The Resurrection of Darkness

Chapters

Chapter 1: Our Heroes
Chapter 2: The Journey Begins
Chapter 3: The Battle In the Skies
Chapter 4: Conquering Yourself
Chapter 5: The Underwater Temple
Chapter 6: A Final Safe Haven
Chapter 7: Voice Over's Hidden Power
Chapter 8: The Final Partners

Chapter 1: Our Heroes

Chapter 1:

“Ugggg… What time is it?” This is the first phrase you will hear of our three heroes that will soon meet. But for now, that can wait. I will first tell you about this very odd Pegasus. It was 6:30 in the morning, and our hero was groggy indeed. But he didn’t mind: he stayed up late almost every night, and by now, he was more than used to it.

It was the first day of summer. Normally, he would be simply giddy, but he was actually looking forward to school. He was odd, as I stated earlier. The reason for this complex entering his head was his last summer was just horrid, as the one before and so on. He though that nothing good could come from summers and was certainly not looking forward to what was in store for himself this time around.

Now, we have a whole story to discuss all of his other odd thoughts, but you are probably wondering what he looks like. Well, he had round brown-rimmed glasses. His wings never developed quite correctly, so he instead had a purple amulet that allowed him to use magic in the place of flying. He was green, and had purple hair (with a pinkish streak through the front) that had a curl that went behind his right ear. He was 14 and a half, and his muzzle was mare styled, though he was a boy (it was a trait passed throughout his family) which he often was jeered at for, but he didn’t mind. He thought it looked nice, and it doesn’t matter to begin with. Oh, but it seems I have gotten carried away! I have almost forgotten to tell you his name! His name was Felix. Felix Wrightwind (Wrightwind was the family’s last name, passed through five generations of the Wrightwinds.).

He was wondering why his alarm went off at 6:30; then he realized he must have forgot to change the time for it to go off. “Ah well, might as well get up since I’m already awake.” Said he, and he did so. He got breakfast and decided to go for a walk around Ponyville. Now, if you are not familiar with this place (which you should be), here’s what it is. It is a place in Equestria, Maybe not too calm at times (looking at you, Pinkie and Discord), but it was, he felt, a great place to be. As he walked, he heard something, and this something would be a great turning point in his life, though he did not realize it.

It was a great, blaring siren-like noise. He was not too adventurous, but today he felt like he should figure out what was causing this noise. His ears were quite sensitive, so it did not take too long to find the source. It was a cyborg-pony. It wouldn’t be clear as soon as you would meet him, but he soon found out when he figured out that his eyes were gears! The pony didn’t seem a bit taken back, despite this reaction. He said “Oh, hello. I’m just fixing this siren; the police need it working soon.” He then held out his hoof. “My name is Steamgears, but you can just call me Gears. How are you?” Felix’s heart rate was finally going back to normal. “He seems friendly enough!” he thought. “I am fine, thank you. My name is Felix”, he said, shaking this awfully friendly cyborg-Pegasus’s hoof in response. Now, in case you didn’t know, Gears was 14 as well, as will the next hero Felix will encounter. “I can spare the rest of the day. Mind if I join you in your walk?”, said Gears. “Not at all!”, said Felix.

So they walked, and they were walking into the Everfree Forest before long. That’s where they heard another noise. This time, it wasn’t a blaring siren, but a soft melody, as if coming from a flute. Once again, Felix and his newfound friend followed it and saw another Pegasus, this time sitting on a tree stump playing a flute. Next to him was a tent. “Oh, sorry, did I disturb you? I’m just camping.” Said this pony. “Who are you? I haven’t seen you in Ponyville before.” Said Felix. “Oh, I don’t live there. I live in a valley of the mountains. My name is Robroski, but you can call me Rob.” Felix tried to imagine how nice it would be to live in the valley. It certainly sounded nice, to say the least. But let’s not get into that just yet…

Then Gears piped up. “My name is Steamgears, call me Gears for short. And this is Felix.” “Well it’s nice to meet you all. May I join your walk?” Said Rob. Steam and Felix nodded their heads at the same time. It was not too long before they heard a crash and screaming. And this is where we will end until next chapter…

Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

Chapter 2:
Our three heroes ran towards the source of this crash. By the time they were finally out of the darned forest, they were too late; for there in the middle of Ponyville was a shadowy figure of a giant snake. He had red glowing, fierce eyes, and a pair of fangs, dripping with blood and venom. And this terrible, horrid creature’s name was Kolri. Now, this is how he was created: The day that the Mane 6 made Discord stop causing mayhem, the evil in his soul escaped, but it had to go somewhere. Well, it combined with the hatred of those evil creatures that were banished by the Mane 6 to take on its own entity; a horrid, pure evil, shape shifting phantom.

“AHAHAHAHAAAA!!! HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?! A THOUSAND, NO, A MILLION YEARS!!! FINALLY, REVENGE!!!” yelled the phantom. Quickly, he turned his head towards our heroes behind him, and our heroes were lucky that right before he did so, they crouched behind a bush. Kolri turned around, and turned into a shadowy demonic humanoid sorcerer. Then he held his right arm up, then there was a scarlet flash of light, and next everything was destroyed. All of these ponies, I’m sorry to say, were now replaced with demonic creatures. Now, that is, except for our three heroes, which this would have been their fate, but Felix had quick instincts and covered both Gears and Rob with his cloak.

Normally, this would have no effect and just destroy a puny cloak like this, but the pureness in all of their souls enchanted the cloak, and they were, as a result, protected from the blast.

“Now go, my demon slaves, and turn all Equestria into the dimension of darkness!!!” said the heartless creature, and in a flash, he was gone. Immediately, these demons were off to doing their evil emperor’s evil bidding.

It was now that our heroes looked up from under the cloak. Houses were blasted to pieces. All of the grass was gone. All of the plants were withered. Dust was everywhere. “My god, what did that demon do?!” said Gears. “This is horrible!” said Rob. “Follow me, guys. I have a feeling we'll need to get something.” said Felix, “It’s in my house, if there is anything left of it.”.

So they snuck towards Felix’s house, which was very hard, for there were sentry demons looking for survivors. They had were caught once or twice, but Gears was prepared, and he took care of them before they could call the others. Finally, they arrived at Felix’s house, or what was left of it. The roof had fallen in, there were glass shards everywhere, but Felix wasn’t surprised. The whole town looked as if five hurricanes had swept through and destroyed everything.

Felix spotted just what he was looking for: a sparkling chest buried underneath the debris. He opened it, and there was inside, two swords with golden hilts, two straps which held the swords, and three gear-shaped boomerangs. “My cousin always told me that I would have to use these one day. I don’t quite know how he predicted that, but I feel this is the time to take these out. I inherited this box from him. He told me I would use them when the time is right.”

Gears said, “I’ll take these” and took the boomerangs. As soon as his hoof touched them, they started emitting a red glow. Felix took one sword, and immediately, the same happened, except his glowed purple, and Rob’s glowed dark orange.

