MLP FiM: Aspects of Emotionby Edge MaverickChaptersChapter 1: Once Upon a TimeChapter 2: Life or DeathChapter 3: Ice or WaterChapter 4: We weren't prepared for thisChapter 1: Once Upon a TimeChapter 1: Once Upon a Time Black Mist sat in front of his sensei's photo in prayer, a sense of serenity filling him with peace. The candles to the left and right of the photo brought to him a sense of remembrance. "Get up!" "But sensei I can't!" "Don't listen to your body, listen to your heart boy! Have I taught you nothing!" Was heard in his thoughts, the memories of his last moments with his sensei fresh in his mind while in his meditative state. The sound of candles flickering was the only noise for tens of meters, the void filled by the tranquility of his nostalgia. Suddenly, a greatly powerful, yet excited energy arose. One that carried with it the weight of disdain, and moved with haste. The doors slammed open, sending a gust of wind through the almost vacuumed room strong enough to blow out the candles and leave only the dim light of cloud covered sun coming through the door. A dark silhouette of a pony wearing ceremonial robes walked through, the previously unheard patter of rain drops on master crafted jade steps appeared behind him. As the colt entered he seemed to be lacking a mane and had series of three dots burned into his forehead. "Black Mist, it seems that Celestia's guard are here to retrieve you. They claim you have some higher purpose." The colt stated with an authoritarian tone to his voice. "With pleasure, master Chi." Is the only words Black Mist said before opening his yellow eyes and stretching his black pigmented wings and legs. As he turns, his dark green mane sifted past his eyes for the smallest moment as he pulls his hood directly over it. "Let them see our temple's best." He finally says as he walks past the master and gazes directly onto the golden carriage at the other end of the temple walls. Meanwhile, the royal guardsman earth pony that was Bacard was making his way through the gates and into the sparring hall. His bronze armor was matched by his sword, both making a subtle clang as he walked. He had a midnight blue mane that matched his eyes, and a red coat of fur that looked covered in scars. As he walked into the middle of the sparring hall to view the current match-up he was greeted by the stern looks of his comrades, many of them still mourning over the Ponyville Massacre only a few weeks ago. He had been combating the melancholy of Equestria’s position as well, but the truth behind it all was that he was getting nowhere fast. After gathering his attention back towards the fight, he noticed the two in action were among the better fighters in his company. They ducked and weaved past each other with the kind of footing you would expect from a dancer, their training swords rarely actually making contact, and when they did, it was only to be parried by the opposer. They were good, really good. As Bacard watched, the only thing he could place about the two for sure was that he was glad they were on his side. --- Just then one of the two got the upper hand, swinging downward on the opponents wooden sword with enough force that the clash caused splinters to spray in every direction from the place of impact. The colt underneath reeled in intense pain as she dropped her hoof toward the ground, spun in place and bucked him out of the ring and directly into Bacard, launching him backwards and pushing him out of the ring. Bacard was quick to realize that the colt laying on top of him was entirely unconscious and slid him off in order to get back up. He looked forward just in time to see the winning mare drop her weapon, put her head down and let a single tear run down her cheek only before walking out of the fight circle and heading towards the medical bench, but before Bacard had time to do anything about the crying mare he felt a hoof lay itself upon his withers. He turned to see the brilliant armor and enduring gaze of Lieutenant Colonel Sparking Sun. “Grab your stuff private, we have some talking to do, and make it quick I will not be accused of making Princess Luna late because of your folly.” The commander said with the most assuredly pissed of tone he could muster without raising his voice. At the same time as all this, another pegasi named Golden Leaf was undergoing a personal ritual, talking to the birds and the rodents that still frequented the Canterlot gardens. As he watched their small paws run over his extended golden furred hoof, a bird landed on his snout and another popped out of his green mane, he did not mind, it was relaxing to him. All had not been well, and the balance of nature was off. The skies had been blotted out by the ever present meddling of the dragons, the river had been tainted by Discord’s chaotic and vile magic. The insects and large mammals were being eaten by the changelings. Plants were dying as seeds were being stripped by the Griffons. The plains were growing over forests as the Bison extended their territory. If Golden Leaf hadn’t known better, he’d say the whole world had gone insane, but the thought always lingered inside him that such a thing might be the truth of his scenario. The thought frightened him, but he didn’t get time to linger on it as he heard the rustle of bushes near the entrance into the parks gardens. “Why the hell would anyone want to hide in here!?” Golden Leaf heard in the distance. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask the guy yourself, huh!?” Was then heard in reply. After a couple more moments of bickering and twig snapping, the two revealed themselves to be Lunar guardsman, and very frustrated ones at that, “You there.” They stated toward Golden, who simply flinched in reply to the elite soldiers. “We need you to come with us, Luna’s orders.” the one said. “Your Golden Leaf, right?” The other said. Golden Leaf walked with them to leave, not wanting to speak up in fear of the intimidating guard’s reactions. Meanwhile, the scholarly Wizard, Azure Flame, began a look at what seemed to him as mail at the door of his dorm. To be a Hero read the letter, and after looking it up and down, and found it to be a summons from the Princess of the moon. So he walked into the hall and made his way, stopping only to grab his tailcoat and books. And yet one more came when Ghost, another colt, with seafoam green mane and a slate grey coat landed on the steps of the prison’s stair with a rather loud thud. “That hurt you ass!” He screamed into the guard behind him, whom didn't seem to react in any way but to sigh. As Ghost struggled to get up with the shackles around his hooves and trudge forward up the absurdly large staircase he started to make painfully reluctant talk with the guard. “You bringing me to my execution now? It’s the least you could do after having me locked up for a crime I didn’t commit.” Again the guard refused to speak. “Tough guy huh! This is just proof of your corruption! Equestria has bigger things to worry about than the likes of me! It’s all cause each Princess is a colossal bitch!” Ghost said at the top of his lungs while refusing to walk, turning around only to see the but of the guards spear held by his magical grip. Within moment’s he was to hit the ground, and woke up being carried to Luna’s throne room. All of the ponies and their respective cohorts sat in front of Luna on her mighty throne. The room for a moment was quiet, an air of seriousness building into tension amongst the group. Ghost grinned in defiance, Black Mist nodded in acceptance, Azure simply stared, Golden quivered in fear, Bacard stood at attention and the rest seemed informed. “As you all know, Celestia is busy regarding other, less militaristic matters as of the moment. So I summon you all here for a reason, and may you listen when I speak it.” Luna projected over the group, all of them reacting with expressions of wonder and respect. “We are losing this war.” She started, pausing as if for dramatic effect. “But we have not lost it. Eighty years ago, we put the Elements of Harmony back into the Tree of Harmony, it proved to be a fatal mistake as the forces of darkness threatened to end the land, but as a daring sacrifice, Rarity, the Element of Generosity, threw herself into the cloud in self sacrifice. For thirty years the land was at peace. Fifty years ago, King Sombra came back from the dead in search of those who had ended him before, after stealing the crystal heart and shattering it for good, Sombra took over the Crystal Empire once more and pushed away Cadance and Shining armor. After getting settled back into Canterlot, they revealed the secret that was their ten year old son, and the reason that they did not stand and fight against the evil king. His name was Sparking Sun, and he was born an Alicorn like his mother. Twenty years ago, the bison took back their independence and took back Appleloosa. The dragons as well, claimed back all the peaks in Equestria, causing a great pollution. Ten years ago, the Griffons declared war on us and began an all out attack on our east coast, mass murdering a quarter of our population and ending all trade. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, charged into the front lines of their second wave, and in her final blaze of glory, brought with her an estimated total of two-hundred enemies with her before she was shot from the sky, and subsequently executed. Five years ago, Chrysalis took her hive to the Tree of Harmony and took it for herself, using the power to engulf every forest in Equestria. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness claimed that day that she was going to bring the protection of nature back to us, and left on a great quest, looking for the Tree of Life. One year ago, Discord betrayed us, mutating the populace into horrid monsters we now refer to as Daemon. Two weeks after his betrayal, Applejack, the Element of Honesty, was placed upon a pike, and placed into the middle of Canterlot Town Square with a not that said, “Ponyville is next.”. A month ago, Princess Twilight, Spike the dragon and the last remaining Element, Pinkmena Dian Pie, took a last stand against Discord in Ponyville. A flash of light large enough to to be seen for hundreds of miles appeared in there, and all was gone. While Discord won that day, Twilight won us time.” Luna looked toward the stars, and then back at the group. “Tonight we find that the shards of the Elements of Magic have come back to us with your names written across them, we believe that you might be our last hope. The heroes of prophecy. We don’t think you the new Element’s of Harmony, but instead, The Aspects of Emotion.” Author's Note This took me at least a month to concrete for sure, but after hearing a couple inspiring words I worked up the nerve to post the finished work. Tell me what you think in the comments below and remember to watch for "Chapter 2: Life or Death" Chapter 2: Life or DeathMLP FiM: AoE: Chapter 2: Life or Death All the ponies who had earlier prepared themselves for Luna’s speech now stood dumbstruck. All except for Ghost who immediately broke out into an insane laughter, “You honestly expect me to believe that line of bull! Ha! I sit in a cell for a month to rot away and be left to my own devices only to find out I’m Equestria’s final hope? This is a twist. Tell me Princess, is that how you treat all your heroes?” Luna sat in silence for a moment, her eyes closed and her head down before looking up at the Unicorn colt. “Be glad your getting a second chance, plebeian, it was my sister's decision to let you come up from your cell.” Ghost decided to shut up after a comment like that, only mumbling to himself as he gave a cold grimace. After watching this event unfold Azure Flame stands up, his red and orange mane standing out against his blue coat and making him a target for attention as he spoke, “Princess, if I may ask, what’s in it for us? We are but simple ponies, most of us anyway. What are we to do against the forces of evil that scour the land?” Luna looked with confidence toward the other Unicorn, “There is an arsenal, open to the militia to door down on the right as you leave this room. Once you have armed yourself with what you think you would need, enter into the room behind me. It is the war room, where we shall discuss the plan.” “But Luna, I don’t think that-” “Are you questioning your Princess?” “No. Mam.” Azure looked down in shame at what he did, still disliking the idea of putting his life on the line, hero or not, this was just too fast. Many of the others thought similarly. Golden Leaf was still in shock at the very idea that he was special at all. Black Mist was ready to test himself, but wondered whether or not he was truly, mentally, ready for what was to come. Bacard knew that, hero or not, the day was fast approaching that he would see the field again, and it wasn't a fun experience to begin with. Ghost, was getting excited at the idea of just seeing the outside of this castle again, no matter what the consequences. Sparking Sun walked toward the group, “If you would all follow me, I’ll be supporting you in equipping yourselves.” The group then followed, reluctantly, with the exception of Bacard and Ghost. When they cross the hall and step inside, the feeling of war begins to loom over them, while most of it is bronze, and rather beaten up, walls upon walls of weapons and armor still stood ahead of them, and along with it, the entirety of Equestria’s final battalion, a hefty six hundred ponies stood crowded gathering all the items they felt comfortable with. “Does this place always look so,” Golden pauses for a moment, “deadly?” “Always.” answers Bacard before walking in to the crowd. “And boy do I love it!” shouts Ghost as he looks hungerly upon all the weapons. Azure looks to where Sparking had been only to find that the white alicorn had left, most likely tending to duties closer to his stature. Not finding him, he leaves the rest of the group to their devices and begins to contemplate why he was here. “I've lived in Unicorn Valley all my life until Discord took it with everything else. I get here and have a chance to stay at the castle due to my privileged status as a true magi. Now that I’m here I find myself being shipped off to fight in a war against monstrosities so terrible that they've crippled our country and slaughtered our friends and family, including mine. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel right now, but I now I’m upset. I don’t like this place, not one bit.” He thought to himself. A slap on the hindquarters reminded him he was alive as Ghost looked at him and spoke, “Get outa the way if you're not gonna grab one.” and proceeded to pull a short sword off of the rack. Meanwhile, Bacard found what he was looking for, the mare from earlier, who had fought in the sparring matches and won. She was in her armor and carried three short swords, all of which were bronze and showed the kind of claw marks that could only come from Chaos Daemon themselves. Her coat was a light green, and her mane was short and curly, her eyes glistened with the subtle pain of loneliness. “Hi there!” Bacard started, having to speak up over the ramble of readying soldiers. “Hello, was there something you needed,” She looked with her eyes to see his name tag, “Bacard.” “Yes, you see, I saw you crying earlier after your spectacular battle, and I was kind of wondering why?” Bacard questioned. “Do you always like to peek your head in where it doesn't belong?” she retorted, a nasty, yet civilized tone to her voice. “That’s not what this is, it’s just, if there was something wrong, I wanted to, you know-” “Help? I was crying because the sparring match just wasn't the same as getting the chance to sink my blade into the things that murdered my friends and comrades. I was crying because I realized that at this rate I’ll never get a chance to get my revenge on Discord, and at this point, I would be willing to make a pact with evil incarnate if it meant getting the chance. So tell me, do you think you can help me?” She said with a look of cold determination in her once sad eyes, her expression slowly shifting from melancholy to sadistic rage the more she spoke. “No…” was the only thing Bacard could say, and while she was obviously broken, he still felt some attachment. He felt like he could relate to her in some fashion. And in some, sick way, he felt the same about all this, although he could never admit it. The two stood there for a moment before Bacard broke eye contact and looked to the ground in nervousness before making his way to the group of “Heroes” for which he was expected to join. They all