My Little Maplestory: Dimensions Across Timeby JakeTheBronyChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1In the highest chambers of the Time Temple, the Time Goddess went about her business, making sure time itself remained in balance; and all was right in the world. The Goddess’s name was Rhinne, who happened to very young and beautiful. She levitated in her chamber from atop her throne where she can see everything. The Goddess scanned through all the dimensions, and time periods;watching every event that took place. All was going smoothly until she felt an uneasiness overtake her. She stepped down from her throne and teleported herself to the entrance hall of the temple, and could feel the grand doors’ presence tower over her like giants. Rhinne felt the presence of one extra door inside the hall though. She singled out its aura, and went over to the giant door that had just appeared. Rhinne thought this door was different from the others as it wasn't of the same design as the other doors. It was a giant, gilded door that had some odd shapes and symbols on it. She took a hand off an ornate hour glass she happened to be holding in her arms closely to her chest, and put in on the door. It took the goddess some time to feel out the rest of the shapes on the doors. She began to speak to herself after feeling the door to identify the symbols, “These are... horses? No, Alicorns.” Rhinne wasn't totally convinced with her identification. Alicorns were only myth as far as she knew. She had heard of Pegasi being used as mounts to help explorers travel around quicker; and Unicorns were normally pets. Griffons existed, but they were normally horrid creatures of really aggressive nature. The Time Goddess could sense a completely different world to Maple behind the door. After Rhinne had skimmed the world beyond the door, she let out a breath. There was no feeling of worry, nor was there dread. The Time Goddess didn't know exactly how to feel about this. “It appears we might have some potential allies,” Rhinne mumbled to herself. She needed to get this information to Empress Cygnus as soon as she could. After moving away from the door, Rhinne felt another presence enter the room. It took her few seconds to recognize the person. The one who entered the halls was a light-skinned man with blonde hair and lavender eyes. The man approached the Goddess as if he were approaching royalty. “I see a new door has appeared in the temple,” he began, “Judging by the insignias and symbols on the door, I'd say that the sentient beings of this new world are equine?” The man stood there holding his cane in one hand and brought the other to the beak of his black raven mask. Rhinne turned to the man who stood before her and replied, “Yes, that happens to be the case.” She pondered for a moment, and a thought came to her mind, “Do you think you can send a message to the Empress for me, Phantom?” He nodded with a grin. “It would be my honor,” he answered with bow. As Phantom was about to take his leave from the temple, he turned his head to ask one more thing, “What other species besides equine are beyond those doors?” He had a small grin, one that easily showed his curiosity about exploring a new dimension; or world for that matter. The Goddess herself pondered for a moment. She started to speak an answer to Phantom's question, “I believe that there are more than just equine beings who inhabit this new world. Rest assured, hopefully, we don't run into any hostiles in the process.” Phantom let out an almost inaudible chuckle. Rhinne furrowed her eyebrows as if trying to scowl at him. “Phantom, you'd better not be thinking of committing any sort of thievery upon your arrival there,” She began, “If that happens to be the case, then I shall not allow you pass through the door.” Phantom rose his hands in, showing his palms as a gesture of compliance. “Alright, alright, I'll hold off my temptations for the time being,” he replied with a sigh. With that, he left through the temple doors, and dematerialized in a gust of cards. They moved off towards the sky, spiraling towards a ship that hovered above the temple. After Phantom had taken off back to his ship, the Goddess herself was deep in thought. She started to have that unnerving feeling of dread loom over her. Rhinne shivered as the memory of the Black Mage wormed through her mind. The haunting past of how she was overthrown and incapacitated by the Black Mage and his servants was like a living nightmare. made it her sole duty to make sure that no evil traverses over to this new realm. Never again will the halls of her temple be defiled by dark magic ever again. ****** The sun was out and down in Ponyville the ponies went about their daily business. Ponies worked, fillies went to school, and Twilight, a unicorn, had her face buried in her books like usual. It wasn't surprising that the unicorn was so into her studies, but rather more surprising when she was doing something a little more productive. The unicorn lived in the Ponyville Library where she was free to do all of the studying she wanted. Twilight’s current reading was of one of many books written by Star Swirl the bearded. It contained many fascinating theories of the many different types of magic such as aging spells, time dilation, interdimensional travel, even theories on the manipulation of elements like lightning and wind. The book was titled Magical Theories by Star Swirl the Bearded. Twilight continued to ravenously read through line after line of the ancient prose, absorbing what information she had not already gleaned from the previous readings. Everywhere she looked, there was something that she seemed to have miss- a frantic knocking at the door inerrupted her reading session. She grumbled to herself. The unicorn’s head perked up to turn toward the door. She got up and trotted over to answer whoever was knocking. When Twilight carelessly flicked the door open, Applejack fell through the entrance and flat onto her face, knocking her hat ajar. Twilight cocked her head to the side. The orange earthpony got back on to her hooves, adjusted her hat, and took a few breaths before speaking. “Twi’, something just appeared at Ponyville Town Hall. Ah’ think ya should come down and see!” Twilight stared at Applejack for a moment, before blinking a few times.Scrunching up her nose and shaking her head to clear a wave of confusion. “Why do you need me to see it,” she asked, “What is it anyway?” Applejack took another breath of air to bring to her a complete state of calm. She looked back over at Twilight, and she proceeded to answer, “See, it was like some kind of real big door with these weird shapes that appeared in Ponyville!” This caught Twilight’s attention as she widened her eyes at the statement. “Hold on, I’ll go get Spike so we can send a letter to Princess Celestia right away,” She replied before going back inside to get Spike, who happened to be organizing some books as he’s normally instructed to do. “Spike,” Twilight addressed the baby purple dragon, “Quickly, grab a quill and a sheet of paper. We’re going to town hall to inspect this “door” so we can send a detailed letter to Princess Celestia!” With that, Spike dropped what he was doing, and quickly ran upstairs to grab a quill, paper, and ink for the quill. After retrieving the necessary items from the bedroom, Twilight and the baby dragon followed Applejack towards the town hall. Spike grinned at Applejack as the trio made their way to Town Hall. “So, was somepony scared of the big spooky door?” The dragon commented. “And what might you be tryin’ ta’ get at, Spike?” Applejack retorted. Spike chuckled, “Oh nothing, just that you got so easily scared of a door.” The small dragon answered with a comeback of his own. “Why you-” “Alright you two, knock it off!” Twilight intervened. She was getting tired of the two’s bickering. “We need to focus on figuring out what this is all about.” When they finally made it to Town Hall, all of Ponyville was there to see the door. They all witnessed its appearance into the town, and remained there since it appeared. Some ponies that happened to pass by went over to the door to look at it along with the rest of Twilight’s friends. The door stood tall at about twenty feet dead in the center of the crowd of ponies. It glistened in the sun with its radiant, silver tint. Twilight made her way through the crowd of ponies to get closer to the door to inspect it further. There was a bipedal creature in the center of the door. Next to her was some kind of feathered dragon. Another picture below that showed a caption of five bipedal creatures battling it out with another clad in a robe unleashing magic from its appendages. “What d’yall think of this here, Twi’?” Applejack asked as she trotted over next to Twilight. The purple unicorn thought for a moment, but nothing seemed to come to mind. All she could do was shrug at the question. Twilight inspected the door even further, and noticed a bit of text in the bottom left corner of the towering door. She trotted over to the text, and examined it. “It appears to be telling some kind of story,” Twilight announced. The rest of the ponies began to murmur amongst each other. The rest of Twilight’s friends made their way to the middle so they can hear her better. Rainbow Dash, a light blue Pegasus, flew over to Twilight and asked, “What kind of story is it trying to tell? What does this all mean anyway?” The situation was confusing to the Pegasus mare. She rubbed her head with her fore-hooves, and groaned as she tried to come up with an answer to her own question. Twilight, after reading the text to herself, read it out loud so the rest of the ponies could hear her. Before she started, she took a gulp, cleared her throat, then proceeded to read it out. “There comes a time when a world is in need of allies. I am one who has fallen to an evil man’s wrath, hate, and malice. I ask of you to join their alliance, and aid my niece and her world to prevent the evil man from being released back into the world. I ask of you to aid Maple World, and help to restore the peace that once coated it.” The purple unicorn had finished reading the text, and right below it was a signature that said “Empress Aria.” Applejack, who had been beside Twilight the entire time she was reading the note written on the door, responded in a confused tone, “Who the hay is this Empress Aria,” she began to shout, “And what in tarnation is Maple World?!” Applejack couldn’t wrap her head around any of it. It made no sense to her that something like could just come out of nowhere, and then somepony she doesn’t even know writes a note from beyond the grave. That’s literally creepy. Twilight recoiled at her friend’s shout, and shook her head. This made no sense to her as well, but she insisted getting some answers. “Spike,” The unicorn said turning her head to the dragon on her back, “Let’s get to writing that letter to the princess.” Spike nodded and lept off Twilight’s back, and pulled out the quill and paper, and put the ink on the ground. The dragon dipped the tip of the quill in the ink, and prepared to write. “Ready when you are, Twilight,” he announced. “Right,” Twilight Sparkle mumbled, working out what she should say. “Dear Princess Celestia,” She began, sauntering around the door. She paused for a moment squinting against the glare coming off the polished silver, “Today a giant silver door manifested itself in Ponyville, pretty much dead center near the Town Hall. Spike mumbled an affirmative, busily scribbling away as best he could. Twilight continued to speak as the dragon continued to write down everything she said word for word, “It is unknown where this door actually came from, but what we do know there is a small scripture etched into it. I don’t know exactly what it means, but it mentioned something about “Maple World” and an alliance. Whatever those are. I humbly await your response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike scribbled the rest of the words onto the paper. He then rolled it up when it was done, and blew a green flame on it, showing that it had been sent to Princess Celestia. All the ponies had to do now was wait for a reply from the Princess. Whatever was beyond