Just at that time, a guard shouted “HALT! STAND DOWN OR I WILL KILL THE THREE OF YOU!” He and two more guards ran towards them. Just then Gears threw all three of his boomerangs, which knocked out all three guards. Just as quickly as he had thrown them, they came back. But that wasn’t enough; there were guards coming from all directions now. Rob saved Felix’s life by slashing a demon right behind him. Now, they could clearly see that Rob had experience with a sword before. They had already gone through all of the lower-class guards, but they then heard a stomp, and before long, they were face-to-face with a giant guard, much bigger than the rest. They fought and fought, but then suddenly, in an act of desperation, the beast grabbed Gears and Rob. Panicking for his friends, Felix jumped in the air and delivered the finishing blow to the beast; right in between its eyes.

“I wonder if this is the only place affected by this demon.” said Rob. “I don’t know, did you hear what he said? He’s making Equestria the dimension of evil. I’m sure he’s done the same to other towns." said Felix. “Well, where do we go now? We have to kill it! It can’t do this!” said Gears. “Hmmm… Maybe the valley village where I live. What do you say Felix?” said Rob. “I’m not too sure, but I can’t think of anything better. Let’s go.”

So they walked through the forest once again, looking for survivors as they walked. Felix suddenly stopped and frowned. “What’s wrong?” said Rob. “Losing confidence?” said Gears. “Not exactly” said Felix, “I’m just so shocked. Everything’s destroyed. I feel like we’re the last ponies alive.” “Don’t worry, I’m sure there are others” said Gears. “Oh, here we are!” said Rob, pointing his hoof at a village right under a great mountain.

They discussed plans, and decided to search the only house in the village that was still (oddly enough) standing. In fact, it looked perfectly normal, which in this case, was peculiar. So they snuck through the broken-down village, and entered the house. As soon as they entered, there was the glint of a blade, and Rob blocked it just in time with his sword. It was a stallion with two bracelets, each with blades on them. After a second, there was a whole group of ponies (and a wolf) heading towards them, but the pony with the bracelets said, “Wait! These people are with us.” and they stopped dead in their tracks. “We’re The Resistance. Who are you? Are you with that demon, or against him? Tell us!” Said the pony. “I’m Felix. He’s Steamgears, and he’s Robroski. We’re trying to find that shadowy snake if that’s what you mean.” Said Felix. “Well I’m Silverwing, he’s Woodsy, there’s Rainbat, and there’s Tempest. Oh, and there’s Pomaria.” Said Silverwing. Let me tell you about these other heroes.

Silverwing was a brave white pony who could be aggressive at times, but he was a good team worker. He was quick to react, and, well, quick in his legs (and flying) as well! He fought with hoof blades.

Woodsy was more laid back, and actually, pretty shy (not unlike Felix). He was red and had good reflexes. Despite being laid back in personality, he was a very skilled fighter. He fought with a spear that had a blade on each side.

Rainbat was very sleek and aerodynamic. She was a bat-pony mix. Despite being a half blood breed that usually was evil and aggressive, she was just as nice as Felix, Woodsy, and Rob. Her wings had blades attached to their brims. She was unique in her personality and fighting.

Pomaria was actually the only one in the Resistance that wasn’t at all related to a pony. She was a strong-willed wolf with beautiful, swishing fur. She fought (as all wolves do) with her fangs. She was quick to attack, and was probably the fastest fighter (aside from Silverwing). She was aggressive, but caring.

Finally, Tempest was a very strong pony with a strong will. He would do anything to help his friends (as would the rest of them), but would make sacrifices as long as there’s not any other choice, but he would never sacrifice handing a friend over to the phantoms. He fought with two daggers.

“That horrible beast just attacked out town!” Said Woodsy. “But this house is enchanted by many protection spells.” Said Rainbat. “So we took shelter in here, it’s invisible to demons.” Said Pomaria. “We’re going to fight that demon as soon as we finish our plans.” Said Tempest.

“ Really? So are we. Can we work together?” Asked Felix. “We would be happy to fight alongside with you!” They all said. “Then it’s settled. We will all work together to bring the demon king down!” Said Silverwing, “He went over the mountains after attacking our village. We should go there”. So, they discussed their plans, and before long they were climbing the sky-touching mountains.

“Feeling any better now?” Snickered Rob. Felix smiled at him and said, “I have a feeling these guys will stick up for us no matter what. Yeah, I feel much better”. And so they climbed and climbed into the sunset…

Chapter 3: The Battle In the Skies

Chapter 3:

It was nearly evening the next day, and our heroes were still scaling the mountain (which wasn’t quite a surprise, it was the tallest mountain in Equestria). They were telling stories while walking the day before, but they were much too tired by now. “Wow, this mountain is pretty high…” Said Steam.

To which Rob responded, “As far as I can make of this map, I have no idea where we are!” You see, when they had tried to find dinner that night after they set up camp, Rob had looked through his pack and found a map from a brochure he had gotten when he moved to the village.

“Give me that!” said Silverwing. He took the map, muttering “Can’t even read a map… Tsk tsk…” And so on. “Well, here’s your problem! This map’s too small! We’re not on it anymore!” he said, “It’s useless now!”

“Well excuse me princess, but it’s as big as maps get!” Said Rob. “Plus, I don’t usually plan to get attacked by a giant demonic phantom army, and neither did you! That’s kind of the point that he came when we didn’t expect it, he wanted to catch us off guard!”

“Shut up! What was the point in giving you the map anyways?! You can’t read it you’re useless!” Said Silverwing.

“First of all, I got the map because it was MY map, and none of you wanted to be responsible for us getting lost! And secondly, I CAN read it, we’re not on it! You said it yourself!”

“Look, look guys, we’re all hungry, and our wits are dimmed, and it’s getting dark. We should stop for the night and find something to eat.” Said Felix.

“And who made YOU leader, Mr.Bossy?!” Said Silverwing, poking his hoof in Felix’s chest. “I should be the leader, I can read a map unlike you!”

“I’m just trying to help, Hothead! And who said I was the leader?! I’m just suggesting it so we can all stop fighting!!!” Said Felix.

“And Rob already said he could read a map, you just took it from him!” Said Gears.

“Guys, can we please stop fighting…” Said Woodsy.

“Yeah, you guys are acting like little kids!” Said Tempest and Rainbat. Pomaria just growled.

“SHUT UP YOU FOUR! This is none of your business, so stay out of it!” Said Silverwing.

“Hey, don’t pick on them! They’re trying to help! You need to calm down!” Said Felix.

“You can’t tell me what to do! If you’re so smart, then why don’t you fix this all yourself?!” Yelled Silverwing.

“Look, just because you’re hungry doesn’t mean you have to take it out on us! We all are hungry, remember? We kind of all ate the same amount of food: none! So cool your jets!” Yelled Felix in response.

Just then, they heard a “Sh-thunk!” They all turned around and saw Woodsy setting a stake in the ground to keep the tent up. “If you’re just going to fight, we’ll never get to find that demon. So you can fight all night or you can help me set up camp.” Felix and Silverwing glared at each other, and joined the group in helping set up camp.

That night Felix and Silverwing stayed as far away from each other as they could. All they had found for food was some berries on a tree, and this time, they decided to risk it and eat some of the food they had packed before they had started climbing the mountain, But it wasn’t much food they ate; they wanted to make it last as long as they could.

It was around midnight when Pomaria heard a scream. She shot up. “What was that? It sounded like a scream for help!” You must remember; she was a wolf, and wolves do have very precise hearing.