seemed shockingly cheery for a group about to face their deaths, and so Bacard stayed quiet, feeling just a tad out of place. A day later, the group found themselves boarding a boat to head down the river at the base of Canterlot Mountain. They had gotten used to each other by now, and they tended to stay quiet due to the amount of nervousness held amongst the group. In only five hours they would be upon Neighagra Falls to see what had settled in after all the attacks. The inside of the falls held a cave where they had trained many an elite soldier a couple years ago, but when the Crystal Empire was retaken by Sombra, the operation was moved back into Canterlot. Or at least, that’s what their superiors had told them. Ever since they got on this ship they had been met by too many new faces for them to honestly keep track of, much to the dismay of ponies such as Golden Leaf and Azure, who weren't used to talking to people at all, much less an entire sixty four pony platoon. After four hours, the group had had enough, and ascended the steps onto the deck, hoping for excitement, instead what they found was a general sense of terror as a black fog came upon the boat and began to rise into shapes. They all readied their weapons, including Golden Leaf, who had a spear, as they all backed into a circle with the other ten to fifteen soldiers still on deck ready to swing at anything that came near. “What’s going on?” Golden Leaf said, hoping to get a nice peaceful reply. “These are Sombra’s creatures forming in front of us…” Azure answered as he looked at the smoky beings with awe and wonder. “Fabulous, now how do we hit them?” Ghost asked what he believed to be a smart ass named Azure. “We will only have to hit them once for their form to dissipate, sadly, it seems that they've got us outnumbered five to one here.” Azure answered. “Fine with me.” Bacard spoke up as he prepared himself to strike. “As with me.” Replied the mare from earlier as the shadow ponies stepped closer. “This is not beyond my capabilities.” Stated Black Mist as he stared the creatures down. Bacard looked to her again and said, “Incase we die here, what’s you-” “My names Cherry Pie, and I can’t die yet, so don’t expect it.” She replied before lunging in to the shadows, swiping across two at a time and starting the combat. The soldiers went next, swinging their sword at the monsters and ending their fowl lives. But as the rest of the party moved forward to attack, Bacard was slashed at by one of the creatures crumpling him to the ground and forming a series of three claw marks on his face, all of them beginning to bleed profusely. Moral was almost instantly broken as the group realized that these things could hurt them and began to fall back into their circle. One, two and then three of the soldiers fell as the creatures stole the initiative. “Everyone stand back! This spell could mean life or death!” Azure Flame shouted as his horn began to glow with a fiery blue aura. The group parted for him as enemy after enemy flooded onto the boat. “Work faster you fucking magi!” Ghost yelled back as he parried the attacks of three different shadow creatures. “Now!” Azure said as a blue ball of energy lifted from his horn and then exploded into thirty or forty needles worth of energy, hitting everything around them, and annihilating the creatures. Now standing in the front and turning to pose, a very large shadow beast, covered in bone and some flesh, formed in the shape of a lion and crawled up the ship behind him. Azure’s fame was short lived as the crowd saw it behind him and cowered. The only words that Azure bothered to muster when he saw the shadow form over him was, “You've got to be kidding me…” Author's Note I would like to, starting with this, declare that until further notice I will have a chapter out at least every other week, and preferably once a week. Thank you, anyone who is supporting of my work, either through likes, comments and favorites, or any actual tips you would like to provide or mistakes to point out, I appreciate everything. Thank you Chapter 3: Ice or WaterChapter 3: Ice and Water “For Equestria!” Shouted Bacard as he charged forward at the beast with his retrieved sword. He jumped and slid, slashed and stabbed at the beast, but the sheer mass of it was too much, the gaping wounds looking like paper cuts in it’s presence. The beast struck downwards with it’s massive claws upon Azure, whom was tossed out of the way by Cherry Pie, who stood her ground, holding the beast with sword grinding against claw. Azure sat on the ground were Cherry Pie had tossed him, staring up in awe. Black Mist began to focus in the middle of the battle, tensing and un-tensing his muscles, directing his sight toward the fight and hoping to see a weakness he could exploit, and was well on his way to finding it. Ghost began to meld into the crowd, trying to get to the side of the creature un-noticed, what he expected to do and what the creature wished never to happen, he intended to make one and the same. Golden sat in the back and tried to keep away from it all, being frightened of the idea of being tossed around by that, unnatural, thing. The other soldiers prepared themselves for the onslaught, expecting to be next on the creatures buffet menu. The captain of the ship started to lose grip as he turned the wheel to counter balance the beast. Within the next ten seconds, everything began to unfold, Bacard held the sword firmly in his teeth before dashing underneath and tossing it directly into one of the beasts three revealed hearts, causing it to roar in immense the pain. It almost collapsed as it climbed to the top of the ship, feeling a sword in one of it’s hearts, and blood trickling down it’s half fleshed legs. Cherry Pie had since moved out from under it’s paw and was now trying to hack at it’s leg, hoping to take it off or severe the muscle. Ghost then jumped on it’s back and galloped forward to lift a spear with his magic and shove it into the creatures head. Before another second could pass Black Mists wings shot out from his cloak, allowing him to zoom forward and up into a flying somersault, putting his back hoof out at the last minute and kicking downward on the snout of the roaring lion like beast. The force of the attack cracked it’s snout and did the final blow as it fell to the ground, trapping Bacard under it’s unfinished rib cage and partially inside of it. After a couple of hours of work throwing the beast off the boat and cleaning off the horrible things that spewd from it in it’s death, the group finds themselves calming down again. Cherry Pie staring out into the distance, imagining it’s death, and rehearsing it in her mind. Azure trying to come to grips with what was almost his immediate death. Black Mist was meditating inside his shared cabin, trying to cleanse his mind, body and soul of the life he just took. Ghost began bragging to the other soldiers over a rum. Golden Leaf was watching the fish in the river below. Finally, Bacard was taking part in something he learnt from his fellow soldiers, sleep when you can. “Yeah! and then I told the fucking bastard his wife could suck my dick, and he was like, what did you say to me bra? and I was like, you heard me.” Ghost said, managing to keep his vocabulary intact as he talked to the stallions and mares around him. “And what happened after that?” One of the younger ones asked. “Yeah man, this is getting good.” Another agreed. “Well I kicked his ass of course, Then a couple weeks later I met up with his wife and then I bucked her brains out, can you imagine how pissed he was at me?” Ghost boasted in his drunken stupor. “No way man, you're bluffin!” Exclaimed to one mare at the corner of the table. “Na man, why would I?” Ghost retorted, only before they all broke out into laughter. All except for Azure, still sitting there, using the rest of the crowd simply as background noise to keep himself from sinking deeper into his depressive thoughts. After all, he almost died, but Cherry Pie saved him, maybe he needed to thank her he thought. And so Azure made his way to the top deck and towards the outward staring pony. “What’a you want?” She asked without turning around. Azure stepped forward and said, “I wanted to say thanks, for earlier.” “Is that so? Tell me, what makes you so thankful?” “Well, I don’t know, it’s