the door was a mystery to them, but soon all would be revealed to them. Chapter 2You know what? I let my self-loathing persona get the best of me long enough. I just want to have fun writing a fic, and damn it...I'm going to do it! I am clearly not one of the best writers on this site. I am just a writer, trying to become a better writer. First things first: I gotta be a shitty one first. I can only improve from here on out. If you guys have any edits in mind you want me to make, I'll come back and make them. Just leave your opinions in the comments. Thank you. On the small continent of Ereve inside a rather large palace throne-room, Phantom is delivering the news about the door that had appeared. “Are you sure this door that appeared in the Time Temple leads to another world, Phantom?” A man wearing a monocle questioned as he deadpanned at the thief. Phantom snickered at him and replied, “Oh Neinheart, you act as if you can't trust me.” Phantom put a hand across his chest going into a slight bow, showing that he swore he was telling the truth. “I assure you that these are words from the Goddess herself.” He picked his head up to look back at Neinheart with his arms crossed. The adviser thought for a moment. He sighed, and then proceeded to turn to a maiden who happen to be standing at the throne. “Are you sure we can trust what he's saying, Your Highness? He is a criminal and I strongly advise you not to trust this man.” The adviser was strong in his position. Phantom may have helped save Maple World from evil once, but that didn't excuse him from his past as a master thief. Stealing from wealthy people was a career for Phantom, and he would never let this passion die so easily. A maiden, whom was dressed in a manner that would fit the description of royalty, stared absently for a moment. “Empress Cygnus?” Neinheart called out, causing her to snap back to her senses. “Oh, what is it?” She quickly replied in a soft voice as she snapped out of her trance. The empress adjusted her posture, and let out a light cough. “Are you going to believe this man?” The adviser said sternly. Cygnus nodded and smiled. “If it wasn't for him, you would have been serving a necromancer. I fully trust this man without a shadow of a doubt.” This caused Neinheart to recoil a bit; however, he wasn't going to dispute her decision out of high regard for his empress. Neinheart was the adviser, not the ruler. This didn't make him feel any low of himself, far from it. Being the adviser of the empress meant that he still had a huge responsibility in tending to her health as well as bringing forward information whenever it reached his desk. A small grin crossed Phantom's face, “Well it looks like Her Majesty has given me her blessings. I will arrange for Aran, Mercedes, and Luminous to arrive at the-” The thief was cut off by the voice of a child that had come from above, as the chamber wasn't covered by a ceiling,walls windows. Only by stone columns and rows similar to that of a Colosseum. “What about me?” The voice had come from a boy riding a black dragon with gold colored horns. It also had thing golden lines patterned down its back. They descended from the air, the dragon beating its wings hard enough to get a soft landing. The boy jumped off the dragon, and ran over to Phantom. “Why can't I go? I'm fully capable of helping.” The boy whined. He was no older than maybe twelve. Neinheart spoke on behalf of the great thief, “You're still a child, and you might not be able to handle the duties that would be placed upon you if you were to go.” The adviser adjusted his monocle, and dusted his long-sleeved turquoise coat. “That about sums it up.” Phantom said nodding his head in agreement. This caused a frown to form on the child's face. He put his head down, knowing that he was just seen as useless to the other heroes. The boy knew he was much more than useless, and wanted to prove himself that he can handle anything. The dragon behind started to speak to him through telepathic means, hoping to lift his spirits, “Don't worry, Evan. We can always find some people who require our assistance elsewhere.” The dragon started to frown as well, as Evan turned with his head still hanging low. The black dragon started to frown too. “Master...?” The young dragon master shook his head. “I'm sorry, Mir.” Evan then thought as he grinned and lowered his voice to none of the others can hear him, “We're still gonna go whether they like it or not.” Mir did not like the sound of this as his master was quite set on disobeying others sometimes. Evan jumped back onto the onyx dragon's back, and with several beats of its wings, they were in the air. They picked a direction over the forested continent and aimed in the direction of another. From what everyone on the ground saw, the duo were heading for Victoria Island. That should at least should keep them out of trouble. Phantom shook his head after they took off, and turned back to the Empress and the others. “Now where were we?” He paused, “Oh! That's right, we were discussing the meet up at the temple with the other heroes. Minus Evan of course.” The thief's heart sank a little. He didn't want to hurt the child's feelings, but it was for the best. They could not potentially put the life of a child who has his whole life ahead of him at risk, should the Black Wings make an appearance. Phantom blinked a few times, and quickly regained focus. “Anyway, the Black Wings will surely find out about this sooner or later, which is why we need to act now.” “If it is that urgent, then I'll get a ship ready for me and my knights. In order to make diplomatic relations, I must go meet with their rulers.” Said the Empress. “I will arrive at the Time Temple in approximately one hour. Meet me at the Time Temple after you've gathered the other heroes..” Phantom agreed, and wasted no time in making haste back to his airship, the Lumiere. He then set off to search for the others to make haste back to the temple. In the skies above Leafre, Evan and Mir have made their way to the Time Temple rather than going to Victoria like they led everyone to believe. Mir was unsure of his master's decision, but he didn't question it. Evan on the other hand, wasn't going to be held from some sort of new adventure. He didn't like being restricted, or being told he couldn't do something by someone who wasn't really the boss of him. The only ones that could boss him around were his mother and father, who happened to work on a pig farm. The only person he didn't show much regard for other than Phantom, was his older brother, Utah. Evan put these thoughts aside, and entered the Time Temple to have a “quick peek” as he put it. The giant doors creaked open, and Evan peered through the small opening. After seeing that Rhinne was not present at the moment, he took the opportunity to push the door fully open, and run towards a single, gilded door that stood in its position amongst the other doors in the hall. “Whoa.” Evan said in amazement. “Master, I don't think it's really smart to just go through this door. ,” Mir protested, “Plus, I don't think the Goddess will be too happy.” The dragon master turned to Mir and replied, “It'll be fine, Mir.” He turned his attention back to the door, and continued, “There's nothing to worry about. If there's adventure waiting for us on the other side, then why worry?” Evan could no longer contain his excitement, and pushed open the giant door with all his might. The giant door roared open, and the child and dragon went through the door. Once through the door, they were engulfed in a bright flash, and found themselves in the middle of a town. Many of the locals stared in their direction with their jaws hanging low, and eyes widened from what they saw come through. The crowd of ponies started to grow in number from its original count due to the sight. The child opened his eyes, and looked around him. Mir loomed over him as he stood there next to his master. Evan looked around and down to the ground where his feet were originally. What he saw were not feet, but hooves. He took a look at himself for a few minutes, and observed his new form. He was a brightly colored, blue earth pony with a brown mane and tail, and blue eyes. He still wore his red robe with the piece of white cloth in the middle that hung from the collar. Around his two front hooves, he saw that he was still wearing his two red gloves now in the form of bands, and on his hind hooves were his red boots. “Did I just transform, Mir?” Asked Evan. The dragon just stared at his master for what felt like hours. Mir finally managed to speak up, “Uh, that seems to be the case. I mean, there have been other instances where you would enter an area anywhere in Maple, and transformation would be inevitable.” Evan let out a small sigh, “I really hate that sometimes. I can't pick up my magicodar!” “What was that again, master?” “You know? my wand?” Evan's voice rose a bit. “Oh, that. Are you sure you can still use it?” The ponies in the town continued to watch with slack jaws as the two conversed. “I think so.” Evan looked over to his left, and noticed his wand sticking out of his bag. He Tried reach for it to grab it with his mouth, but to no avail. “For Grendel's sake!” “Here, let me help you.” Mir lowered himself down to Evan's height, and reached for the bag with one of his large claws. The dragon was careful enough as to not damage the back or the wand. He pulled out the wand, and carefully placed it in his master's mouth. “Fanks, 'ir.” Evan said through his teethe as they gripped the wand. “Well? Anything?” Questioned the dragon. Evan laid the wand onto the ground, and shook his head as he gazed at it. “I can't really tell. This body is too different than what I'm used to. Transformations like this tend to render my items useless.” The earth pony and dragon noticed that they were now the center of attention as the two noticed they were in the middle of a whole crowd of colorful ponies. The duo stared as the whole town gathered around them, but remained at a distance mainly due to the fact that there was a dragon right in front of them. “Is that a dragon!?” One pony said. “Why is it here?” Said another. “Master?” Mir started to ask. “Yes, Mir?” Replied Evan. “I think we should go back.” “Aw come on, Mir. Where's your sense of adventure?” The ponies started to murmur to each other as the two continued to talk to each other. They didn't know what to make of the situation as the dragon and earthpony conversed “I think we should go do something, I'm not used to getting this many stares.” Evan finally declared with a bit of a nervous tone. “Let's go then.” Mir answered. “Alright! This oughta be better than our little adventure through Lionheart,” He said shakily, “I can still feel the cold on my neck.” Evan picked up his wand, and jumped onto Mir's back. With several wing-beats, the pony and dragon were in the air, and took off. “Was that a dragon and a pony that entered through that giant door just now?