The Last Equestrian Warby MaxtWolfChaptersCHAPTER I - An excerpt of the pastCHAPTER II - Improbable HopeCHAPTER III - A Maddening LandCHAPTER IV - The Trinity of HeirsCHAPTER V - A Surprising RevelationCHAPTER VI - The secret that keeps all together (PART 1)CHAPTER VII - The secret that keeps all together (PART 2)CHAPTER VIII - Trip of DesolationCHAPTER I - An excerpt of the past+CHAPTER I+ An excerpt of the past Old Mare: Oh... Are you the new to this land...? Then let me tell you the story that exists here a long time. Perhaps you have heard it... Perhaps you haven't... Equestria... A land where majestic ponies flied and lived... A land where every kind of evil soul tried to tarnish it. A land where a couple of monsters would bring the almost destruction of it, the war that almost killed us all. The war that the Heralds of Harmony fought, on one side came darkness and its harbingers... Sombra and his wife Sunset Shimmer, they ravaged lands with eternal suffering. No crops dared to grow on those cursed lands. No foals dared to breed on the mothers who were ruled by the couple of pure evil... Their darkness was overwhelming, burning all hope away. Rape, famine, rage and destruction struck all the lands in this once majestic land... No hope lived on the hearts of those that lived in pure despair. That was until someone kindled the flame. From the dark obscurity, four lights came. Two sisters and their lovers... The younger sister and her lover controlled the darkness flawlessly... But not a cursing and controlling darkness. A kind of darkness that could heal and guide through times of loss and despair. It was a knowledge that was obscure, but could nurture your mind through the harsh times. Toghteter, they guided the innocent to freedom, they were the ballance between knowledge of good and evil, togheter lovers for a long time... Luna and Starswirl. She, alongside her lover, struck Sunset Shimmer, who dared to bring eternal pain and suffering through tortures and rape. They managed to defeat her, but not before crumbling her castle. ----+---- Memory of Starswirl: “Argh!!” Starswirl cried in surprise as he created a magic shield in defense of a boulder that almost crushed them. "You demons!! H-How come you could destroy my beautiful castle?!!" Sunset Shimmer cried as her wounds finally made her succumb in pain. "Starswirl!! You're too wounded! I have no more herbs to heal you and we must leave!!" Luna shouted as the castle crumbled around them. "Luna, my beloved... I... I don't think I can move..." Starswirl tried walking, but his legs didn't respond, as an attack of Sunset Shimmer's destroyed his leg's ligaments. "N-NO!!! I'm not leaving you!!" Luna cried, tears in her eyes. "Please!! Th-There must be a way!!" She desperately tried carrying him with her. "Luna, listen... There is no need for such act... I... I am long... Long overdue on this earth..." Starswirl tried letting go of Luna. "Shut up!!" She screamed as she ran through the hallways with him. Boulders crashed the corridors around them. Luna ran up to the center of a main hall on a castle, where they were cornered by destroyed pieces of the castle. "No... We're stuck!!" She looked around, then to Starswirl. "Luna... Damn it..." Starswirl looked down as he thought to himself. 'That spell is not ready... I didn't master it... But I have no choice... I must... Save her...' Starswirl did his best to focus the spell. "Starswirl, STOP!! Don't force yourself!!" Luna didn't understood what he tried to do, but as he focused his spell on her, she came to despair. "STARSWIRL!!! NO!!!! NO!!!!!" It was too late. A flash of light, a tremor of force on the ground, and Luna was not there anymore. Only rested the wounded body of Starswirl. "Ghr... I... Did what I could, Lunnie..." He looked upwards to the sky that he saw through the cracks. "Only one bad guy to go now... I wonder where are those two wonderful sun lights now..." Starswirl smiled. The castle crumbled in loud piercing noises of explosions and pieces of rock crashing on the ground and in the end, it was done. No more Starswirl The Bearded, he finally was put to rest. ----+---- Old Mare: That was the fate of Starswirl and her lover Luna. He teleported her to a place away from the castle. A gentlecolt's true movement. But oh well, enough babbling about one couple, there is more to this sad history tale than just one loss. There is the other couple in this incredible war. The older sister along with her lover, as powerful as the shining sun, raged great firestorms and healed the land against the curses and diseases of King Sombra. Ten thousand years of connection made this couple more than friends... Lovers... Celestia and Discord. Togheter, they were the harmony between restoration and destruction through flames... They struck at King Sombra and together, they massacred the evil king with light. However, a dark fate came to the young and loving couple. ----+---- Memory of Celestia: "DISCORD!!! NO!!!!" Celestia cried as her lover was struck with a blade of dark energy, capable of cursing somepony forever. "Damn it..." Discord said as he fell with the blade on his chest. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me..." The demon King Sombra said, before coughing blood and perishing. "Discord, this blade... No... Its curse will transform you... I... I..." Celestia fell on her hooves, pure despair on her eyes. "Celestia, honey... Listen to me... Please... Listen..." Discord tried to call her attention. "You have to freeze me... I have no other choice... AGGH!!!" As Discord cried, the curse soared through his veins, corrupting his beautiful form... Him, the last male Alicorn in existence. "No!! We can find a way!! We finally defeated the king!! Luna and Starswirl will help you!!" Celestia cried as she held him close. Discord cried in agony and pain, as his flowing of magic corrupted with sinister dark magic... The destructive power he knew turning to something so much worse. "My love, listen!! You have to do this! I C-CAN'T RISK LOSING MY POWER!! AGGH!!! TIME IS SHORT!!" Discord's words seemed filled with fear. "Discord... No..." Celestia cried in fear as she saw the corruption taking its final act. A flash of light sent Celestia flying to a wall, as she was knocked out. When she awoke, she saw what was once her lover now turned into a demonic beast, a Draconequus. A mythological creature once said to be banished from space and time... And now her lover had taken the form of it. "D-Discord... What have he done to you..." Celestia was on her hooves as she was on tears. "I still have my sanity... Please... Before this consumes me..." His voice seemed filled with anger, lust and hatred. "Freeze me into a stone... You are the only one that can do it..." "I-I won't do it... I won't be able to live without you, Discord..." Celestia cried like a filly, tears for her loved one as she knew a fate of lonliness awaited her. "I-If you won't do it... I will..." A voice called from the room's entrance... There stood a sorrow-filled Luna. "Luna... No... Please..." Celestia, with tears on her eyes, begged her sister not to do such act. "Discord... We don't know how to save you... We will try to find a way, though... I promise that..." She closed her eyes "I promise that to Starswirl..." She held her hoof against her chest as tears flew her eyes. "Thank you..." The power surging through his veins, corrupting his very core of existence. "Ghrrrr... What are you waiting for?" Discord, almost out of patience and almost out of control, ready to attack on her lover, Celestia. "Come on... DO IT!!!!" He shouted as Luna shot the magic that she had left. As it hit Discord right in the chest, it froze him like a diamond, he was stuck in that form until someone could ever break that enchantment... The problem was, there was no way to break petrifying. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Celestia fell on the ground, her wings opened as she cried like a filly. From that day, peace did come to the wounded lands of Equestria, but at the price of its most majestic Knights... Soon to be named Kings, their sacrifices were not in vain. ----+---- Old Mare: That was the tale of the four Heralds of Equestria and their war to stop Sombra and Sunset Shimmer, my dear... That is the burden that the princesses carry... The dark fate they hold. Sad losses... How much had you lost in your life that you never stop to think? Yet I say all of this to you, a pony who is suffering a long curse that Sombra put on this world... The Soulless curse... The curse that is draining you... Did you have family? Did you have a wife? Children? What did you have? Can't seem to remember? It's the power of this curse, my dear... It already is consuming you... Go forth... Seek the Herald that resides on the deserted city ahead... She might give you some more information on what is going on... For now, I don't have more storytelling to you... [TO BE CONTINUED] CHAPTER II - Improbable Hope+CHAPTER 2+ Improbable Hope As you venture through the deep fog of the forest, the last words that the Old Mare could speak of hit your mind again; they cause some scarring on your emotions as they flow as true. You don't recall your family anymore. You don't remember your dear mother or father, nor if you had a brother or sister. Those memories are fading your essence, but why? You grew on this land, but why it is leaving your brain? What kind of power this curse holds?! This is never told before, and you must seek answers quickly. If anyone has these questions, is this so called herald, you must seek him or her as soon as possible! A last warning of the Old Mare comes to your mind as well: ----+---- Old Mare: "Stay on edge, my darling, this forest ahead shall bring you towards the cities you should go towards, but it is also part of your journey, you shall go back to it, as it is a bewitched forest... The secrets and dangers in it are large and ominous... Thread carefully... The dangers are uncanny and they long for your soul, my dear... But oh, you will keep hearing an old hag like me~? Go on and live on a restless journey, after all, it is what you seek, you masochistic being~" ----+---- The Everfree Forest greets you with its gloomy and poisonous air, the stench of dead corpses and sounds of most different creatures, you walk along the trees and avoid the branches and sap that oozed from some specific trees. Curious to the sap, you analyze it and grab some of it to see its property, trying anything to it, but unable to do anything. Frustrated and with a messy hand, you throw the glob on the ground and progress onward, unaware of the presence behind you. As you keep on going, you see two branching paths ahead with two signs ahead, they read: "Ponyville" - ”Celxxxx's & Lxxa's Casxxe" Curious of the other meaning of the other sign, but afraid of it as well, you decide to head to Ponyville, at it, you think of asking about the other path and the meaning of its sign. Heading towards it, you then notice the strange presence that followed you from some time ago. You turn to it and draw your sword; you notice a young pony mare, yellow coat and red mane, orange eyes that glowed as bright as the day. She looks up to you as she wears sturdy chest plate and iron leg platings: ----+---- Applebloom: "Are you a newcomer to Equestria? Well, I should welcome you, then." She smiles to you as she walks to you innocently; her accent indicates that she lives in a more rural zone. "I should just say it was pretty dumb of you to throw that tree sap away like that!" She giggled and showed you a little bag of packaged sap. "These are sap of firefly trees, these trees call a lot of fireflies, and their light usually gives the sap firepower, I don't know how it happens, I just know it does." She smiles and points up to some fireflies that sucked on to the sap. "Well, the trick is to pack them, that way, they don't have air, and when they don't, they get a lot stronger, and when they get thrown, they explode! Like that!" She throws one bag at a tree as the sap explodes like a cannonball, ripping the tree apart; the sound scares away all woodland creatures apart, scaring even some of the biggest creatures. "Oops, should a thrown that somewhere safe... Uhhh, we gotta go!! Come on!!" ----+---- Applebloom pulls you by the hand as you rush by her side, trying and falling all the times on vines and tree roots, you look behind as you see an image that shocks you to think that it exists, a rotting wyvern is giving pursuit after you. Its wings falling apart and dropping scales on the ground, its lungs and other organs showing through its ribs and its blood acrid and smelling as rotten as feces. It keeps running after you two, but it breathes a poison mist towards you and Applebloom, it surprises you as, in your thoughts, you were thinking of a fiery explosion towards you. Applebloom throws a sap bomb at the wyvern, it explodes right on its lungs, stopping it down, giving you two a long time to run away. You two run for a long time, but soon you reach the city of Ponyville. To your dismay, it is not a happy city... Taken by a gloomy feel of death and disease, you see nothing but, loneliness and disgrace... It feels weird, on the city's main sign, it says that there exists a population of over 2000 ponies, but you see none. Something is happening around here, and you are most worried than ever before, turning to Applebloom and questioning her: ----+---- Applebloom: "Ah... You ask of the disgraceful curse? Everyone is suffering it... E-Even me..." She looks down, a sad look on her face. "It... Took over my brother... He left to try finding a cure to the curse, but he... He never came back... I think he is dead, mister..." She looks up. "Still, everyone packed up and left to other cities around Ponyville, bigger ones, only my sister, our friends, and the Herald remained..." Once you heard that word, your heart skipped a beat. Sure, of course she could tell you a little about this curse, but the herald could brief you with more details on it. You ask her without a second thought. "The Herald? Oh, it is my friend Twilight Sparkle; she was named the Herald of Magic about 10 years ago, when the curse hit us all..." You are happy by her words as you feel that you can have answers. ----+---- You salute Applebloom like a noble being, she smiles and salutes back, happy that she makes a new friend in this world that feels really empty; you thank her and walk towards the center of the city, the place that Applebloom told you that the Herald of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, lived. You look back to see if that little mare knows where she is going, she goes right inside a small house where a fireplace is burning. You breathe, relieved as you see that there is people at home and she is not alone, because a fireplace burns and you see smoke coming out of the chimney. Focusing on your thoughts, you look towards the place where the Herald could live. To your surprise, she lived in a place where every being with knowledge, a Library, carved inside a giant oak tree. Once you knock on it, the door opens, a lavender pony receives you, a face devoid of any smile, her eyes are a beautiful dark purple, her mane is a blue with a string of purple and pink, a horn and wings grace her figure, she looks to you as she scans you slowly with her eyes: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: "You knock on my door, stranger. I see and welcome you in. Hello, my dear, I am Twilight Sparkle, Herald of Magic. I see the many doubts and questions in your eyes... I am a being that can use magic, after all... I see how long you have traveled to just see me... I am happy for that... Happy to see that, in amidst the long lost light, there still shines an improbable hope..." [TO BE CONTINUED] CHAPTER III - A Maddening Land+CHAPTER 3+ A Maddening Land Coming inside the lavender pony's house, you see that it is a lot different than what a library usually is. It is a lot deprived from what you usually think of a library. There is not many books, the few that exists teach of very few elementary sorceries, some apothecary supplies and throwing equipment. The library looks decently cared, though, all thanks to her companion, whom you don't know their relation. A dragon, looking by her size, was tending to the books and dust that usually stood on the shelves. He carried the image of a creature that was naive in the past, but something truly scarred him. His purple scales seem as if they could have been much more brighter than they are now, one of his fins wounded, ripped off. Whatever happened to this guy, surely gives him the right to tell quite a tale. His eyes show that he left a deep scar behind, something awful happened to the poor creature, but he managed to fight it with glory, it seems. He carries a necklace with a fang of some sort of creature, a tooth of a beast. Strong dragon for his living, maybe he could teach you a thing or two, you smile as you learn his name, Spike the Wingless Dragon, he waves to you and smiles, knowing that you understand that something happened to him, even if you didn't asked his story. The lavender pony eyes you, you see subtle curiosity in her eyes, but you wonder why she is curious about a new arrival. You take action and then make the first move, asking her about the town and its loneliness. She closes her eyes, moving her hoof to her chest as she looks up and then to your eyes. ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: "You are wondering what happened to Ponyville, right?" She sighed and looked straight into your eyes, her own eyes devoid of any light of happiness. "Since the time this curse came to this land, it all started as a subtle thing, just a minor corruption... First came the wish for small things, corruption of the old, incurable diseases, stealing... But things started becoming so much worse, it became ridiculous... Only my friends and I stood clear of this mystic disease that is this curse because of the Herald power I have... I tried all I could to save those around me from the curse's overwhelming force, but I wasn't capable..." She stops for a moment, looking down, closing her eyes, for a second, you think that she is about to cry, but she regains her posture and begins to speak again. "The ponies, afraid of the curse, fled to the other cities that were around Ponyville. One of them was Canterlot, the new city of royalty, after the Moon Princess's Depression. The Crystal Kingdom came years before Canterlot, one of the oldest Kingdoms, and Manehattan, the city where mechanical prowess is highly praised... Ponies fled there with hopes to avoid this curse... From what I know, it went all in vanity..." She closed her eyes and looked down. "This curse is something terrible... It takes your innermost bad habits and it starts making them into much worse things... Making you do things you don't believe you can do... You think you can control the curse, and when it does its worse to you, you're there, holding your mother's head, smiling unintentionally..." You stare at her eyes with fear; you ask her if loss of memory is an effect, she looks to you with a sad look. "That is the primary status... It is beginning on you... You will keep living... Don't worry, because the curse will only claim your soul if you don't feed yourself..." You look to her with wonder, asking what she means. "Feeding with the souls of the cursed ones, of course; what I mean is that you will face off with the ponies that succumbed to this disease... They will not reason, they won't give you mercy... You will run away, they will follow you back all the way to here..." ----+---- You look down, surprised as you think of the small Applebloom that you met. You think of all the ponies and creatures you met, and the lives that they go on. The things that they'd end up doing because of the curse; you end up thinking on the worst scenario possible because of this curse and its striking towards the cities you passed through. Because even though you are forgetting your oldest memories, some of the ones you cherish are still there, let it be that friend you like a lot, or that loved one you left behind because you just had to due to some problematic circumstance. But lost in so many thoughts, your mind just focused on little Applebloom, those little fiery eyes are hard to imagine in a state devoid of any light. She looked so energetic and happy that it was not your wish to see her lost. ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: "Don't fret for Applebloom, she is too young to succumb to the curse, and this world is full of souls to die to the curse... Not to mention that many live against this curse... Not only you, my friend, also, you can use the souls you pick to feed other ponies around you... So be careful on how you use them..." She looks down, however. "Still, there are people that don't use these souls for good reasons, however. They use these souls to serve dark purposes, feeding their own desires. Take care, my dear, you don't know who you will find..." She sits up. "I think this is all I can tell you about this curse, it there anything you want to ask?" You ponder and look to her, asking of the war of the Heralds of Harmony. She, stunned by your question, looks to you and speaks. "My master, Celestia, taught me about this tale... Her lover, now turned a monster, rests in stone inside the castle... She cries under his feet every night... Her sister, Luna, told me that she saw Celestia sleeping under the statue at times... It is a true story..." You are surprised that the Herald that fought on the battle itself still lives, wondering if they are immortal, you look upwards. Equestria is really a mystical land. "I guess you know of the losses of the princesses then?" You nod, silent, remembering of the tale of the Old Mare. "Then I should tell you that the access to the castle is possible, though it is a hard trip... It is filled with monsters and lot of cursed ponies... However, you should seek power first, and not answers. I know my response to your questions seems ridiculous, but in this perilous time, it is much more necessary to have power rather than answers... The access to the castle will eventually come, so will be the relation to Luna and Celestia. I can guarantee you that..." She looks to your eyes with a small shine in them. "You are so attentive to my story... I am glad when any new traveler comes to me with ears and eyes, rather than a mouth..." She smiles, her eyes finally shining like pearls. "Go forth, adventurer, this dark land is full of perils and death... But you can overcome it... Call over the sun, the moon, magic and the love, and we shall always aid you... Now go forth, you have our blessing..." ----+---- Before you leave the house, Spike holds your arm as he looks at you. His eyes are shining with a strong light as he seems grateful to you. ----+---- Spike: "My dear friend, you have gained my full respect... You have made my master smile... Something that no one else could have done in a long time... She was always receiving new adventurers all the time, but they never attended to her, sad with this fact, she was almost losing hope with Equestria... I thank you so very much because you rekindled her flame of hope... Thank you... Oh please, take this..." Spike handed you a blue circular shield. "It is not much, but I used this on my last quest... It is all I can offer as thanks, but it will serve you for a while..." You thank the purple dragon with a bow. He bows back and he looks in your eyes with a tear. "You have a heart of gold, my friend; don't let those cursed beasts take it from you..." He smiled and walked inside, tending to his pony friend and his house. ----+---- Hearing those words from this couple, you felt truly beatified, standing up, you walk outside as you see the gloomy world, the countless fields of death and disease stay ahead as your challenging opponent. Giants of power and pain are ready to tear you apart and massacre your very own existence, break your bones at no hard effort. But you will yield with a fight, you are blessed by this land's kings and with this blessing, you are truly ready to fight for it, even if it costs your life. It is time to cleanse this curse; it is time to cleanse this Maddening Land. [TO BE CONTINUED] CHAPTER IV - The Trinity of Heirs+CHAPTER IV+ The Trinity of Heirs You walk around Ponyville to see if you see any life in the deserted city. After Twilight Sparkle's words, you feel a little hopeful and determined that you might find some life out there. After all, death could be lingering in every corner, but that doesn't means that it would be your only company in this land. Equestria was the land of one the finest type of beings in existence, ponies of every kind existed, bad ones and good ones. In your mind, you expect ponies from all kinds to come, you get worried for the situation of the good ones, but you also feel terrified for the power of evil ones and their intentions. You go back to the house of Applebloom, wondering who stays with her. She helped you, yet you gave her nothing in return. You could at least get to know her family a little more, know who are her friends and family and get to know more about them as well. Walking towards her home, you see the chimney still burns strongly as ever, you knock on the door as an orange Pegasus opens the door, she looks up to you. ----+---- Scootaloo: “Ahem” She clears her throat. “You’re from around? I don’t remember you being here last time… Anyways, come in, one movement and we kill you…” She opens the door fully, revealing a smiting workshop. You see the yellow pony that greeted you before as she smiles when she sees you. Once Scootaloo finds out that you are indeed acquainted to Applebloom, she shows to be much more receptive to you. “Ah, sorry, it’s just that we’re always on edge because of this damn curse.” She picks a smiting hammer and sits on front of one of the two anvils that was around. “Well, you should know that we, the living ponies are a lot more violent now due to this curse… Not that we want to be violent, but because we need to be just to survive… I’m sorry for the death threat… ” You nod to her and say it was nothing, she smiles and picks an iron ore, smiting it right away to re-form it into a refined iron ingot. “Well, Applebloom and I are blacksmiths; we sell our weapons to travelers nearby.” Her saying leaves you a bit stunned, you can’t imagine the little yellow mare handling a huge hammer and smiting down some iron ingots into huge dual-handling broadswords very well, but since she’s one living in this house, you start taking that image as true, as crazy it may be. You look to Scootaloo and ask of Applebloom’s parents, or her sister, none of them is around, and that bothers you quite a lot. “Oh...” She fumbles in silence for a second, looking over the doorway for a second. “Her parents were long dead when she was a little filly… Her older brother sought for a cure of the curse, but has not returned ever since... And her sister serves in the Moon Herald’s main line of defense. She fights like a master. Their love is very strong, but after the loss of her older brother, their love got even stronger, even with this distance, they are now better than ever.” Scootaloo smiles as she goes on to smite some more. You look down as you feel how much this curse has taken from that young pony. You then remember what you wanted to give to Applebloom, you look and then you ask to Scootaloo about her and her life. Silence greets the room for some seconds. She then looks to you and stands up. “Can we go out for a walk, then?” ----+---- Walking outside, accompanied by Scootaloo, you follow her around to wherever she wants to go, soon enough, you end up at what seems a home in the clouds, wondering how you are going to get on there, you look around the house, seeing its majestic design, seeing countless marks of a rainbow thunder coming out of a cloud. Scootaloo smiles to you and gives you a precious possession of hers: ----+---- Scootaloo: “This is a bottled cloud… It will propel you into the air… high enough to reach as up as that house is… Come on, let’s go!” She looks up and flies up to the house with no problem. ----+---- You focus on the bottled cloud as it does just as she told you, you get sky-rocketed, getting jumped higher than the trees, you hold on the house’s entrance floor, getting up and looking to Scootaloo, you admire her item and thank her, trying to give it back: ----+---- Scootaloo: “Not needed, I won’t need it anymore, now that I can fly for real, this can be passed on to someone that can really use this… You will surely use this more than me.” She smiled to you as you both enter the cloud house. Inside it, a lot of rusted trophies and pictures of Scootaloo and a cyan colored Pegasus. “Dashie… If only you could see my new friend…” Scootaloo held one picture close to her chest as she smiled, you see a tear escape her eye. Soon after, you question her about the Cyan pony. “Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony to ever live. She was so quick; she could even pass a thunder!” Her eyes flashed with emotion. “A pony with so much awesomeness; she rocked out, saved everyone when they needed her!!” She was speaking all good things about this Cyan pony, tears flew from her eyes. Then she stopped, the curse’s reminder bringing the bad memories to her again. “But even being the most awesome pony, she wasn’t immortal… She… When she heard of the curse, she was the first to take action at it… Armed herself, she went to battle. Fought with all she could. Battled and ravaged all the cursed ponies that she could. Those that were tarnished enough to turn themselves away from the kingdom fought against Rainbow Dash, but they never matched her, that was until a giant came to battle, a pony that was so big, it outmatched her just by his size… It grabbed Rainbow Dash by her leg; he crushed her on the walls and on the ground. She didn’t survive; the wounds blew all of her organs. As her last wish, she left me her most precious thing... Her soul...” She looks down. “I took her living as mine, only because she allowed me to… All the ponies that she killed came to me as well… I have a lot to thank her for… I never really met my parents… I always was cared by Rainbow Dash… So she was a mother to me… And that is why I praised her like a goddess.” Scootaloo looked down, sad with the telling of her story. ----+---- As you are coming back with Scootaloo, you are thinking of something to do to her, in a manner to say that you just respect her story of loss. Without an option of much to say, you just put a hoof on her back and look in her eyes, you tell her that she’ll be ok, and that her step mother was a beautiful mare, she gives you a gleeful smile, before walking with you back to their workshop, inside