in my nature I guess.” “Really, then can you answer a question for me?” “Um, yes, sure?” “When water hardens and becomes ice, does it make it better, or worse?” What do you mean?” “On one side, ice is sharp, static, resilient, enduring, and can be formed into whatever it needs to be, whether that’s an igloo, a place to skate, or even a reflection.” She starts. “But water is peaceful, flowing, and healing, not wanting to hurt, and supplying the world with life, although ever changing.” Azure finishes. “Yes. Which is better?” “I’ll need some time to answer that.” “That’s fine. Be careful then, I’ll be heading to rest.” She then walked past him and to her quarters. Azure looked up at the stars, “Ice or water… I wonder what she means by that…” Author's Note Sorry, this part is short I know, but this is primarily because of need to focus the story. handling a story with six main characters is much harder than I had originally thought, and I believe that it's beginning to make the writing look cluttered. Any comments on that would be appreciated. Thank you all for reading and stay tuned for Chapter 4. :) Chapter 4: We weren't prepared for thisMLP FiM: AoE: Chapter 4: We weren't prepared for this. The whole crew suddenly wakes up to the sound of a splintering crack of the starboard bow hitting hard stone and were further enlightened of the situation through the sound of hooves galloping across the deck to get situated in the docking process. As our heroes make their way to the top however, they get the spectacular sight of the largest waterfall in all of Equestria. The entirety of the sight being the realization that this waterfall is the runoff of the arctic mountains surrounding the Crystal Empire. Every drop eventually making it’s way back to here, were it supplies it’s water back to the east of their beloved continent and country. “Maybe traveling like this isn't so bad after all.” Said Golden Leaf, awake at the sight. “You're right, the research that could be done here is simply breathtaking.” Azure answered with a smile. “Coulda fooled me! I was getting some good research on the subject of sleep before this.” Ghost interjected, still dizzily grabbing hold of the rail, his breath still smelling like booze. The rest simply smiled, finally getting a breath of the vapor filled air gave a feeling of refreshment to the crew. Spirits began to raise as they made their way to the supplies for their pre-mission meal. Passing of rations and the singing of songs took place as those who finished started unloading for a trip into their old camp. “Alright crew! This is Captain Beat here!” The captain spoke as he walked amongst the crowd. “This trip took us much longer than we had intended on. The delay caused by Sombra’s creatures shall bind us no longer. Today we march into his land and if we find his beasts than we shall purify them, with extreme prejudice. Leave nothing alive, no stone unturned, and reclaim this territory in the name of Celestia and Luna. All hail Equestria! All hail the divine!” The rest of the crew, with the exception of Ghost, Golden and Black Mist -- cheered in excitement and furiosity. After a couple moments they were off, traveling off the boat and along the side of the massive lake in order to get behind the waterfall. As they entered the whole world filled with the sound of rushing water, the echoing waterfall become the only audible noise as it had drown out out even their speech. As the neared the back of the cave they saw a door embedded into it, surrounded by torches though all of them put out, likely because of the water. Two of the colts broke from the group to light the torches and carry them as Captain Beat opened the door. Inside the door was another hall, this one narrower, more like a tunnel, obviously pony-made as it was lacking stalactites. The group began to find itself gathering into a line and drawing their weapons in case of danger. They traveled like this for about a half an hour, through twist and turn, dark hallway after dark hallway, and the only thing to accompany them was the sound of their hooves hitting the floor and each-others breath. Finally the group came to an opening, a widening of the original tunnel smoothly into the gaping openness of an entire room, the sound of a small underwater stream sounding within it. “All of you that are feeling parched, I suggest you get a drink before we find the next door” Beat said to his crew. Many a soldier went to get a drink until a sophisticated voice spoke up from the distance. “Sir? It seems we've found your door.” Azure said, lighting the room with the magic from his horn. Illuminated in the dark room was a massive door, at least fifteen feet high and ten feet in width which had marked upon the ancient artwork of the kingdom, depicting the soldiers that had originally fought off the invasion of first Griffon Kingdom War. The other soldiers and the heroes began to look upon the magnificent sight in awe as the door began to open before their very eyes. Light cracked from between the doors as they split seamlessly in the middle of the picture and swung to each side. The warriors scuttled to get out of the way in time, and upon doing so, achieved a look inside the room. It was lit with torches across every wall, a shining throne of what looked like sand stone and copper sat at the top of a flight of stairs, connected to a red carpet entrance covered in glyphs and flanked by suits of armor all leading back to the magnificent double door entrance. “Sir, we should be careful of those glyphs, they were most likely enchanted with traps in case of our retur-” Azure began before being interrupted by Beat, “I’ll hear no more of it, this place and it’s treasures belong to those who found it, men, come with me.” He then proceeded to gallop his way inside the room, followed by most of the crew. Left behind were our heroes and three crewmen by the names of Bon jr., Razor and of course Cherry Pie. “He doesn't know what he’s doing.” Stated Azure as their Captain left him. “Should we wait for the fireworks? Or will it be an ambush ready to chop them into strawberry jam?” Ghost said before laughing off his morbid sense of humor. “Based on the glyphs-”, “Guys, look over there.” Golden interrupted Azure’s speech. The group then looked only to find their allies surrounded in glowing light, the glyphs did in fact activate, but no traps were apparent. The symbols began to spin and the armor fell to the floor, shocking the group, and forcing them to gather into a more defensible circle formation. “Don’t lose heart men! This is our proving ground!” Beat said as the tension began to rise. An ooze like shadow began to seep from the armors and then began to take solid form -- picking up the armor itself and giving it form. Foggy darkness gathered around the joints and pooled at their hooves. The crew was shaken, they had never seen things like this before, finally one of them in the crowd shouted, “Heroes! Save us!” and the group looked to their heroes. They all looked back in shock except for Ghost, who ran in unhindered, but was too late to prevent what was to come. The shadowy knights all struck at once, tearing into their enemy as though they were taking a bite into steak, the armors themselves grew teeth and mouths and dropped their swords so they could began consuming the pieces that flew into the air. The first layer of shields were torn open with little to no effort, the second layer let the beasts run into their blades -- soon to drop the same way, finally the captain and his two guard were the last ones left. They fought as survivors should, but it wasn't enough, Beat was the last one left before he could grasp it. The pooling shadow formed into Sombra himself upon the throne. “Your presence is a perversion of my perfect world, begone.” Sombra said as his dark magic reached across the room and shattered the mind of the valiant captain. Ghost paused in utter shock as what he had previously described as strawberry jam splashed across his face with the putrid smell of death. Shock formed in his eyes as Sombra walked towards him, “Are you done yet, maggot?” Ghost struggled to respond for a moment. Azure and the rest of the group marched forward to back him up, spreading into a v-formation behind Ghost. “No, no I’m not.” Said ghost, “I have some avenging to do.” He finally said before pulling out his short sword. Author's Note Sorry for the wait.