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, shocked at what she had just seen. “No doubt it was,” Twilight began, “If what the letter on the door says is true, then we might have some more visitors.” “This ain't natural though Twi'! Ah' think that dragon may be up to no good, and I don't want to stand around waitin' for it to harm anypony.” Applejack said with a worried tone. Twilight turned to her head to reply to her friend, “Let's wait for Princess Celestia to arri-” As if on cue, a white Alicorn descended to the middle of the crowd of ponies. All the ponies immediately bow in her presence. She took in the sight of frightened and worried faces. The purple unicorn was the last one to bow after escaping her shocked expression. “Rise my little ponies,” She spoke. “Princess Celestia, are you able to tell us what's going on?” Asked Twilight as she looked up at her teacher. The Alicorn opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a group of bipedal creatures entering through the door in the middle of the town. They were shouting at each other as they passed through. They seemed to be injured and exhausted, as if a battle was fought on the other side. It didn't take long for the ponies to witness one of them collapse to the ground. The crowd was scared, and shocked to see them covered in blood, bruises, and scratches as they came through the door, one-by-one. What could have done this? Who could have done this? They even appeared to be wearing strange, gold amulets around their necks. The creatures quickly pushed the door closed, and one immediately spoke up right after with an enraged tone. “What the hell was that, Phantom?!” “How is this my fault? Am I supposed to be some kind of look out?!” Retorted another. “What else...would we expect...from the 'Great thief Phantom'?” Said the other creature, who was wearing a white robe. He was breathing heavily from the looks of it. “Both of you knock it off!” One of the bipeds exclaimed. This one wore a monocle, and looked fit to serve royalty. The ponies watched as the creatures exchanged words with each other. There was a mixture of emotions; most of them showing fear. What were these creatures, and what did they want? “The Empress is safe from harm, and we made it through the door alive. That is what counts.” The creature wearing the monocle announced. The other two stopped arguing with each other, and proceeded to act accordingly in front of new faces. A more feminine looking one of the bipeds stepped forth to speak, “This world seems so beautiful. Just as ours would look if the Black Wings didn't try to take over.” Princess Celestia went up to the maiden, and stared at her for a brief moment. “Who are you? What are you? And what do you want?” She asked straightforwardly. The maiden turned her head towards the tall equine to reply, “I am Empress Cygnus of Maple World,” She answered, “And I would like to form an alliance between our two worlds. Our world is being threatened by a wicked power, and I am afraid I don't have the power to protect my subjects from such a monstrosity.” Cygnus took in another breath, and cleared her throat before continuing, “As to what we are, we are humans. Bipedal creatures from another dimension.” “You request our assistance? What is in it for us, Human?” “Well, we can't offer much, but we can offer your land protection as well from him. At least to the best of our abilities.” Celestia was puzzled by the Empress's words. She shook her head, “I'm sorry, but we don't require your assistance. The Elements of Harmony have enough power to stop any evil in Equestria.” The Empress was saddened by Celestia's statement. It was then that the one known as Phantom decided to speak up. “Please, you'll need our help just as much as we need yours! We beg of you! The Black Mage will soon break from his seal!” The Alicorn seemed more interested about who this “Black Mage” was. “Might I ask who this Black Mage is?” “A terrible man. He's ruined our world once, but we are trying to prevent him from doing it again.” Answered Phantom, “Even as we speak, his seal begins to weaken. If he comes back, everything you know and love will die!” The thief tried to regain his composure, but he was able to remember all of the unthinkable things that this man did. “If you want assurance, what he is saying is the truth,” The human wearing the monocle chimed in, “The Black Mage has committed horrible atrocities in our world. He went as far to wipe out an entire race of dragons single-handedly for not forming a pact with him. Anyone who dared to defy him was either detained, or killed. This man was the true definition of a monster.” The human stood there silently aster his explanation, hoping that it would sway the equine into helping them. Celestia thought about the human's words carefully. She went deep into thought as she remembered Discord's reign of chaos a thousand years ago, King Sombra, and the recent Changling invasion. Celestia looked over the crowd of ponies surrounding the area. Their fear seemed to have deepened, and began to tremble at the human's words. “Very well. We will join your alliance.” The Alicorn declared. The group of worn out humans began to wear looks of relief on their faces. “But first.” They all turned to listen. “You must tell us what happened to all of you beyond that door, prior to entering Equestria.” Chapter 3Hopefully I can get better at writing this as I progress. Enjoy. We ventured through the Temple of Time to seek the door that had rjust appeared. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the Time Goddess, Rhinne. She gave us these special amulets that would protect us from any forces that could transform us or render our abilities useless. Only moments after receiving these amulets, we were ambushed by the Black Wings. How they managed to elude both us and the Goddess is still beyond me. We fought back to the best of our abilities. All was going well; for a while, it looked like we could hold our own. Then, Von Leon showed up. King Von Leon, a being so blinded by hatred of the Alliance for wronging him sold his soul to the Black Mage. He attacked us in the main chamber while we were distracted. Once very weak, somehow he had become stronger, too strong for us to handle. We all came to the conclusion that one’s skills could become quite rusty when encased in ice for over a century. “So, this is the door that the kid with the dragon went through.” Phantom took a moment to pause in the middle of his story to ponder Von's words. He was certain that Evan entered through the door only recently. The thief let out a soft sigh before continuing. Just then, Black Wing troops surrounded all of us. Our fight felt like it lasted for hours, but it only lasted for mere minutes. The beginning of the fight wasn't too tough for us, but it's when Von Leon transformed, that the fight started to take a turn for the worst. The dreaded king of Lion Heart called forth more monsters to aid him in battle, and we were clearly outnumbered. This battle dragged on for several more minutes before we started to suffer injuries. We then decided to rush passed Von Leon in an effort to escape him. However, it wasn't going to be an easy feat, until a mob of explorers rushed the main chambers of the temple. “Hey, we heard a new door recently appeared in the Temple of Time! Ain't no way we're lettin’ a bunch of good for nothin’ servants of the Black Mage go through there first!” Shouted an explorer. “Yea. Especially when this dagger of mine just can't wait to rid this world of these scum!” Said another. The explorers were a godsend, and were just the right people we needed to keep Von Leon busy. Our injuries weren't so severe that we needed to seek medical attention. What happened next are the events that took place just a few hours ago. Phantom finished his story and took a moment to breathe, which allowed him to relax after a long eventful day. The heroes, Empress Cygnus and her knights; the mane six and Princess Celestia were inside the town library where Twilight currently resided. “So, are you sure you won't be needing to go to the hospital after what happened? I mean, you guys look really busted,” Rainbow Dash commented. “They'll be fine, they've been through much worse,” Neinheart interjected as he rolled his eyes. “Now, if we may, please get to the the matter of diplomacy. We would like to discuss whether or not you want to join the Alliance.” Celestia thought deeply for a moment. “What is the catch of joining this...Alliance?” Neinheart adjusted his monocle as he answered, “There isn't really a catch, just that you vow to resist the Black Wings and their master at all costs. Taking action is the most viable option in this case.” “What prevents you from making peace with them?” Neinheart glanced over to Cygnus, before looking over to Phantom, who happened to be cringing at the very mention of diplomacy with the Black Wings. “That option would have been open long ago, but it no longer is.” He said turning back to Celestia. “What do you mean? Did something happen?” “They had the aunt of our current empress assassinated. The late Empress Aria was murdered the night an envoy of the Black Mage was visiting.” Phantom tightened his fists at the memory of that horrible event. The ponies held looks of shock and disbelief on their faces. Who in their right mind would even do such a thing? Surely, Princess Celestia wouldn't stand for such a cause. With this in mind, Celestia announced her final decision. “We will join your alliance, and fight back against these Black Wings,” She began, “If talking with them isn't going to do much good like you say, then by all means, we will help you.” Neinheart nodded, “Then it is settled. We will discuss any information regarding the Black Wings, and will disclose any other important information. Do you by any chance have a Castle anywhere? Considering that you're a princess and all.” “Yes I do. We shall head for Canterlot immediately and discuss matters there.” Empress Cygnus was relieved by all of this. The equines were going to be a part of the Alliance to help bring down the Black Wings and their master. All the Empress could do was smile. “Shall we get going then?” She said happily. Luminous, who had been sitting on the sofa, decided to speak up for once, “Shall we come with or remain here, Your Highness?” Cygnus shook her head, “That won't be necessary. My knights and my loyal adviser will come with me. We need the four of you to stay here in town, just in case anything else happens involving that door.” “Very well, I could use this time to relax after an encounter with Von Leon.” Luminous was about to lay on the sofa when he realized Spike was still sitting on it as well. He rolled his eyes, and decided that he would take a walk around the town instead. Celestia, Cygnus, Neinheart, and the Cygnus Knights exited the library to leave town for Canterlot. The rest of the mane six and heroes decided to go about their daily business, leaving Twilight, Spike, and Phantom inside. The purple unicorn trotted over to the thief that sat on the stairs leading to her bedroom, and stared at him intently. Interest happened to be showing in her countenance even though the rest of her expression didn't show it. Phantom noticed this as he looked back at her. “You're wanting me to tell you more stories aren't you?” Said Phantom with a grin. Twilight nodded, “I just want to know...this Empress Aria-” “Please...do not mention her around me,” he interrupted, turning his head away. The unicorn approached the situation with care, seeing as it appeared to be a very touchy subject to Phantom. “Well, there was writing on the door in the middle of the town. I think the same Aria wrote a small letter on the door on our side.” Phantom perked his head up after hearing this. How could she have done that? Aria is dead and something told the thief that this had to be some kind of cruel joke. Phantom looked back at Twilight. She was looking at him worryingly. The man let out a sigh, and smiled a little. So, even from beyond the grave, you manage to keep watch over your people Aria. “If you want to know more about my past and where I'm from, you don't need to pry. I'll tell you as much as I am able to.” Phantom said with a light chuckle. Twilight immediately grabbed a quill, ink, and paper to take notes. Quite the curious one. Phantom began his story while Twilight started to jot down every detail. ***** Somewhere in Ponyville, Evan had returned to town to check out the market place. Mir was still with him, but the dragon was flying so high over-head that none of the locals noticed. Mir never really felt comfortable leaving his master alone, as he did tend to get into trouble at times. During his trotting through the town, Evan noticed he was getting stares from some of the equines. The ponies were starting to recognize him as the “Dragon-riding Colt.” This was a bit distracting to the young lad, seeing as his attention was drawn to the voices of the many ponies murmuring to each other as he passed. Before he could face forward, he bumped into somepony, or somebody. “Oh, my bad! I'm so sor-” Evan stopped as he looked at whom he bumped into. “M-Mercedes?!” He stuttered. The Elf Sovereign herself landed on her rear, but recovered quickly. She moved her dandylion shaded hair from her face, and looked down at the pony before her with a confused expression. “You sound strangely familiar.” “Can't you tell who I am by my voice?” Evan replied. It took