was empty, until the sounds of laughter filled her ears from the side; an orphanage with little fillies and colts running around on its property in the child-like humor that most children show these days, common to playing outside in the fresh air. It was just the answer Melon Drop was seeking to her dilemma!
"Fruity! Look over there!" Melon Drop pointed towards the Orphanage with a glimmer in her eye, her husband Fruity Seed obeyed without question and turned his head. He didn't need to question why or what he was seeing, it was clear to him what Melon Drop wanted just by simply asking him to look. "The farm's goin' to be right tough to take care of, I reckon. And Ah, well, ah sure wouldn't mind a little one callin' me 'Ma' again."
"Well then, lets hustle on over an' have a look at the lil ones!" Fruity seed spoke and smiled, gently nudging his wife onward as they approached the orphanage. Bearing a similar resemblance to the old one room school that was ran by Cheerilee despite the fact that it was a two story building unlike the school, the orphanage bore a grey color and stood tall over the playing children. Fruity Seed and Melon Drop sat down on the grass and watched the fillies and colts enjoy their youth playing in the lawn outside the building. Fruity Seed would likely had just picked one out at random and been done with it but Melon drop on the other hand, she wanted something more; she wanted a unique child to raise, one that stood out fro the rest, one that could be identifiable without a second guess. And then, her attention turned towards a single tree that stood beside the orphanage, staring upon a small figure wrapped up in a beige cloak as though trying to hide himself from the world; Melon Drop approached the caretaker immediately.
"May ah ask ya'll who that little one is over there?" Melon Drop inquired about the cloaked orphan. The Caretaker looked over at the tree and sighed softly, gently shaking her head as she turned her attention back to Melon Drop.
"That's Xheda, ma'am. He and the others don't exactly get along, even though I try to get them all to play nicely with each other." The caretaker responded; when asked why they did not get along, the cartaker gently turned Melon Drop's head towards Xheda, who had quietly removed the hood of his cloak. "Because he is a changeling."
It had screamed out to Melon Drop, her heart, her mind, her very soul, telling her that this was the one, this was the unique child she had been thinking of. It wasn't long before Fruity Seed was filling out the adoption forms, Melon Drop had begun to converse with her new child Xheda, wanting to know about him more and more, "Whats your favorite food? Favorite Color? Do you love drawing? Have you been to a farm?" The constant questions didn't leave Xheda in a good bind, but he didn't mind it, he finally had someone who wanted to take care of him; He had found someone who he could call 'mother.'
--
It was the middle of the afternoon by now, Melon Drop had finished her harvest and loaded up the last watermelon onto the cart and had strapped herself in for the voyage to New Ponyville. She then whistled behind her as loud as she could, "Xheda! Come along! We're headin' fer New Ponyville!"
And without wasting a moment, the young changeling came running out of the barn and to his mother's side, his green-turquoise pseudo-mane hanging over the right side of his head, he smiled up at his mother and latched himself into a smaller harness, although the harness was not attached to the cart in a way that could be helpful, but it eased Melon Drop's heart to see Xheda look like he's doing work when he wants to. "Alright, Ma! I'm all strapped in!"
Digging her hooves into the dirt and Xheda digging his little digit claws in as well, the two pulled on the cart, or rather Melon Drop had pulled with her tremendous strength, onward towards New Ponyville for a day of business. Though it was clear to Melon Drop that she could never surpass the Apple family, every year she would try her hardest to compete with them in sales, but this would be the first time ever that she brought Xheda with her into New Ponyville, unsure if it would help her sales or make her the town pariah. An hour of travel behind them had revealed to them New ponyville, alive with sounds and voices; it was clear to Melon Drop that it was going to be a difficult day as always. Onward the two trotted into New Ponyville, earning the silence of others as they stared upon them, or rather, upon the changeling that accompanied Melon Drop; Xheda quietly eyed left and right at those who stared upon him, he had begun to become nervous and quietly moved himself underneath Melon Drop for comfort.
Melon Drop looked down and smiled gently, "Now don't ya'll be afraid, Xheda, ye' ain't got nothin' to worry about. Now C'mon, we got some melons to sell!" Melon Drop spoke to Xheda and smiled.
Something about her voice and her smile filled Xheda with confidence and vigor, he slid out from under his mother and nodded his head, "Okay, ma! Lets sell!"
Taking the cart into the market district, Melon Drop and Xheda had begun to call out into the crowd with the promise of fresh melons for as little as 4 bits. And then a voice rang out in Melon Drop's ears with the promise of bushels of Apples for as little as 4 bits; it was the apple family cart with their harvest on display; Melon Drop grit her teeth and stamped her hooves down, "Fresh Melons for 2 Bits!"
Almost instantly, the crowd that had approached the apple family cart turned tail and headed to the Melon cart, and earned the scowls from the apple family, "Bushels of Apples for 2 bits!"
Thus a pricing war had broken out between the two families, drawing the crowd left and right to their deals.
"Bushel of Melons for 2 Bits!"
"Buy One Bushel of Apples, Get one Free!"
"Buy One Bushel of Melons, get two Free!"
"Three Free!"
"Four Free!"
And finally the youngest representative of the apple family cart, with her red mane and ribbon, slammed her hooves down, "Pay 50 Bits and get every apple on this cart!"
Melon Drop's jaw immediately was agape, selling off every single apple for just 50 bits? Had they really wanted to keep her down this badly? Xheda looked upon his mother and rubbed his nose with a digit before gasping and hopping up onto tip top of the Melon cart, a rather precarious area of the melon cart, and raised his hooves up high, "Pay 40 Bits and every melon is yours!"
Now Both the apple family and Melon Drop's jaws were agape, selling every single melon for just 40 bits was ludicrous! But nonetheless, The crowd ran for Melon Drop's cart, bags of bits held out to Melon Drop, who could only grit her teeth as she had grabbed the closest bag of bits. However, the holder of the bag was all too familiar to Melon Drop, and she grimaced at the blonde and tan colored earth pony with her cowboy hat perched on top of her head.
"Afternoon, Applejack..." Melon Drop scowled as she slipped the bag into her saddlebag, her rival only smiled and thought nothing wrong between them.
"And a howdy to you too, Melon Drop! Not sure why'd ya'll would sell everything for one payment of 40 bits, though! But shoot, I ain't passing up a deal like that!" Applejack spoke and tipped her hat as a few of the family members came and unloaded the cart, carrying melons over to the Apple cart and putting them up for sell for 5 bits a melon. "But hey! There's always next harvest! Hope to see ya'll there next time, Melon Drop!"
Melon Drop slowly turned her head towards Xheda with a scowl, "40 bits for every Melon..." Xheda slowly started to shake, knowing that Melon Drop was furious. He wanted to apologize, he wanted to take back what had happened and start the day over, but it was too late for take backs. Melon Drop proceeded to strap back into the reins until Applejack's voice called out to her again, she groaned as she turned her attention to her rival. "Now what, Applejack..."
And the tan pony removed her hat and pressed it against her chest, "I feel terrible for leavin' ya'll with just 40 bits. I can't blame the little one you have for trying to help you out. So why don't I, at least, give back a few of yer melons?" Xheda smiled at such generosity, he couldn't think of the reason why his mother would consider Applejack her rival, but before Xheda could speak up, Melon Drop stamped her hoof down.
"Ah don't need your damned charity, Applejack! Ya'll bought the damn stock, now leave me be!"
And Applejack was thrown aback by Melon Drop's tantrum, all she had done was try to help, knowing full well that Melon Drop had been working herself to the bone on that farm all by herself with Xheda, but Melon Drop was too prideful, and refused her offer; she had even refused the apple family's assistance with her farm for she believed it to be some form of take over on her farm when all they wanted to do was help out a fellow farmer.
The ride back towards the melon farm was a silent one, Melon Drop wouldn't speak and Xheda was too afraid to speak up, he quietly watched Melon Drop from beneath her until he looked at the ground and frowned, "Ma...do you hate me?"
And the cart came to a halt as Melon Drop stopped in her tracks, for a moment she blinked with confusion before realizing what was asked of her. She looked down at Xheda who had begun to sob and undid his harness, taking him gently into her hooves, "Of course not Xheda...I love ya'll with all my heart. But...that wasn't a smart decision back there."