Chapter 1: Once Upon a TimeChapter 1: Once Upon a Time Black Mist sat in front of his sensei's photo in prayer, a sense of serenity filling him with peace. The candles to the left and right of the photo brought to him a sense of remembrance. "Get up!" "But sensei I can't!" "Don't listen to your body, listen to your heart boy! Have I taught you nothing!" Was heard in his thoughts, the memories of his last moments with his sensei fresh in his mind while in his meditative state. The sound of candles flickering was the only noise for tens of meters, the void filled by the tranquility of his nostalgia. Suddenly, a greatly powerful, yet excited energy arose. One that carried with it the weight of disdain, and moved with haste. The doors slammed open, sending a gust of wind through the almost vacuumed room strong enough to blow out the candles and leave only the dim light of cloud covered sun coming through the door. A dark silhouette of a pony wearing ceremonial robes walked through, the previously unheard patter of rain drops on master crafted jade steps appeared behind him. As the colt entered he seemed to be lacking a mane and had series of three dots burned into his forehead. "Black Mist, it seems that Celestia's guard are here to retrieve you. They claim you have some higher purpose." The colt stated with an authoritarian tone to his voice. "With pleasure, master Chi." Is the only words Black Mist said before opening his yellow eyes and stretching his black pigmented wings and legs. As he turns, his dark green mane sifted past his eyes for the smallest moment as he pulls his hood directly over it. "Let them see our temple's best." He finally says as he walks past the master and gazes directly onto the golden carriage at the other end of the temple walls. Meanwhile, the royal guardsman earth pony that was Bacard was making his way through the gates and into the sparring hall. His bronze armor was matched by his sword, both making a subtle clang as he walked. He had a midnight blue mane that matched his eyes, and a red coat of fur that looked covered in scars. As he walked into the middle of the sparring hall to view the current match-up he was greeted by the stern looks of his comrades, many of them still mourning over the Ponyville Massacre only a few weeks ago. He had been combating the melancholy of Equestria’s position as well, but the truth behind it all was that he was getting nowhere fast. After gathering his attention back towards the fight, he noticed the two in action were among the better fighters in his company. They ducked and weaved past each other with the kind of footing you would expect from a dancer, their training swords rarely actually making contact, and when they did, it was only to be parried by the opposer. They were good, really good. As Bacard watched, the only thing he could place about the two for sure was that he was glad they were on his side. --- Just then one of the two got the upper hand, swinging downward on the opponents wooden sword with enough force that the clash caused splinters to spray in every direction from the place of impact. The colt underneath reeled in intense pain as she dropped her hoof toward the ground, spun in place and bucked him out of the ring and directly into Bacard, launching him backwards and pushing him out of the ring. Bacard was quick to realize that the colt laying on top of him was entirely unconscious and slid him off in order to get back up. He looked forward just in time to see the winning mare drop her weapon, put her head down and let a single tear run down her cheek only before walking out of the fight circle and heading towards the medical bench, but before Bacard had time to do anything about the crying mare he felt a hoof lay itself upon his withers. He turned to see the brilliant armor and enduring gaze of Lieutenant Colonel Sparking Sun. “Grab your stuff private, we have some talking to do, and make it quick I will not be accused of making Princess Luna late because of your folly.” The commander said with the most assuredly pissed of tone he could muster without raising his voice. At the same time as all this, another pegasi named Golden Leaf was undergoing a personal ritual, talking to the birds and the rodents that still frequented the Canterlot gardens. As he watched their small paws run over his extended golden furred hoof, a bird landed on his snout and another popped out of his green mane, he did not mind, it was relaxing to him. All had not been well, and the balance of nature was off. The skies had been blotted out by the ever present meddling of the dragons, the river had been tainted by Discord’s chaotic and vile magic. The insects and large mammals were being eaten by the changelings. Plants were dying as seeds were being stripped by the Griffons. The plains were growing over forests as the Bison extended their territory. If Golden Leaf hadn’t known better, he’d say the whole world had gone insane, but the thought always lingered inside him that such a thing might be the truth of his scenario. The thought frightened him, but he didn’t get time to linger on it as he heard the rustle of bushes near the entrance into the parks gardens. “Why the hell would anyone want to hide in here!?” Golden Leaf heard in the distance. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask the guy yourself, huh!?” Was then heard in reply. After a couple more moments of bickering and twig snapping, the two revealed themselves to be Lunar guardsman, and very frustrated ones at that, “You there.” They stated toward Golden, who simply flinched in reply to the elite soldiers. “We need you to come with us, Luna’s orders.” the one said. “Your Golden Leaf, right?” The other said. Golden Leaf walked with them to leave, not wanting to speak up in fear of the intimidating guard’s reactions. Meanwhile, the scholarly Wizard, Azure Flame, began a look at what seemed to him as mail at the door of his dorm. To be a Hero read the letter, and after looking it up and down, and found it to be a summons from the Princess of the moon. So he walked into the hall and made his way, stopping only to grab his tailcoat and books. And yet one more came when Ghost, another colt, with seafoam green mane and a slate grey coat landed on the steps of the prison’s stair with a rather loud thud. “That hurt you ass!” He screamed into the guard behind him, whom didn't seem to react in any way but to sigh. As Ghost struggled to get up with the shackles around his hooves and trudge forward up the absurdly large staircase he started to make painfully reluctant talk with the guard. “You bringing me to my execution now? It’s the least you could do after having me locked up for a crime I didn’t commit.” Again the guard refused to speak. “Tough guy huh! This is just proof of your corruption! Equestria has bigger things to worry about than the likes of me! It’s all cause each Princess is a colossal bitch!” Ghost said at the top of his lungs while refusing to walk, turning around only to see the but of the guards spear held by his magical grip. Within moment’s he was to hit the ground, and woke up being carried to Luna’s throne room. All of the ponies and their respective cohorts sat in front of Luna on her mighty throne. The room for a moment was quiet, an air of seriousness building into tension amongst the group. Ghost grinned in defiance, Black Mist nodded in acceptance, Azure simply stared, Golden quivered in fear, Bacard stood at attention and the rest seemed informed. “As you all know, Celestia is busy regarding other, less militaristic matters as of the moment. So I summon you all here for a reason, and may you listen when I speak it.” Luna projected over the group, all of them reacting with expressions of wonder and respect. “We are losing this war.” She started, pausing as if for dramatic effect. “But we have not lost it. Eighty years ago, we put the Elements of Harmony back into the Tree of Harmony, it proved to be a fatal mistake as the forces of darkness threatened to end the land, but as a daring sacrifice, Rarity, the Element of Generosity, threw herself into the cloud in self sacrifice. For thirty years the land was at peace. Fifty years ago, King Sombra came back from the dead in search of those who had ended him before, after stealing the crystal heart and shattering it for good, Sombra took over the Crystal Empire once more and pushed away Cadance and Shining armor. After getting settled back into Canterlot, they revealed the secret that was their ten year old son, and the reason that they did not stand and fight against the evil king. His name was Sparking Sun, and he was born an Alicorn like his mother. Twenty years ago, the bison took back their independence and took back Appleloosa. The dragons as well, claimed back all the peaks in Equestria, causing a great pollution. Ten years ago, the Griffons declared war on us and began an all out attack on our east coast, mass murdering a quarter of our population and ending all trade. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, charged into the front lines of their second wave, and in her final blaze of glory, brought with her an estimated total of two-hundred enemies with her before she was shot from the sky, and subsequently executed. Five years ago, Chrysalis took her hive to the Tree of Harmony and took it for herself, using the power to engulf every forest in Equestria. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness claimed that day that she was going to bring the protection of nature back to us, and left on a great quest, looking for the Tree of Life. One year ago, Discord betrayed us, mutating the populace into horrid monsters we now refer to as Daemon. Two weeks after his betrayal, Applejack, the Element of Honesty, was placed upon a pike, and placed into the middle of Canterlot Town Square with a not that said, “Ponyville is next.”. A month ago, Princess Twilight, Spike the dragon and the last remaining Element, Pinkmena Dian Pie, took a last stand against Discord in Ponyville. A flash of light large enough to to be seen for hundreds of miles appeared in there, and all was gone. While Discord won that day, Twilight won us time.” Luna looked toward the stars, and then back at the group. “Tonight we find that the shards of the Elements of Magic have come back to us with your names written across them, we believe that you might be our last hope. The heroes of prophecy. We don’t think you the new Element’s of Harmony, but instead, The Aspects of Emotion.” Author's Note This took me at least a month to concrete for sure, but after hearing a couple inspiring words I worked up the nerve to post the finished work. Tell me what you think in the comments below and remember to watch for "Chapter 2: Life or Death"
Chapter 2: Life or DeathMLP FiM: AoE: Chapter 2: Life or Death All the ponies who had earlier prepared themselves for Luna’s speech now stood dumbstruck. All except for Ghost who immediately broke out into an insane laughter, “You honestly expect me to believe that line of bull! Ha! I sit in a cell for a month to rot away and be left to my own devices only to find out I’m Equestria’s final hope? This is a twist. Tell me Princess, is that how you treat all your heroes?” Luna sat in silence for a moment, her eyes closed and her head down before looking up at the Unicorn colt. “Be glad your getting a second chance, plebeian, it was my sister's decision to let you come up from your cell.” Ghost decided to shut up after a comment like that, only mumbling to himself as he gave a cold grimace. After watching this event unfold Azure Flame stands up, his red and orange mane standing out against his blue coat and making him a target for attention as he spoke, “Princess, if I may ask, what’s in it for us? We are but simple ponies, most of us anyway. What are we to do against the forces of evil that scour the land?” Luna looked with confidence toward the other Unicorn, “There is an arsenal, open to the militia to door down on the right as you leave this room. Once you have armed yourself with what you think you would need, enter into the room behind me. It is the war room, where we shall discuss the plan.” “But Luna, I don’t think that-” “Are you questioning your Princess?” “No. Mam.” Azure looked down in shame at what he did, still disliking the idea of putting his life on the line, hero or not, this was just too fast. Many of the others thought similarly. Golden Leaf was still in shock at the very idea that he was special at all. Black Mist was ready to test himself, but wondered whether or not he was truly, mentally, ready for what was to come. Bacard knew that, hero or not, the day was fast approaching that he would see the field again, and it wasn't a fun experience to begin with. Ghost, was getting excited at the idea of just seeing the outside of this castle again, no matter what the consequences. Sparking Sun walked toward the group, “If you would all follow me, I’ll be supporting you in equipping yourselves.” The group then followed, reluctantly, with the exception of Bacard and Ghost. When they cross the hall and step inside, the feeling of war begins to loom over them, while most of it is bronze, and rather beaten up, walls upon walls of weapons and armor still stood ahead of them, and along with it, the entirety of Equestria’s final battalion, a hefty six hundred ponies stood crowded gathering all the items they felt comfortable with. “Does this place always look so,” Golden pauses for a moment, “deadly?” “Always.” answers Bacard before walking in to the crowd. “And boy do I love it!” shouts Ghost as he looks hungerly upon all the weapons. Azure looks to where Sparking had been only to find that the white alicorn had left, most likely tending to duties closer to his stature. Not finding him, he leaves the rest of the group to their devices and begins to contemplate why he was here. “I've lived in Unicorn Valley all my life until Discord took it with everything else. I get here and have a chance to stay at the castle due to my privileged status as a true magi. Now that I’m here I find myself being shipped off to fight in a war against monstrosities so terrible that they've crippled our country and slaughtered our friends and family, including mine. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel right now, but I now I’m upset. I don’t like this place, not one bit.” He thought to himself. A slap on the hindquarters reminded him he was alive as Ghost looked at him and spoke, “Get outa the way if you're not gonna grab one.” and proceeded to pull a short sword off of the rack. Meanwhile, Bacard found what he was looking for, the mare from earlier, who had fought in the sparring matches and won. She was in her armor and carried three short swords, all of which were bronze and showed the kind of claw marks that could only come from Chaos Daemon themselves. Her coat was a light green, and her mane was short and curly, her eyes glistened with the subtle pain of loneliness. “Hi there!” Bacard started, having to speak up over the ramble of readying soldiers. “Hello, was there something you needed,” She looked with her eyes to see his name tag, “Bacard.” “Yes, you see, I saw you crying earlier after your spectacular battle, and I was kind of wondering why?” Bacard questioned. “Do you always like to peek your head in where it doesn't belong?” she retorted, a nasty, yet civilized tone to her voice. “That’s not what this is, it’s just, if there was something wrong, I wanted to, you know-” “Help? I was crying because the sparring match just wasn't the same as getting the chance to sink my blade into the things that murdered my friends and comrades. I was crying because I realized that at this rate I’ll never get a chance to get my revenge on Discord, and at this point, I would be willing to make a pact with evil incarnate if it meant getting the chance. So tell me, do you think you can help me?” She said with a look of cold determination in her once sad eyes, her expression slowly shifting from melancholy to sadistic rage the more she spoke. “No…” was the only thing Bacard could say, and while she was obviously broken, he still felt some attachment. He felt like he could relate to her in some fashion. And in some, sick way, he felt the same about all this, although he could never admit it. The two stood there for a moment before Bacard broke eye contact and looked to the ground in nervousness before making his way to the group of “Heroes” for which he was expected to join. They all seemed shockingly cheery for a group about to face their deaths, and so Bacard stayed