Mercedes a while, but after what seemed like an eternity, realization finally hit her, “EVAN?!” “Yeah, it's me. Kind of embarrassing to be seen like this.” He glanced down at the earth, pawing it with a light blush. The elf shook her head, “I should be saying that. I got kind of messed up after an encounter with Von Leon not too long ago.” Evan looked back up at her and observed her appearance carefully. She still wore her regular white gown and skirt, but she was bandaged up around her right arm, left leg, and around the top of her head. “That snob did this to you!?” “I think the term 'snob' is putting it lightly.” Mercedes answered back through clenched teeth. She wasn’t angry that she got injured, but the fact that she and her group got ambushed by Black Wing troops at all. The Elf Sovereign herself always knew what to expect when she was tasked with a mission, but she never expected that anyone would get the drop on her. “Master!” Evan immediately snapped his head upward after hearing Mir’s thoughts. “Huh? What is it, Mir?” “Someone just came through the gateway. I think he maybe in need of assistance.” “Evan? Is something troubling you?” Mercedes asked. Evan lowered his head to meet the Elf’s eyes. “Mir says someone else just came through the door, and that they need help.” With that he took off in full gallop towards Town Hall, and Mercedes took off after him. “That kid.” She said to herself. ***** In the center of town, another human from Maple World rests on the doors, trying to catch their breath. The person happened to be wearing the same amulet that was given to the others that went through the gateway. The human was male, pretty young, but not a child either. “Damn. Damn it. Damn it all.” He cursed to himself. He gripped his wand tightly with his right hand, and a cross tightly in his left. The wand had a twisted, dark, grey base, and a skull placed on top. The man started to breath faster, as he tried to forget what he had witnessed, tightening his grip around both items as the thoughts race through his mind. Right there in front of him, inside the temple, his friends fell victim to such wicked sorceries casted by a man with white hair, clad in a black coat. Those dark lavender eyes. That cold voice. He dreaded it all. The mage slowly picked his head up to observe his surroundings. Colorful horses. No, ponies. The creatures were simply too small to be a horse. He observed his surroundings more thoroughly. Houses with thatched roofs, and a cobblestone road. At least I made it out of there. He thought as a breath of relief escaped his lungs. The mage looked around again, and took notice of the stares he was getting. He chose to ignore them as he couldn’t really get up at the moment due to his injuries. “Is that him?!” The mage’s head snapped in the direction the voice came from. After a few shifts of his eyes, he found the source. Running to him was a pony, and an elf. “Looks like it!” The two came to a halt in front of the injured magician. “Is he okay?” “I don’t know, Evan.” Evan observed the mage’s appearance thoroughly. He was wearing a black robe with a white collar, sporting few rubies in the neck area. The smaller areas of the robe were red. The young dragon master quickly took notice of his dimon wand as his eyes scanned passed the cloth covered arms. Evan was very perplexed by this. What is a high class mage doing with just a dimon wand? The injured mage dropped his wand and reached out to them both. “Everyone. Dead. L-Lotus.” The mage’s vision faded, and his arm fell to the ground. Both pairs of eyes went wide. “LOTUS?!” Evan and Mercedes yelled in unison. “We’ve got to help him!” Evan declared. He glanced over at Mercedes, who was shaking. The elf sovereign herself heard of Lotus’s powers, and they were something to be feared. She collapsed to her knees, and her body started to give way under the shock of hearing who had done the amount of damage he did to this poor soul. Evan was busy checking for a heartbeat as he pressed an ear up to his chest. It was very, very faint. There was hardly a pulse to read. “Lotus must have went all out if this amount of damage was done.” After a few moments, Mercedes finally broke free from fear, and spoke, “And the big shocker is that this man is a bishop.” This surprised the young dragon master. “Wait. What?!” “There’s no doubt. This mage right before us is indeed a Bishop. A high class Cleric. Very high rank judging by the amount of magical power that is currently flowing through his body.” “But it feels so weak due to his injuries. You wouldn’t be able to tell if he was a Bishop to begin with.” Mercedes shook her head, “As much as I would like to discuss mages, we need to get him to a hospital. Does he have a pulse?” “Yes, but it’s very faint. If we don’t get him some medical attention, he will die.” The duo scrambled to pick up the body of the unconscious mage and his items, and carry him to a hospital. That’s if they can find one at all in this town. After a few minutes of walking, Evan began to think. “I don’t understand why he didn’t just heal himself. I mean, Bishops can have such powerful healing magic.” “Maybe because he’s too drained to use any magic. That’s the best I can come up with.” Mercedes pondered her first statement. “Now that I think about it, it is likely he used a lot of his power during his encounter with Lotus.” “That would explain it.” The two continued their trek through town in search of a medical center. This was a bit strenuous on Mercedes as she had to endure her own injuries. Many ponies were watching Evan and the elf wander through town. They didn’t seem to know where they were going, so a particular mint colored unicorn mare decided to guide to where they were going. “Uhm, do you need help with something?” Said the pony. Evan gave a quick nod. “Please, we would like to get him to a hospital before he passes from his injuries. He has a very weak pulse.” “Alright, just follow me, and we’ll be at the hospital in no time.” The mare. Mercedes was relieved to see at least one of the ponies help them out. The others were either too scared, or just scowled at them because of how different they were. “May we get the name of the one who is helping us?” “Lyra Heartstrings.” The mare answered happily. The two heroes were happy that Lyra went out of her way to help them. With the help from the unicorn, they were able to find the hospital in the nick of time. The sooner he recovered from his injuries, the sooner they can gather information on what happened to him, and the explorers in the temple. What Lotus did to them couldn’t have been pleasant. ***** It has been few hours since diplomacy had been discussed between Cygnus and the princesses. After the meetings were adjourned, Hawk Eye the Thunder Breaker, decided to go on a rampage against the Royal Guard as a “training exercise.” The pirate had knocked out a few hundred of the Celestia’s finest guards. She and Luna were quite shocked at how strong the Cygnus Knights were. “Okay, Hawk Eye, knock it off!” Mihile exclaimed. A brown skinned man wearing pirate attire shrugged as a bit of yellow lightning jumped in hands, “Awe come on. Just because they can’t handle a little shock ain’t my fault.” Mihile facepalmed with a reply, “That is NOT a little shock.” He pointed at the unconscious guards. “That and you left none for us to train.” Mihile finished, clenching his teeth in annoyance. “Hey, I already trained them.” Hawk retorted. “They’re all unconscious! How is that training them?” Irena interjected. Hawk Eye observed the damage he had done. “Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away.” “A LITTLE?!” Irena and Mihile roared. Oz gave an annoyed sigh. Hawk Eye always had a problem of going overboard when it came to training guards, or training new recruits. Eckhart however, who currently stood next to the Blaze Wizard, said and did nothing. He always sat there in silence, and whenever he got involved in something like this, everyone normally shut up and ran from him. Well, at least the recruits would. The Night Walker always had taught his that “stealth is key” and to “always remain in shadows.” Also, he’d always keep his mask on to emphasize the importance of staying out of sight, and silent. “It’s too noisy here.” The Thief of Darkness proclaimed. “I’m going outside where it’s peaceful.” There was a pause as he turned to head towards the exit of the training hall. “And quiet.” he finished. Celestia and Luna turned their attention to Eckhart, who had just exited the castle. “Are your knights always like this?” Luna said as she now turned her attention to Cygnus. “I have faith in my knights.” The young Empress answered sternly. “Especially Mihile.” Neinheart cleared his throat, preparing an explanation for the Knights’ behaviors. “The knights have different ways of approaching battle, which is why our Empress picked them in the first place. Eckhart is more focused on using stealth to take out his enemies. Oz, focuses on the more magical prowess of the body and mind. Which is why she controls the element of fire, but in a much more sophisticated fashion. Hawk Eye, the pirate, focuses on brute force as well as tactical combat to effectively take down enemies. Call him a tank if you will, but a dangerous one.” Neinheart took a small pause before continuing. “Now, as for Irena, she is quite unique in her ability to manipulate the wind. This allows her to swiftly remove her targets with ease, and precision. Her approach to battle has to do with quickly removing targets using the least amount of energy as possible.” The advisor adjusted his monocle. “Now Mihile is whole other something. Power, strength, swiftness, and intelligence all come into play with him. I was very skeptical about him at first due to the fact that may have not been able to live up to his father’s legacy. He proved me otherwise. His ability to be tactical shows that he uses his wits outsmart enemies. The power to take them down, and the agility to maneuver around, and to avoid attacks with no compromise.” “So each of the Knights have something unique to their way of fighting?” Asked Celestia. Neinheart gave a nod. “The combination of these five is not a force to be trifled with.” “Has there ever been a time where their power wavered at all?” Luna questioned. The advisor let out a sigh. “I do not know of such instances. All I know is that the Black Mage created some sort of nightmare dimension in the Time Temple.” Luna raised a brow at this, “What kind of nightmare?” Cygnus shook with fright at the memory of when she heard of such a horrible dimension being created. “One that foretold that the Empress would lose faith in her Knighthood, and go in search of a greater power so she could fight back against the Black Mage.” Neinheart answered. “What happened in this dimension?” “The Empress and her knights became corrupt through the power of the Black Mage himself. After that, all of Maple World was left in ruin, death, and chaos. This was literally the foretelling of the Black Mage’s eventual rise to power.” Luna and Celestia looked at each other as worry replaced the expressions on their faces. There was now even more of a reason to stand by The Maple Alliance. Pony and human would fight side-by-side against the forces of the dark sorcerer. The end of the Black Mage’s terror will soon come to an end. ***** “Master, it appears The Maple Alliance has found new allies.” Echoed a ghastly voice. “Shall we end them as quickly as possible?” “Let us not overestimate their power as well as underestimate it.” A dark, looming voice answered. “We wait until the proper time to strike.” “When will that be, M’lord?” “When they least expect it.” “That tall, blue, winged-unicorn one looks like she has emotions tucked away in the deepest pits of her mind.” “Yes, I can sense it; and she will prove to be a most useful asset to our ranks. I do sense a great power just DYING to be released from that cage of a body.” The ghastly voice chuckled, “I shall then escape this realm with her then.” “Do bring her to me. That body is not but a prison to be broken free from. All I require is the spirit of such malice be released from it, and join our ‘benevolent’ cause.” “As you wish, M’lord.” “Soon, heroes, our long awaited dance to the death will soon be at hand.”