The rest groaned and woke up. “I didn’t hear anything” said Rainbat, ”are you sure it wasn’t in your dream?”

“I’m sure of it!” said Pomaria, “I swear I heard it!”

“Maybe it’s a survivor! Let’s go see!” said Gears. Just then the ground started to shake.

“Ummmm… Maybe we should plan and think about this a bit Gears.” Said Felix. “That quaking doesn’t make me have a good feeling about this.”

“Well, we’ll need to make it fast, that call sounded pretty urgent!” Said Pomaria.

“Oh, if someone needs help, what have we got to lose? They need our help, and judging from the quaking ground, we’ll need our weapons to help whoever it is out!” Said Rainbat.

“I’m with Rainbat. Who else is?” Said Felix. All of the hooves went in the air, that is all except for Silverwing.

“You want that person to fend for their self, Silver?” Said Woodsy, raising one eyebrow

“Of course not! Who do you think I am?!” Said Silverwing. “I don’t want to agree with Felix, but I don’t want that person in danger!” he thought to himself. He grudgingly raised his hoof.

So they all frantically grabbed their weapons and went outside the tent to see a white mare unicorn running away from a great army of at least fifty shadow-ponies, which were about half of a mile behind her.

Our heroes were frozen with fear. Then, before they could act, a pair of bat’s wing swept past them, but it wasn’t Rainbat’s, it was another bat-pony. It swept past the mare that was being chased and grabbed her, and took her in the air. Immediately , the whole army took chase after the bat mix in the air, for they all had horns and wings.

“Follow me!" The mysterious pony said as it flew above their heads.

Without thinking, Rob, Gears, Silverwing, Tempest, and Rainbat took flight after the pony, Silverwing picking up Felix, Gears picking up Wooden, and Rainbat taking Pomaria. Now, you must understand, even though (at the moment) Silverwing and Felix were far from friends, it was hectic, and that added to being terrified, they didn’t think much about what they were doing.

Suddenly, the sound of the shadow army’s wings was growing faint. After they had not heard it at all for about five minutes, they stopped and turned around. Nothing was behind them. Then they heard flapping from above them. They looked up, and the whole shadow army was flying straight down on them.

Suddenly, Silverwing yelled “No more running! We have to fight!” and before anyone had time to disagree, they took skyward towards the army. Felix was hanging on for his dear life by one hoof, as was the rest who couldn’t fly. Then, Silverwind said “Take out your sword or we’ll never make it out alive!” to Felix, and he did so. He’s not sure if the rest of them overheard him saying that, or they just decided it was a good idea, but everyone took out their weapons.

As soon as they first met contact with the army, it was pure chaos. Everyone was fighting in the middle of the air. The Pegasi were flying, and those holding on were striking the people going after the flier. The rescued mare seemed to be very talented with magic, because she was shooting spells knocking very many shadow demons out of the air. Pomaria was grabbing the demons she past with her fangs and causing them to fall out of the sky everywhere. Woodsy was knocking demons out of the sky, using his spear as if it were a baseball bat. Felix was slashing at every demon he saw pass, and as all of them, he struck very many demons.

Something passed in the side of Silverwing’s eyes, and he turned his head, but as soon as he did, one demon came flying at them from the side, but before it could ram them, Felix slashed it from below, and Silverwing returned the favor when Felix had almost been rammed in his hoof and fallen, but Silverwing’s quick thinking told him to kick it in the head before. About after an hour of this, all the demons that hadn’t fallen or been killed retreated.

It was now almost dawn when they returned to ground.

“Who are you two?” Rainbat asked the two new ponies.

The second bat said “My name is Echowave.”

The rescued mare said “My name is Voice Over.”

Once introductions were over, they all decided to team up on their journey, as before.

Felix turned to Silverwing. “Thank you for saving me tonight. I’m sorry I fought with you earlier. I’m going to be a bit more empathetic from now on.”

To which Silverwing responded “Thank you for saving ME tonight. If you think about it, we all saved each other at least once tonight. And I’m sorry I fought with you and Rob earlier. You all are good friends. I’m going to be nice to all of us from now on.”

Felix held out his hoof. “Friends?”

Silverwing shook it. “Definitely”

Rob then said, “Ok, it’s been a long night, so let’s get some shuteye ok?” They woke up at noon the next day.

Felix smirked. “Want to fly up the mountain, Silver?”

Silver laughed. “I think I’ve had enough flying for a while.”

So they continued to scale up the mountain. But this is not the end of their adventures. Oh no, this is just the beginning…

Chapter 4: Conquering Yourself

Chapter 4:

Kolri, the Demon King, was furious. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WERE SURVIVORS?!” He boomed, as his tail whipped at a pillar in his castle.

“S-sir… I’m so sorry… we were trying to catch the white mare… we almost caught her, but, but…” Sputtered his demon scout.

“But what?...” Kolri said, his voice becoming high-pitched, full of fury. It was even more terrifying than being yelled at.

“I-I’m so sorry… But there seems to have been survivors… It was a Pegasus with brown glasses and a purple sword… Him and a group of others all seemingly going against us… We would have caught the mare, but that blasted bat mix swept her away… We tried to fight the teenagers, but they were too powerful in a group… If we, your scouts were to catch them outside of a group we would be able to possibly stop them… You see, we had to retreat… Too many of our men were taken out, we would not have had a chance…” Sputtered the scout.

“HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! YOU, MY MOST TRUSTED SCOUT AND FIGHTER, HAD HIS ARMY FELLED BY A BUNCH OF TEENAGERS!” Screamed Kolri. His scout was sobbing on the ground. “Scout, you are dismissed. You have failed me, and if you are to fail me again, I will not be so merciful!” And with that, the scout ran off in terror. ‘Hmm… catch them out of there group…’ he thought

“ SERVANT! Fetch me the Spying Glass.!” He roared. Immediately, his servant brought in a dark mirror crusted with jet-black gemstones. He looked into it and said “Show me these ‘heroes’” he told the mirror. The mirror immediately started to swish, and after about a few seconds, it showed an overhead view of our heroes. “Hmm… set up base at the top of the mountain. Have people stand guard outside, and don’t let those heroes get past!” He commanded his troops. “And don’t forget to set up a ‘shadow clone’, you know what it is” he commanded them.

And just like that, they were off. He gave a horrible, evil laugh. “Hehehehehe… One last surprise for those meddlesome heroes! They might be able to conquer my troops, but can they conquer themselves?!”

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, they were in good moods, and were talking to each other. It seemed that ever since they had their skyward battle the night before, they were all much fonder of each other, not just Silverwing and Felix. It also was good to have a unicorn join their group; sure Felix was able to perform magic with his amulet, but all he really ever used it for was carrying things; that was the only form of magic he knew. Now before they had run into the army the night before, Felix did try to use magic to help them, but it was obvious him and magic didn’t mix well, he was much better at using a sword.

But having Voice Over join their group proved to be a great choice. She could light fires, she could enchant their camp to be more protected, she had helped them much more than once when taking out scouts from a distance (her spells reached pretty far), actually, it seemed they needed more far-ranged fighters; all they had were Voice Over and Steamgears and Echo Wave. Having her on their team was a very good choice.