quiet, feeling just a tad out of place. A day later, the group found themselves boarding a boat to head down the river at the base of Canterlot Mountain. They had gotten used to each other by now, and they tended to stay quiet due to the amount of nervousness held amongst the group. In only five hours they would be upon Neighagra Falls to see what had settled in after all the attacks. The inside of the falls held a cave where they had trained many an elite soldier a couple years ago, but when the Crystal Empire was retaken by Sombra, the operation was moved back into Canterlot. Or at least, that’s what their superiors had told them. Ever since they got on this ship they had been met by too many new faces for them to honestly keep track of, much to the dismay of ponies such as Golden Leaf and Azure, who weren't used to talking to people at all, much less an entire sixty four pony platoon. After four hours, the group had had enough, and ascended the steps onto the deck, hoping for excitement, instead what they found was a general sense of terror as a black fog came upon the boat and began to rise into shapes. They all readied their weapons, including Golden Leaf, who had a spear, as they all backed into a circle with the other ten to fifteen soldiers still on deck ready to swing at anything that came near. “What’s going on?” Golden Leaf said, hoping to get a nice peaceful reply. “These are Sombra’s creatures forming in front of us…” Azure answered as he looked at the smoky beings with awe and wonder. “Fabulous, now how do we hit them?” Ghost asked what he believed to be a smart ass named Azure. “We will only have to hit them once for their form to dissipate, sadly, it seems that they've got us outnumbered five to one here.” Azure answered. “Fine with me.” Bacard spoke up as he prepared himself to strike. “As with me.” Replied the mare from earlier as the shadow ponies stepped closer. “This is not beyond my capabilities.” Stated Black Mist as he stared the creatures down. Bacard looked to her again and said, “Incase we die here, what’s you-” “My names Cherry Pie, and I can’t die yet, so don’t expect it.” She replied before lunging in to the shadows, swiping across two at a time and starting the combat. The soldiers went next, swinging their sword at the monsters and ending their fowl lives. But as the rest of the party moved forward to attack, Bacard was slashed at by one of the creatures crumpling him to the ground and forming a series of three claw marks on his face, all of them beginning to bleed profusely. Moral was almost instantly broken as the group realized that these things could hurt them and began to fall back into their circle. One, two and then three of the soldiers fell as the creatures stole the initiative. “Everyone stand back! This spell could mean life or death!” Azure Flame shouted as his horn began to glow with a fiery blue aura. The group parted for him as enemy after enemy flooded onto the boat. “Work faster you fucking magi!” Ghost yelled back as he parried the attacks of three different shadow creatures. “Now!” Azure said as a blue ball of energy lifted from his horn and then exploded into thirty or forty needles worth of energy, hitting everything around them, and annihilating the creatures. Now standing in the front and turning to pose, a very large shadow beast, covered in bone and some flesh, formed in the shape of a lion and crawled up the ship behind him. Azure’s fame was short lived as the crowd saw it behind him and cowered. The only words that Azure bothered to muster when he saw the shadow form over him was, “You've got to be kidding me…” Author's Note I would like to, starting with this, declare that until further notice I will have a chapter out at least every other week, and preferably once a week. Thank you, anyone who is supporting of my work, either through likes, comments and favorites, or any actual tips you would like to provide or mistakes to point out, I appreciate everything. Thank you
Chapter 3: Ice or WaterChapter 3: Ice and Water “For Equestria!” Shouted Bacard as he charged forward at the beast with his retrieved sword. He jumped and slid, slashed and stabbed at the beast, but the sheer mass of it was too much, the gaping wounds looking like paper cuts in it’s presence. The beast struck downwards with it’s massive claws upon Azure, whom was tossed out of the way by Cherry Pie, who stood her ground, holding the beast with sword grinding against claw. Azure sat on the ground were Cherry Pie had tossed him, staring up in awe. Black Mist began to focus in the middle of the battle, tensing and un-tensing his muscles, directing his sight toward the fight and hoping to see a weakness he could exploit, and was well on his way to finding it. Ghost began to meld into the crowd, trying to get to the side of the creature un-noticed, what he expected to do and what the creature wished never to happen, he intended to make one and the same. Golden sat in the back and tried to keep away from it all, being frightened of the idea of being tossed around by that, unnatural, thing. The other soldiers prepared themselves for the onslaught, expecting to be next on the creatures buffet menu. The captain of the ship started to lose grip as he turned the wheel to counter balance the beast. Within the next ten seconds, everything began to unfold, Bacard held the sword firmly in his teeth before dashing underneath and tossing it directly into one of the beasts three revealed hearts, causing it to roar in immense the pain. It almost collapsed as it climbed to the top of the ship, feeling a sword in one of it’s hearts, and blood trickling down it’s half fleshed legs. Cherry Pie had since moved out from under it’s paw and was now trying to hack at it’s leg, hoping to take it off or severe the muscle. Ghost then jumped on it’s back and galloped forward to lift a spear with his magic and shove it into the creatures head. Before another second could pass Black Mists wings shot out from his cloak, allowing him to zoom forward and up into a flying somersault, putting his back hoof out at the last minute and kicking downward on the snout of the roaring lion like beast. The force of the attack cracked it’s snout and did the final blow as it fell to the ground, trapping Bacard under it’s unfinished rib cage and partially inside of it. After a couple of hours of work throwing the beast off the boat and cleaning off the horrible things that spewd from it in it’s death, the group finds themselves calming down again. Cherry Pie staring out into the distance, imagining it’s death, and rehearsing it in her mind. Azure trying to come to grips with what was almost his immediate death. Black Mist was meditating inside his shared cabin, trying to cleanse his mind, body and soul of the life he just took. Ghost began bragging to the other soldiers over a rum. Golden Leaf was watching the fish in the river below. Finally, Bacard was taking part in something he learnt from his fellow soldiers, sleep when you can. “Yeah! and then I told the fucking bastard his wife could suck my dick, and he was like, what did you say to me bra? and I was like, you heard me.” Ghost said, managing to keep his vocabulary intact as he talked to the stallions and mares around him. “And what happened after that?” One of the younger ones asked. “Yeah man, this is getting good.” Another agreed. “Well I kicked his ass of course, Then a couple weeks later I met up with his wife and then I bucked her brains out, can you imagine how pissed he was at me?” Ghost boasted in his drunken stupor. “No way man, you're bluffin!” Exclaimed to one mare at the corner of the table. “Na man, why would I?” Ghost retorted, only before they all broke out into laughter. All except for Azure, still sitting there, using the rest of the crowd simply as background noise to keep himself from sinking deeper into his depressive thoughts. After all, he almost died, but Cherry Pie saved him, maybe he needed to thank her he thought. And so Azure made his way to the top deck and towards the outward staring pony. “What’a you want?” She asked without turning around. Azure stepped forward and said, “I wanted to say thanks, for earlier.” “Is that so? Tell me, what makes you so thankful?” “Well, I don’t know, it’s in my nature I guess.” “Really, then can you answer a question for me?” “Um, yes, sure?” “When water hardens and becomes ice, does it make it better, or worse?” What do you mean?” “On one side, ice is sharp, static, resilient, enduring, and can be formed into whatever it needs to be, whether that’s an igloo, a place to skate, or even a reflection.” She starts. “But water is peaceful, flowing, and healing, not wanting to hurt, and supplying the world with life, although ever changing.” Azure finishes. “Yes. Which is better?” “I’ll need some time to answer that.” “That’s fine. Be careful then, I’ll be heading to rest.” She then walked past him and to her quarters. Azure looked up at the stars, “Ice or water… I wonder what she means by that…” Author's Note Sorry, this part is short I know, but this is primarily because of need to focus the story. handling a story with six main characters is much harder than I had originally thought, and I believe that it's beginning to make the writing look cluttered. Any comments on that would be appreciated. Thank you all for reading and stay tuned for Chapter 4. :)