Chapter 1In the highest chambers of the Time Temple, the Time Goddess went about her business, making sure time itself remained in balance; and all was right in the world. The Goddess’s name was Rhinne, who happened to very young and beautiful. She levitated in her chamber from atop her throne where she can see everything. The Goddess scanned through all the dimensions, and time periods;watching every event that took place. All was going smoothly until she felt an uneasiness overtake her. She stepped down from her throne and teleported herself to the entrance hall of the temple, and could feel the grand doors’ presence tower over her like giants. Rhinne felt the presence of one extra door inside the hall though. She singled out its aura, and went over to the giant door that had just appeared. Rhinne thought this door was different from the others as it wasn't of the same design as the other doors. It was a giant, gilded door that had some odd shapes and symbols on it. She took a hand off an ornate hour glass she happened to be holding in her arms closely to her chest, and put in on the door. It took the goddess some time to feel out the rest of the shapes on the doors. She began to speak to herself after feeling the door to identify the symbols, “These are... horses? No, Alicorns.” Rhinne wasn't totally convinced with her identification. Alicorns were only myth as far as she knew. She had heard of Pegasi being used as mounts to help explorers travel around quicker; and Unicorns were normally pets. Griffons existed, but they were normally horrid creatures of really aggressive nature. The Time Goddess could sense a completely different world to Maple behind the door. After Rhinne had skimmed the world beyond the door, she let out a breath. There was no feeling of worry, nor was there dread. The Time Goddess didn't know exactly how to feel about this. “It appears we might have some potential allies,” Rhinne mumbled to herself. She needed to get this information to Empress Cygnus as soon as she could. After moving away from the door, Rhinne felt another presence enter the room. It took her few seconds to recognize the person. The one who entered the halls was a light-skinned man with blonde hair and lavender eyes. The man approached the Goddess as if he were approaching royalty. “I see a new door has appeared in the temple,” he began, “Judging by the insignias and symbols on the door, I'd say that the sentient beings of this new world are equine?” The man stood there holding his cane in one hand and brought the other to the beak of his black raven mask. Rhinne turned to the man who stood before her and replied, “Yes, that happens to be the case.” She pondered for a moment, and a thought came to her mind, “Do you think you can send a message to the Empress for me, Phantom?” He nodded with a grin. “It would be my honor,” he answered with bow. As Phantom was about to take his leave from the temple, he turned his head to ask one more thing, “What other species besides equine are beyond those doors?” He had a small grin, one that easily showed his curiosity about exploring a new dimension; or world for that matter. The Goddess herself pondered for a moment. She started to speak an answer to Phantom's question, “I believe that there are more than just equine beings who inhabit this new world. Rest assured, hopefully, we don't run into any hostiles in the process.” Phantom let out an almost inaudible chuckle. Rhinne furrowed her eyebrows as if trying to scowl at him. “Phantom, you'd better not be thinking of committing any sort of thievery upon your arrival there,” She began, “If that happens to be the case, then I shall not allow you pass through the door.” Phantom rose his hands in, showing his palms as a gesture of compliance. “Alright, alright, I'll hold off my temptations for the time being,” he replied with a sigh. With that, he left through the temple doors, and dematerialized in a gust of cards. They moved off towards the sky, spiraling towards a ship that hovered above the temple. After Phantom had taken off back to his ship, the Goddess herself was deep in thought. She started to have that unnerving feeling of dread loom over her. Rhinne shivered as the memory of the Black Mage wormed through her mind. The haunting past of how she was overthrown and incapacitated by the Black Mage and his servants was like a living nightmare. made it her sole duty to make sure that no evil traverses over to this new realm. Never again will the halls of her temple be defiled by dark magic ever again. ****** The sun was out and down in Ponyville the ponies went about their daily business. Ponies worked, fillies went to school, and Twilight, a unicorn, had her face buried in her books like usual. It wasn't surprising that the unicorn was so into her studies, but rather more surprising when she was doing something a little more productive. The unicorn lived in the Ponyville Library where she was free to do all of the studying she wanted. Twilight’s current reading was of one of many books written by Star Swirl the bearded. It contained many fascinating theories of the many different types of magic such as aging spells, time dilation, interdimensional travel, even theories on the manipulation of elements like lightning and wind. The book was titled Magical Theories by Star Swirl the Bearded. Twilight continued to ravenously read through line after line of the ancient prose, absorbing what information she had not already gleaned from the previous readings. Everywhere she looked, there was something that she seemed to have miss- a frantic knocking at the door inerrupted her reading session. She grumbled to herself. The unicorn’s head perked up to turn toward the door. She got up and trotted over to answer whoever was knocking. When Twilight carelessly flicked the door open, Applejack fell through the entrance and flat onto her face, knocking her hat ajar. Twilight cocked her head to the side. The orange earthpony got back on to her hooves, adjusted her hat, and took a few breaths before speaking. “Twi’, something just appeared at Ponyville Town Hall. Ah’ think ya should come down and see!” Twilight stared at Applejack for a moment, before blinking a few times.Scrunching up her nose and shaking her head to clear a wave of confusion. “Why do you need me to see it,” she asked, “What is it anyway?” Applejack took another breath of air to bring to her a complete state of calm. She looked back over at Twilight, and she proceeded to answer, “See, it was like some kind of real big door with these weird shapes that appeared in Ponyville!” This caught Twilight’s attention as she widened her eyes at the statement. “Hold on, I’ll go get Spike so we can send a letter to Princess Celestia right away,” She replied before going back inside to get Spike, who happened to be organizing some books as he’s normally instructed to do. “Spike,” Twilight addressed the baby purple dragon, “Quickly, grab a quill and a sheet of paper. We’re going to town hall to inspect this “door” so we can send a detailed letter to Princess Celestia!” With that, Spike dropped what he was doing, and quickly ran upstairs to grab a quill, paper, and ink for the quill. After retrieving the necessary items from the bedroom, Twilight and the baby dragon followed Applejack towards the town hall. Spike grinned at Applejack as the trio made their way to Town Hall. “So, was somepony scared of the big spooky door?” The dragon commented. “And what might you be tryin’ ta’ get at, Spike?” Applejack retorted. Spike chuckled, “Oh nothing, just that you got so easily scared of a door.” The small dragon answered with a comeback of his own. “Why you-” “Alright you two, knock it off!” Twilight intervened. She was getting tired of the two’s bickering. “We need to focus on figuring out what this is all about.” When they finally made it to Town Hall, all of Ponyville was there to see the door. They all witnessed its appearance into the town, and remained there since it appeared. Some ponies that happened to pass by went over to the door to look at it along with the rest of Twilight’s friends. The door stood tall at about twenty feet dead in the center of the crowd of ponies. It glistened in the sun with its radiant, silver tint. Twilight made her way through the crowd of ponies to get closer to the door to inspect it further. There was a bipedal creature in the center of the door. Next to her was some kind of feathered dragon. Another picture below that showed a caption of five bipedal creatures battling it out with another clad in a robe unleashing magic from its appendages. “What d’yall think of this here, Twi’?” Applejack asked as she trotted over next to Twilight. The purple unicorn thought for a moment, but nothing seemed to come to mind. All she could do was shrug at the question. Twilight inspected the door even further, and noticed a bit of text in the bottom left corner of the towering door. She trotted over to the text, and examined it. “It appears to be telling some kind of story,” Twilight announced. The rest of the ponies began to murmur amongst each other. The rest of Twilight’s friends made their way to the middle so they can hear her better. Rainbow Dash, a light blue Pegasus, flew over to Twilight and asked, “What kind of story is it trying to tell? What does this all mean anyway?” The situation was confusing to the Pegasus mare. She rubbed her head with her fore-hooves, and groaned as she tried to come up with an answer to her own question. Twilight, after reading the text to herself, read it out loud so the rest of the ponies could hear her. Before she started, she took a gulp, cleared her throat, then proceeded to read it out. “There comes a time when a world is in need of allies. I am one who has fallen to an evil man’s wrath, hate, and malice. I ask of you to join their alliance, and aid my niece and her world to prevent the evil man from being released back into the world. I ask of you to aid Maple World, and help to restore the peace that once coated it.” The purple unicorn had finished reading the text, and right below it was a signature that said “Empress Aria.” Applejack, who had been beside Twilight the entire time she was reading the note written on the door, responded in a confused tone, “Who the hay is this Empress Aria,” she began to shout, “And what in tarnation is Maple World?!” Applejack couldn’t wrap her head around any of it. It made no sense to her that something like could just come out of nowhere, and then somepony she doesn’t even know writes a note from beyond the grave. That’s literally creepy. Twilight recoiled at her friend’s shout, and shook her head. This made no sense to her as well, but she insisted getting some answers. “Spike,” The unicorn said turning her head to the dragon on her back, “Let’s get to writing that letter to the princess.” Spike nodded and lept off Twilight’s back, and pulled out the quill and paper, and put the ink on the ground. The dragon dipped the tip of the quill in the ink, and prepared to write. “Ready when you are, Twilight,” he announced. “Right,” Twilight Sparkle mumbled, working out what she should say. “Dear Princess Celestia,” She began, sauntering around the door. She paused for a moment squinting against the glare coming off the polished silver, “Today a giant silver door manifested itself in Ponyville, pretty much dead center near the Town Hall. Spike mumbled an affirmative, busily scribbling away as best he could. Twilight continued to speak as the dragon continued to write down everything she said word for word, “It is unknown where this door actually came from, but what we do know there is a small scripture etched into it. I don’t know exactly what it means, but it mentioned something about “Maple World” and an alliance. Whatever those are. I humbly await your response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike scribbled the rest of the words onto the paper. He then rolled it up when it was done, and blew a green flame on it, showing that it had been sent to Princess Celestia. All the ponies had to do now was wait for a reply from the Princess. Whatever was beyond the door was a mystery to them, but soon all would be revealed to them.