It wasn’t just Voice Over that was especially helpful; there was also Echo Wave. Echo, as they soon learned, was born into a family that could control dark magic at their whim; but was taken in by a good family that was not evil. In other words, Echo could control dark energy, but was against evil. The reason this bat mix was so helpful is that, like Voice Over, the pony could take out enemies at a distance, and when they camped for the night, Echo surrounded the camp in dome; anyone outside the dome just saw an illusionary patch of grass. Echo also helped in other things as well. He could brainwash guards that saw them, and read memories. The only problem with using dark energy was that once he used too much, he could only regain it by resting for a while, so they had to use it in moderation only.

But that’s enough of that; let’s get back to the story. Today they were walking up the mountain in pairs, each about fifty meters apart, so if they saw something strange, they could all group up and investigate it. Rob was paired with Gears; Silverwing was paired with Tempest, Rainbat was paired with Pomaria, Woodsy was paired with Echo Wave, and Felix was paired with Voice Over.

Voice Over turned to Felix. “What’s your name again?” You must remember, they had only just met each other the day before.

“Oh, my name’s Felix.” He felt his ears start to glow and his cheeks burn. He, with one swift movement, covered his ears with his hair, but it was useless; he could tell his cheeks were glowing. So, he asked something to take the attention off him. “Where did you say you were from again?” He asked, not that he didn’t know; he did know, but he was too distracted with one question in his head to ask something he didn’t remember. That question in his head was ‘Why am I so flustered?’

“Oh, I’m from a little village not too far from the other side of these mountains.” She said. “How about you?”

“Ponyville. That’s where Gears and I are from.” He said. “Hey, what’s that? It kind of looks like a hideout.” He quickly called the others.

There in the distance was a small fortress made of brick. “What do you think is in there?” Said Rainbat.

“I don’t have the foggiest idea” Said Gears. “Anyone else have an idea?”

“Wait!” said Tempest. “Look at the guards! They’re all shadowy, just like the ones we fought last night!”

“They’re bound to be servants of that snake!” said Echo Wave. “Who else thinks we should go in?”

Many hoofs went up, but Rob said “I don’t know… This is kind of an obvious place to put a hideout, don’t you think? Maybe it’s a trap…” A few hoofs went down. “Maybe we should go investigate first, just a bit?”

“Ok then, that sounds like a smart move. Let’s peek from behind that boulder.” Said Echo, and so they did

There were guards everywhere. “Felix, why don’t you look and try to find a way inside without being caught by the guards?” Said Woodsy.

Felix put his head up a bit, and found himself face-to-face right in front of a guard. He quickly tried to draw his sword, but it was too late; he felt his head getting struck by something with the force of a boulder, and then his vision flashed and everything went black…

Felix woke up. His head throbbed. “Ohhhh, my head… What happened?” He looked around him to see himself in a prison cell made of gray brick. He noticed that his amulet was gone. “Guys, where are we?” He asked, but the he noticed that he was all alone. He heard someone say his name from behind him. There behind him was Voice Over sitting against a wall. He ran to her. “What happened? Where are we?” he asked her.

“You were knocked out, and we tried to escape, but there were too many guards.” She said. “We’re in their hideout right now, and I think that the others are in another cell.”

“Can you teleport us out of here? You have magic” Felix responded.

“I already tried, but I can’t teleport other people. Plus this cell has some kind of enchantment on it, because I can’t use any magic" she said. Felix walked towards the jail bars, looking for loose ones, but that was soon interrupted by a laugh and a swirling cloud of darkness, and after a second, he saw before him, a darkened copy of himself, as well as Voice Over.

“You have potential, kids. You have overcome many obstacles. How fitting it is that you shall be fell by your own selves!” These copies said in a distorted voice of their counterparts.

Felix made to draw his sword (by now it was a natural instinct to him), but he noticed that it was gone! He panicked and ran to the wall where the real Voice Over was standing. “What do we do?! They took out weapons!” He asked Voice Over.

“I don’t know! Try fighting without your weapon!” She said. Felix went to punch at his shadow, but it was no use; he went right through himself. His shadow then drew a distorted version of his reflection’s sword and struck Felix in the face. The shadows were now coming towards their counterparts. “Just dodge them for now!” Said Voice Over.

Just at that time, in the cell next to Felix and Voice Over’s the rest of the group was trying to find a way out of their cell. “Where are our weapons?!” Asked Woodsy.

“I’m sure they’re in that box up there” said Silverwing, pointing at a box attached to the unusually high ceiling.

“How do we get them?! We don’t have any magic, and from their sounds in the cell next to us, we can’t use it to begin with!” Said Rainbat.

“Magic... Magic… MAGIC! Why didn’t I think of it before?! We can’t use magic, but I can use dark energy! How would the guards use it if it were disabled?” Said Echo Wave, and he shot down the box with a focused beam of dark energy. Their weapons fell from out of the hole in the box, and everyone grabbed their own.

Silverwing grabbed his bracelets, Rainbat put on her wing blades, Woodsy grabbed his spear, Gears grabbed his boomerangs, and Rob grabbed his sword. “Someone carry Felix’s sword, we’re busting them out of there!” Said Gears. Woodsy grabbed Felix’s sword, and Echo busted a hole in the wall. They ran in the room where Voice Over and Felix were being attacked.

“GUYS?! Oh thank goodness, we needed your help!” Yelled Felix.

“Heh, we couldn’t let you get killed!” Said Woodsy, throwing Felix his sword.

Now, if there was anything they didn’t notice, it was that their weapons didn’t glow when they picked them up. They didn’t know this, but that meant that their weapons didn’t have the power infused in them to defeat these shadows.

Just then, the shadows walked into a corner. Slowly, their shadowy substance making them reconstructed itself to, this time, a shadow clone of every one of them. Their heroic counterparts dashed at them, but their weapons were no use, their energy to defeat supernatural evil was gone. “What now, guys?” Yelled Tempest.

Echo then blasted a hole in the jail bars. “RUN FOR IT GUYS!!!” He yelled. Running through the halls (while being chased by their own shadows ) , they took out surprised guards. Suddenly, they ran into a dead end room, with the shadows closing in on them. Felix felt his back hoof touch a box. Not knowing what to do, he opened it and inside found his amulet. He quickly put it on. He felt his body raise off the ground.

His eyes turned from their normal ocean blue to glowing purple. He was now floating in midair. His body gave off a blinding flash of light. When everyone looked back at his after regaining vision, he was back on the ground, glowing, and his eyes were now purple. Everyone was also emitting a light.

Pomaria’s fangs were glowing blue. Voice Over’s horn was glowing green. Silverwing’s blades were glowing silver. Rainbat’s wing blades were glowing sky blue. Echo’s hoofs were glowing dark yellow. Tempest’s dagger blades were glowing green. Steamgear’s boomerangs were glowing red. Woodsy’s spear blades were glowing violet. Rob’s sword blade was glowing orange. Finally Felix’s sword was glowing purple, as was his whole body. Everyone had regained their force energy.