And Xheda looked up at her and frowned, "But that other pony was giving back some melons...why wouldn't you take 'em?"
And as they cleared the hill, all they could see was fire, burning down the farm, the trees, everything around the land. Without a second thought, Melon Drop ran towards the scene with Xheda, their precious home was engulfed in the fires. Xheda stayed behind his mother, who stormed in through the flames, leaving Xheda in the safety outside of the fire, he didn't know what was going on, or how it came to be or even why this had befallen them; his ears then rung as Melon Drop screamed out, "Xheda! Run!"
Xheda's eyes had widen as Melon Drop ran through the flames, chased by what looked like charred creatures, Pony, Diamond Dog, Gryphon alike, but he did as he was told and he quickly turned to run, only to gaze up upon a tall charred beast that stared back down at him. It had looked almost like an Alicorn; it raised its hoof up and then swing it down, grazing Xheda's front right arm and sending him sprawling to the ground. Xheda gasped and clutched his arm, the smoke of the flames slowly getting to him and beginning to knock him out from consciousness.
As Xheda blacked out, a voice called out to him, almost as listening to the whispers of a ghost, "This is where your journey begins, I pray you will forgive me one day."
And then all was silent.
A rescue made, a god's plea
Even True Warriors like myself can suffer; We feel honor and are praised, We feel sorrow and are comforted, We succumb to Wrath and we ruin, We realize and then we regret."
It had felt like an eternity for Xheda to be trapped inside of his mind and being left unable to see anything but the darkness of the void around him; Xheda had sat in the silence of his subconscious, unaware of the world outside of his unconscious body and left to wonder about the words that echoed in his head over and over again.
"I pray you will forgive me one day"
The longer he thought about it, the more questions arose in his mind such as, "Who was asking for forgiveness?" or "What exactly did they do to him that called for an apology?" It was a confusing situation on the young changeling, though it would be confusing and burdensome on any child, to be in the darkness of your mind, left to wonder on a statement that you don't understand why it was stated.
And then, there was a sudden light bursting into view and a voice calling out to Xheda, drawing him out from the darkness of his unconscious state and into the reality he was thrown from; Xheda's vision began to fix itself, now able to dawn awareness of his surroundings and a familiar tan and blonde pony who had been calling to him. Upon seeing Xheda come to consciousness, Applejack sighed with relief and and sat down at the side of the bed Xheda was laid upon.
"Thank goodness! Ah' thought the worst had happened, Sugar cube! We saw the fire from our farm and we got there as quick as we could!" Applejack told Xheda as she fixed her hat and tried to explain to Xheda of the current situation. The young changeling was still in a partial daze however, his grasp on staying conscious was still weakened and his body needed more time to recover. Applejack then looked upon Xheda and frowned, "Melon Drop is okay, Sugar Cube, she's fine and dandy but...well, something happened to you."
Xheda was able to comprehend the last few words that Applejack spoke of and he turned his gaze over to Applejack with a frown, "Something happened to me? What happened to me?" And Applejack could only shift her gaze between him and his left foreleg; taking the subtle hint, Xheda strained to lift his head and slowly look towards his left foreleg which had been covered by the blanket covering him. "Please...let me see, I want to know what happened"
Applejack hesitated for a brief moment but nodded her head as she placed a hoof on the blanket and gently pulled it aside from Xheda's body. Xheda's weakened gaze had immediately changed to that of terror and confusion as he gazed upon his left foreleg; from his digits to where his left foreleg connects to his torso, his foreleg had turned ashen and cracked with soft glows of red and orange, dimming and glowing from those very cracks. The traits of his foreleg bore similarities to those very beasts that attacked and burned the melon farm! Xheda looked at Applejack quickly and frowned, "Ms. Applejack, what happened?"
--
Xheda had fallen to the ground as his assailant ran its ashen hoof across his left foreleg, standing tall over its unconscious prey but at the same time showing hesitation, even restraint, to be upon him. Melon Drop had managed to outrun the flaming beasts and immediately turned her attention towards her child, who she could now see being towered over by the alicorn-like monster. Melon Drop gasped and immediately turned, making a quick run through the flames towards Xheda, tears of terror fell from her eyes as she prayed for her child's life to remain intact; The pseudo-Alicorn looked towards Melon Drop and backed away from Xheda, quietly observing the two before retreating into the spreading flames.
"Don't you worry, Xheda! Mama's here..." Melon Drop spoke softly through her tears as she threw herself around Xheda protectively, guarding him against the spreading wildfire that had now engulfed the entirety of the melon farm. The loud snaps and pops of the barn wood and house collapsing echoed over Melon Drop, the flames grazing across her back and hind legs; the motherly mare grit her teeth and whimpered with pain but refused to let go of her child.
Departing towards the applefarm, the apple family cart had already made it half way from New Ponyville before stopping to view the flames in the distance. Applejack stepped out beside the cart and tilt her head in confusion along with the rest of her helpers.
"Now what in tarnation is happening over there?" Applejack took a few steps forward away from the cart before she soon began to realize what had been happening. "That's the Melon Farm! Melon Drop's in trouble!" Applejack quickly looked back at her family and ordered them to quickly hurry and retrieve the rest of the apple family currently residing at the farm, she herself would hurry to the Melon farm.
Applejack ran as fast as she could through the darkness, approaching the smoke and fire of the Melon Farm, it had crossed her mind that she should have contacted her friends, the mane six, but she was too worried that it would be too late to try and save Melon Drop and Xheda. Through a wall of flame, Applejack leaped into the melon farm territory and found herself surrounded by fields of fire, frantically searching for Melon Drop and Xheda. She began to cough as the thicket of smoke began to overwhelm her lungs, forcing her into a crawl, but nevertheless, the apple pony continued to call out for Melon Drop and Xheda; after trying so many times, she was finally answered by the faint voice of Melon Drop, who had now suffered severe burns to her hind legs and body, but still remained vigilant in guarding her child.
"Don't ya'll worry, Melon Drop! We'll get this fire contained, just hold on!" Applejack called out to Melon Drop, coughing from the heavy smoke and making her way to Melon Drop's side. Quickly stomping out the flames near Melon Drop but suffering some burns herself, Applejack cleared away the flames the plagued Melon Drop and nudged her slowly but roughly, pushing her as much as she could until they could safely regain their strength; the flames lashed at Applejack constantly, their intense heat almost crippling her as they nipped at her hind legs.
Suddenly, acting as a Miracle to Applejack, the unburned bushes began to reveal various apple family members as they came through onto the melon farm, hauling large barrels of water and quickly tipping them over into the flames, doing all they could to try and contain the wildfire. Alas, no matter how much they had brought, the flames refused to perish and continued to spread. It was though that the fire itself was unnatural, a living thing.
"This, this don't make a lick o' sense! Why won't the flames die down?!" Applejack looked upon the flames with fear, her entire family forced back to the bushes as their attempts to calm the flames led to no avail.
Shaking beneath Melon Drop, Xheda squirmed and writhed as he slowly regained consciousness, his left foreleg pulsing and growling, cracking softly from the digits up to his torso; the flames slowly began to calm and converge towards them, twisting into a point as it descended into his foreleg. Xheda gasped upon feeling the surge of the flames bathe his foreleg, and let out a shriek of pain as it settled like poison beneath his chitinous skin, the cracks had begun to glow red and orange, slowly settling. Once more, Xheda was forced into unconsciousness.
--
"An' then we carried ya'll and Melon Drop here as fast we could. Though we...couldn't save the Melon Farm. Ah'm afraid the Melon Farm has burned to the ground." Applejack finished her explanation on the events that took place the other night. Xheda was quiet with worry, being a child certainly has that effect when you're young.
"And Ma' is okay, right? You said she's okay?" Xheda asked Applejack, now itching at his left foreleg slightly, soft specks of chitin chipped off as he scratched. Applejack nodded reassuringly and whistled towards the door; it was a few minutes of time before Melon Drop emerged from beyond the doorway with bandages on her hind legs and part of her torso. Xheda sniffled to see his mother in such damage and cried out for her; Melon Drop, as quick as her weakened body could, moved into the room and held her beloved child close to her. "Ma! I'm so sorry!"