Chapter 2You know what? I let my self-loathing persona get the best of me long enough. I just want to have fun writing a fic, and damn it...I'm going to do it! I am clearly not one of the best writers on this site. I am just a writer, trying to become a better writer. First things first: I gotta be a shitty one first. I can only improve from here on out. If you guys have any edits in mind you want me to make, I'll come back and make them. Just leave your opinions in the comments. Thank you. On the small continent of Ereve inside a rather large palace throne-room, Phantom is delivering the news about the door that had appeared. “Are you sure this door that appeared in the Time Temple leads to another world, Phantom?” A man wearing a monocle questioned as he deadpanned at the thief. Phantom snickered at him and replied, “Oh Neinheart, you act as if you can't trust me.” Phantom put a hand across his chest going into a slight bow, showing that he swore he was telling the truth. “I assure you that these are words from the Goddess herself.” He picked his head up to look back at Neinheart with his arms crossed. The adviser thought for a moment. He sighed, and then proceeded to turn to a maiden who happen to be standing at the throne. “Are you sure we can trust what he's saying, Your Highness? He is a criminal and I strongly advise you not to trust this man.” The adviser was strong in his position. Phantom may have helped save Maple World from evil once, but that didn't excuse him from his past as a master thief. Stealing from wealthy people was a career for Phantom, and he would never let this passion die so easily. A maiden, whom was dressed in a manner that would fit the description of royalty, stared absently for a moment. “Empress Cygnus?” Neinheart called out, causing her to snap back to her senses. “Oh, what is it?” She quickly replied in a soft voice as she snapped out of her trance. The empress adjusted her posture, and let out a light cough. “Are you going to believe this man?” The adviser said sternly. Cygnus nodded and smiled. “If it wasn't for him, you would have been serving a necromancer. I fully trust this man without a shadow of a doubt.” This caused Neinheart to recoil a bit; however, he wasn't going to dispute her decision out of high regard for his empress. Neinheart was the adviser, not the ruler. This didn't make him feel any low of himself, far from it. Being the adviser of the empress meant that he still had a huge responsibility in tending to her health as well as bringing forward information whenever it reached his desk. A small grin crossed Phantom's face, “Well it looks like Her Majesty has given me her blessings. I will arrange for Aran, Mercedes, and Luminous to arrive at the-” The thief was cut off by the voice of a child that had come from above, as the chamber wasn't covered by a ceiling,walls windows. Only by stone columns and rows similar to that of a Colosseum. “What about me?” The voice had come from a boy riding a black dragon with gold colored horns. It also had thing golden lines patterned down its back. They descended from the air, the dragon beating its wings hard enough to get a soft landing. The boy jumped off the dragon, and ran over to Phantom. “Why can't I go? I'm fully capable of helping.” The boy whined. He was no older than maybe twelve. Neinheart spoke on behalf of the great thief, “You're still a child, and you might not be able to handle the duties that would be placed upon you if you were to go.” The adviser adjusted his monocle, and dusted his long-sleeved turquoise coat. “That about sums it up.” Phantom said nodding his head in agreement. This caused a frown to form on the child's face. He put his head down, knowing that he was just seen as useless to the other heroes. The boy knew he was much more than useless, and wanted to prove himself that he can handle anything. The dragon behind started to speak to him through telepathic means, hoping to lift his spirits, “Don't worry, Evan. We can always find some people who require our assistance elsewhere.” The dragon started to frown as well, as Evan turned with his head still hanging low. The black dragon started to frown too. “Master...?” The young dragon master shook his head. “I'm sorry, Mir.” Evan then thought as he grinned and lowered his voice to none of the others can hear him, “We're still gonna go whether they like it or not.” Mir did not like the sound of this as his master was quite set on disobeying others sometimes. Evan jumped back onto the onyx dragon's back, and with several beats of its wings, they were in the air. They picked a direction over the forested continent and aimed in the direction of another. From what everyone on the ground saw, the duo were heading for Victoria Island. That should at least should keep them out of trouble. Phantom shook his head after they took off, and turned back to the Empress and the others. “Now where were we?” He paused, “Oh! That's right, we were discussing the meet up at the temple with the other heroes. Minus Evan of course.” The thief's heart sank a little. He didn't want to hurt the child's feelings, but it was for the best. They could not potentially put the life of a child who has his whole life ahead of him at risk, should the Black Wings make an appearance. Phantom blinked a few times, and quickly regained focus. “Anyway, the Black Wings will surely find out about this sooner or later, which is why we need to act now.” “If it is that urgent, then I'll get a ship ready for me and my knights. In order to make diplomatic relations, I must go meet with their rulers.” Said the Empress. “I will arrive at the Time Temple in approximately one hour. Meet me at the Time Temple after you've gathered the other heroes..” Phantom agreed, and wasted no time in making haste back to his airship, the Lumiere. He then set off to search for the others to make haste back to the temple. In the skies above Leafre, Evan and Mir have made their way to the Time Temple rather than going to Victoria like they led everyone to believe. Mir was unsure of his master's decision, but he didn't question it. Evan on the other hand, wasn't going to be held from some sort of new adventure. He didn't like being restricted, or being told he couldn't do something by someone who wasn't really the boss of him. The only ones that could boss him around were his mother and father, who happened to work on a pig farm. The only person he didn't show much regard for other than Phantom, was his older brother, Utah. Evan put these thoughts aside, and entered the Time Temple to have a “quick peek” as he put it. The giant doors creaked open, and Evan peered through the small opening. After seeing that Rhinne was not present at the moment, he took the opportunity to push the door fully open, and run towards a single, gilded door that stood in its position amongst the other doors in the hall. “Whoa.” Evan said in amazement. “Master, I don't think it's really smart to just go through this door. ,” Mir protested, “Plus, I don't think the Goddess will be too happy.” The dragon master turned to Mir and replied, “It'll be fine, Mir.” He turned his attention back to the door, and continued, “There's nothing to worry about. If there's adventure waiting for us on the other side, then why worry?” Evan could no longer contain his excitement, and pushed open the giant door with all his might. The giant door roared open, and the child and dragon went through the door. Once through the door, they were engulfed in a bright flash, and found themselves in the middle of a town. Many of the locals stared in their direction with their jaws hanging low, and eyes widened from what they saw come through. The crowd of ponies started to grow in number from its original count due to the sight. The child opened his eyes, and looked around him. Mir loomed over him as he stood there next to his master. Evan looked around and down to the ground where his feet were originally. What he saw were not feet, but hooves. He took a look at himself for a few minutes, and observed his new form. He was a brightly colored, blue earth pony with a brown mane and tail, and blue eyes. He still wore his red robe with the piece of white cloth in the middle that hung from the collar. Around his two front hooves, he saw that he was still wearing his two red gloves now in the form of bands, and on his hind hooves were his red boots. “Did I just transform, Mir?” Asked Evan. The dragon just stared at his master for what felt like hours. Mir finally managed to speak up, “Uh, that seems to be the case. I mean, there have been other instances where you would enter an area anywhere in Maple, and transformation would be inevitable.” Evan let out a small sigh, “I really hate that sometimes. I can't pick up my magicodar!” “What was that again, master?” “You know? my wand?” Evan's voice rose a bit. “Oh, that. Are you sure you can still use it?” The ponies in the town continued to watch with slack jaws as the two conversed. “I think so.” Evan looked over to his left, and noticed his wand sticking out of his bag. He Tried reach for it to grab it with his mouth, but to no avail. “For Grendel's sake!” “Here, let me help you.” Mir lowered himself down to Evan's height, and reached for the bag with one of his large claws. The dragon was careful enough as to not damage the back or the wand. He pulled out the wand, and carefully placed it in his master's mouth. “Fanks, 'ir.” Evan said through his teethe as they gripped the wand. “Well? Anything?” Questioned the dragon. Evan laid the wand onto the ground, and shook his head as he gazed at it. “I can't really tell. This body is too different than what I'm used to. Transformations like this tend to render my items useless.” The earth pony and dragon noticed that they were now the center of attention as the two noticed they were in the middle of a whole crowd of colorful ponies. The duo stared as the whole town gathered around them, but remained at a distance mainly due to the fact that there was a dragon right in front of them. “Is that a dragon!?” One pony said. “Why is it here?” Said another. “Master?” Mir started to ask. “Yes, Mir?” Replied Evan. “I think we should go back.” “Aw come on, Mir. Where's your sense of adventure?” The ponies started to murmur to each other as the two continued to talk to each other. They didn't know what to make of the situation as the dragon and earthpony conversed “I think we should go do something, I'm not used to getting this many stares.” Evan finally declared with a bit of a nervous tone. “Let's go then.” Mir answered. “Alright! This oughta be better than our little adventure through Lionheart,” He said shakily, “I can still feel the cold on my neck.” Evan picked up his wand, and jumped onto Mir's back. With several wing-beats, the pony and dragon were in the air, and took off. “Was that a dragon and a pony that entered through that giant door just now?