Now it was a fair fight. Everyone immediately went to war with themselves. Rainbat finished herself with a cleverly-planned fake-out. Woodsy dodged an attack and struck his clone in mid-jump. Gears threw his boomerang, and it missed, but he wasn’t aiming for his clone, for it finished him coming back to him. Tempest caught his self from behind him. Voice Over shot a giant ball of focused light energy, Echo did the same but with dark energy, Pomaria grabbed her clone’s leg and threw it against the wall, Silverwing did a swift air-dive on his shadow, Rob struck his shadow between its eyes, and Felix slashed his enemy’s sword in half and finished him.

They dashed down the halls and eventually came out the entrance, where all the guards were waiting for them. They came at them, but Felix once again was raised in the air, and his amulet let off a shockwave of energy that sent them all flying in every direction. Then he fell to the ground, more exhausted than he ever was in his life, unable to walk. The rest of our heroes set up camp for the day and dragged him into tent where he slept. He didn’t wake up until night, when he noticed that he was no longer glowing, but his eyes were now permanently purple.

He walked out of the tent and sat down in a circle around the fire. “What was that that happened earlier?” They asked.

“I don’t know, but I feel that this journey will good, seeing how good fighters you all are.” He said. He noticed Voice Over was sitting next to him. His ears and cheeks burned. And this was not the last time it would happen.

But, as I stated before, their journey is not over. They have barely even began.

Chapter 5: The Underwater Temple

Chapter 5:

After the events that had happened the day before, our heroes were exhausted. You see, they weren’t exactly looking forward to being knocked unconscious and waking up in a jail cell, just to fight themselves without any weapons. Yes, they were exhausted.

But despite this, Felix was feeling much more hopeful. He and his friends had just narrowly escaped death in what seemed impossible. It was simply them and their determination to live. It was indeed, death being evaded. Now, despite the, erm, ODD things that happened when he put on his necklace the day before, he was no different (despite his eyes now being purple rather than his normal sky-blue and everyone’s weapons glowing with force energy).

It was nearly noon the next day when the group couldn’t stand their hunger, they went to ask Rob to have some lunch, when they remembered; it was stolen. So, that evening, they went to go search for food in the fortress (or what was left of it. Quite a bit of it was destroyed in the shockwave).

Of course, from sheer coincidence, Felix was paired with Voice Over; but we’re not going to get into that (you can tell how Felix would react from past occurrences). Let’s follow Tempest for a minute.

He was looking through the fallen-in roof, when he saw a glint of light reflecting off of a metallic surface. He dug and finally found it; it was a silver rod with a ruby at the tip. He made to grab it, and as he did so, he felt an energy course through his veins. He made a swift movement at the ground with it, and as he did so, the remains of the fallen fortress started to quake. Suddenly, all the pieces of it rose in the air; with the ponies still standing on it!

Everyone freaked out. Rob yelled, “Felix! Turn the amulet off!” as he was trying to balance and stay on his piece.

“It’s not the amulet! I have no idea why this is happening!” He yelled in response.

“ Guys! I think it’s this thing I picked up!” Yelled Tempest. “I don’t know what its doing!”

“Well make it stop!” Yelled Gears.

Tempest frantically looked up and down the rod until he found a button on it, and when he pressed it, the pieces were thrown off the other side of the mountain.

Tempest flew off to grab Woodsy, Rob grabbed Pomaria, and Silverwing made to grab Felix and Voice Over, who were on the same platform, but the piece was falling so fast, he missed.

“What do we do?!” Screamed Voice Over. Felix was frantically looking in every direction for a chance of survival, until he saw a lake about five-hundred feet below. He grabbed her hoof and jumped off the edge.

They were falling at a very high speed; and it was not pleasant. Both of them were screaming. After what seemed like an eternity of falling, they landed in the deep lake. Felix swam up with Voice Over’s hoof, as they crawled back onto land, full of gasps and their hair soaked.

“What… What were you thinking?!” Said Voice Over.

“I’m so sorry… We were about to crash and it’s all I could think of… At least we’re alive…” Said Felix. Suddenly, he tripped on a rock and noticed that his glasses were still in the lake; he could barely see without them. Just about that time, the others were landing next to the lake where they were.

“It’s a miracle you survived that. How’d you know you were gonna land there?!” Said Rob, setting down pomaria.

“Just luck I guess. I felt we would land in it.” Said Felix. “Oh, and guys, how are we going to get my glasses? They’re in the lake, and I can barely see without them!”

“ I’ll get them. I can dive pretty well…” Said Tempest, and as he said it, dove down under the water. He saw the glasses on what seemed to be a statue next to a temple. He wanted to see what was inside, but he was running out of air, so he grabbed the glasses and swam back up.

He handed the glasses to Felix. “Thanks.” Said Felix, drying off his glasses as he put them back on.

“Now, what’s that thing you found Tempest?” said Rainbat.

“Oh, this? I’m not sure, I just found it in the remains of that fortress. Enh, it seems like too much trouble to deal with right now. I’m famished!” He said, and suddenly, the rod twitched and potatoes and carrots flew at them from all directions. “Maybe this isn’t such a bad weapon…”

“Speaking of weird, that reminds me of something! Down under the lake was a temple!” Said Tempest.

“Really?” Said Echo. “Was there a way inside?”

“Yes, it was giant! Should we go look?” He said.

“Let’s look into it tomorrow morning. We should set up camp” Said Rob (who, amazingly, had his camp pack on when the fortress was being searched).

The next morning, they prepared to go into the temple (this time, Felix used a strap to keep his glasses on his head). “Wait, how are we going to stay under there with no air?” Said Gears.

“Maybe the amulet can do something about that.” Said Felix, tapping the gem inside of his necklace. Immediately, an air bubble appeared over their heads. “Well, there’s one solution.”

On the count of three, they all jumped in, making to find the entrance when Tempest pointed to an opening that looked like it had bars that rusted off. They swam inside and were amazed to see what was inside.

It was a humongous cavern full of crystals growing all over the walls, gold on the bottom, and a great chest in the middle of it all. They saw an entrance to a tunnel and (silently) decided to swim through it.

They swam and swam through the seemingly never-ending tunnel. Finally, after about half an hour of swimming, they came to a seemingly dead end. That’s when they saw a giant button on the wall, they pressed with all their combined strength, and the water suddenly started to go down until there was no need for the air bubbles- all of the water had gone. Felix pressed the gem on his amulet and the bubbles disappeared. The end of the tunnel suddenly opened into a great room full of giant diamonds growing everywhere.

“What is this?” Said Silverwing.

“I don’t know, but I would love to bring one of these home! Well, if it’s still there-you know what I mean!” Said Voice Over. That’s when Felix noticed that he had been near Voice Over almost the whole time since the fall. His whole face turned red as he, as casually as he could, walked off a bit. Just then, Rainbat touched one of the diamonds. The whole thing turned white, as did the rest of them, and a horrible screeching noise filled the room.

Then, from the ceiling, sand and water started falling. Quickly, Felix gave them all the bubble-helmets with his amulet. The entrance to the room started to close, but they had just managed to get through in time. They swam through the tunnel as fast as they could, and came out back into the lake. Suddenly, from a lake-wall, a hole opened up and a giant squid came out.

It was complete chaos. Tentacles were grabbing everyone, and before long, the only ones that hadn’t been caught were Rob, Felix, and Tempest. Suddenly, Gears threw a boomerang, and almost hit the squid’s eye. Tempest did some quick thinking while the squid was distracted and pointed his rod at the wall.