Melon Drop gently shushed Xheda and stroke his back, "Now don't ya'll apologize fer nothin, Xheda...you didn't start that fire, there was nothin' we could do. But now the farm is gone...I don't know what we're goin' to do." Melon Drop sighed and cradled Xheda close to her warm body, ignoring Xheda's left foreleg entirely. "But it don't matter, as long as you're safe, Xheda."
And like a sudden moment, Xheda's eyes widen and he clutched his head, whispers ran amok inside his head but the one voice that he heard before was clear:
Wrath-Born are upon us, the spell is breaking. Run, you are the chosen, save us
"Xheda! What's wrong!" Melon Drop cried out, frightened to see Xheda in such pain, but Xheda could not speak, he could not hear any voices outside other than the whisper, the voice in the dark:
This is your story now, you are its author its character, its hero
Xheda continued to grip his head and grit his teeth, the more the voice spoke, the more the changeling became confused:
You have their power, faint and weak devour them, feed your power
And finally, Xheda let out a gasp and collapsed against Melon Drop, who frantically cried out his name as the final whisper echoed softly in his head:
Forgive me Xheda You must succeed where I had failed
--
It had been another hour before Xheda awoke, his foreleg had softly burned for a moment or two and felt warm shortly after, his head was in incredible pain but it had begun to slowly calm down; he could hear the voices of Applejack, his mother Melon Drop, and a third voice outside the door, he decided to listen in on them before making it aware to others that he had regained consciousness.
"Ah' don't know Twi, He was fine and then he just grabbed hold of his head, like somethin' was shoutin' in his ears!" Applejack explained to the alicorn princess, Melon Drop at her side looking very worried. "especially that left leg of his...it don't look natural, it looks...evil."
"My boy ain't evil! He's a sweet child! He's playful, he laughs, he cries, he's just a normal lil' colt like any other foal! Don't ya'll call him nothin else!" Melon Drop yelled, obviously offended to have anyone related her child to the term 'evil'. Applejack reassured Melon Drop that she didn't mean anything by Xheda himself being evil, but just the looks of his left foreleg; even Melon Drop could not deny now that, after acknowledging its presence, that it was no ordinary leg anymore, nor did it show any signs of ever recovering to its previous state.
"You said there were monsters made of fire and looked like a multitude of creatures...did you see where they went?" Twilight asked the two of them but neither Applejack or Melon Drop could tell Twilight of them, Melon Drop had been too busy protecting Xheda to know where they had gone and Applejack had arrived too late to witness any of them. Twilight sighed and shook her head, "It's alright for now, I'm sure Celestia will have information on such a creature. But back to the matter at hoof, may I see the foal?"
Melon Drop eyed the ground with a grimace before nodding her head, allowing Twilight to enter the room; Xheda frowned as he looked at Twilight approaching him, this was the first time he had seen a princess and took in the peaceful air that came off of Twilight into the room. Twilight moved around the bed over to Xheda's left side and looked down at his left foreleg, observing its cracks and fiery patterns from his digits to his joint; when summoning up magical energy near it, the patterns reacted almost in a defensive manner as it warded away her magic, the cracks opening up and spreading its fiery contents outward into a coating towards wherever Twilight's magic was closest. A magical entity that wards off magic? It truly baffled Twilight as she switched between a multitude of spells, ranging from targeting around Xheda to targeting Xheda directly; each attempt ending with the arm reacting in a defensive manner, coating and blocking wherever the magic attempted to touch. Twilight stepped back.
"It's immune to magic? How can this be? Only Alicorns can access anti-magic field spells of such caliber, and it blocks on the spot! What is this..." Twilight observed, the limb slowly shutting its cracks and its fiery contents receding back inside. Xheda lied there quietly, watching Twilight perform "tests" on his changed limb. Twilight nodded her head and returned outside the room to Melon Drop and Applejack, leaving Xheda alone once more.
"This is something I've never encountered or ever read about. Every factual book I've seen should have some form of information about this ailment." Twilight explained to Applejack and Melon Drop; Xheda blinked as he began to remember back from his storybook, the three divine alicorn that brought about creation and spread the teachings of Harmony. Their great battle with the unbeatable swarm, their name had eluded his mind but he continued to try and remember what they were called. Beasts of fire and char, destroyers of mountains and lands, defilers of oceans and skies, born of wrath and-
"Wrath-Born!" Xheda yelled out, exclaiming his memory as he cupped his cheeks in shock; he slightly flinched at the heat of his left foreleg and put his hooves down. Twilight was instantly made aware of his statement.
"Wrath-Born? Wait a minute, you mean those creatures from that storybook?" Twilight asked before chuckling slightly, "C'mon. That was a story, a work of fiction! There is obviously a logical explanation to this dilemma." Twilight was silent for a few seconds before clearing her voice, "As soon as I uncover it of course."
"Not all truths are labeled, princess. Just as not all secrets are plain to see.
Instantly, everyone was startled to hear the omnipotent voice that Xheda heard. They raised their heads and looked around, but saw none who bore a face to the voice. To Applejack and Melon Drop, it was frightening but to Twilight and Xheda, it had felt almost normal.
"There are simply those who denied this truth for they could not experience this disaster. I tell you now, Twilight Sparkle This disaster was not born of some fable. I had experienced it full force"
Twilight slowly narrowed her gaze before she spoke, "Who are you...?"
"You and the boy know me, you who have read this so called Storybook. I am its protagonist; I am Arcanius."
"The Storm King and God of Magic, Arcanius?" Xheda spoke up in question; both Twilight Sparkle and Melon Drop were completely astonished that Xheda could remember such a detail from a storybook but after realizing that it was a storybook, it wasn't all that amazing. Despite the current dilemma, Xheda could only feel excited to hear from his favorite hero from his favorite book, the same excitement most children feel at such a young age when they believe their fictitious heroes could exist.
"I am the very same, chosen by the spirits, gardener of the tree, disciple of Harmony. But my presence here is not a bringer of good tidings."
"What do you mean?" Xheda, being the only one who thinks it wise to communicate to such a voice, began to question the omnipotent Arcanius while the three mares sat in silence, taking in the event.
"Magnus grows weaker, the spell I had cast is drawing towards its end. When it fully resolves, the world will be engulfed once more by those I had tried to imprison."
"But you can do it again, right? You did it once, you can do it again!" Xheda stated, his young voice full of vigor and belief.
"Alas, I cannot. By imprisoning the Wrath-Born I had imprisoned myself with them. Doing so, they had leeched off of my body, of my magic. Being an entity of infinite magic and yet limited now that my form has fallen to their standards, all I can muster is this guiding voice to you."
Xheda's eyes then widened as he began to regain memory from the incident at the farm, "then that was you who attacked me!"
"Yes, I became desperate... I had to choose someone."
To choose someone? To choose them for what? To succeed where he had failed? What did he fail at? To imprison the Wrath-Born? As these questions began to recede, a conclusion began to dawn on Xheda as he frowned and lifted his head, "You failed to defeat them...do you mean I have to defeat them?" Finally, Twilight had heard enough of such madness:and stamped her hoof down.
"Enough! This voice can't be proven to be the voice of a god! And plus, really? A child of all living things? If anything, this is just some trick!" And then the room shook with a thunderous roar, a furious crack of lightning snapped outside and shook the apple farm house.
"Who made magic for Unicorn kind! Who made it possible for harmony to spread throughout the world! Who made it possible for life to continue! It was I, but if this truth you deny, Then Go!"
And Twilight shied back away from the voice, almost looking disappointed in herself to allow her inner childish wonder to escape her. Slowly the room calmed down and the lightning faded away from sight; the voice of Arcanius sighed softly.
"Please, I am incredibly weak my power is nearly depleted. Despite having to choose this child I had no other choice. My senses would have faded and my chance to bring up a slayer of this terrible foe would have been wasted."
Twilight lifted her head and frowned, "Then what can we do to fight back against these beasts, these...'wrath-born' that you once fought?" Xheda nodded his head as he stared around the room; there was a sudden spark of light in the middle of the room, signifying Arcanius's presence.
"Listen well, my time is nearly gone In four weeks time, my spell will resolve and all Wrath-born will be released. There are those who still roam the land, and there are those who have learned from their secrets. Xheda, this journey is yours, to seek out these bearers and unite an army to combat these fiends."