it, a white mare worked on a hammer with magic, enchanting it as she looked up to the two of you when you both arrived: ----+---- Sweetie Belle: “Ah, you are the pony that Applebloom told to be with us today?” Sweetie Belle spoke, a smile on her face, her looks of an innocently happy mare. “Welcome to our humble place, I am Sweetie Belle; I am the Magic Mare of this place.” She smiles as she makes the acquaintance with you. “So you came to this land because of the story that my friend Twilight knows? That story is a lot scary…” You are looking into her eyes, you both talk a long time, friend talking do come into you, you discover that she really was found of cupcakes, and many other activities was her favorites, including finding what her cutie-mark was about. Those many facts make you see how different life was before this dark curse hit this land. Then, she delves into a deep subject for her, when the curse hit. “When it happened, I was in a picnic with my family... The curse was taking over slowly and we weren’t caring over the facts… Since it started slowly, who were us to care? We were just a family of unicorn ponies living. That was until 2 months after… A wyvern! A source of this power just created a fully-fledged wyvern!! And it was wreaking havoc next to my house… How could we escape that beast’s embrace?! There was no way… All the ponies that could do something where out on the lines of defense, fighting against the first signs of cursed ponies, they moved in small armies and the defense lines held well against these monsters… But we, the civilians, were unprotected against these beasts. My sister Rarity was in town, preparing to be in the lines. She was still untrained, but she came to help us, I watched her battle in worry, I wanted to do something to assist my sister like I always did, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do anything. So I trusted that my sister would be able to do something.” Sweetie Belle then gasped and put her hoof in her mouth, a tear escaping her eye. “I’m sorry… She… Got dilacerated… The dragon torn her apart after minutes of fighting… She was so brave… Who came to her aid later was a young dragon… Spike, he seemed devastated by the scene, when he saw Rarity destroyed, he shouted in anger, it is true that a dragon of his size couldn’t beat a Wyvern already grown, but he managed to… He tore the beast in two in mere seconds…” She looked down. “He left me with no words on how easy he did that.” She smiled. “It was funny, we always joked that he had a crush on Rarity, and whether it was true or not… But… My Celestia, it was really true…” She was tearing through her eyes, she looks up. ”I’m sorry for crying, I was so sad for remembering this story, I lost my sister, someone so close to me, and it really hurts me deep… I lost my parents too, because they couldn’t take the pain of losing Rarity… But I feel more hurt for Spike… How hurt can he be that he lost his loved one? I feel… So destroyed for him… I lost everyone, and I feel bad for it, but I feel worse for someone else other than me…” She then looks to you. “Does that make me somepony bad?” You look to her and then give her a hug. You smile and reassure her that she is a wonderful pony, even having a terrible loss; she is capable of being careful to those around her. She smiles and hugs you back, happy that she knows she met someone nice. ----+---- You let go of Sweetie Belle and stand up as you decide to go outside to have a breath of fresh air, after all, a lot of stories were heard today. Once you go out, though, there is a new face in town, though. A pony holding a mallet, his eyes showing a sinister look, he looks to everyone that appears on his sight, Spike comes out of the library with a face of wonder, he looks to the pony as he stands by your side, he warns you to stay on your guard. Sweetie Belle appears by her doorway. ----+---- “What can we do for you, stranger pony?!” Spike shouts. “…I come for the head of the Herald.” The pony speaks in a calm voice. “WHAT?!” Spike shouts angrily. “Defy me and die; you will suffer the consequences if you face me.” The pony grabbed his mallet. Spike threw himself at the pony with raging fury, swinging his axe; the pony dodged and hit Spike right in his chest with the mallet, sending him flying right to a wall. “SPIKE!!!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran towards Spike, kneeling by his side. The pony with the mallet turns to you: “And what about you? Do you dare defy me as well, you pitiful being?” He speaks, laughing and walking towards you. [TO BE CONTINUED] CHAPTER V - A Surprising Revelation+CHAPTER V+ A Surprising Revelation The armored pony walks towards you; he readies his mallet for a strike. You unsheathe your blade and the shield that Spike gave you, readying yourself for combat. The pony swings his mallet in a vertical swing, it comes straight down as you raise your shield. The strike echoing through the houses, you riposte his attack with a swing, but the pony is quick, despite his weapon’s weight. He manages to dodge your swing at him. That blunt strike was quite a punch to your defending leg; still, you are in combat and have no time to address thought to the battle. Another round of combat, he dashes to you, spinning his mallet in a surprisingly fast speed. Your most quick reaction is to roll towards him, thankfully, that move helps you find a gap on his defense as you strike his flank forcefully with a powerful slash, it makes a gash on his flank as he grunts in pain, jumping away from you position: ----+---- ???: “I see that we’ve a fighter here, anyways, I’m glad we’re not stuck only with sissy mares here… It would’ve been too easy… I know I love to have some fun, but I just love to have some battles as well.” The pony laughed as he looked to the wound on his flank. “Still, who taught to you fight like this? This is foal’s play. Let me show you how a real pony fights!!” He laughs maniacally, dashing after you for another round of fight. ----+---- You prepare against the crazy pony’s strike, but it is another surprising streak of moves towards you. Strikes from all directions leave you surprised as you cannot dodge the last one; it hits right on your chest, sending you on your back. It hurts, sending pain through your lungs as they are on fire. You look up to the sky as they are a blur, you gasp for air as you feel the ground to receive your back in a harsh and forceful embrace. Looking to the pony, you stand back up, and a few steps ahead, you notice something that flew off Spike’s neck, his necklace, you grab it. This calls the pony’s attention as he stops his second charge: ----+---- ???: “What’s that?!” The pony shouted, while he looked to the necklace in your hands. “That fang… So someone did kill my wyvern...” He looked unamused. “That lousy beast.” Your eyes flourish in pure anger once you hear those words, you say all the stories you heard to the pony, accusing him of being the one responsible for the deaths of the unicorn named Rarity and her parents, also being responsible for the loneliness that Sweetie Belle lives on. “Ah, for real? Do you blame me for such stupid things?” The pony stops, and laughs. “Don’t you think I know these ponies?!” The pony laughs before stopping to remove his helmet, who offered no vision of his face. The face you see doesn’t surprises you, after all, you never saw that pony. A red coat, green eyes, orange hair, those were the defining features of that pony. “Don’t you know who I am?” The pony asks as you just wonder his identity. Hearing a wail of sadness, followed by a cry of desperation, you look back to see Applebloom on her hooves, crying like an infant, she mutters the name Big Mac. “That is right; it is me, her older brother, Big Macintosh…” You turn your head back to the pony, confused, but enraged. You ask him why is he doing this, and for what purpose. “For power, I threw all I needed to away… I became one with my hidden power, and now I possess a much more powerful strength… I overcame the curse… I am now forever free…” He laughs maniacally. “To free myself, I just needed to give myself to the everlasting lord, King Sombra!!” You, as you hear that name, stutter in fear. You shout in anger at Macintosh, saying that King Sombra is long dead. “You know nothing, young pony, my master is reborn, and he brings powerful allies…” Macintosh laughs once again. You look down, what can be happening to this land? You know nothing yet, but you must gather power to face this threat. You look at Big Macintosh, saying that his masters shall once again fall. “Useless to think like that, pony. I see my master’s power; it is growing to unimaginable capacity… You cannot understand its force…” He looks down, grabbing his mallet. “Enough talk… HAVE AT YOU!!!” The pony makes a mad dash towards you. ----+---- Big Macintosh swings his hammer forcefully at you; yet you dodge his swings with precision. The anger from your discovery has honed your skills in battle, the crying of Applebloom makes your heart filled with rage, you dodge the attacks with precision, taking your time, you manage to step on Big Macintosh’s mallet, delivering a kick to his face, looking to his eyes and waving at him to enrage him, your plan to infuriate your foe is working as he swings more and more imprecisely. Over the fury he’s feeling, something triggers a powerful force inside him, you see some sort of muck coming out of his nostrils and he breathes a blinding fog towards you as it does his job easily. You can’t see through the fog, through this power, he hits your legs with a sweeping attack; it knocks you on the ground like an apple falling out of a tree. The last thing you see is a pony ready to strike you with a slamming attack, ready to crush you like a walnut. You ready your shield to impact and it hits you full force. Your head is spinning at the strike, and everything becomes a blur for a second or two, you hear a sad silence, and you see a yellow mare crying in the distance, pleading for her brother to stop, but you see the hammer rising once again, you close your eyes, and from your knapsack, you take a bottled cloud, using it, you are propelled into the sky as the hammer misses its target. Big Macintosh is left confused, once he looks up; he is surprised to see that you are face to face with him, ready to pierce him with your blade. Then it does happen… A loud stabbing sound, a gushing jolt, and then a piercing scream of pain cuts your ears. You pull the blade from Big Macintosh’s back as he falls down to the ground, trembling in defeat, blood pouring from his wound as his aggressive and dark nature seems to leave his body. You look to him with a mixture of confusion and surprise. Applebloom comes to his brother, crying like a filly: “Brother… Why did you go to the dark like that?” She was crying. “I wanted to try… I was just a fool for being too fast… You know… In the end I was a dick…” He coughed blood with a smile. “What is going to happen to you?” Applebloom muttered in tears. “I am going to die… Like every pony wounded and abandoned by the curse’s power…” He looks up then to you. “I should thank you for freeing me… I’m glad I could warn you of the evil that is going on here… M-Maybe… Maybe now we can have a chance… Please… Please tell Twilight… That way we might have a chance…” Big Macintosh looked up, coughing in pain. “Big Macintosh… No…” Applebloom cried for her big brother. “S-Sister… T-Take my soul… That will give you quite a lot more time…” Big Macintosh said. “Hey… Don’t cry… Look at the mare you became… Even got a cutie mark…” He looked to her sister, coughing again. “Brother… I…” Applebloom was covered in sadness, but as much as she wanted to save her brother, she knew that she needed to move on, even though seeing her brother for only some minutes, it were the best in her whole life so far, she stopped crying, looking to Big Macintosh. “I… I promise not to cry again… I… Will take your soul and I will keep my study on Blacksmithing to become the best!” She spoke, smiling, but covered in sadness. “I know you’d make pops proud, he was the best in the family…” Big Macintosh said, before looking up. “Light… I just… See it… I think… I’m going now…” His eyes grew distant and his body started to disappear. ----+---- He was gone. You finally could see how controlling the power of the curse was. Now, with his message, you look upwards, and you see Twilight Sparkle, she looks to you with surprised eyes, apparently she was observing the whole event, the fight and the whole revelation: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: “Surprising as it is, not all is bad news. The Herald of Love sends me a letter.” She smiles when she shows you a wrapped letter. “The Crystal Kingdom has decided to move here to Ponyville… We, the two Heralds, have lot in common. She made a voting with her people, and they decided to move here, since this city became deserted, and the land of the Crystal Kingdom is becoming a focus point of the Cursed Ponies’ attacks alongside Canterlot. They decided to move here to give more time for their ponies to prepare… They have lot of potential, and we are sure they can do a lot in war.” Twilight looked in your eyes. “The Crystal Kingdom was the first place where King Sombra placed his hooves on… A beautiful kingdom turned into a living hell… Think of a house turned into a slavery home. That was every house’s destiny.” Twilight Sparkle looked down. “I think that now that Sombra is regenerating, he is deciding to strike at important places… That soldier that killed Rainbow Dash fell… But that one was a long time ago… Big Macintosh gave us this revelation… Now they’re attacking The Crystal Kingdom… Could they be after the Heart of Crystal?” Twilight looks to you as you question what that mysterious object is. “Oh, silly me, those are one of the few objects that can balance Equestria.” [TO BE CONTINUED] CHAPTER VI - The secret that keeps all together (PART 1)+CHAPTER VI+ The secret that keeps all together – PART 1 Twilight Sparkle looks to your eyes as she remembers you never were to Equestria. You are an outsider, never came to these lands, and this destruction was not in the list of things you expected. You always heard of it as a land of majesty, a land of freedom and happiness, where troubles were uncommon, but did happen. The tale spoken by the old Mare alone freaked you out immensely, what kind of dark tale is that? You did know that some kingdoms were forged on wars and battles, but that was a tale of just plain disgrace to the lives of the princesses. Focusing back to reality, you turn your head back to your last focus of worry, Spike the dragon. You turn to Twilight Sparkle, begging forgiveness to her and hurrying to the purple teen dragon. What surprises you the most is how strong the little fellow is! After receiving a strong blow like that, and from a pony the size of Big Macintosh’s, he’s on his knees, just breathing slowly to regain his consciousness. On his side stands a very worried Sweetie Belle, she looks to his eyes with care as she is sobbing. ----+---- “Why are you crying, Sweetie Belle...?” Spike said as he looked down. “Why are you caring for me…?” He looked away from her saddened eyes. “L-Look, I’m sorry! You were always there for us… For our sister, for our family…” She looked down, trying to hide her weakness. “You fought a fucking wyvern to avenge my sister and I did nothing to thank you...” She looks in his eyes, red in her own eyes. She remembered how she usually made so much fun of the poor dragon for his questionable love decisions, now, mature enough; she could finally question him without fooling around. “Y-You did loved her, didn’t you?” Her eyes filled with tears. “I…” He looked down, struck by her question. Emotions of a long lost past flowing again as the dragon’s heart was melting. “I don’t know what the hell was really wrong with me… I decided to love someone way older than me…” Spike closed his eyes, looking up and closing his fists. “She was beautiful as the blooming flowers… Beautiful as all the gems she ever gave me!!” The dragon, in anger and sadness, punches the ground, tearing through his eyes as you can feel his sadness puncturing your heart like arrows. “I was too late!! I was always too late…” “Spike! Don’t say that!” Sweetie Belle forcefully hugged Spike. “You couldn’t have saved my sister, which is true. You couldn’t have saved my parents and that is true…” She is looking on his eyes with a sad smile. “But you saved me… You protected me ever since this shit storm of a curse struck Equestria… Even if you didn’t knew, you protected me from any invader that ever came towards this city. Every time he or she tried to attack me, you were there to attack him or her… Spike, I remember each of the scars you acquired… There are so many wounds that you have that...” She was blushing. “They were to protect me… I thank you for that…” Sweetie Belle moved towards Spike, kissing his muzzle as her cheeks were on fire. Spike’s action could be any, as you fear for his decision, you near the two creatures, soon sighing relieved as the young dragon wraps his arms around her back. He puts his head over her neck as you hear Sweetie Belle’s gentle sobs of relief as she could finally talk to someone she was so afraid to ever beg forgiveness to. Spike looks to your eyes with a small smile of happiness, he then nods to you and motions his lips for you to talk with Twilight Sparkle. ----+---- As you walk towards the top of the library, you see Twilight Sparkle in the center of a mystical room. Seven colored candles lighted the room from seven different spots. The six from the room’s corners were representing words that filled you with a warm feeling. Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Magic, Honesty and Loyalty were the words that stood under the candles, their embers shone with power and it filled you with an overall feeling of peace. The last candle stood above a metallic stand on the room’s end the candle was white and its flame was blue. Twilight Sparkle comes to you with the book, blowing the dust away from it, she puts the book on the metallic stand and she smiles once you approach a picture that drew your curiosity. It was a picture of Twilight Sparkle herself, alongside the ponies that Sweetie Belle and her friends described to you: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: “You wonder how I met these ponies, don’t you?” Twilight Sparkle questioned you, once you looked to the ponies in the picture. “They were the first ponies I ever befriended in my whole life…” She closes her eyes. “They were ponies that helped me on becoming somepony...” She held a hoof close to her chest. “When I was young… Lost in so many books and study, I never found friendship or… Any kind of reason for a finding a friend or so… It was ridiculous, I know… I had my older brother as a friend, and I thought it was enough, never really cared for finding another pony out there as a true friend…” Twilight Sparkle looks up, wondering your thoughts. “When I came to this city, it was an assignment to take care of a celebration party… By this time, my brother was already a Royal Guard, had barely any time left for me, and all company I ever had was the poor little Spike… But all the ponies you see in this picture, they all helped me…” Twilight Sparkle walks towards the candle of Loyalty as she places a picture under it. “Rainbow Dash, who rests in peace, helped me with anything that needed her reflex, never denied me a help; she left to the battlefields to help the Moon Herald fight in the front lines... She was crushed by a horrible monster and now rests in peace… She was the main essence of Loyalty.” You look to the candle with the word of Loyalty as you see the picture of Rainbow Dash, the mare of cyan coat, a rainbow-colored mane and beautiful pink eyes, her picture gives a beauty to the candle, as you understand the essence that she was to the word of loyalty. “Applejack, I could always rely on her strength and honesty, she always would help me with the hardest of chores, even though a little stubborn, she is the strongest of the mares I have ever met…” Twilight Sparkle puts another picture under the candle of Honesty. As you look to the picture, you see the mare that represents Honesty, a strong mare, her green eyes peer at your soul, her blonde mane and orange skin beautifully crafted, giving Honesty a perfect representation on this land. “Rarity, she was kind, generous to help everyone in need… No matter who needed her, she was there for the pony… Until that wyvern attacked Ponyville and killed her… She was preparing to become a soldier herself, but this preparation had to be halted by this attack… She thought of her sister and ran back home, but her lack of preparation led to her demise in the hands of that monster. ” Twilight left another picture under the candle of Generosity, you see the white mare, her blue eyes and purple mane contemplate her beauty, a horn adds to her beauty as you close your eyes, Sweetie Belle in your thoughts. Finally you have a clear picture of who was her sister. “Pinkie Pie… Ah Pinkie Pie… Never losing hope… Even in this age of darkness, she is keeping such hope and laughter, it keeps me warm to see her every now and then… She is so happy and agile; she never fails to entertain us all with the stories of her battles… Even that we know it is dark and gritty; she turns it all into something good to be heard… She is still alive, though!” Twilight Sparkle tells you, handling a small picture for you, a pink pony and her mane is a mess, but her eyes show so much determination and hope, you wonder if she’s going to come out of the picture, her smile is overflowing with emotion and you can’t help but smile when you look to it. “The last one is a pony that mourns our losses as these ponies that died were all close friends to her… Her name is Fluttershy and she is a lot timid and shy, but she has quite a bad habit when we are all threatened in combat… I never go to battle; I have to secure this city… But after Rainbow Dash died, she turned to something so much more dark and sinister… It is weird to say… Yet she is a kind pony to all of us… Our friends… She is a pony with a huge heart, wouldn’t dare to hurt even a stone, if it had feelings… But if they hurt us, spells help whoever did such a thing, because she enters a state of bloodlust I myself can barely help her contain…” You look to Twilight Sparkle in quite a shock, thinking how hard a pony’s death could be a shock to someone. Determined to find her and help her, you pick a picture of this pony called Fluttershy, you see a beautiful yellow pony, her blue-green-ish eyes are beautiful, and her pink mane shows you quite a look of a timid pony, but really, as Twilight said, someone that could hold quite a heart of a princess. “Oh well, look at me telling me the story of my friends…” Twilight Sparkle tells you, shaking her head negatively. “I called you here to show you the secrets that still keep this earth together, and I did show you only one… Please, follow me.” Twilight Sparkle calls you as you both walk towards the book in front of an iron stand. It was a book with metal plating, writings in old equestrian, a language that you didn’t understood. “These here are the stories of the elements that still hold the world of Equestria together… I just explained you the most basic of them all… The Elements of Harmony… I, the Herald of Magic, represent the final element, Magic. My friends, even the dead ones, their spirits still live on the candles, ready to fulfil their duty as the elements… Still there are many other elements to explain… Let me show you them all…” Twilight Sparkle told you as you paid close attention to her words. [TO BE CONTINUED] CHAPTER VII - The secret that keeps all together (PART 2)+CHAPTER VII+ The Secret that keeps all together – PART 2 Twilight Sparkle’s book is an encyclopedia on the history of Equestria. You see tremendous details about the story of this land, long before the rising of Celestia and Luna as the Heralds of the Sun and the Moon, when only Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies lived as separate brethren. You focus on Twilight Sparkle as you pay attention to her words, knowing their importance: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: “As I already explained, the Elements of Harmony are the living spirits of my friends and me…” She looked back to the room and the candles that burned. “The other main essences that hold this land together are the balance between light, dark and love. The sun, meaning restoration and destruction are both represented by Princess Celestia, my teacher, and master above all other Heralds. This is all known information to you, since you know the tale of the first war between Celestia and King Sombra.” Twilight Sparkle looks to you and smiles. “She does represent the two sides of the equilibrium because of Discord’s absence.” She looks to the book’s page, showing Discord’s stone form. “With his temporary loss, she needs to fill his gap, but it is a mad rush to find a cure for his petrification, even then, we don’t know how to fight his cursed form… You know that this form is not his original beauty, do you?” You nod to her, silent as you remember the memory that the Old Mare had shown you. “You’re such a brilliant mind… Well, as such, let me continue my explanation… Luna, the younger sister of Celestia, is the representation of the Moon… She is the representation of darkness and its vast knowledge. Even though it is knowledge, it is a worrying power, because what you wish the most sometimes might corrupt your mind if you cannot control yourself. Still, it was darkness itself not in a controlling and destructive way, but darkness in a healing way.” Twilight Sparkle flips the page as you see an image of a small pony able to sleep through a nightmare with the princess aiding his sleep. “She also is in disadvantage on controlling her powers, due to her lover, Starswirl, the bearded pony, dying in confrontation with Sunset Shimmer, the Baneful Princess. She managed to fight with him the monster… But both couldn’t escape the crumbling castle together.” Twilight Sparkle looks up, saddened by a true, sad and old tale. “Last but not least, comes one of my closest relationships, the Herald of Love… Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Twilight Sparkle takes a necklace from her hood out, in the shape of a heart and shows you a picture of a breath-taking pony, her multi-colored mane and pink coat complete her pink eyes. “Cadence for short, she is the representation of love itself, she is what gives ponies the will to just go on and keep having faith on each other…” She smiles. “It is because of her that I stood faithful that somepony like you would show up.” She looked down. “She is the only pony who has not suffered any losses. Her lover is my own blood brother, Shining Armor, the head of the Royal Guards.” She said with a proud voice. “They both keep the spirits of every single pony up with hope, and their wishes for us all to go on just makes all bearable…” She looks down. “For the time being…” She looks outside the window. “So far now, I cannot tell you much more, because I need you to seek the other Heralds and inform of what is going on… Like what is happening, Cadence is on the move, and the Crystal ponies are gathering to Ponyville…” Twilight Sparkle outside of the window to the direction of the Crystal Empire, a sunset just shown a gloom image of sadness and hopelessness, yet everyone in the room, you included, shone with a few embers of hope. “Seek the old Manehattan fields… That city is long gone, and all resting on it now is a pile of rubble and a war going on them… I think you can find Luna there…” Twilight Sparkle comes to you, putting a hand on your chest. “Take this…” As you look to your chest, she leaves you a purple feather. “No matter the danger, call upon the Magic Herald… My power shall carry you away from your blight, and free you from your peril… I promise you to help you in any possible way I can…” Twilight Sparkle comes closer and gives you a tender and friendly hug. ----+---- As you exit the library, Spike the Dragon and Sweetie Belle, come to you with a gift, they smile when they see you: “Hello again… I think you’ll be leaving soon enough, so I decided to make you a gift…” Spike hands you the gift. “We decided to craft you a hand-crossbow… It shoots magical bolts…” As you open the present, it is really as they say. A hand-crossbow, small and handy, you can spin and twirl it around your fingers with ease. “We made it as a way to saying thanks… You helped me and protected me from Big Macintosh…” Spike scratched the back of his head. “I know he really wasn’t being himself…” Sweetie Belle nervously says. You smile, telling the two to stop worrying as you thank them both for the gift, they smile warmly at you. You aim the crossbow at the sky and shoot it at a crow, two bolts and down the crow goes. “Nice aim.” Spike compliments you. “Well, I think I’ll tend to the library… I have to clean the dust.” Spike walks to the library. “I’ll help you with the books.” Sweetie Belle accompanies him. Just as you see the two entering the library, Applebloom comes to you, you look to the yellow mare as she looks up to you, you can’t deny her sad eyes. ----+---- Applebloom: “I have to say thanks…” You look to her eyes in silence. “Thanks for freeing my brother from that curse… It was 3 years not knowing anything from him…” She smiles, a tear rolling down her cheek as she cleans it. “A-At least I know he died in peace now…” She gives you a small present. “I just wanted to say thanks and leave you this, now that I know you’ll be leaving soon enough… It is 10 of those sap bombs… Make good use of them.” She smiles warmly to you, giving you a peck in the cheek and running to her house. You look to her running away, thinking how much that curse has taken from so many ponies, and how much more will it take. You can do something about it, can’t you? Won’t you do something about it? If you can do something about it, then you will do it now. You walk towards the paths reading to Manehattan, it reads that more than 200 miles await your travel… I guess it is going to be a long road to the Moon Herald. [END OF PROLOGUE] [TO BE CONTINUED] CHAPTER VIII - Trip of Desolation+CHAPTER VIII+ Trip of Desolation As you walk the long and tortuous road to Manehattan, you see many signs of the curse taking its toll on ponies. You see dark images that scar your sanity… Piles of charred corpses litter the streets, filling the air with a deplorable stench of carrion. Some ponies walk around aimlessly, holding broken weapons of many sorts. They all seemed to be warriors that fought against the curse, you see their fate, sadly, they all fell victim to the curse. For your luck, your robes, which are very simple, make it easy to make you undistinguishable from the soldiers. They make no great deal of your presence as you walk among them; they forgot the most basic functions in their minds. They forgot how to even speak properly as they make gurgling sounds when they try speaking something to each other. The scene fills you with the grimmest of feelings. Passing through the fields of soldiers, you look behind to witness what this curse has taken; an outpost of soldiers. Probably all that lived here were soldiers with honor. Lived their days, guarded this outpost for the sole reason of protecting nearby villages, brave ponies. You just wave gently while walking to Manehattan. 