Immediately, a chunk came out off of it. He flicked the rod at the squid, and the chunk of the wall flew into its face. Felix tapped his amulet gem and him and Rob’s sword were connected to a beam of energy from the amulet. The struck the beast in the head and killed it. They made to cut all of the other’s free.

It was evening and everyone was exhausted around the campfire.

“Well, where are we going to go next?” Said Gears.

“I don’t know, but based from our luck and quick thinking, I think barely anything is impossible for us to do now.” Said Felix. He glanced at Voice Over and blushed. Not for the last time.

“Well wherever our journey takes us next, as long as we work together, I’m sure we’ll be able to deal with it!” Said Rainbat.

Chapter 6: A Final Safe Haven

Note: This chapter is dedicated to a very close friend of mine who has never left my side through thick and thin. He even stuck with me when I became a brony, which seems rare these days. The character “Starfling” is a reflection of none other than my friend Peter.

Also, an additional note to my Cloudsdale friends: Wow, my weekend was a lot busier than I thought it would be. I was going to work all weekend to launch a much longer chapter, but I was too busy to, but I tried my best, and I hope you can all forgive me. -Sincerely, your shy and flustered friend, Felix H. Wrightwind.
Chapter 6:

It was seven in the morning the next day when our heroes awoke to the sound of the birds outside. They quickly jumped up and got started for the day; they packed up camp and purified some lake water for their packs. Then, once they had gotten packed, they noticed that they had no plans!

“Well, where in the world do we go?” Said Steamgears.

“I don’t know, but that hill looks promising” said Rob, pointing his hoof at a hill covered with lush, green grass.

So, they stretched a bit more and were on their way. By now, Felix was not too shy around Voice Over, but the difference was barely noticeable; he was still very flustered around mares. But he had actually started to grow a liking to this mare (no, not a lovey-dovey liking. Just a friendly liking), so today, he walk alongside her. They chatted as they walked, and it was not too hot outside, they had gotten a good amount of sleep that night, and the wind was blowing; it was a beautiful day. Soon, they had gotten to the top of the hill where they saw something truly amazing.

They were looking down at a village that was not destroyed at all. It had a very similar feeling that you would get in Ponyville, but just a bit different. Our heroes ran as fast as they could to the town, their hearts racing. They simply couldn’t believe it; here in the middle of nowhere was a standing town that looked as if it had not been affected at all by the demon king.

They walked through the main gate to the town where they were greeted by a stallion that said, ”Welcome to Crosstown, the town where three different railways run through!” As they walked past, he smirked and told himself “too bad their only safe haven will be the end of their journey!”

They were awestruck as they walked through the market square. They had thought the whole world was destroyed, and here was a busy market with ponies that had nothing on their mind on the subject of demons.

They bought some food to bring with them, and stopped at a cafe for some breakfast. Finally, they had some caffeine and hot food in their systems. They sat for a bit and discussed plans in the shop of where to go next. They finally decided to stop and buy a map and visited an observatory where they were allowed to use a telescope to look at the mountains, where they saw an unusually dark cloud very far beyond one of the mountains that a railway ran on.

So, they decided to take this train that supposedly led to another town a bit farther beyond that mountain. So, they took the train (70 bits for them all) and were on their way. It was about 10 in the morning when they were finally about halfway up the mountain. There they told stories of funny happenings of their lives and thought back on the dangers they had encountered so far. They told stories, simply chatted, and even solved riddles (there was not much to do on a train), but they had soon gotten a bit bored. Felix was twisting his hair (which was a bit long for boys his age), Voice Over was changing the color of her hair with spells, Silverwing was sharpening his blades (as was Rainbat), Echo wave was making small figures with shadowy magic, Woodsy and Rob were reading, Tempest was using his rod to levitate small trinkets of his, Gears was touching up his circuits, and Pomaria was simply looking out the window. Soon, the train dinner service came through (which was included in the price), and the conductor came on the speaker box and announced which bunk bed cabin each person was to get in for the night.

Each bunk had midnight-blue carpet and four bunk beds with scarlet comforters. Felix got the bunk above Silverwing, Voice Over got the one above Rob, Gears got the bunk above Pomaria, and Rainbat got the bunk above Tempest. The rest of the team was bunking inside a different cabin. They all looked at the ceiling while talking to each other.

“What do you think that dark cloud is all about above that town?” Said Tempest.

“I have no idea, but it doesn’t look like a normal storm cloud.” Said Voice Over.

“I’m not sure about you guys, but I’m a bit scared to figure out what’s in store for us next” said Rob. “We’ve gone through a lot of stuff since we began our journey, and I have a feeling it’s not the worst of it.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got each other no matter what happens” said Felix. “And if we all get separated, I have a feeling it’ll be fate for us to find each other again.”

“Well, I’m sleepy, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is.” Said Gears. And with that, he turned over and went to sleep, as did everyone else.

That night, Felix had very odd dreams, which kept being ended by the glowing of the gem in his necklace. Finally, when it had gotten to a point where he couldn’t sleep anymore, he put his glasses back on and studied the patterns and lines engraved on the gem. He thought of taking it off, but was not sure what would happen if he did so, and he kept it around his neck. He stared at it and noticed things he never did before on it, like how the gem’s glow was in rhythm with the beat of his heart, and there were triangles and lines engraved in it. He tapped the gem.

Suddenly, but very quietly, a beam came out of it and touched the compartment’s window. He slowly, trying not to wake the others, looked out it. He never noticed how bright the moon was, and the mountain they were atop of was beautiful. Slowly, he got back in his bunk, took off his glasses, and went back to sleep. The gem was no longer glowing.

It was midnight, when the compartment was hit with a mighty bash. Everyone looked out the window. They were on a narrow bridge crossing a deep canyon. After a bit, they saw an army of demons flying at the car, some bashing and making the train rock, others landing on the top of the car and stomping holes in the roof. Our heroes climbed out on the roof, with their weapons ready to strike. The train was rocking, and barley avoiding being knocked off its tracks into the dark canyon. Suddenly, a demon with a sword landed and swung at Felix. He just barely blocked the strike.

They were striking from all directions, Felix barely blocking the demons coming at him and the one he was battling with. The others were busy with the other demons on the roof. Suddenly, a demon rammed into the side of Felix, causing him to fall off the side of the train. He held on to the side of the roof with one hoof, while the demon stepped towards him, its sword ready to strike. He was about to swing at Felix, but was knocked into the trench by a flash of metal. Felix was helped onto the roof by a lime-green pony with brown eyes and a flail.

“Come on, we’ve got to protect these passengers” He said, and so they did. Felix and the newfound hero were back-to-back, killing off demons flying from all directions at them, each barely saving each other’s lives.

It was finally dawn when the rest of the demons had retreated, and they were finally stopping in a devastated town that looked as though it had just been attacked, but unlike the rest of the towns, there were many survivors taking the train to the town our heroes had just left.

Felix held out his hoof to the lime-green unicorn. “My name is Felix. Thanks for saving me tonight. What’s your name?”