"Bearers? Army? What do you mean?" Xheda frowned, he was a child after all, he could not fully comprehend the task presented to him. The spark appeared once again for a brief moment.
"Diamond Dog, Minotaur, Changeling, and Gryphon. These four who divide themselves from ponykind must unite; Seek out The Scholar, The Tower, Battle-Master, and Cripple. Only with their knowledge will you stand a chance at combating these creatures. This is all I can say, farewell."
And with his final words, Arcanius's presence vanished from the room, leaving the four in silence.
-Four weeks before the end of the world-
Author's Note
Finished my 1st semester of my senior year. Hopefully I'll get back to working on this at some point.
A quest begun and an odd ally
Harmony and Wrath, when I see these two words, All that comes to mind is, "Why am I letting you live" and "Which bone of yours will I break next?" - Alastor, The Towering Minotaur
Night had fallen over the Apple family house with a blanket of stars and a warm summer air, but despite such comforting standards in the weather and the accommodating rooms provided to Melon Drop and her child Xheda, the young changeling couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried; his mind raced and came back to reoccurring thoughts cycling through and through without end to their burdensome existance. From the storybooks he read, most heroes had to do something amazing to be called such a title, such as slaying a Ursa Major, or stopping the destruction of a kingdom, or defeating an evil sorcerer and saving a princess from said sorcerer; with just one declaration, Xheda was simply 'made' a hero.
This left him in an uncomfortable state, to be called a hero without earning it, but at the same time, it was exciting because he loved the stories he read, the adventures heroes had gone on, quests they were tasked to complete and the riches! The riches! Heroes in his storybooks had plundered hoards of gold and jewels! Found ancient magical relics that granted incredible power! And of course, always got the girl, which was either some captured village girl or captured princess. The only thing that seemed to make Xheda dislike the idea of saving a village girl or a princess is that in the storybooks, the heroes were rewarded with a kiss and often married the village girl or princess. Of course, he is a child, ignorant to the fact that those heroes depicted in the stories are well in their adult years.
Nevertheless, Xheda was restless, tasked with not only seeking out the individuals that bore the secrets of wrath, but to unite four species with ponykind? Arcanius was asking a great deal from Xheda, but as he said, he was desperate and had little choice in the matter. Xheda decided that if he couldn't sleep, then he'd walk around to make himself tired; down the stairs the young changeling went, exploring the Apple house in the night, taking in the sight of various framed photographs and old furniture. He became increasingly interested with the rocking chair in the living room, its rocking motion of back and forth, for whatever reason, amused his childish mind.
"Now what're ya'll doin' up this late?" An old voice came from behind Xheda, drawing his attention behind him to an old mare with a white, bunned mane and a green coat of fur. When Xheda tried to apologize, the old mare simply laughed with a couple wheezes and smiled. "Don't think nothin on it darlin, ah often roam the house too when ah can't sleep neither. Thought I'd bake up an apple pie to clear th' mind. C'mon an' have a slice."
Not denying that he WAS incredibly hungry, Xheda followed the old mare to the kitchen, a fresh apple pie rested on the table and the two settled up onto two chairs, each having a slice of pie and a glass of milk to wash it down their throats. Xheda, amazingly, showed good manners as he chewed with his mouth closed and only belching into his foreleg. One slice of pie after another, the two seemed to laugh at each other; Xheda would make a mess of pie on his face and Granny Smith's dentures would often fall out mid bite. When the last two slices of pie were on their plates, Xheda's joyful demeanor soon changed to that of a worried one as he stared at his slice of pie.
"I'm scared, Granny smith..." Xheda softly spoke as he picked at the slice of pie with his fork, frowning. His storybooks were a gateway into imagination but that's all they were: Storybooks. He didn't know how to be a hero, he didn't know if he could follow their examples, he didn't know what to honestly do or where to start or even how to. Granny Smith, for the seventh or so time, slipped her dentures back in and stared at Xheda. She began to pick at her own slice of pie.
"Sonny, we all get scared sometimes. There are things out in the world that're scary, but it ain't about hidin from them scary things, it's about how ya'll can overcome them." Granny smith spoke and smiled, being a mare of her age, she likely has had a great experience of understanding fear and how to overcome it. "Ya'll are just a lil foal, Sonny, the world is gon' be a scary place but you'll overcome. I can see it in ye'."
"You really think I can?" Xheda asked as he looked at Granny Smith the best he could in the eye; the old mare smiled and nodded her head as she bit into a slice of pie.
"You bet yer' hiney, Sonny. You're a brave lil changelin'. Now c'mon and finish your pie, lil foals shouldn't be up this late past their bed time-" And then Granny Smith's dentures fell out of her mouth once again. "Oh Dag nabbit!"
Xheda chuckled softly and smiled, he finished the last piece of apple pie and finished his glass of milk before heading back up to bed. The old mare did have a great wisdom to her, that the world is full of scary things, and that is better to learn how to overcome them than to live in fear of them; Xheda crawled into bed and under the covers, bundling up underneath them as he drifted into sleep.
--
Morning came on a bright sunny summer day, Xheda yawned and pulled himself out from under the bundle of blankets to the floor and then out of the room where he was greeted by a red maned filly with a soft yellow coat. She smiled at Xheda, her red ribbon on her head softly bobbing with her movements.
"G'mornin! Twi's downstairs and she wants to talk to ya'll!" Applebloom spoke and smiled, pointing her hoof downstairs. Xheda grew curious as to what twilight wanted to say to him, she did not say a lot to him at all during her observing period on his left foreleg, but likely now she has probably something to say on the current events. Nevertheless, Xheda wouldn't make Twilight wait and headed downstairs to greet the alicorn.
Downstairs sat Granny Smith in her rocking chair, Applebloom and Big Mac near the center of the room, Melon Drop on the couch recovering from her wounds, and Twilight standing in the center of the room, awaiting Xheda to come before her. Slowly the Changeling approached Twilight and bowed his head as proper when before a princess; Twilight smiled at this.
"It certainly is a first to have a changeling bow to me, but please, you don't need to. If what Arcanius says is true, then you stand as an equal, Xheda. So please, rise." Twilight gestured to Xheda to stand up straight and, as commanded, he did. "If Arcanius is correct, then we're on a time limit of four weeks, Xheda. Within that time, four different races must unite with us...I know that the people of New Ponyville see the many races selling in the markets, but that's all they are: merchants. To actually get their lords to side with Celestia is as easy as trying not to set yourself on fire when doused in oil inside of a burning house."
Hearing this only began to destroy Xheda's hopes, Twilight saw this quickly and sighed, softly smiling, "But that doesn't mean it's impossible. With that said, I've prepared a small journal for you, courtesy of a night of writing and research." Twilight then conjured up a small bubble of magic and there inside it formed a leather bound journal, gently floating down before Xheda. "Inside this journal I have written down the information of the lords and empresses of the races, perhaps you can use this information to your advantage to try and convince them. As for those bearers...I'm sorry, but I couldn't find any information on them. A scholar, A Tower, a Battle Master and Cripple doesn't leave me a lot to work with."
"Thank you princess, at least you tried your hardest." Xheda smiled and picked up the journal and proceeded to open the cover to the various pages within. This was indeed a work of Twilight Sparkle, each page did not miss a single detail: cultures, foods, important figures, living styles, customs; the only downside is that all of this pretty much meant little to Xheda's young mind.
"Aside from this journal, there is also someone I'd like you to meet; as celestia was a mentor to me, I too became a mentor over a young filly. Now, she's a bit...odd, but I promise you, she's just like the rest of us." Twilight smiled and turned towards the door. "Gli-"
And with a sudden burst of magic, the front doors of the apple house burst open as a little filly came running inside, squealing as loud as she could; her coat was of a gentle pink hue and her mane, of white and pink hanging down her neck and either side of her head, a soft blue cloak and saddle bags hung at her sides. The young filly squealed as she ran around the room, obviously making as a big an entrance as she could. Twilight, of course, sighed as loudly as she could to get the little filly to stop.
"Xheda, I'd like you to meet Glitter Chant, my um...student." Twilight spoke and then softly groaned.