100 Miles still are between you and your destination. The moon herald, or Luna, as you heard. She lost her lover when she was much younger, as the Old Mare told you. “From the time that happened, could that still scar her mind?” That is a question you make as you keep on walking. ----+---- Even though lost on so many questions, for a fraction of a second, when your hoof slips on the Purple Feather given by Twilight Sparkle, your mind focuses for a second, you hear a loud shriek right behind you, and on the ground, you can see the clear shadow of something huge trying to snap you into two separate pieces. In a quick movement, you roll to your left as the creature slams its front members on the ground, a cloud of dust emerging where it struck. Still a bit startled by the creature’s sudden appearance, you ready yourself fast, unsheathing your blade and taking the Blue Shield that Spike gave to you. Once you see what the creature was, you remain surprised to see that it was a female griffon. Victim of the curse, her feathers were grey, her lion body was much skinnier than usual. Her eagle talons seemed covered with infection. A wound from that would be fatal if not treated soon. Her blank eyes locked onto yours as she twitches her head. She moves at a fast speed. She throws her left claw at you in a sweeping motion; you duck to defend yourself from the poisonous slash. Success! Her slash goes right over your head as you manage to slash the same claw she attempted to wound you. She shrieks in fury as she uses her elbow to hit you right in the chest. She hits you fully as you fall on your back, and man, did it pack a punch, you have some difficulty catching your air again as the creature is in the air. You see that she is coming down to pierce your chest with a deadly slam. Instinctively, you use the Bottled Cloud that Scootaloo gave to you as you manage to roll away from certain death. The griffon smashes at the ground, angered by her frustrated attempt of killing you. You regain your posture, readying yourself for another round of fight. Needing to end this fight as soon as possible, you ready the blade under your arm, aiming at the griffon’s chest. You take the Blue Shield, readying it for something you consider stupid. The griffon kicks her back leg twice, readying a pounce towards you. If she slashed you with one of those front claws, your death sentence was more than signed. You dash towards her as she does the same, in a desperate motion; you slam your shield against her claw, jamming her claw in your shield as you take that brief opening to do your worst. You pummel your blade into her chest, slashing her neck open. Her dark blood pours out, splashing onto your face and body, coating your clothes on a mixture of red and brown tonalities. ----+---- The griffon roars and shrieks in agonizing pain, trembling in defeat as it manages to pull back from your shield, but not before destroying it in the process. In a last coward attack, she slashes your arm, falling on her back, and finally succumbing to her loss of blood. You look to your wound, worried about the possible diseases that you might be acquiring soon. Maybe your adventure might be ending as soon as this… Maybe not, who knows? This world has been so full of destruction and death; you hardly think that you might ever find some sort of chance. “No time to worry.” You say to yourself, washing your wound with some clean water from a nearby river and then patching it quickly with a rag ripped from a part of your clothing. You continue your path along the road. No sign of civilization, neither any kind of direction boards for you to follow. You are lost; you travel onward desperately, hoping foolishly that you might run into the Moon Herald. As the night draws closer, your temperature has gone over the normal, you ache on fever, your senses are dampened and your whole body is numb. “What kind of infection has that wound given me?” You say to yourself as you look down to your arm. You notice you’re about to pass out; trying your best to try staying awake, you notice a silhouette of a mare on the distance. Summoning the last of your energies, you hope the best of it as you drag yourself to the pony. Falling on your hooves, you look up to the mare: “Who are you?” The mare says as she looks to you. You warn of the problem at Ponyville, speaking of the reunion of the Crystal Empire, drowsed by the curse, you stumble to the side. “BY THE MOON!!” She holds you with her arms, looking to your arm. “This wound is terrible! Hold on, pony! I shall take you to the med…” You keep trying to hear the pony’s words, but your pain is subduing you fast, your vision blurs, and you finally collapse. [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER I - An excerpt of the past+CHAPTER I+ An excerpt of the past Old Mare: Oh... Are you the new to this land...? Then let me tell you the story that exists here a long time. Perhaps you have heard it... Perhaps you haven't... Equestria... A land where majestic ponies flied and lived... A land where every kind of evil soul tried to tarnish it. A land where a couple of monsters would bring the almost destruction of it, the war that almost killed us all. The war that the Heralds of Harmony fought, on one side came darkness and its harbingers... Sombra and his wife Sunset Shimmer, they ravaged lands with eternal suffering. No crops dared to grow on those cursed lands. No foals dared to breed on the mothers who were ruled by the couple of pure evil... Their darkness was overwhelming, burning all hope away. Rape, famine, rage and destruction struck all the lands in this once majestic land... No hope lived on the hearts of those that lived in pure despair. That was until someone kindled the flame. From the dark obscurity, four lights came. Two sisters and their lovers... The younger sister and her lover controlled the darkness flawlessly... But not a cursing and controlling darkness. A kind of darkness that could heal and guide through times of loss and despair. It was a knowledge that was obscure, but could nurture your mind through the harsh times. Toghteter, they guided the innocent to freedom, they were the ballance between knowledge of good and evil, togheter lovers for a long time... Luna and Starswirl. She, alongside her lover, struck Sunset Shimmer, who dared to bring eternal pain and suffering through tortures and rape. They managed to defeat her, but not before crumbling her castle. ----+---- Memory of Starswirl: “Argh!!” Starswirl cried in surprise as he created a magic shield in defense of a boulder that almost crushed them. "You demons!! H-How come you could destroy my beautiful castle?!!" Sunset Shimmer cried as her wounds finally made her succumb in pain. "Starswirl!! You're too wounded! I have no more herbs to heal you and we must leave!!" Luna shouted as the castle crumbled around them. "Luna, my beloved... I... I don't think I can move..." Starswirl tried walking, but his legs didn't respond, as an attack of Sunset Shimmer's destroyed his leg's ligaments. "N-NO!!! I'm not leaving you!!" Luna cried, tears in her eyes. "Please!! Th-There must be a way!!" She desperately tried carrying him with her. "Luna, listen... There is no need for such act... I... I am long... Long overdue on this earth..." Starswirl tried letting go of Luna. "Shut up!!" She screamed as she ran through the hallways with him. Boulders crashed the corridors around them. Luna ran up to the center of a main hall on a castle, where they were cornered by destroyed pieces of the castle. "No... We're stuck!!" She looked around, then to Starswirl. "Luna... Damn it..." Starswirl looked down as he thought to himself. 'That spell is not ready... I didn't master it... But I have no choice... I must... Save her...' Starswirl did his best to focus the spell. "Starswirl, STOP!! Don't force yourself!!" Luna didn't understood what he tried to do, but as he focused his spell on her, she came to despair. "STARSWIRL!!! NO!!!! NO!!!!!" It was too late. A flash of light, a tremor of force on the ground, and Luna was not there anymore. Only rested the wounded body of Starswirl. "Ghr... I... Did what I could, Lunnie..." He looked upwards to the sky that he saw through the cracks. "Only one bad guy to go now... I wonder where are those two wonderful sun lights now..." Starswirl smiled. The castle crumbled in loud piercing noises of explosions and pieces of rock crashing on the ground and in the end, it was done. No more Starswirl The Bearded, he finally was put to rest. ----+---- Old Mare: That was the fate of Starswirl and her lover Luna. He teleported her to a place away from the castle. A gentlecolt's true movement. But oh well, enough babbling about one couple, there is more to this sad history tale than just one loss. There is the other couple in this incredible war. The older sister along with her lover, as powerful as the shining sun, raged great firestorms and healed the land against the curses and diseases of King Sombra. Ten thousand years of connection made this couple more than friends... Lovers... Celestia and Discord. Togheter, they were the harmony between restoration and destruction through flames... They struck at King Sombra and together, they massacred the evil king with light. However, a dark fate came to the young and loving couple. ----+---- Memory of Celestia: "DISCORD!!! NO!!!!" Celestia cried as her lover was struck with a blade of dark energy, capable of cursing somepony forever. "Damn it..." Discord said as he fell with the blade on his chest. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me..." The demon King Sombra said, before coughing blood and perishing. "Discord, this blade... No... Its curse will transform you... I... I..." Celestia fell on her hooves, pure despair on her eyes. "Celestia, honey... Listen to me... Please... Listen..." Discord tried to call her attention. "You have to freeze me... I have no other choice... AGGH!!!" As Discord cried, the curse soared through his veins, corrupting his beautiful form... Him, the last male Alicorn in existence. "No!! We can find a way!! We finally defeated the king!! Luna and Starswirl will help you!!" Celestia cried as she held him close. Discord cried in agony and pain, as his flowing of magic corrupted with sinister dark magic... The destructive power he knew turning to something so much worse. "My love, listen!! You have to do this! I C-CAN'T RISK LOSING MY POWER!! AGGH!!! TIME IS SHORT!!" Discord's words seemed filled with fear. "Discord... No..." Celestia cried in fear as she saw the corruption taking its final act. A flash of light sent Celestia flying to a wall, as she was knocked out. When she awoke, she saw what was once her lover now turned into a demonic beast, a Draconequus. A mythological creature once said to be banished from space and time... And now her lover had taken the form of it. "D-Discord... What have he done to you..." Celestia was on her hooves as she was on tears. "I still have my sanity... Please... Before this consumes me..." His voice seemed filled with anger, lust and hatred. "Freeze me into a stone... You are the only one that can do it..." "I-I won't do it... I won't be able to live without you, Discord..." Celestia cried like a filly, tears for her loved one as she knew a fate of lonliness awaited her. "I-If you won't do it... I will..." A voice called from the room's entrance... There stood a sorrow-filled Luna. "Luna... No... Please..." Celestia, with tears on her eyes, begged her sister not to do such act. "Discord... We don't know how to save you... We will try to find a way, though... I promise that..." She closed her eyes "I promise that to Starswirl..." She held her hoof against her chest as tears flew her eyes. "Thank you..." The power surging through his veins, corrupting his very core of existence. "Ghrrrr... What are you waiting for?" Discord, almost out of patience and almost out of control, ready to attack on her lover, Celestia. "Come on... DO IT!!!!" He shouted as Luna shot the magic that she had left. As it hit Discord right in the chest, it froze him like a diamond, he was stuck in that form until someone could ever break that enchantment... The problem was, there was no way to break petrifying. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Celestia fell on the ground, her wings opened as she cried like a filly. From that day, peace did come to the wounded lands of Equestria, but at the price of its most majestic Knights... Soon to be named Kings, their sacrifices were not in vain. ----+---- Old Mare: That was the tale of the four Heralds of Equestria and their war to stop Sombra and Sunset Shimmer, my dear... That is the burden that the princesses carry... The dark fate they hold. Sad losses... How much had you lost in your life that you never stop to think? Yet I say all of this to you, a pony who is suffering a long curse that Sombra put on this world... The Soulless curse... The curse that is draining you... Did you have family? Did you have a wife? Children? What did you have? Can't seem to remember? It's the power of this curse, my dear... It already is consuming you... Go forth... Seek the Herald that resides on the deserted city ahead... She might give you some more information on what is going on... For now, I don't have more storytelling to you... [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER II - Improbable Hope+CHAPTER 2+ Improbable Hope As you venture through the deep fog of the forest, the last words that the Old Mare could speak of hit your mind again; they cause some scarring on your emotions as they flow as true. You don't recall your family anymore. You don't remember your dear mother or father, nor if you had a brother or sister. Those memories are fading your essence, but why? You grew on this land, but why it is leaving your brain? What kind of power this curse holds?! This is never told before, and you must seek answers quickly. If anyone has these questions, is this so called herald, you must seek him or her as soon as possible! A last warning of the Old Mare comes to your mind as well: ----+---- Old Mare: "Stay on edge, my darling, this forest ahead shall bring you towards the cities you should go towards, but it is also part of your journey, you shall go back to it, as it is a bewitched forest... The secrets and dangers in it are large and ominous... Thread carefully... The dangers are uncanny and they long for your soul, my dear... But oh, you will keep hearing an old hag like me~? Go on and live on a restless journey, after all, it is what you seek, you masochistic being~" ----+---- The Everfree Forest greets you with its gloomy and poisonous air, the stench of dead corpses and sounds of most different creatures, you walk along the