The pony shook his hoof in response. “I’m Starfling. I am glad I was able to help you all tonight. Unfortunately, I am not able to follow you and aid you all on your quest. I must protect Crosstown, but I have a feeling we will be meeting again soon. I bid you all farewell for now.” And with that, he disappeared into thin air.

“Who was he?” said Rob.

“I’m not sure, but I hope he protects that amazing town.” Said Silverwing.

And with that, they were off again, this time, with a guaranteed feeling of hope.

Chapter 7: Voice Over's Hidden Power

Chapter 7:

The dust in the town was just now clearing out, and it started to rain. The village was devastated indeed, but everyone in the town was alright, others helping other survivors out of the rubble of their fallen-in houses. The train conductor got out of the locomotive looking confused, his expression not much different than the ones worn by our heroes.

“How did he do that?” asked Woodsy.

“I don’t know, but he WAS a unicorn. I’m sure he just teleported back to the village.” said Steam.

“Well, we need to get moving. These villagers need help.” said Silverwing. And so they did.

Many of the residents were stuck in their fallen-in homes. Luckily, not many ponies were hurt, and there were no fatalities. After our heroes had helped the villagers get the others out, they met with the mayor to ask what happened.

“It was horrible! We saw that train coming, and seconds later, the whole village was attacked by shadowy demons! Luckily, they saw that their troops needed backup after they raided your train car, so they left to fight with the rest of the army.” said the mayor.

“So you know where they went when they retreated?” said Voice Over.

“They all flew to the area of the Forbidden Caves, in the plains just north of this town.” He said.

“I guess we must be going there next, then. Come on guys.” said Rob.

“Beware the caves travelers! There are stories of terrible beasts in the cave!” said the mayor. And so, they were off…

The day was stormy and dreary, and they could not see more than five feet in front of themselves. They walked and walked and walked for what seemed like an eternity, but were yet to see the cave.

“How far do these plains stretch?!” said Voice Over.

“It seems like forever, but let’s hope not,” said Rob.

It was about eleven-thirty in the morning when they decided to stop and have lunch. It was good that they had stopped in Crosstown to buy more; they couldn’t see anything but grass and flowers growing. So they unpacked their bread and vegetables that they had bought and made lunch. After that, they were back to traveling…

The storm was starting to get worse when they felt a great gust of wind; not a natural kind. The closer they approached it, the worse it got and wind was screaming in their ears. Everyone’s hair was going everywhere.

“What in the world is that?!” Silverwing yelled over the wind.

“I don’t know!’ Felix yelled in reply. His hair curl that was usually tucked behind his right ear was now covering his eyes.

“Wait, I think I see the cave! Let’s take shelter in there!” Said Tempest.

They all joined hoofs and slowly, but steadily, fought the wind. After a few minutes, they fell forward inside the cave. They heard faint voices from farther inside the tunnel. They followed their ears and soon looked around a corner to be faced by the backs of hundreds of demons. Rainbat gasped, but Pomaria stuck her paw over her mouth. “You’ll blow our cover!” she whispered.

They soon recuperated and went back to the corner to listen. The demons were listening to the commands coming a mirror with the face of Kolri. “Where were those heroes last seen?” He said.

One demon in the crowd said “The last we saw of them was in the town just South of this cave. We think they will be heading here soon, and there’s a town just near here that they will probably be heading to.”

“Very good. Set up sentries and guard posts. We must destroy them before they learn of their power. I can sense they will learn soon.” Said Kolri.

The same demon now said “What power?”

“There is a mysterious power that they all possess, and it isn’t just the power of the purple-haired one.” Our heroes exchanges confused looks. “ If they learn of it, our chances of destroying them will be even lower!” The snake said. “That is all. You are all dismissed”

At this all of the demons filed out. Our heroes ran as swiftly and quietly as they could; the demon army was approaching. When they could clearly hear the marching, they knew they had to hide. They jumped in a nearby underground lake. Only they didn’t feel themselves get wet. Instead, they felt an odd sensation and were thrown out. They were in an almost identical cave, except the shadow army was gone. They looked around, confused.

“What was THAT?” Gears asked.

“Hmmm… I’m not sure. At least that army is gone now” said Rainbat.

Just then they heard a laugh coming from all around the tunnel. “Ahahahaha… You all still have hope? Ohohohoho… Perhaps I shall crush those hopes for you pitiful ‘heroes’…” The voice said. Suddenly, a phantom materialized in front of them, looking away from them. “The whole world is out to kill you… Do you really think you stand a chance? You will not escape this cave alive…” The phantom clapped once and immediately, a wall formed, blocking the exits, including the mysterious lake.

The phantom turned around and sent a giant ball of fire after each of our heroes. They ran and only narrowly avoided them. “A group of ponies trying to save a doomed world! How pitiful!” Said the phantom, laughing. It kept sending spells of magic at fever-speed.

Woodsy ran to strike the phantom. “Grrr! Stupid phantom!” he swung, but his spear passed right through the phantom. The phantom laughed and struck him in return.

“WHAT DO WE DO?!” Yelled Woodsy, running with the others.

“I don’t know!” Yelled Pomaria. They ran and ran but started to become exhausted. They looked at the laughing phantom. It was unaffected. They had no idea what they could do.

Suddenly, Voice Over stopped. Felix ran towards her. “Come on!” he told her. Suddenly, she started to glow. Her eyes turned sky blue, and she turned to the phantom. Suddenly, her body emitted a shockwave of energy. When everyone could see again, she was back on the ground, completely normal. But the phantom was no longer normal. It had turned solid and was standing on the ground, sweating and scared.

“We can fight him now! Come on!” Yelled Tempest, and the fight was on. Echo Wave was running around the room, constantly firing dark magic. Rob was leaping in the air, swinging at the beast, Silverwing, Rainbat and Woodsy, and Felix doing so as well. Tempest was using his rod to chuck boulders at the beast, Pomaria doing the same but with her fangs. Steamgears was throwing boomerangs at a feverish pace. The phantom seemed to dodge all of these attacks.

Suddenly, it sent a giant beam of magic at Felix. On impulse, he tried to block it with his sword, and something odd happened. The sword absorbed the blast and was glowing brighter than ever. He swung back at the phantom and the magic flew out of the sword straight back to the phantom. It stopped flying and fell to the ground.

Voice Over’s horn started to glow, and it send a giant beam of light at the phantom. The beast shrieked in pain as it slowly disappeared into the beam. Suddenly, the walls created by the phantom vanished. They walked back into the lake…

It was seven o’ clock at night and our heroes were sitting around the fire, having eaten dinner already. Felix asked Voice Over to talk to him behind the tent.

“What was that earlier, Voice Over?” asked Felix.

“I’m not sure, but I think it might have been my special ‘power’ that snake was talking about earlier. Whatever it was, it sure helped. And it made the fight a lot more fair” said Voice Over.

Felix blushed. “Well, I have a feeling we will all be finding the powers we possess soon” He said.

They joined the others around the fire. “Well, let’s go to bed, guys. We’ll have a lot of planning to do tomorrow” said Gears. And so they did.

Chapter 8: The Final Partners

Chapter 8:

It was noon and our heroes were finally packing up their camp. They finally were done when it was about one o’ clock. “Where to now?” Asked Gears.