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, shocked at what she had just seen. “No doubt it was,” Twilight began, “If what the letter on the door says is true, then we might have some more visitors.” “This ain't natural though Twi'! Ah' think that dragon may be up to no good, and I don't want to stand around waitin' for it to harm anypony.” Applejack said with a worried tone. Twilight turned to her head to reply to her friend, “Let's wait for Princess Celestia to arri-” As if on cue, a white Alicorn descended to the middle of the crowd of ponies. All the ponies immediately bow in her presence. She took in the sight of frightened and worried faces. The purple unicorn was the last one to bow after escaping her shocked expression. “Rise my little ponies,” She spoke. “Princess Celestia, are you able to tell us what's going on?” Asked Twilight as she looked up at her teacher. The Alicorn opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a group of bipedal creatures entering through the door in the middle of the town. They were shouting at each other as they passed through. They seemed to be injured and exhausted, as if a battle was fought on the other side. It didn't take long for the ponies to witness one of them collapse to the ground. The crowd was scared, and shocked to see them covered in blood, bruises, and scratches as they came through the door, one-by-one. What could have done this? Who could have done this? They even appeared to be wearing strange, gold amulets around their necks. The creatures quickly pushed the door closed, and one immediately spoke up right after with an enraged tone. “What the hell was that, Phantom?!” “How is this my fault? Am I supposed to be some kind of look out?!” Retorted another. “What else...would we expect...from the 'Great thief Phantom'?” Said the other creature, who was wearing a white robe. He was breathing heavily from the looks of it. “Both of you knock it off!” One of the bipeds exclaimed. This one wore a monocle, and looked fit to serve royalty. The ponies watched as the creatures exchanged words with each other. There was a mixture of emotions; most of them showing fear. What were these creatures, and what did they want? “The Empress is safe from harm, and we made it through the door alive. That is what counts.” The creature wearing the monocle announced. The other two stopped arguing with each other, and proceeded to act accordingly in front of new faces. A more feminine looking one of the bipeds stepped forth to speak, “This world seems so beautiful. Just as ours would look if the Black Wings didn't try to take over.” Princess Celestia went up to the maiden, and stared at her for a brief moment. “Who are you? What are you? And what do you want?” She asked straightforwardly. The maiden turned her head towards the tall equine to reply, “I am Empress Cygnus of Maple World,” She answered, “And I would like to form an alliance between our two worlds. Our world is being threatened by a wicked power, and I am afraid I don't have the power to protect my subjects from such a monstrosity.” Cygnus took in another breath, and cleared her throat before continuing, “As to what we are, we are humans. Bipedal creatures from another dimension.” “You request our assistance? What is in it for us, Human?” “Well, we can't offer much, but we can offer your land protection as well from him. At least to the best of our abilities.” Celestia was puzzled by the Empress's words. She shook her head, “I'm sorry, but we don't require your assistance. The Elements of Harmony have enough power to stop any evil in Equestria.” The Empress was saddened by Celestia's statement. It was then that the one known as Phantom decided to speak up. “Please, you'll need our help just as much as we need yours! We beg of you! The Black Mage will soon break from his seal!” The Alicorn seemed more interested about who this “Black Mage” was. “Might I ask who this Black Mage is?” “A terrible man. He's ruined our world once, but we are trying to prevent him from doing it again.” Answered Phantom, “Even as we speak, his seal begins to weaken. If he comes back, everything you know and love will die!” The thief tried to regain his composure, but he was able to remember all of the unthinkable things that this man did. “If you want assurance, what he is saying is the truth,” The human wearing the monocle chimed in, “The Black Mage has committed horrible atrocities in our world. He went as far to wipe out an entire race of dragons single-handedly for not forming a pact with him. Anyone who dared to defy him was either detained, or killed. This man was the true definition of a monster.” The human stood there silently aster his explanation, hoping that it would sway the equine into helping them. Celestia thought about the human's words carefully. She went deep into thought as she remembered Discord's reign of chaos a thousand years ago, King Sombra, and the recent Changling invasion. Celestia looked over the crowd of ponies surrounding the area. Their fear seemed to have deepened, and began to tremble at the human's words. “Very well. We will join your alliance.” The Alicorn declared. The group of worn out humans began to wear looks of relief on their faces. “But first.” They all turned to listen. “You must tell us what happened to all of you beyond that door, prior to entering Equestria.”
Chapter 3Hopefully I can get better at writing this as I progress. Enjoy. We ventured through the Temple of Time to seek the door that had rjust appeared. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the Time Goddess, Rhinne. She gave us these special amulets that would protect us from any forces that could transform us or render our abilities useless. Only moments after receiving these amulets, we were ambushed by the Black Wings. How they managed to elude both us and the Goddess is still beyond me. We fought back to the best of our abilities. All was going well; for a while, it looked like we could hold our own. Then, Von Leon showed up. King Von Leon, a being so blinded by hatred of the Alliance for wronging him sold his soul to the Black Mage. He attacked us in the main chamber while we were distracted. Once very weak, somehow he had become stronger, too strong for us to handle. We all came to the conclusion that one’s skills could become quite rusty when encased in ice for over a century. “So, this is the door that the kid with the dragon went through.” Phantom took a moment to pause in the middle of his story to ponder Von's words. He was certain that Evan entered through the door only recently. The thief let out a soft sigh before continuing. Just then, Black Wing troops surrounded all of us. Our fight felt like it lasted for hours, but it only lasted for mere minutes. The beginning of the fight wasn't too tough for us, but it's when Von Leon transformed, that the fight started to take a turn for the worst. The dreaded king of Lion Heart called forth more monsters to aid him in battle, and we were clearly outnumbered. This battle dragged on for several more minutes before we started to suffer injuries. We then decided to rush passed Von Leon in an effort to escape him. However, it wasn't going to be an easy feat, until a mob of explorers rushed the main chambers of the temple. “Hey, we heard a new door recently appeared in the Temple of Time! Ain't no way we're lettin’ a bunch of good for nothin’ servants of the Black Mage go through there first!” Shouted an explorer. “Yea. Especially when this dagger of mine just can't wait to rid this world of these scum!” Said another. The explorers were a godsend, and were just the right people we needed to keep Von Leon busy. Our injuries weren't so severe that we needed to seek medical attention. What happened next are the events that took place just a few hours ago. Phantom finished his story and took a moment to breathe, which allowed him to relax after a long eventful day. The heroes, Empress Cygnus and her knights; the mane six and Princess Celestia were inside the town library where Twilight currently resided. “So, are you sure you won't be needing to go to the hospital after what happened? I mean, you guys look really busted,” Rainbow Dash commented. “They'll be fine, they've been through much worse,” Neinheart interjected as he rolled his eyes. “Now, if we may, please get to the the matter of diplomacy. We would like to discuss whether or not you want to join the Alliance.” Celestia thought deeply for a moment. “What is the catch of joining this...Alliance?” Neinheart adjusted his monocle as he answered, “There isn't really a catch, just that you vow to resist the Black Wings and their master at all costs. Taking action is the most viable option in this case.” “What prevents you from making peace with them?” Neinheart glanced over to Cygnus, before looking over to Phantom, who happened to be cringing at the very mention of diplomacy with the Black Wings. “That option would have been open long ago, but it no longer is.” He said turning back to Celestia. “What do you mean? Did something happen?” “They had the aunt of our current empress assassinated. The late Empress Aria was murdered the night an envoy of the Black Mage was visiting.” Phantom tightened his fists at the memory of that horrible event. The ponies held looks of shock and disbelief on their faces. Who in their right mind would even do such a thing? Surely, Princess Celestia wouldn't stand for such a cause. With this in mind, Celestia announced her final decision. “We will join your alliance, and fight back against these Black Wings,” She began, “If talking with them isn't going to do much good like you say, then by all means, we will help you.” Neinheart nodded, “Then it is settled. We will discuss any information regarding the Black Wings, and will disclose any other important information. Do you by any chance have a Castle anywhere? Considering that you're a princess and all.” “Yes I do. We shall head for Canterlot immediately and discuss matters there.” Empress Cygnus was relieved by all of this. The equines were going to be a part of the Alliance to help bring down the Black Wings and their master. All the Empress could do was smile. “Shall we get going then?” She said happily. Luminous, who had been sitting on the sofa, decided to speak up for once, “Shall we come with or remain here, Your Highness?” Cygnus shook her head, “That won't be necessary. My knights and my loyal adviser will come with me. We need the four of you to stay here in town, just in case anything else happens involving that door.” “Very well, I could use this time to relax after an encounter with Von Leon.” Luminous was about to lay on the sofa when he realized Spike was still sitting on it as well. He rolled his eyes, and decided that he would take a walk around the town instead. Celestia, Cygnus, Neinheart, and the Cygnus Knights exited the library to leave town for Canterlot. The rest of the mane six and heroes decided to go about their daily business, leaving Twilight, Spike, and Phantom inside. The purple unicorn trotted over to the thief that sat on the stairs leading to her bedroom, and stared at him intently. Interest happened to be showing in her countenance even though the rest of her expression didn't show it. Phantom noticed this as he looked back at her. “You're wanting me to tell you more stories aren't you?” Said Phantom with a grin. Twilight nodded, “I just want to know...this Empress Aria-” “Please...do not mention her around me,” he interrupted, turning his head away. The unicorn approached the situation with care, seeing as it appeared to be a very touchy subject to Phantom. “Well, there was writing on the door in the middle of the town. I think the same Aria wrote a small letter on the door on our side.” Phantom perked his head up after hearing this. How could she have done that? Aria is dead and something told the thief that this had to be some kind of cruel joke. Phantom looked back at Twilight. She was looking at him worryingly. The man let out a sigh, and smiled a little. So, even from beyond the grave, you manage to keep watch over your people Aria. “If you want to know more about my past and where I'm from, you don't need to pry. I'll tell you as much as I am able to.” Phantom said with a light chuckle. Twilight immediately grabbed a quill, ink, and paper to take notes. Quite the curious one. Phantom began his story while Twilight started to jot down every detail. ***** Somewhere in Ponyville, Evan had returned to town to check out the market place. Mir was still with him, but the dragon was flying so high over-head that none of the locals noticed. Mir never really felt comfortable leaving his master alone, as he did tend to get into trouble at times. During his trotting through the town, Evan noticed he was getting stares from some of the equines. The ponies were starting to recognize him as the “Dragon-riding Colt.” This was a bit distracting to the young lad, seeing as his attention was drawn to the voices of the many ponies murmuring to each other as he passed. Before he could face forward, he bumped into somepony, or somebody. “Oh, my bad! I'm so sor-” Evan stopped as he looked at whom he bumped into. “M-Mercedes?!” He stuttered. The Elf Sovereign herself landed on her rear, but recovered quickly. She moved her dandylion shaded hair from her face, and looked down at the pony before her with a confused expression. “You sound strangely familiar.” “Can't you tell who I am by my voice?” Evan replied. It took Mercedes a while, but after what seemed like an