trees and avoid the branches and sap that oozed from some specific trees. Curious to the sap, you analyze it and grab some of it to see its property, trying anything to it, but unable to do anything. Frustrated and with a messy hand, you throw the glob on the ground and progress onward, unaware of the presence behind you. As you keep on going, you see two branching paths ahead with two signs ahead, they read: "Ponyville" - ”Celxxxx's & Lxxa's Casxxe" Curious of the other meaning of the other sign, but afraid of it as well, you decide to head to Ponyville, at it, you think of asking about the other path and the meaning of its sign. Heading towards it, you then notice the strange presence that followed you from some time ago. You turn to it and draw your sword; you notice a young pony mare, yellow coat and red mane, orange eyes that glowed as bright as the day. She looks up to you as she wears sturdy chest plate and iron leg platings: ----+---- Applebloom: "Are you a newcomer to Equestria? Well, I should welcome you, then." She smiles to you as she walks to you innocently; her accent indicates that she lives in a more rural zone. "I should just say it was pretty dumb of you to throw that tree sap away like that!" She giggled and showed you a little bag of packaged sap. "These are sap of firefly trees, these trees call a lot of fireflies, and their light usually gives the sap firepower, I don't know how it happens, I just know it does." She smiles and points up to some fireflies that sucked on to the sap. "Well, the trick is to pack them, that way, they don't have air, and when they don't, they get a lot stronger, and when they get thrown, they explode! Like that!" She throws one bag at a tree as the sap explodes like a cannonball, ripping the tree apart; the sound scares away all woodland creatures apart, scaring even some of the biggest creatures. "Oops, should a thrown that somewhere safe... Uhhh, we gotta go!! Come on!!" ----+---- Applebloom pulls you by the hand as you rush by her side, trying and falling all the times on vines and tree roots, you look behind as you see an image that shocks you to think that it exists, a rotting wyvern is giving pursuit after you. Its wings falling apart and dropping scales on the ground, its lungs and other organs showing through its ribs and its blood acrid and smelling as rotten as feces. It keeps running after you two, but it breathes a poison mist towards you and Applebloom, it surprises you as, in your thoughts, you were thinking of a fiery explosion towards you. Applebloom throws a sap bomb at the wyvern, it explodes right on its lungs, stopping it down, giving you two a long time to run away. You two run for a long time, but soon you reach the city of Ponyville. To your dismay, it is not a happy city... Taken by a gloomy feel of death and disease, you see nothing but, loneliness and disgrace... It feels weird, on the city's main sign, it says that there exists a population of over 2000 ponies, but you see none. Something is happening around here, and you are most worried than ever before, turning to Applebloom and questioning her: ----+---- Applebloom: "Ah... You ask of the disgraceful curse? Everyone is suffering it... E-Even me..." She looks down, a sad look on her face. "It... Took over my brother... He left to try finding a cure to the curse, but he... He never came back... I think he is dead, mister..." She looks up. "Still, everyone packed up and left to other cities around Ponyville, bigger ones, only my sister, our friends, and the Herald remained..." Once you heard that word, your heart skipped a beat. Sure, of course she could tell you a little about this curse, but the herald could brief you with more details on it. You ask her without a second thought. "The Herald? Oh, it is my friend Twilight Sparkle; she was named the Herald of Magic about 10 years ago, when the curse hit us all..." You are happy by her words as you feel that you can have answers. ----+---- You salute Applebloom like a noble being, she smiles and salutes back, happy that she makes a new friend in this world that feels really empty; you thank her and walk towards the center of the city, the place that Applebloom told you that the Herald of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, lived. You look back to see if that little mare knows where she is going, she goes right inside a small house where a fireplace is burning. You breathe, relieved as you see that there is people at home and she is not alone, because a fireplace burns and you see smoke coming out of the chimney. Focusing on your thoughts, you look towards the place where the Herald could live. To your surprise, she lived in a place where every being with knowledge, a Library, carved inside a giant oak tree. Once you knock on it, the door opens, a lavender pony receives you, a face devoid of any smile, her eyes are a beautiful dark purple, her mane is a blue with a string of purple and pink, a horn and wings grace her figure, she looks to you as she scans you slowly with her eyes: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: "You knock on my door, stranger. I see and welcome you in. Hello, my dear, I am Twilight Sparkle, Herald of Magic. I see the many doubts and questions in your eyes... I am a being that can use magic, after all... I see how long you have traveled to just see me... I am happy for that... Happy to see that, in amidst the long lost light, there still shines an improbable hope..." [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER III - A Maddening Land+CHAPTER 3+ A Maddening Land Coming inside the lavender pony's house, you see that it is a lot different than what a library usually is. It is a lot deprived from what you usually think of a library. There is not many books, the few that exists teach of very few elementary sorceries, some apothecary supplies and throwing equipment. The library looks decently cared, though, all thanks to her companion, whom you don't know their relation. A dragon, looking by her size, was tending to the books and dust that usually stood on the shelves. He carried the image of a creature that was naive in the past, but something truly scarred him. His purple scales seem as if they could have been much more brighter than they are now, one of his fins wounded, ripped off. Whatever happened to this guy, surely gives him the right to tell quite a tale. His eyes show that he left a deep scar behind, something awful happened to the poor creature, but he managed to fight it with glory, it seems. He carries a necklace with a fang of some sort of creature, a tooth of a beast. Strong dragon for his living, maybe he could teach you a thing or two, you smile as you learn his name, Spike the Wingless Dragon, he waves to you and smiles, knowing that you understand that something happened to him, even if you didn't asked his story. The lavender pony eyes you, you see subtle curiosity in her eyes, but you wonder why she is curious about a new arrival. You take action and then make the first move, asking her about the town and its loneliness. She closes her eyes, moving her hoof to her chest as she looks up and then to your eyes. ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: "You are wondering what happened to Ponyville, right?" She sighed and looked straight into your eyes, her own eyes devoid of any light of happiness. "Since the time this curse came to this land, it all started as a subtle thing, just a minor corruption... First came the wish for small things, corruption of the old, incurable diseases, stealing... But things started becoming so much worse, it became ridiculous... Only my friends and I stood clear of this mystic disease that is this curse because of the Herald power I have... I tried all I could to save those around me from the curse's overwhelming force, but I wasn't capable..." She stops for a moment, looking down, closing her eyes, for a second, you think that she is about to cry, but she regains her posture and begins to speak again. "The ponies, afraid of the curse, fled to the other cities that were around Ponyville. One of them was Canterlot, the new city of royalty, after the Moon Princess's Depression. The Crystal Kingdom came years before Canterlot, one of the oldest Kingdoms, and Manehattan, the city where mechanical prowess is highly praised... Ponies fled there with hopes to avoid this curse... From what I know, it went all in vanity..." She closed her eyes and looked down. "This curse is something terrible... It takes your innermost bad habits and it starts making them into much worse things... Making you do things you don't believe you can do... You think you can control the curse, and when it does its worse to you, you're there, holding your mother's head, smiling unintentionally..." You stare at her eyes with fear; you ask her if loss of memory is an effect, she looks to you with a sad look. "That is the primary status... It is beginning on you... You will keep living... Don't worry, because the curse will only claim your soul if you don't feed yourself..." You look to her with wonder, asking what she means. "Feeding with the souls of the cursed ones, of course; what I mean is that you will face off with the ponies that succumbed to this disease... They will not reason, they won't give you mercy... You will run away, they will follow you back all the way to here..." ----+---- You look down, surprised as you think of the small Applebloom that you met. You think of all the ponies and creatures you met, and the lives that they go on. The things that they'd end up doing because of the curse; you end up thinking on the worst scenario possible because of this curse and its striking towards the cities you passed through. Because even though you are forgetting your oldest memories, some of the ones you cherish are still there, let it be that friend you like a lot, or that loved one you left behind because you just had to due to some problematic circumstance. But lost in so many thoughts, your mind just focused on little Applebloom, those little fiery eyes are hard to imagine in a state devoid of any light. She looked so energetic and happy that it was not your wish to see her lost. ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: "Don't fret for Applebloom, she is too young to succumb to the curse, and this world is full of souls to die to the curse... Not to mention that many live against this curse... Not only you, my friend, also, you can use the souls you pick to feed other ponies around you... So be careful on how you use them..." She looks down, however. "Still, there are people that don't use these souls for good reasons, however. They use these souls to serve dark purposes, feeding their own desires. Take care, my dear, you don't know who you will find..." She sits up. "I think this is all I can tell you about this curse, it there anything you want to ask?" You ponder and look to her, asking of the war of the Heralds of Harmony. She, stunned by your question, looks to you and speaks. "My master, Celestia, taught me about this tale... Her lover, now turned a monster, rests in stone inside the castle... She cries under his feet every night... Her sister, Luna, told me that she saw Celestia sleeping under the statue at times... It is a true story..." You are surprised that the Herald that fought on the battle itself still lives, wondering if they are immortal, you look upwards. Equestria is really a mystical land. "I guess you know of the losses of the princesses then?" You nod, silent, remembering of the tale of the Old Mare. "Then I should tell you that the access to the castle is possible, though it is a hard trip... It is filled with monsters and lot of cursed ponies... However, you should seek power first, and not answers. I know my response to your questions seems ridiculous, but in this perilous time, it is much more necessary to have power rather than answers... The access to the castle will eventually come, so will be the relation to Luna and Celestia. I can guarantee you that..." She looks to your eyes with a small shine in them. "You are so attentive to my story... I am glad when any new traveler comes to me with ears and eyes, rather than a mouth..." She smiles, her eyes finally shining like pearls. "Go forth, adventurer, this dark land is full of perils and death... But you can overcome it... Call over the sun, the moon, magic and the love, and we shall always aid you... Now go forth, you have our blessing..." ----+---- Before you leave the house, Spike holds your arm as he looks at you. His eyes are shining with a strong light as he seems grateful to you. ----+---- Spike: "My dear friend, you have gained my full respect... You have made my master smile... Something that no one else could have done in a long time... She was always receiving new adventurers all the time, but they never attended to her, sad with this fact, she was almost losing hope with Equestria... I thank you so very much because you rekindled her flame of hope... Thank you... Oh please, take this..." Spike handed you a blue circular shield. "It is not much, but I used this on my last quest... It is all I can offer as thanks, but it will serve you for a while..." You thank the purple dragon with a bow. He bows back and he looks in your eyes with a tear. "You have a heart of gold, my friend; don't let those cursed beasts take it from you..." He smiled and walked inside, tending to his pony friend and his house. ----+---- Hearing those words from this couple, you felt truly beatified, standing up, you walk outside as you see the gloomy world, the countless fields of death and disease stay ahead as your challenging opponent. Giants of power and pain are ready to tear you apart and massacre your very own existence, break your bones at no hard effort. But you will yield with a fight, you are blessed by this land's kings and with this blessing, you are truly ready to fight for it, even if it costs your life. It is time to cleanse this curse; it is time to cleanse this Maddening Land. [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER IV - The Trinity of Heirs+CHAPTER IV+ The Trinity of Heirs You walk around Ponyville to see if you see any life in the deserted city. After Twilight Sparkle's words, you feel a little hopeful and determined that you might find some life out there. After all, death could be lingering in every corner, but that doesn't means that it would be your only company in this land. Equestria was the land of one the finest type of beings in existence, ponies of every kind existed, bad ones and good ones. In your mind, you expect ponies from all kinds to come, you get worried for the situation of the good ones, but you also feel terrified for the power of evil ones and their intentions. You go back to the house of Applebloom, wondering who stays with her. She helped you, yet you gave her nothing in return. You could at least get to know her family a little more, know who are her friends and family and get to know more about them as well. Walking towards her home, you see the chimney still burns strongly as ever, you knock on the door as an orange Pegasus opens the door, she looks up to you. ----+---- Scootaloo: “Ahem” She clears her throat. “You’re from around? I don’t remember you being here last time… Anyways, come in, one movement and we kill you…” She opens the door fully, revealing a smiting workshop. You see the yellow pony that greeted you before as