“No idea” said Voice Over. “This fog is starting up again”

“All I can see” said Rob, “is a greenish point in a distance”

“WHAT?!” They yelled.

“That could be another camp! Why didn’t you tell us earlier?!” Yelled Tempest.

“Come on, let’s go!” Said Silverwing, and they ran towards it.

“Ug, this fog is too thick! We’re gonna get lost!” said Rainbat.

“I can’t see two feet in front of me!” Said Pomaria.

“It doesn’t matter, we have all of our stuff with us! Just keep going!” Said Felix.

Now, since they were walking in a line, it only makes sense that if one tripped, the other behind would trip as well. So when Gears (who was in front) tripped on a tent stake, so did everyone else. They heard three sets of hoofs run towards them. Felix looked up, only to see a mare with a bladed mask in his face, with two stallions around her.

One of the stallions was a unicorn. His horn was glowing. “Who the hell are you?’ He said.

Felix rolled backwards and drew his sword. “That depends, who are you?”

“Don’t test me; I can do this all day! And that sure would be a drag for you AND the readers!” He said, his horn glowing brighter, using it to grasp a bladed boomerang.

Felix and his group backed up a bit as the other three walked closer. Felix tightened his grip on his sword, as his amulet started to glow. The Pegasus stallion held out his hoof in front of his team. “Stop. They’re good” he said. They dropped their weapons.

“Heeeeeey… We heard about you ponies… You saved that train from Crosstown!” Said the mare. She took off her bladed mask to show a dark-blue bat pony. She held out her hoof. “Nice to meet you.”

Felix shook it, confused. “What’s your name?”

The green Pegasus introduced himself. “My name is Lime Green” he said, taking off his fedora.

The mare said “My name is Midnight Sky”.

“And I’m not going to introduce myself like these two, the readers know this is a VERY generic way to introduce anypony. I am the totally awesome, charming, and fourth wall-breaking unicorn named James Dan-Xylophone, but call me JDX” he said, winking at the readers.

“Wait, readers? What readers?” said Midnight Sky.

“Oh, never mind” said JDX.

“So, why are you all the way out here?” Asked Silverwing.

“We are looking for those demons that destroyed our village and their leader, just like you guys totally knew in the first place!” said JDX. “What’d you guys expect, we’re lookin’ for a helicopter to ride in so we could go and set a skydiving world record?”

“Um, no. Can’t say I expected that” said Gears.

“Yeah, well, are we going to get going yet, because I know that’s what all of you are thinking” Said JDX.

Woodsy sighed. “Fine, let’s go then…”

“Well, where do we go? There’s too much fog, none of us can see!” said Lime Green.

“You don’t say, Captain Obvious?!” replied JDX.

“How about we find some place to stay, I see a storm coming” Said Voice Over.

Just then, it started to hail. They ran and all helped to pack the only tent that was there. So, they ran around aimlessly. Not longer, they found a tan brick structure. They ran inside, their head being pelted by ice.

Inside, there were torches lining the hieroglyphic-covered walls.

“Where are we? What is this place?” asked Rainbat.

“I think it’s some kind of temple… “ Said Woodsy.

“Noooooo, it’s a giant car!” said JDX.

“What’s a car?” asked Midnight Sky. Just at that moment, JDX forgot that cars were not invented yet.

They looked at the hieroglyphics. “What do these mean?” asked Rainbat, rubbing the wall.

“I don’t know” said Felix. Just as he said that, his amulet began to glow, and it shone a light on them. Suddenly, they began to shift, and started to tell of a legend on the wall. This is what it told of…

In the dawn of time, there was nothing at all on the planet. All was barren, the planet bared no plants, and there were no plants to harvest. The sun was never shining, and there was no sea. Life was on the verge of inexistent, a villain came down to rule the world. He was an ancient evil, never before this powerful. None could go against it, and it ruled the entire world. Then, one day, when all hope was lost, a force came down from the heavens and split into eleven elements. The element of earth created the land. The element of water created the clouds and the extensive sea. The element of fire created the sun. The element of air created the wind and sky. The element of light created all that is good, and the element of darkness created evil to keep balance .The other four created the elements of harmony, and the last was the entity of life force, a force in which we all possess. With their combined power, they banished the ruler, and brought balance to the world, and went back to the heavens, when hundreds of years later, the kingdom of Equestria was established, and the world knew only peace. But it is said that someday, that evil will be resurrected, and on the day it does, the eleven spirits will come back as mortals and strike it down.

“Wow, I guess that’s us…” said Felix. “I think that’s what Kolri meant by ‘hidden powers’. Obviously, Voice Over is light…

“Wow, I wonder what the rest of us are.” Said Midnight Sky.

“I guess we’ll find out in time. We need to find a place in here where we can stay for the night” said Woodsy.

They journeyed further into the cavern, and they didn’t really notice, but it was slowly getting darker. Their minds were set on what they had just read. Finally, they found a place deep inside the cavern where they could set up. Once they were done, they went to find some torches to light their fire.

JDX and Lime Green went to look for one, and when they finally found one, Lime Green pulled one off the wall, and there was a click. The wall on which it was on toppled over. Behind it was a shadowy blob that formed a dragon. It screeched and spat fire everywhere.

Our two partners sprinted down the hallway, narrowly avoiding the flames coming from all directions. Suddenly, in rage, the dragon produced a wall of flames. When all hope seemed lost, they turned a corner and dodged it. “RUN GUYS!!!” they yelled. Out of panic, they all senselessly ran through the halls. After about five minutes of narrowly escaping being enveloped by flames, Silverwing got impatient.

“NO MORE RUNNING, IT’S TIME TO FIGHT!” he yelled. They all drew their weapons and stood their ground. The dragon sent a flame towards Woodsy, and Tempest used his rod to block it with a chunk of the wall. This caused a pole from the wall to toppling over on the dragon. It fell over on its side.

“Is that all? It’s kind of weak for a dragon…” said Pomaria.

Just then, the dragon went insane in rage, sending flames in all directions. Midnight Sky stood in fright. The dragon shot a flame at her, and right before she was hit, Felix struck the flame with his sword. It went flying towards Rob. Rob struck it as it went flying back towards the dragon. The dragon was struck in the face, as it sent a flame as wide as the corridor towards them. When all hope seemed lost, SteamGears started to glow, was raised off the ground, and created a wall of water flying straight towards it. The flaming dragon was weak on the ground, and it had no more flames along its back. It toppled over. Suddenly, Rob did the same as Gears and produced a giant vine from his body. He whipped the monster in the face, and as it was on its final stand, Rainbat sent a wall of wind, mixed with Voice Over’s light energy to create a wall of light wind, banishing the dragon to the Realm of Light.

It was seven o’ clock at night, and our eleven heroes were gathered around the fire (inside the temple, of course). They had just eaten some of the food they had bought in the village.

“I’m so tired…” said Lime Green.

“Yeah, well get used to it, you agreed to this, and the readers wouldn’t get a good ending!” said JDX.

“Well, I guess now that we have two tents, who’s with who?” Asked Felix. After they got everything arranged, Felix smiled to himself. He thought to himself, ‘These ponies are great partners. None of this would be possible without such good partners to rely on…’ And soon, he fell asleep...