"Pleasure to meet you! I'm Glitter Chant! Unicorn Sorceress Extraordinaire! Whats your name? Is it chubby puff puff? Hey, whats up with your foreleg? Is it weird? Enchanted? ooo! is it a curse? Huh? Huh?! Huh?!?!" The little filly released an onslaught of questions towards Xheda, leaving him in a confused and frightened state. When told to calm down by her mentor, Glitter came to a complete stand still and sat, observing the changeling in front of her.
"You'll have to forgive her excited behavior, Xheda...she does have a lot of certain unicorn's personality around her, especially with flashy entrances." Twilight explained and cleared her throat, once more smiling. "She will accompany you."
"Wait, what?" Both Xheda and Glitter asked in unison, staring up at Twilight with wide eyes. Twilight cleared her throat as though she herself was confused at what she herself said.
"You heard me correctly, Xheda. I want Glitter Chant to accompany you on this quest; if it were any other circumstance, I wouldn't even think of this, but we have four weeks to prevent the end of the world, each of us has a vital role in this to play, and, I am saying this because I must believe somehow, that I have confidence that you'll protect her no matter what. Can you, Xheda?" Twilight asked, her expression could teeter on either side of disappointment or hope; Xheda, mustering up his courage, nodded his head.
"Then time is ah've the essence! We've readied ya'll a lil food package that should last fer 3 days. After that, ah'm afraid, ya'll have to find your own means of food. Good luck, Xheda, and keep yerself and Glitter 'ere safe, y'hear?" Applejack was next to speak up as her brother Big Mac nudged two saddle bags over, each enchanted by Twilight's magic to hold more than they appear and weigh less than they should; seeing as Glitter had her own saddlebags, Xheda took it upon himself to hold onto them.
Giving his thanks to the princess and to the apple family, Xheda finally turned his attention to the one pony that mattered the most in the entire room to him, Melon Drop. The farmer mare looked at her child with eyes of sorrow, knowing that he would soon leave her, just as all her children have left her before, she would once more be without a child to hold, to hug, to cradle, to comfort, to laugh with, to tuck into bed. Melon Drop hung her head down and quietly stared at her bandaged backlegs, keeping in mind she had no farm to return to, no home to return to, and the physical mementos of her children and her husband now lost to the fire.
Suddenly, Xheda's hoof slid up and gently brushed her tears away from her cheeks, the mare lifted her head slightly and looked into the teary eyes of her own child, she softly smiles and lifted him to her in her forelegs, gently embracing him. Xheda buried his head against the mare and sniffled, his digits gently gripping her fur.
"Don't cry, mama, I'll come back, I promise." Xheda spoke as he comforted Melon Drop. The mare softly sobbed over Xheda's head, her tears falling down atop his head.
"Ah know, Xheda, but it still hurts t' see mah boy leave. But ya'll promise me that ya'll is comin home after all this. If ah have to wait, well...Ah think ah can." Melon Drop spoke and wiped her eyes, gently nuzzling Xheda's head before releasing him from her forelegs; with a gentle kiss to her cheek, Xheda dropped down from the couch and stood beside Glitter Chant before Twilight.
"The journal should help you, but let me suggest to start with heading towards the northern mountain kingdom, you'll find the diamond dogs there and their lord, Titan. Be prepared though, diamond dogs don't look fondly on changelings either...or ponies for that matter. We all wish you good luck!" Twilight explained, her attempts to soften the danger have obviously failed. Xheda looked up at her and bowed his head, causing Twilight to frown. "Xheda, I said you didn't have to-"
"I know, but heroes are suppose to bow to princesses, just like in the storybooks" Xheda smiled, he had fully accepted the idea now that ponies showed confidence in him. To this, Twilight smiled and nodded and looked at her student.
"And you, Glitter Chant, you watch over Xheda too-"
"Yup! You got it, mentor! I'll watch him day and night! Sleeping and awake! I'll watch him wherever-"
"Not to a point where it's creepy, Glitter."
Glitter Chant slightly spat her tongue and smiled awkwardly, calming down and nodding her head, "Yes mentor, I'll watch over him."
And with that, Xheda and Glitter Chant gave their goodbyes to the the princess, the apple family, and Melon Drop before stepping out the front door, out onto the farm, and then down the road towards the north, where the diamond dogs awaited.
-Four weeks until the end of the world-
"There are those who succumb to the two teachings for either one or the other, and then there are those like me who share these teachings carefully, so that they will not suffer as I have." - Gale, the Crippled Gryphon
It had nearly been half a day since Xheda and Glitter Chant left New Ponyville behind them, their destination toward the north was their only concern. Soft grass turned to rough dirt beneath their hooves and the overall environment had begun to slowly shift from rich fields of grass and trees to rough hills and towering rocks. As the moon began to arise and the sun began to descend, the two stopped and set up camp. Xheda was the first to speak after many hours of traveled silence.
"So tell me about yourself, Glitter Chant. The princess said that you're her student, so can I assume that your magic is something to behold, right?" Xheda asked as he placed stones around in a circle for the campfire. Glitter Chant had begun to set up her tent before she acknowledged Xheda's question.
"Oh! Of course I'm really good with magic! I'm, like, unbelievably amazing with magic! That's why princess Twilight Sparkle took me as her apprentice! I can do things like-" Glitter Chant began to brag on about her various talents and, without knowing or taking the time to acknowledge, lost Xheda's interest as he returned to setting up the campfire.
The moon was high as the campsite was finished; a colorful sleeping tent for Glitter Chant with patterns of stars, a sleeping bag for Xheda and a controlled fire in the middle. Taking from their given food package, Xheda and Glitter Chant sat in front of the fire as they took careful bites of their apple fritters; Xheda stared into the fire and begun to settle back upon the memories on how it all began; the roaring flames that consumed the farm he grew up on, the burns that his adoptive mother had suffered. It filled him with terror to recollect the visage of those beasts, of that one beast that infected him, the god that chose him; and then he remembered granny smith, remembering that the world was going to be a scary place for a foal like him, and he then began to feel at ease as he recalled her words of comfort, that he would overcome his fears. He bit once more into his apple fritter.
"Um, what about you, Xhe-Xhe?" Glitter Chant spoke and broke Xheda's train of thought. The changeling looked at Glitter as though he was dumbstruck for the moment before recollecting his thoughts. "I'm sure there must be some interesting stuff about you, right? Being a changeling an' all..."
"Well, there's nothing really special about me that I could compare to you, I suppose. All I can recall is that I've been raised at the Old Ponyville Orphanage until I was adopted. When I heard I was going to be apart of a family, I was...I was so happy. So I lived with my ma and my da; I was just five at the time." Xheda's smile slowly turned to a frown as he stared between Glitter and the campfire. "It was...two years back when we discovered that Da wasn't doing so good anymore. He was really sick. An' I know that we could've asked the apple family for help to pay for his operation and everything...But, Da told us not to. He told me and ma that this was just the divine's way of saying that it was his time. So, Da passed away and the melon farm was left to me and ma, where we've been doing everything we can to keep it standing. I guess that doesn't matter anymore."
Xheda stared into the fire before slowly looking at Glitter; her eyes were wide and watery, her lip quivering and her voice made soft whimpers. Before Xheda had the chance to ask, Glitter immediately let out a loud cry as tears fell from her eyes, her front legs wrapping Xheda tightly in a vice like hug.
"Xhe-Xhe! That's so sad!" Glitter wept into Xheda, rocking back and forth while the changeling provided little struggle. Gently prying her forelegs from around him, Xheda moved himself from Glitter Chant and sighed, shaking his head at her and wrapping up the remainder of his apple fritter for later consumption.
"It's okay, Glitter. I don't cry about it anymore. It's like Da' said...it was just the divine's way of sayin' it was his time." Xheda smiled slightly before turning from the fire and looked towards the peak of the mountain. Tomorrow, they would have to ascend the mountainside in search of the Diamond Dogs and their kingdom within. Xheda dug his digits into the dirt and tosses a handful onto the fire, snuffing out it's illuminating presence. "Well, better git some sleep, Glitter. It's goin' ta be a long climb tomorrow."
Giving each other a 'good night', the two retreated into their separate tents. It was no trouble for Glitter to fall asleep, hugging her pillow close to her in comfort, but Xheda could not sleep as easily. The young changeling simply stared at the top of his tent in silence, twiddling his digits in circles and shuffling his body left and right.It was clear to him that his body was restless and his mind was stricken with anxiety; his home is gone and his mother is injured, how could he not be in such a terrible shape? Xheda began to softly cry, rolling onto his side and curling up against his pillow, finally being allowed to fall asleep.