she smiles when she sees you. Once Scootaloo finds out that you are indeed acquainted to Applebloom, she shows to be much more receptive to you. “Ah, sorry, it’s just that we’re always on edge because of this damn curse.” She picks a smiting hammer and sits on front of one of the two anvils that was around. “Well, you should know that we, the living ponies are a lot more violent now due to this curse… Not that we want to be violent, but because we need to be just to survive… I’m sorry for the death threat… ” You nod to her and say it was nothing, she smiles and picks an iron ore, smiting it right away to re-form it into a refined iron ingot. “Well, Applebloom and I are blacksmiths; we sell our weapons to travelers nearby.” Her saying leaves you a bit stunned, you can’t imagine the little yellow mare handling a huge hammer and smiting down some iron ingots into huge dual-handling broadswords very well, but since she’s one living in this house, you start taking that image as true, as crazy it may be. You look to Scootaloo and ask of Applebloom’s parents, or her sister, none of them is around, and that bothers you quite a lot. “Oh...” She fumbles in silence for a second, looking over the doorway for a second. “Her parents were long dead when she was a little filly… Her older brother sought for a cure of the curse, but has not returned ever since... And her sister serves in the Moon Herald’s main line of defense. She fights like a master. Their love is very strong, but after the loss of her older brother, their love got even stronger, even with this distance, they are now better than ever.” Scootaloo smiles as she goes on to smite some more. You look down as you feel how much this curse has taken from that young pony. You then remember what you wanted to give to Applebloom, you look and then you ask to Scootaloo about her and her life. Silence greets the room for some seconds. She then looks to you and stands up. “Can we go out for a walk, then?” ----+---- Walking outside, accompanied by Scootaloo, you follow her around to wherever she wants to go, soon enough, you end up at what seems a home in the clouds, wondering how you are going to get on there, you look around the house, seeing its majestic design, seeing countless marks of a rainbow thunder coming out of a cloud. Scootaloo smiles to you and gives you a precious possession of hers: ----+---- Scootaloo: “This is a bottled cloud… It will propel you into the air… high enough to reach as up as that house is… Come on, let’s go!” She looks up and flies up to the house with no problem. ----+---- You focus on the bottled cloud as it does just as she told you, you get sky-rocketed, getting jumped higher than the trees, you hold on the house’s entrance floor, getting up and looking to Scootaloo, you admire her item and thank her, trying to give it back: ----+---- Scootaloo: “Not needed, I won’t need it anymore, now that I can fly for real, this can be passed on to someone that can really use this… You will surely use this more than me.” She smiled to you as you both enter the cloud house. Inside it, a lot of rusted trophies and pictures of Scootaloo and a cyan colored Pegasus. “Dashie… If only you could see my new friend…” Scootaloo held one picture close to her chest as she smiled, you see a tear escape her eye. Soon after, you question her about the Cyan pony. “Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony to ever live. She was so quick; she could even pass a thunder!” Her eyes flashed with emotion. “A pony with so much awesomeness; she rocked out, saved everyone when they needed her!!” She was speaking all good things about this Cyan pony, tears flew from her eyes. Then she stopped, the curse’s reminder bringing the bad memories to her again. “But even being the most awesome pony, she wasn’t immortal… She… When she heard of the curse, she was the first to take action at it… Armed herself, she went to battle. Fought with all she could. Battled and ravaged all the cursed ponies that she could. Those that were tarnished enough to turn themselves away from the kingdom fought against Rainbow Dash, but they never matched her, that was until a giant came to battle, a pony that was so big, it outmatched her just by his size… It grabbed Rainbow Dash by her leg; he crushed her on the walls and on the ground. She didn’t survive; the wounds blew all of her organs. As her last wish, she left me her most precious thing... Her soul...” She looks down. “I took her living as mine, only because she allowed me to… All the ponies that she killed came to me as well… I have a lot to thank her for… I never really met my parents… I always was cared by Rainbow Dash… So she was a mother to me… And that is why I praised her like a goddess.” Scootaloo looked down, sad with the telling of her story. ----+---- As you are coming back with Scootaloo, you are thinking of something to do to her, in a manner to say that you just respect her story of loss. Without an option of much to say, you just put a hoof on her back and look in her eyes, you tell her that she’ll be ok, and that her step mother was a beautiful mare, she gives you a gleeful smile, before walking with you back to their workshop, inside it, a white mare worked on a hammer with magic, enchanting it as she looked up to the two of you when you both arrived: ----+---- Sweetie Belle: “Ah, you are the pony that Applebloom told to be with us today?” Sweetie Belle spoke, a smile on her face, her looks of an innocently happy mare. “Welcome to our humble place, I am Sweetie Belle; I am the Magic Mare of this place.” She smiles as she makes the acquaintance with you. “So you came to this land because of the story that my friend Twilight knows? That story is a lot scary…” You are looking into her eyes, you both talk a long time, friend talking do come into you, you discover that she really was found of cupcakes, and many other activities was her favorites, including finding what her cutie-mark was about. Those many facts make you see how different life was before this dark curse hit this land. Then, she delves into a deep subject for her, when the curse hit. “When it happened, I was in a picnic with my family... The curse was taking over slowly and we weren’t caring over the facts… Since it started slowly, who were us to care? We were just a family of unicorn ponies living. That was until 2 months after… A wyvern! A source of this power just created a fully-fledged wyvern!! And it was wreaking havoc next to my house… How could we escape that beast’s embrace?! There was no way… All the ponies that could do something where out on the lines of defense, fighting against the first signs of cursed ponies, they moved in small armies and the defense lines held well against these monsters… But we, the civilians, were unprotected against these beasts. My sister Rarity was in town, preparing to be in the lines. She was still untrained, but she came to help us, I watched her battle in worry, I wanted to do something to assist my sister like I always did, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do anything. So I trusted that my sister would be able to do something.” Sweetie Belle then gasped and put her hoof in her mouth, a tear escaping her eye. “I’m sorry… She… Got dilacerated… The dragon torn her apart after minutes of fighting… She was so brave… Who came to her aid later was a young dragon… Spike, he seemed devastated by the scene, when he saw Rarity destroyed, he shouted in anger, it is true that a dragon of his size couldn’t beat a Wyvern already grown, but he managed to… He tore the beast in two in mere seconds…” She looked down. “He left me with no words on how easy he did that.” She smiled. “It was funny, we always joked that he had a crush on Rarity, and whether it was true or not… But… My Celestia, it was really true…” She was tearing through her eyes, she looks up. ”I’m sorry for crying, I was so sad for remembering this story, I lost my sister, someone so close to me, and it really hurts me deep… I lost my parents too, because they couldn’t take the pain of losing Rarity… But I feel more hurt for Spike… How hurt can he be that he lost his loved one? I feel… So destroyed for him… I lost everyone, and I feel bad for it, but I feel worse for someone else other than me…” She then looks to you. “Does that make me somepony bad?” You look to her and then give her a hug. You smile and reassure her that she is a wonderful pony, even having a terrible loss; she is capable of being careful to those around her. She smiles and hugs you back, happy that she knows she met someone nice. ----+---- You let go of Sweetie Belle and stand up as you decide to go outside to have a breath of fresh air, after all, a lot of stories were heard today. Once you go out, though, there is a new face in town, though. A pony holding a mallet, his eyes showing a sinister look, he looks to everyone that appears on his sight, Spike comes out of the library with a face of wonder, he looks to the pony as he stands by your side, he warns you to stay on your guard. Sweetie Belle appears by her doorway. ----+---- “What can we do for you, stranger pony?!” Spike shouts. “…I come for the head of the Herald.” The pony speaks in a calm voice. “WHAT?!” Spike shouts angrily. “Defy me and die; you will suffer the consequences if you face me.” The pony grabbed his mallet. Spike threw himself at the pony with raging fury, swinging his axe; the pony dodged and hit Spike right in his chest with the mallet, sending him flying right to a wall. “SPIKE!!!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran towards Spike, kneeling by his side. The pony with the mallet turns to you: “And what about you? Do you dare defy me as well, you pitiful being?” He speaks, laughing and walking towards you. [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER V - A Surprising Revelation+CHAPTER V+ A Surprising Revelation The armored pony walks towards you; he readies his mallet for a strike. You unsheathe your blade and the shield that Spike gave you, readying yourself for combat. The pony swings his mallet in a vertical swing, it comes straight down as you raise your shield. The strike echoing through the houses, you riposte his attack with a swing, but the pony is quick, despite his weapon’s weight. He manages to dodge your swing at him. That blunt strike was quite a punch to your defending leg; still, you are in combat and have no time to address thought to the battle. Another round of combat, he dashes to you, spinning his mallet in a surprisingly fast speed. Your most quick reaction is to roll towards him, thankfully, that move helps you find a gap on his defense as you strike his flank forcefully with a powerful slash, it makes a gash on his flank as he grunts in pain, jumping away from you position: ----+---- ???: “I see that we’ve a fighter here, anyways, I’m glad we’re not stuck only with sissy mares here… It would’ve been too easy… I know I love to have some fun, but I just love to have some battles as well.” The pony laughed as he looked to the wound on his flank. “Still, who taught to you fight like this? This is foal’s play. Let me show you how a real pony fights!!” He laughs maniacally, dashing after you for another round of fight. ----+---- You prepare against the crazy pony’s strike, but it is another surprising streak of moves towards you. Strikes from all directions leave you surprised as you cannot dodge the last one; it hits right on your chest, sending you on your back. It hurts, sending pain through your lungs as they are on fire. You look up to the sky as they are a blur, you gasp for air as you feel the ground to receive your back in a harsh and forceful embrace. Looking to the pony, you stand back up, and a few steps ahead, you notice something that flew off Spike’s neck, his necklace, you grab it. This calls the pony’s attention as he stops his second charge: ----+---- ???: “What’s that?!” The pony shouted, while he looked to the necklace in your hands. “That fang… So someone did kill my wyvern...” He looked unamused. “That lousy beast.” Your eyes flourish in pure anger once you hear those words, you say all the stories you heard to the pony, accusing him of being the one responsible for the deaths of the unicorn named Rarity and her parents, also being responsible for the loneliness that Sweetie Belle lives on. “Ah, for real? Do you blame me for such stupid things?” The pony stops, and laughs. “Don’t you think I know these ponies?!” The pony laughs before stopping to remove his helmet, who offered no vision of his face. The face you see doesn’t surprises you, after all, you never saw that pony. A red coat, green eyes, orange hair, those were the defining features of that pony. “Don’t you know who I am?” The pony asks as you just wonder his identity. Hearing a wail of sadness, followed by a cry of desperation, you look back to see Applebloom on her hooves, crying like an infant, she mutters the name Big Mac. “That is right; it is me, her older brother, Big Macintosh…” You turn your head back to the pony, confused, but enraged. You ask him why is he doing this, and for what purpose. “For power, I threw all I needed to away… I became one with my hidden power, and now I possess a much more powerful strength… I overcame the curse… I am now forever free…” He laughs maniacally. “To free myself, I just needed to give myself to the everlasting lord, King Sombra!!” You, as you hear that name, stutter in fear. You shout in anger at Macintosh, saying that King Sombra is long dead. “You know nothing, young pony, my master is reborn, and he brings powerful allies…” Macintosh laughs once again. You look down, what can be happening to this land? You know nothing yet, but you must gather power to face this threat. You look at Big Macintosh, saying that his masters shall once again fall. “Useless to think like that, pony. I see my master’s power; it is growing to unimaginable capacity… You cannot understand its force…” He looks down, grabbing his mallet. “Enough talk… HAVE AT YOU!!!” The pony makes a mad dash towards you. ----+---- Big Macintosh swings his hammer forcefully at you; yet you dodge his swings with precision. The anger from your discovery has honed your skills in battle, the crying of Applebloom makes your heart filled with rage, you dodge the attacks with precision, taking your time, you manage to step on Big Macintosh’s mallet, delivering a kick to his face, looking to his eyes and waving at him to enrage him, your plan to infuriate your foe is working as he swings more and more imprecisely. Over the fury he’s feeling, something triggers a powerful force inside him, you see some sort of muck coming out of his nostrils and he breathes a blinding fog towards you as it does his job easily. You can’t see through the fog, through this power, he hits your legs with a sweeping attack; it knocks you on the ground like an apple falling out of a tree. The last thing you see is a pony ready to strike you with a slamming attack, ready to crush you like a walnut. You ready your shield to impact and it hits you full force. Your head is spinning at the strike, and everything becomes a blur for a second or two, you hear a sad silence, and you see a yellow mare crying in the distance, pleading for her brother to stop, but you see the hammer rising once again, you close your eyes, and from your knapsack, you take a bottled cloud, using it, you are propelled into the sky as the hammer misses its target. Big