eternity, realization finally hit her, “EVAN?!” “Yeah, it's me. Kind of embarrassing to be seen like this.” He glanced down at the earth, pawing it with a light blush. The elf shook her head, “I should be saying that. I got kind of messed up after an encounter with Von Leon not too long ago.” Evan looked back up at her and observed her appearance carefully. She still wore her regular white gown and skirt, but she was bandaged up around her right arm, left leg, and around the top of her head. “That snob did this to you!?” “I think the term 'snob' is putting it lightly.” Mercedes answered back through clenched teeth. She wasn’t angry that she got injured, but the fact that she and her group got ambushed by Black Wing troops at all. The Elf Sovereign herself always knew what to expect when she was tasked with a mission, but she never expected that anyone would get the drop on her. “Master!” Evan immediately snapped his head upward after hearing Mir’s thoughts. “Huh? What is it, Mir?” “Someone just came through the gateway. I think he maybe in need of assistance.” “Evan? Is something troubling you?” Mercedes asked. Evan lowered his head to meet the Elf’s eyes. “Mir says someone else just came through the door, and that they need help.” With that he took off in full gallop towards Town Hall, and Mercedes took off after him. “That kid.” She said to herself. ***** In the center of town, another human from Maple World rests on the doors, trying to catch their breath. The person happened to be wearing the same amulet that was given to the others that went through the gateway. The human was male, pretty young, but not a child either. “Damn. Damn it. Damn it all.” He cursed to himself. He gripped his wand tightly with his right hand, and a cross tightly in his left. The wand had a twisted, dark, grey base, and a skull placed on top. The man started to breath faster, as he tried to forget what he had witnessed, tightening his grip around both items as the thoughts race through his mind. Right there in front of him, inside the temple, his friends fell victim to such wicked sorceries casted by a man with white hair, clad in a black coat. Those dark lavender eyes. That cold voice. He dreaded it all. The mage slowly picked his head up to observe his surroundings. Colorful horses. No, ponies. The creatures were simply too small to be a horse. He observed his surroundings more thoroughly. Houses with thatched roofs, and a cobblestone road. At least I made it out of there. He thought as a breath of relief escaped his lungs. The mage looked around again, and took notice of the stares he was getting. He chose to ignore them as he couldn’t really get up at the moment due to his injuries. “Is that him?!” The mage’s head snapped in the direction the voice came from. After a few shifts of his eyes, he found the source. Running to him was a pony, and an elf. “Looks like it!” The two came to a halt in front of the injured magician. “Is he okay?” “I don’t know, Evan.” Evan observed the mage’s appearance thoroughly. He was wearing a black robe with a white collar, sporting few rubies in the neck area. The smaller areas of the robe were red. The young dragon master quickly took notice of his dimon wand as his eyes scanned passed the cloth covered arms. Evan was very perplexed by this. What is a high class mage doing with just a dimon wand? The injured mage dropped his wand and reached out to them both. “Everyone. Dead. L-Lotus.” The mage’s vision faded, and his arm fell to the ground. Both pairs of eyes went wide. “LOTUS?!” Evan and Mercedes yelled in unison. “We’ve got to help him!” Evan declared. He glanced over at Mercedes, who was shaking. The elf sovereign herself heard of Lotus’s powers, and they were something to be feared. She collapsed to her knees, and her body started to give way under the shock of hearing who had done the amount of damage he did to this poor soul. Evan was busy checking for a heartbeat as he pressed an ear up to his chest. It was very, very faint. There was hardly a pulse to read. “Lotus must have went all out if this amount of damage was done.” After a few moments, Mercedes finally broke free from fear, and spoke, “And the big shocker is that this man is a bishop.” This surprised the young dragon master. “Wait. What?!” “There’s no doubt. This mage right before us is indeed a Bishop. A high class Cleric. Very high rank judging by the amount of magical power that is currently flowing through his body.” “But it feels so weak due to his injuries. You wouldn’t be able to tell if he was a Bishop to begin with.” Mercedes shook her head, “As much as I would like to discuss mages, we need to get him to a hospital. Does he have a pulse?” “Yes, but it’s very faint. If we don’t get him some medical attention, he will die.” The duo scrambled to pick up the body of the unconscious mage and his items, and carry him to a hospital. That’s if they can find one at all in this town. After a few minutes of walking, Evan began to think. “I don’t understand why he didn’t just heal himself. I mean, Bishops can have such powerful healing magic.” “Maybe because he’s too drained to use any magic. That’s the best I can come up with.” Mercedes pondered her first statement. “Now that I think about it, it is likely he used a lot of his power during his encounter with Lotus.” “That would explain it.” The two continued their trek through town in search of a medical center. This was a bit strenuous on Mercedes as she had to endure her own injuries. Many ponies were watching Evan and the elf wander through town. They didn’t seem to know where they were going, so a particular mint colored unicorn mare decided to guide to where they were going. “Uhm, do you need help with something?” Said the pony. Evan gave a quick nod. “Please, we would like to get him to a hospital before he passes from his injuries. He has a very weak pulse.” “Alright, just follow me, and we’ll be at the hospital in no time.” The mare. Mercedes was relieved to see at least one of the ponies help them out. The others were either too scared, or just scowled at them because of how different they were. “May we get the name of the one who is helping us?” “Lyra Heartstrings.” The mare answered happily. The two heroes were happy that Lyra went out of her way to help them. With the help from the unicorn, they were able to find the hospital in the nick of time. The sooner he recovered from his injuries, the sooner they can gather information on what happened to him, and the explorers in the temple. What Lotus did to them couldn’t have been pleasant. ***** It has been few hours since diplomacy had been discussed between Cygnus and the princesses. After the meetings were adjourned, Hawk Eye the Thunder Breaker, decided to go on a rampage against the Royal Guard as a “training exercise.” The pirate had knocked out a few hundred of the Celestia’s finest guards. She and Luna were quite shocked at how strong the Cygnus Knights were. “Okay, Hawk Eye, knock it off!” Mihile exclaimed. A brown skinned man wearing pirate attire shrugged as a bit of yellow lightning jumped in hands, “Awe come on. Just because they can’t handle a little shock ain’t my fault.” Mihile facepalmed with a reply, “That is NOT a little shock.” He pointed at the unconscious guards. “That and you left none for us to train.” Mihile finished, clenching his teeth in annoyance. “Hey, I already trained them.” Hawk retorted. “They’re all unconscious! How is that training them?” Irena interjected. Hawk Eye observed the damage he had done. “Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away.” “A LITTLE?!” Irena and Mihile roared. Oz gave an annoyed sigh. Hawk Eye always had a problem of going overboard when it came to training guards, or training new recruits. Eckhart however, who currently stood next to the Blaze Wizard, said and did nothing. He always sat there in silence, and whenever he got involved in something like this, everyone normally shut up and ran from him. Well, at least the recruits would. The Night Walker always had taught his that “stealth is key” and to “always remain in shadows.” Also, he’d always keep his mask on to emphasize the importance of staying out of sight, and silent. “It’s too noisy here.” The Thief of Darkness proclaimed. “I’m going outside where it’s peaceful.” There was a pause as he turned to head towards the exit of the training hall. “And quiet.” he finished. Celestia and Luna turned their attention to Eckhart, who had just exited the castle. “Are your knights always like this?” Luna said as she now turned her attention to Cygnus. “I have faith in my knights.” The young Empress answered sternly. “Especially Mihile.” Neinheart cleared his throat, preparing an explanation for the Knights’ behaviors. “The knights have different ways of approaching battle, which is why our Empress picked them in the first place. Eckhart is more focused on using stealth to take out his enemies. Oz, focuses on the more magical prowess of the body and mind. Which is why she controls the element of fire, but in a much more sophisticated fashion. Hawk Eye, the pirate, focuses on brute force as well as tactical combat to effectively take down enemies. Call him a tank if you will, but a dangerous one.” Neinheart took a small pause before continuing. “Now, as for Irena, she is quite unique in her ability to manipulate the wind. This allows her to swiftly remove her targets with ease, and precision. Her approach to battle has to do with quickly removing targets using the least amount of energy as possible.” The advisor adjusted his monocle. “Now Mihile is whole other something. Power, strength, swiftness, and intelligence all come into play with him. I was very skeptical about him at first due to the fact that may have not been able to live up to his father’s legacy. He proved me otherwise. His ability to be tactical shows that he uses his wits outsmart enemies. The power to take them down, and the agility to maneuver around, and to avoid attacks with no compromise.” “So each of the Knights have something unique to their way of fighting?” Asked Celestia. Neinheart gave a nod. “The combination of these five is not a force to be trifled with.” “Has there ever been a time where their power wavered at all?” Luna questioned. The advisor let out a sigh. “I do not know of such instances. All I know is that the Black Mage created some sort of nightmare dimension in the Time Temple.” Luna raised a brow at this, “What kind of nightmare?” Cygnus shook with fright at the memory of when she heard of such a horrible dimension being created. “One that foretold that the Empress would lose faith in her Knighthood, and go in search of a greater power so she could fight back against the Black Mage.” Neinheart answered. “What happened in this dimension?” “The Empress and her knights became corrupt through the power of the Black Mage himself. After that, all of Maple World was left in ruin, death, and chaos. This was literally the foretelling of the Black Mage’s eventual rise to power.” Luna and Celestia looked at each other as worry replaced the expressions on their faces. There was now even more of a reason to stand by The Maple Alliance. Pony and human would fight side-by-side against the forces of the dark sorcerer. The end of the Black Mage’s terror will soon come to an end. ***** “Master, it appears The Maple Alliance has found new allies.” Echoed a ghastly voice. “Shall we end them as quickly as possible?” “Let us not overestimate their power as well as underestimate it.” A dark, looming voice answered. “We wait until the proper time to strike.” “When will that be, M’lord?” “When they least expect it.” “That tall, blue, winged-unicorn one looks like she has emotions tucked away in the deepest pits of her mind.” “Yes, I can sense it; and she will prove to be a most useful asset to our ranks. I do sense a great power just DYING to be released from that cage of a body.” The ghastly voice chuckled, “I shall then escape this realm with her then.” “Do bring her to me. That body is not but a prison to be broken free from. All I require is the spirit of such malice be released from it, and join our ‘benevolent’ cause.” “As you wish, M’lord.” “Soon, heroes, our long awaited dance to the death will soon be at hand.”