====================
"He sleeps, sister." A dark blue alicorn spoke aloft, her starry mane flowing like water in the air behind her. She turned her head towards her sibling, a white alicorn with a flowing mane similar to hers, bearing soft blue and green colors with a stripe of pink. From atop the balcony, the two sisters had observed Glitter and Xheda from afar, focusing on the changeling. "And he suffers as well."
"Then please, Luna, go to him. Comfort him. He is but a child after all, but as of now, he is equestria's hope." The white alicorn spoke, placing her hoof on her younger sister's back. "I will go to him when the time is right. But right now, my attention must be here in canterlot to protect our citizens from these...these wrath-born."
"I understand, Celestia. Take care, I will return to you soon to assist." And with her last words, the lunar mare vanished into a series of mythic glyphs, circling in the air before disappearing into the night sky, leaving Celestia on the balcony.
With a soft sigh, Celestia turned her attention to the heavens, a soft look of sorrow on her face. "Uncle...Why did you choose a child? In this dark time, we need only the best possible candidates to stand against the wrath-born. Uncle...just what is it that you see in him?"
====================
Xheda was once again alone in the darkness of his thoughts, his body in slumber yet his mind still facing the turmoil of the responsibility bearing upon him. Laying before him is the story book he had read time and time again, his digits softly flicking the pages from the right to the left. The words were illegible, but he remembered the pictures fondly, of the knights and princesses, the dragons and the monsters; though his memory for words and phrases was not his strong suit, he had no trouble remembering the details of the illustrations he previously gazed upon.
"I remember that book"
The sudden voice startled Xheda, causing him to clutch the book close to his chest as he looked about frantically only to pause as he gazed up at Princess Luna, appearing before him and taking a seat in front of him, her softened gaze fixed upon the storybook in Xheda's forelegs.
"I, too, use to read those old storybooks. I...grew fond of their stories and pictures..." Luna spoke, slowly observing Xheda ease out from his tension and place the storybook between them. "Do you have a favorite story?"
Xheda stared up at Luna quietly, slowly calming down at her presence before him. He then turned his gaze downward and looked at the storybook before laying his digits on the leather cover. "I...I do. It's the story of the hero and the sword in the tree."
Luna smiled slightly as she looked at Xheda and then down at the storybook. "Ah yes, I, too, recall that story. How did it go again?" Luna brought her hoof to her mouth, gently rubbing her chin as she herself became lost in thought. "If I recall...the hero was a diamond dog, and he came across an old oak tree-"
"It wasn't an oak tree, it was a birch tree! The hero came across a lone birch tree by the waterside of the everfree river!" Xheda corrected Luna and smiled as he began to flip pages to the illustration of a a diamond dog and a thin tree with a sword protruding from its bark. "And when he saw it, he tried to remove the sword because it was shiny-"
And soon Luna spoke up after Xheda, "But the sword was actually magical and even spoke to the diamond dog that it would not budge from the bark unless-"
"He performed Seven acts of heroism." Xheda finished and looked up at Luna with a smile. The lunar princess had succeeded in earning Xheda's trust and at the same time, felt the bit of nostalgia when she was his age.
"Xheda, do you know why I am here?" Luna asked, her voice sounding gentle as to not stir Xheda's body from outside his dream. As Xheda shook his head, Luna put her hoof on top of his head, "I've come to aid you. Not in physical form, but in spiritual. I know what it was like to be young, afraid...rejected."
Xheda frowned and moved a little closer to Luna, gazing up at her as she gazed down upon him, "Though I am needed in the defense of canterlot, I shall come to you when you dream, little one. Have you any questions, I will do my best to answer them. Have you the need for advice, and I will give what the best of my wisdom has to offer."
And like a switch in his head being flipped, Xheda put his digits together and stared up at Luna. "What...does it take to be a hero?"
Luna blinked her eyes as Xheda asked his question; what with the elements finishing their work, there was no need for heroes. But now with the wrath-born emerging, what did it truly take to be a hero? Luna tapped her chin softly in thought until she laid her eyes on the storybook between them, the pages softly flipping, pictures flowing by with simplistic colors. The lunar princess then smiled and lift the storybook from the front into her right hoof and Xheda into her left, like a parent cradling their child as they read them a bedtime story.
"What does it take to be hero, you ask? I will tell you, Xheda. A hero is someone who knows good from evil, and upholds all that is good. A hero knows that the virtues are his guides into his legacy and by acting through them, he shall be the herald of all things good in the eyes of those he protects. A hero must have the strength, not only to defend himself, but to defend the weak. A hero must have wisdom, to know what is right and what is wrong." Luna flipped a page to particular illustration of the diamond dog hero, Xheda's eyes set upon it and his digits slowly rest at the edges of the pages, depicting the hero of the story sparing an armored figure, "But above all, a hero must have heart, for with this a hero will always know not when to take a life...but when to spare one."
Xheda stared for the longest time at the illustration, unable to look away after hearing Luna's wisdom on heroism. He slowly closed the book and held it close to his chest, his ears flattening as he let the knowledge settle into him. Slowly, Luna put Xheda down onto the floor and turned her towards him with a serious look upon her face.
"Now this is important, Xheda. You must listen carefully. I can only come to you in your dreams, but that does not mean I cannot see what is happening outside. When I leave, you will wake. And when you wake, there will be diamond dogs waiting outside." Luna explained to Xheda before letting him go. "Do not fret Xheda...despite this circumstance, their appearance here will lead you to the first of whom you seek. Goodbye Xheda, until we meet again."
And as Luna faded from his dream, so did the dream itself fade, waking Xheda from his slumber. The changeling softly gasped and made no further sounds, his ears perked as he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps outside his tent. Suddenly, his tent had collapsed as it wrapped around him, snatching him up like a bag. The muffled yelling of Glitter Chant reached his ears, along side the grunts and growls of canine voices; Xheda made no sounds, made no movements, he only waited as the two were carried off into the darkness of night.
=====================
Slowly opening his eyes, Xheda could hear nothing but the gentle wind outside of his collapsed tent. Slowly easing open the front of the tent, Xheda peeked outside, noticing the morning sun and glitter chants collapsed tent just in front of him. He could not see any of the so called diamond dogs that carried them in the night, and thus the young changeling slid out from his tent to check on Glitter Chant.
"Ah, so one of you has finally woken up."
Xheda immediately stood up and turned to the voice defensively, staring at an middle aged diamond dog sitting on a rock just behind his tent. The dog's fur was pale blue, his vestments were ragged, but the most interesting feature that Xheda acknowledged was the pipe hanging from the dog's mouth, puffing small rings of smoke. The dog removed the pipe and turned it slightly, patting it with a claw and releasing some old, ashen tobacco from its top before sliding it back between his crooked jaws.
"Do you speak, child?" The diamond dog asked, not taking his weary eyes off of Xheda, the left of his jaw opening and closing as he puffed his pipe.
"I'm...I'm xheda..." Was all the young changeling could get out, still waiting to react to whatever the diamond dog would do next. But alas, the diamond dog remained where he sat, watching Xheda and the now stirring tent of Glitter Chant. "And...you are...?"
"Just an ol' dog, wondering why a couple of children are wandering up the northern mountain without any adults. It's dangerous here, what with the diamond dogs and Terra Hydra roaming in and out." The dog puffed the pipe again, blowing another ring of smoke.
Finally, Glitter Chant slid out from her broken tent and gave it a look over, pouting. "Aww! My tent is ruined! Stupid diamond dogs, ruining my stuff!" Finishing her observations, Glitter turned and faced the old diamond dog, quickly gasping and ducking behind Xheda," Xheda! There's one now!"
The old diamond dog chuckled softly, patting his pipe once more before puffing, "A jittery type, aren't you? You've got nothing to fear about me. My interest is the gem that we call life itself, and all that share it. The knowledge inside it, the wisdom that builds up and up, yet never topples. The stories and cultures that are born from it."
Xheda slowly squint his eyes at the diamond dog, his infected foreleg now softly emitting a light as he drew nearer. "Can you...tell me your name?"