Chapter 4: We weren't prepared for thisMLP FiM: AoE: Chapter 4: We weren't prepared for this. The whole crew suddenly wakes up to the sound of a splintering crack of the starboard bow hitting hard stone and were further enlightened of the situation through the sound of hooves galloping across the deck to get situated in the docking process. As our heroes make their way to the top however, they get the spectacular sight of the largest waterfall in all of Equestria. The entirety of the sight being the realization that this waterfall is the runoff of the arctic mountains surrounding the Crystal Empire. Every drop eventually making it’s way back to here, were it supplies it’s water back to the east of their beloved continent and country. “Maybe traveling like this isn't so bad after all.” Said Golden Leaf, awake at the sight. “You're right, the research that could be done here is simply breathtaking.” Azure answered with a smile. “Coulda fooled me! I was getting some good research on the subject of sleep before this.” Ghost interjected, still dizzily grabbing hold of the rail, his breath still smelling like booze. The rest simply smiled, finally getting a breath of the vapor filled air gave a feeling of refreshment to the crew. Spirits began to raise as they made their way to the supplies for their pre-mission meal. Passing of rations and the singing of songs took place as those who finished started unloading for a trip into their old camp. “Alright crew! This is Captain Beat here!” The captain spoke as he walked amongst the crowd. “This trip took us much longer than we had intended on. The delay caused by Sombra’s creatures shall bind us no longer. Today we march into his land and if we find his beasts than we shall purify them, with extreme prejudice. Leave nothing alive, no stone unturned, and reclaim this territory in the name of Celestia and Luna. All hail Equestria! All hail the divine!” The rest of the crew, with the exception of Ghost, Golden and Black Mist -- cheered in excitement and furiosity. After a couple moments they were off, traveling off the boat and along the side of the massive lake in order to get behind the waterfall. As they entered the whole world filled with the sound of rushing water, the echoing waterfall become the only audible noise as it had drown out out even their speech. As the neared the back of the cave they saw a door embedded into it, surrounded by torches though all of them put out, likely because of the water. Two of the colts broke from the group to light the torches and carry them as Captain Beat opened the door. Inside the door was another hall, this one narrower, more like a tunnel, obviously pony-made as it was lacking stalactites. The group began to find itself gathering into a line and drawing their weapons in case of danger. They traveled like this for about a half an hour, through twist and turn, dark hallway after dark hallway, and the only thing to accompany them was the sound of their hooves hitting the floor and each-others breath. Finally the group came to an opening, a widening of the original tunnel smoothly into the gaping openness of an entire room, the sound of a small underwater stream sounding within it. “All of you that are feeling parched, I suggest you get a drink before we find the next door” Beat said to his crew. Many a soldier went to get a drink until a sophisticated voice spoke up from the distance. “Sir? It seems we've found your door.” Azure said, lighting the room with the magic from his horn. Illuminated in the dark room was a massive door, at least fifteen feet high and ten feet in width which had marked upon the ancient artwork of the kingdom, depicting the soldiers that had originally fought off the invasion of first Griffon Kingdom War. The other soldiers and the heroes began to look upon the magnificent sight in awe as the door began to open before their very eyes. Light cracked from between the doors as they split seamlessly in the middle of the picture and swung to each side. The warriors scuttled to get out of the way in time, and upon doing so, achieved a look inside the room. It was lit with torches across every wall, a shining throne of what looked like sand stone and copper sat at the top of a flight of stairs, connected to a red carpet entrance covered in glyphs and flanked by suits of armor all leading back to the magnificent double door entrance. “Sir, we should be careful of those glyphs, they were most likely enchanted with traps in case of our retur-” Azure began before being interrupted by Beat, “I’ll hear no more of it, this place and it’s treasures belong to those who found it, men, come with me.” He then proceeded to gallop his way inside the room, followed by most of the crew. Left behind were our heroes and three crewmen by the names of Bon jr., Razor and of course Cherry Pie. “He doesn't know what he’s doing.” Stated Azure as their Captain left him. “Should we wait for the fireworks? Or will it be an ambush ready to chop them into strawberry jam?” Ghost said before laughing off his morbid sense of humor. “Based on the glyphs-”, “Guys, look over there.” Golden interrupted Azure’s speech. The group then looked only to find their allies surrounded in glowing light, the glyphs did in fact activate, but no traps were apparent. The symbols began to spin and the armor fell to the floor, shocking the group, and forcing them to gather into a more defensible circle formation. “Don’t lose heart men! This is our proving ground!” Beat said as the tension began to rise. An ooze like shadow began to seep from the armors and then began to take solid form -- picking up the armor itself and giving it form. Foggy darkness gathered around the joints and pooled at their hooves. The crew was shaken, they had never seen things like this before, finally one of them in the crowd shouted, “Heroes! Save us!” and the group looked to their heroes. They all looked back in shock except for Ghost, who ran in unhindered, but was too late to prevent what was to come. The shadowy knights all struck at once, tearing into their enemy as though they were taking a bite into steak, the armors themselves grew teeth and mouths and dropped their swords so they could began consuming the pieces that flew into the air. The first layer of shields were torn open with little to no effort, the second layer let the beasts run into their blades -- soon to drop the same way, finally the captain and his two guard were the last ones left. They fought as survivors should, but it wasn't enough, Beat was the last one left before he could grasp it. The pooling shadow formed into Sombra himself upon the throne. “Your presence is a perversion of my perfect world, begone.” Sombra said as his dark magic reached across the room and shattered the mind of the valiant captain. Ghost paused in utter shock as what he had previously described as strawberry jam splashed across his face with the putrid smell of death. Shock formed in his eyes as Sombra walked towards him, “Are you done yet, maggot?” Ghost struggled to respond for a moment. Azure and the rest of the group marched forward to back him up, spreading into a v-formation behind Ghost. “No, no I’m not.” Said ghost, “I have some avenging to do.” He finally said before pulling out his short sword. Author's Note Sorry for the wait.