The old diamond dog smiled and removed his pipe, nodding his head, "Of course...I have gone by many titles when I traveled the land. But to you, young one, you may know me as Biju, The Scholar."
=3 weeks and 6 days until the end of the world=
"Wrath without restraint is similar to having power without a cause; One's own actions will spell despair for all around him."
"The Scholar?!"
Those two words were the only pair that Xheda had gasped in the early morn; it had been but a few hours as Biju led the foals to an above ground house of which he lived in. It was not a large structure, notably small actually, given but enough space for a bed and a small chimney which an old cauldron hung over the calm flames. Hung up on the walls, remaining true to Biju's scholarly title, were a series of shelves, two shelves with one over the other on each wall which cradled a line of soft cover to leather covered scriptures, both fictional and philosophical.
Though the insides of the small house was little to behold to the foals, the vast flat surface behind the house drew Xheda's attention the most; this flat surface was outlined by a small garden of colorful flowers, drawing to the idea that perhaps Biju enjoyed gardening which was an odd trait, even none existent, among diamond dogs. Within the outline of flowers, the flat surface had been carved into with smooth edges, taking on the design of what looked like a training ground, a sparring ground, or even a place of meditation.
The foals carefully stored their saddlebags within the small house at the offer of the scholarly dog, finally at rest and eating their breakfast. Xheda chewed on the other half of his apple fritter and eyed Biju from the corner of his sight, watching as Biju stirred a wooden spoon in the cauldron with his left hand and holding his pipe to his jaws with his right. The scent of whatever it was that was boiling in the cauldron flowed through the small house, reaching the foal's nostrils; the smell was certainly nothing of which they'd have ever smelled before, leaving a taste in their mouth that began to drive their curiosity and move them to join Biju at his sides.
"Hey, old dog, whats cooking?" Glitter Chant asked as she bounced up and down as her means to attempt trying to see into the cauldron, her mane swinging up and down and softly waving the flames in front of her.
"Just a recipe I discovered from the minotaurs of the west. A fascinating people, I might add." Biju spoke and softly chuckled as he stirred the contents of the cauldron with slow motions of his wrist, inhaling the scent everyone once in a while. "It's a rather delightful stew, consisting mostly of potatoes and carrots. It's amazing what the minotaur can think of with potatoes."
Xheda looked up at Biju and began to tap his digits together, he did not want to interrupt the elderly diamond dog from cooking, but at the same time he had questions that needed answers. Slowly reaching up, he clasped his digits firmly onto the edge of Biju's ragged vest and tugged softly to which the elderly diamond dog turned his gaze down to the young changeling with a quizzical expression.
"Forgive me if this is prying, Mr. Scholar, but...well..." Xheda then looked down at the floor, a twinge of fear lay within him for how Biju would react to his question, "Aren't diamond dogs, well...they don't speak really-"
And Biju chuckled, startling Xheda and effectively silencing him. "You're wondering how my speech and, perhaps more accurately, my vocabulary is expansive compared to a normal diamond dog? How I do not refer to myself in the third person or through the simplistic 'me' description? I'll gladly explain...but first, children, breakfast." Biju smiled as he tapped his pipe away from the cauldron before biting back down on the end, his right hand reaching atop the small chimney and grabbing three wooden bowls; his gaze shifted left and right at Xheda and Glitter Chant, observing them and smiling as they took but a few moments to take in the scent of the stew once more, put away the remainder of their apple fritters, and grab themselves a wooden bowl from Biju's large palm. "I see you two have open minds to new tastes. That's good!"
==================
Breakfast was delicious; the variety of tastes, ranging from the baked potato chunks and simmered carrots to the added herbs and gravy like base, the two foals had ate heartily and without restraint, going back for seconds and even thirds, while Biju watched in appreciation of company that could enjoy a meal with him. Loading his pipe with a fresh herb, Biju once again puffed his pipe and blew rings of smoke into the air, smiling as Xheda and Glitter wiped the stew from their mouths and turned their attention towards him, expressing their full attention towards their elderly host.
"When I was in my youth, children, I was the runt of the puppies in my family. I did not have the tenacity nor the drive like my brothers and sister did for digging for gems. Neither did I have the strength or endurance to cart them around. It was not easy to hide that I was different from my siblings, as their passion was the same as any other diamond dog, mine drew my attention towards the surface. Did I wish for a life in seclusion beneath the ground? No, of course not. So instead, when I was old enough, I took the tunnels to the surface and, when I was enveloped by the sunlight, I beheld this world with all its beauty." Biju explained, taking the time to tap his pipe to the side and puff once more. "It was not long after that, that I had encountered a pony much like yourself, little unicorn. Our exchange of fears of one another soon turned to an exchange of interests for he was pulling a cart of books, scriptures and scrolls. By perusing through just one piece of literature, I become enthralled with what I had learned and the two of us became good companions."
"What was his name?" Glitter asked as she pushed her bowl away from her towards Xheda, her focus remained on Biju but her mindset was fixed on assuring that it was Xheda cleaning the bowls for her rather than her cleaning her own bowl. Xheda immediately spotted the hint and grumbled, taking his dish and Glitter's dish and stacked them carefully in the middle of the table that lay in the center of the room.
"Ballad Quill was his name. A fine fellow and a fine book salesmen. He and I ventured all around, even outside of Equestria to lands unknown to the two of us. The Iron Hills, the Mythic Glades, the Ashlands and Badlands, the Crystal Empire and even to Saddlearabia. I dare say I have even spent my time amongst the zebra and taken in their culture. It fascinated us both, Ballad Quill and I, to learn what this world had to offer." Biju removed his pipe once more and tapped it, sighing softly and biting on the end, "That is...until I made a great blunder."
"Blunder?" Xheda questioned, raising a brow and tilting his head.
"A grave mistake, young one. If you are familiar with the old tale of Arcanius and his sacrifice-"
"I am...well...I mean, I remember the pictures."
"Then this shouldn't be hard to understand. As Ballad Quill and I explored, he and I had discovered the old mountain that served as palace to the three creators. And not far from this great mountain stood the mighty pillar that formed from Arcanius and Magnus's efforts to seal in the Wrath-born. Foolishly, I approached the structure for my curiosity had gotten the best of me. I had placed my hands upon it's craggy surface, feeling it's undying heat against my palms, against the tips of my claws." Biju softly tapped his pipe over the side again, eying down at the table with an expression of oncoming sorrow. "It was then...I felt something pass from the pillar and through my palms. Something pulled its way into me. And I had blacked out. Once I awoke, I had found myself surrounded by soft flames, minor destruction, but above all, I found my companion before me, silent and motionless."
Xheda's eyes widened slowly and Glitter immediately cupped her mouth with her hooves, "You...you mean you-"
Biju nodded his hear wearily, "Yes...during my black out, I had murdered my dearest friend, Ballad Quill. I do not know what overcame me at that moment, but when I began to hear the whispers of destruction...I knew that it was those creatures, the Wrath-Born, that now plagued me." Biju sighed softly and then lifted his head, a look of determination overcame his sorrow, "But after that day, I had swore that I would control the power that plagued me, not just for my sake but for the sake of all those around me, and for the sake of my dearest friend. I spent my youth and my golden years in seclusion, up here and away from my fellow diamond dogs."
Xheda looked at his plagued foreleg and then looked at Biju, "And...did you master it? Did you master that power?"
Biju looked down at Xheda and observed his foreleg before making eye contact once again with the changeling as he nodded his head. "Yes, child, I did master it. Though mastery and perfection are two different outcomes, I cannot say I have perfected it, but I can safely say I have mastered it." Taking his pipe, Biju placed it slowly on the table and exhaled the remaining smoke, fixing his gaze on Xheda once again. "That is why you came to me, isn't it? Because you too are plagued by this power."
Xheda could not speak, feeling as though he was accused of some unspeakable crime. It was not his fault to be plagued by the power of wrath, but was the fault of the god that afflicted him. Having no more reason to hide any truth from Biju, Xheda nodded his head in agreement; remembering that Twilight's magic could not affect his plagued foreleg, Xheda's curiosity questioned what this power of his could do. What was he capable of? What effect would it have around him? Listening to Biju's story only solidified his need to know what he could do. Standing from the table, Biju moved to the front door, opening it to the sunlight of noon, beckoning the foals with his hand to follow him to the back of the house before disappearing around the corner of the doorway. Xheda and Glitter shot each other a quizzical look before they themselves stood apart from the table and proceeded outside after Biju into the flat area.
"Tell me children, what do you know of Harmony?" Biju asked, his back turned to the children as he stared left and right at the surrounding flowers encompassing the flat ground.
"Oh! oh! I know! Twilight says that Harmony is what binds us all together! Loyalty, Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, and Magic! And Twilight is never wrong, that's why she's my teacher!" Glitter immediately responded, jumping up and down as she explained gleefully.
"Good, good. And Chaos?" Biju asked, awaiting the next answer.
"Well, that's everything opposite of Harmony, right? Greed, Deceit, Disloyalty, Anger, Cruelty, and Hopelessness." Glitter spoke up once again, thinking hard on the lessons taught to her.
"Yes, quite. Now then tell me. What is Wrath?" Biju asked as he slowly turned his head back and eyed the two foals. Both Xheda and Glitter looked to each other but neither could form an answer for Biju. They turned their heads back to the elderly diamond dog and shrugged, clueless. Biju closed his eyes and softly sighed, "Harmony is all things good, Chaos is all things bad. But the difference between bad and evil are defined by the actions taken to express their teachings. Children, Wrath is nothing short of evil. Harmony binds us, Chaos breaks us, but Wrath ends us in body, spirit, and mind. Death, Malice, Tyranny, Desire, Destruction. These are what fuels Wrath, what fuels the power to destroy everything utterly."
Biju held his left paw out at his side, his palm pointed upward and his claws pointed towards its center, "When one is plagued by Wrath, they cannot simply conjure it up like a unicorn can with their magic.They cannot muster magical energies into spells with Wrath. No, for one to call upon Wrath, they must muster up their deepest emotions, their inner pain, every memory, every recollection of being hurt, every desire that has called for the harm of another. Mine of course is the loss of my friend and the malice I have towards myself for allowing it to happen..."
"When Wrath is done, children, only the one who caused it or one with greater Wrath can undo it.
Glitter blinked her eyes at the demonstration, almost feeling frightened to not only hear of the concept behind Wrath and how it is fueled, but to witness its destructive capabilities. Slowly, she turned her attention towards Xheda who could not hide his fear as easily as she could; witnessing this power frightened him, more than that perhaps. Staring at the flames before their vanishing stirred the memory of the fire that claimed the melon farm, the beasts that roamed those flames and the afflicted alicorn that in turn afflicted him. It wasn't until Biju placed his hand on Xheda's head that brought him back to reality, the young changeling stared up at the elderly diamond dog who slowly knelt down in front of him.
"This is the same power you and I contain, young one. Just as anyone else who has touched that forbidden pillar. Though strange as why you would touch the pillar, let alone find it." Biju questioned, itching at his stubble-like fur on his chin.
"But I didn't find the pillar...Arcanius came to me, he became a wrath-born! And he infected my leg back home when...when they burned the farm down." Xheda nervously explained, shying back from Biju slightly, gauging his reaction. The elderly diamond dog gave a brief wide eyed stare of disbelief before scowling.
"This isn't something to joke about, child. Many would take great offense to what you just said about-"
"But it's true! He told me himself! He told me to look for the scholar, the um...the battle-master, um...the...tower...and uh...oh! The cripple! And you yourself said you're a scholar! And look! You have power with Wrath!" Xheda frantically explained, pointing as many details as he could to soften the situation. Biju stared once more in disbelief at Xheda, yet this time he then stared at the ground in thought, itching his stubble, a look of both deep thought and worry came across his face.
"So, the time is in fact coming, isn't it? Magnus's spell is about to resolve itself...the end of the world is coming, isn't it?" Biju looked at Xheda, whom now had Glitter come to his side in his defense.
"Y-Yes sir...3 weeks and...6 days now." Xheda confessed to Biju, rubbing his plagued leg in silence, chipping at the flakes of chitin around its cracks. "Within that time, the four separate nations must unite with Equestria to fight it back. That is why Glitter and Me came to the mountain. We came to speak with the king of the diamond dogs, Titan."
Biju looked down at them with a light scowl; it was not obvious to outside races that the king of the diamond dogs would not allow anyone to hold an audience with him, especially something as vile as a changeling. The elderly dog shook his head and sat down in the center of the flat ground, resting his paws on his thighs. "it will not happen, children. Titan will not allow you an audience with him, nor will his guards. I'm afraid your quest here was futile."
"But you haven't been down there in, like, a SUPER long time! What if things have changed?" It was Glitter this time who spoke, questioning Biju of whether or not they were eligible to seek an audience. Biju looked at Glitter Chant and, even after a long thought of the fact that he separated himself from his fellow diamond dogs for years, looked defeated as he sighed, surrendering to the fact that Glitter Chant was right..
Xheda pondered quickly on the situation; the two of them couldn't just walk away from the mountain after coming so close. And regardless if they did leave to seek the aid of another kingdom, they would eventually have to come back here and try again to convince Titan with even less time. The King of diamond dogs would have to understand that the world is coming to an end, and that it would even affect him and his people eventually. And then it hit Xheda: the journal that Twilight made for him! Running back inside, Xheda dug through his saddle bag, extracting the journal from its confines and ran back out to Glitter and Biju, sitting down and dropping the journal open in front of him.
"Princess Twilight made this journal for us, Biju! It contains current information on, well, stuff like this! Maybe there's something new that-"
And immediately, obligated by his scholarly nature, Biju snatched up the journal, despite the complaints from Xheda. It was remarkable to both Xheda and Glitter how attentive and entralled Biju looked as he flipped through pages, reading at a remarkable pace. His tail began to wag at as he perused the details of the pages, word for word, sentence by sentence.
"Stupendous! Twilight's writing is fantastic, informative, and thorough! And atop of that, you are correct, young unicorn, Titan has indeed changed a few laws of conduct." Biju than began to itch the stubble around his chin, looking perplexed. "Though it is not entirely impossible, it is not entirely easy either. If you wish to seek audience with his lordship, then you must show proof of strength to even attain his glance."
"And how would we do that? If you haven't noticed, we're not, well, diamond dogs." Xheda asked, pointing out the rather obvious, yet crucial complication in the matter of planning.
Snapping the journal shut, Biju nodded his head and turned to the foals. "Why, it is simple, Xheda! You stand before one who has studied the powers of Wrath and nothing occurs to you of the possibilities of such a coincidence? A scholar is but a well versed teacher, and I have often thought of teaching younger, open minds." Reaching up to his jaw, Biju then stopped when he realized that he had forgotten his pipe within his home. The elderly diamond dog grumbled and shook his head, smiling once again, " I don't think I need to explain myself on my credentials, children. My knowledge on Wrath and its uses could prove useful if you wish to learn, Xheda. After all, we're in the same metaphorical boat, aren't we?"
"And his cooking is just un-be-lievable!" Glitter Chant pointed out, nudging Xheda with her hoof. "C'mon! He's like, smart and stuff!"
"Well...that may be, but for all this help you offer...what do you get out of it?" Xheda slowly tilted his head, curious of Biju's motives.
"Simple, really. I get to see the world again. I had only known it when it was young. Now I wish to see how it has aged with me." Biju explained, slowly tucking the journal under his right arm as he held out his left paw to Xheda. "Will you grant this old soul such a small request?"
Xheda stared at his paw, observing from the tips of his claws up to his wrist, to the elbow and finally up to the soft smile of the old dog. He then turned his attention to Glitter Chant who, without fail, continuously nodded her head for Xheda to agree. Once more, his gaze returned to Biju's outstretched paw and he raised his own hoof to it, much smaller than Biju's palm, and clasped onto it with his digits. Shaking on their agreement, Biju released Xheda's palm and gave him back the journal; taking a few minutes to collect his pipe, Biju returned to the foals with pipe hanging from his jaw, firmly gripped between his finger and thumb of his left paw, puffing rings of smoke.
"Then we only have today to give you a chance at earning audience with Titan. Ready yourself, Xheda, for my lesson will be beneficial, but it will not be easy." Biju spoke as he blew a ring of smoke into the air; raising his right paw, Wrath began to glow and engulf his hand, a determined smile came across his face, "Class is in session."