Macintosh is left confused, once he looks up; he is surprised to see that you are face to face with him, ready to pierce him with your blade. Then it does happen… A loud stabbing sound, a gushing jolt, and then a piercing scream of pain cuts your ears. You pull the blade from Big Macintosh’s back as he falls down to the ground, trembling in defeat, blood pouring from his wound as his aggressive and dark nature seems to leave his body. You look to him with a mixture of confusion and surprise. Applebloom comes to his brother, crying like a filly: “Brother… Why did you go to the dark like that?” She was crying. “I wanted to try… I was just a fool for being too fast… You know… In the end I was a dick…” He coughed blood with a smile. “What is going to happen to you?” Applebloom muttered in tears. “I am going to die… Like every pony wounded and abandoned by the curse’s power…” He looks up then to you. “I should thank you for freeing me… I’m glad I could warn you of the evil that is going on here… M-Maybe… Maybe now we can have a chance… Please… Please tell Twilight… That way we might have a chance…” Big Macintosh looked up, coughing in pain. “Big Macintosh… No…” Applebloom cried for her big brother. “S-Sister… T-Take my soul… That will give you quite a lot more time…” Big Macintosh said. “Hey… Don’t cry… Look at the mare you became… Even got a cutie mark…” He looked to her sister, coughing again. “Brother… I…” Applebloom was covered in sadness, but as much as she wanted to save her brother, she knew that she needed to move on, even though seeing her brother for only some minutes, it were the best in her whole life so far, she stopped crying, looking to Big Macintosh. “I… I promise not to cry again… I… Will take your soul and I will keep my study on Blacksmithing to become the best!” She spoke, smiling, but covered in sadness. “I know you’d make pops proud, he was the best in the family…” Big Macintosh said, before looking up. “Light… I just… See it… I think… I’m going now…” His eyes grew distant and his body started to disappear. ----+---- He was gone. You finally could see how controlling the power of the curse was. Now, with his message, you look upwards, and you see Twilight Sparkle, she looks to you with surprised eyes, apparently she was observing the whole event, the fight and the whole revelation: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: “Surprising as it is, not all is bad news. The Herald of Love sends me a letter.” She smiles when she shows you a wrapped letter. “The Crystal Kingdom has decided to move here to Ponyville… We, the two Heralds, have lot in common. She made a voting with her people, and they decided to move here, since this city became deserted, and the land of the Crystal Kingdom is becoming a focus point of the Cursed Ponies’ attacks alongside Canterlot. They decided to move here to give more time for their ponies to prepare… They have lot of potential, and we are sure they can do a lot in war.” Twilight looked in your eyes. “The Crystal Kingdom was the first place where King Sombra placed his hooves on… A beautiful kingdom turned into a living hell… Think of a house turned into a slavery home. That was every house’s destiny.” Twilight Sparkle looked down. “I think that now that Sombra is regenerating, he is deciding to strike at important places… That soldier that killed Rainbow Dash fell… But that one was a long time ago… Big Macintosh gave us this revelation… Now they’re attacking The Crystal Kingdom… Could they be after the Heart of Crystal?” Twilight looks to you as you question what that mysterious object is. “Oh, silly me, those are one of the few objects that can balance Equestria.” [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER VI - The secret that keeps all together (PART 1)+CHAPTER VI+ The secret that keeps all together – PART 1 Twilight Sparkle looks to your eyes as she remembers you never were to Equestria. You are an outsider, never came to these lands, and this destruction was not in the list of things you expected. You always heard of it as a land of majesty, a land of freedom and happiness, where troubles were uncommon, but did happen. The tale spoken by the old Mare alone freaked you out immensely, what kind of dark tale is that? You did know that some kingdoms were forged on wars and battles, but that was a tale of just plain disgrace to the lives of the princesses. Focusing back to reality, you turn your head back to your last focus of worry, Spike the dragon. You turn to Twilight Sparkle, begging forgiveness to her and hurrying to the purple teen dragon. What surprises you the most is how strong the little fellow is! After receiving a strong blow like that, and from a pony the size of Big Macintosh’s, he’s on his knees, just breathing slowly to regain his consciousness. On his side stands a very worried Sweetie Belle, she looks to his eyes with care as she is sobbing. ----+---- “Why are you crying, Sweetie Belle...?” Spike said as he looked down. “Why are you caring for me…?” He looked away from her saddened eyes. “L-Look, I’m sorry! You were always there for us… For our sister, for our family…” She looked down, trying to hide her weakness. “You fought a fucking wyvern to avenge my sister and I did nothing to thank you...” She looks in his eyes, red in her own eyes. She remembered how she usually made so much fun of the poor dragon for his questionable love decisions, now, mature enough; she could finally question him without fooling around. “Y-You did loved her, didn’t you?” Her eyes filled with tears. “I…” He looked down, struck by her question. Emotions of a long lost past flowing again as the dragon’s heart was melting. “I don’t know what the hell was really wrong with me… I decided to love someone way older than me…” Spike closed his eyes, looking up and closing his fists. “She was beautiful as the blooming flowers… Beautiful as all the gems she ever gave me!!” The dragon, in anger and sadness, punches the ground, tearing through his eyes as you can feel his sadness puncturing your heart like arrows. “I was too late!! I was always too late…” “Spike! Don’t say that!” Sweetie Belle forcefully hugged Spike. “You couldn’t have saved my sister, which is true. You couldn’t have saved my parents and that is true…” She is looking on his eyes with a sad smile. “But you saved me… You protected me ever since this shit storm of a curse struck Equestria… Even if you didn’t knew, you protected me from any invader that ever came towards this city. Every time he or she tried to attack me, you were there to attack him or her… Spike, I remember each of the scars you acquired… There are so many wounds that you have that...” She was blushing. “They were to protect me… I thank you for that…” Sweetie Belle moved towards Spike, kissing his muzzle as her cheeks were on fire. Spike’s action could be any, as you fear for his decision, you near the two creatures, soon sighing relieved as the young dragon wraps his arms around her back. He puts his head over her neck as you hear Sweetie Belle’s gentle sobs of relief as she could finally talk to someone she was so afraid to ever beg forgiveness to. Spike looks to your eyes with a small smile of happiness, he then nods to you and motions his lips for you to talk with Twilight Sparkle. ----+---- As you walk towards the top of the library, you see Twilight Sparkle in the center of a mystical room. Seven colored candles lighted the room from seven different spots. The six from the room’s corners were representing words that filled you with a warm feeling. Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Magic, Honesty and Loyalty were the words that stood under the candles, their embers shone with power and it filled you with an overall feeling of peace. The last candle stood above a metallic stand on the room’s end the candle was white and its flame was blue. Twilight Sparkle comes to you with the book, blowing the dust away from it, she puts the book on the metallic stand and she smiles once you approach a picture that drew your curiosity. It was a picture of Twilight Sparkle herself, alongside the ponies that Sweetie Belle and her friends described to you: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: “You wonder how I met these ponies, don’t you?” Twilight Sparkle questioned you, once you looked to the ponies in the picture. “They were the first ponies I ever befriended in my whole life…” She closes her eyes. “They were ponies that helped me on becoming somepony...” She held a hoof close to her chest. “When I was young… Lost in so many books and study, I never found friendship or… Any kind of reason for a finding a friend or so… It was ridiculous, I know… I had my older brother as a friend, and I thought it was enough, never really cared for finding another pony out there as a true friend…” Twilight Sparkle looks up, wondering your thoughts. “When I came to this city, it was an assignment to take care of a celebration party… By this time, my brother was already a Royal Guard, had barely any time left for me, and all company I ever had was the poor little Spike… But all the ponies you see in this picture, they all helped me…” Twilight Sparkle walks towards the candle of Loyalty as she places a picture under it. “Rainbow Dash, who rests in peace, helped me with anything that needed her reflex, never denied me a help; she left to the battlefields to help the Moon Herald fight in the front lines... She was crushed by a horrible monster and now rests in peace… She was the main essence of Loyalty.” You look to the candle with the word of Loyalty as you see the picture of Rainbow Dash, the mare of cyan coat, a rainbow-colored mane and beautiful pink eyes, her picture gives a beauty to the candle, as you understand the essence that she was to the word of loyalty. “Applejack, I could always rely on her strength and honesty, she always would help me with the hardest of chores, even though a little stubborn, she is the strongest of the mares I have ever met…” Twilight Sparkle puts another picture under the candle of Honesty. As you look to the picture, you see the mare that represents Honesty, a strong mare, her green eyes peer at your soul, her blonde mane and orange skin beautifully crafted, giving Honesty a perfect representation on this land. “Rarity, she was kind, generous to help everyone in need… No matter who needed her, she was there for the pony… Until that wyvern attacked Ponyville and killed her… She was preparing to become a soldier herself, but this preparation had to be halted by this attack… She thought of her sister and ran back home, but her lack of preparation led to her demise in the hands of that monster. ” Twilight left another picture under the candle of Generosity, you see the white mare, her blue eyes and purple mane contemplate her beauty, a horn adds to her beauty as you close your eyes, Sweetie Belle in your thoughts. Finally you have a clear picture of who was her sister. “Pinkie Pie… Ah Pinkie Pie… Never losing hope… Even in this age of darkness, she is keeping such hope and laughter, it keeps me warm to see her every now and then… She is so happy and agile; she never fails to entertain us all with the stories of her battles… Even that we know it is dark and gritty; she turns it all into something good to be heard… She is still alive, though!” Twilight Sparkle tells you, handling a small picture for you, a pink pony and her mane is a mess, but her eyes show so much determination and hope, you wonder if she’s going to come out of the picture, her smile is overflowing with emotion and you can’t help but smile when you look to it. “The last one is a pony that mourns our losses as these ponies that died were all close friends to her… Her name is Fluttershy and she is a lot timid and shy, but she has quite a bad habit when we are all threatened in combat… I never go to battle; I have to secure this city… But after Rainbow Dash died, she turned to something so much more dark and sinister… It is weird to say… Yet she is a kind pony to all of us… Our friends… She is a pony with a huge heart, wouldn’t dare to hurt even a stone, if it had feelings… But if they hurt us, spells help whoever did such a thing, because she enters a state of bloodlust I myself can barely help her contain…” You look to Twilight Sparkle in quite a shock, thinking how hard a pony’s death could be a shock to someone. Determined to find her and help her, you pick a picture of this pony called Fluttershy, you see a beautiful yellow pony, her blue-green-ish eyes are beautiful, and her pink mane shows you quite a look of a timid pony, but really, as Twilight said, someone that could hold quite a heart of a princess. “Oh well, look at me telling me the story of my friends…” Twilight Sparkle tells you, shaking her head negatively. “I called you here to show you the secrets that still keep this earth together, and I did show you only one… Please, follow me.” Twilight Sparkle calls you as you both walk towards the book in front of an iron stand. It was a book with metal plating, writings in old equestrian, a language that you didn’t understood. “These here are the stories of the elements that still hold the world of Equestria together… I just explained you the most basic of them all… The Elements of Harmony… I, the Herald of Magic, represent the final element, Magic. My friends, even the dead ones, their spirits still live on the candles, ready to fulfil their duty as the elements… Still there are many other elements to explain… Let me show you them all…” Twilight Sparkle told you as you paid close attention to her words. [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER VII - The secret that keeps all together (PART 2)+CHAPTER VII+ The Secret that keeps all together – PART 2 Twilight Sparkle’s book is an encyclopedia on the history of Equestria. You see tremendous details about the story of this land, long before the rising of Celestia and Luna as the Heralds of the Sun and the Moon, when only Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies lived as separate brethren. You focus on Twilight Sparkle as you pay attention to her words, knowing their importance: ----+---- Twilight Sparkle: “As I already explained, the Elements of Harmony are the living spirits of my friends and me…” She looked back to the room and the candles that burned. “The other main essences that hold this land together are the balance between light, dark and love. The sun, meaning restoration and destruction are both represented by Princess Celestia, my teacher, and master above all other Heralds. This is all known information to you, since you know the tale of the first war between Celestia and King Sombra.” Twilight Sparkle looks to you and smiles. “She does represent the two sides of the equilibrium because of Discord’s absence.” She looks to the book’s page, showing Discord’s stone form. “With his temporary loss, she needs to fill his gap, but it is a mad rush to find a cure for his petrification, even then, we don’t know how to fight his cursed form… You know that this form is not his original beauty, do you?” You nod to her, silent as you remember the memory that the Old Mare had shown you. “You’re such a brilliant mind… Well, as such, let me continue my explanation… Luna, the younger sister of Celestia, is the representation of the Moon… She is the representation of darkness and its vast knowledge. Even though it is knowledge, it is a worrying power, because what you wish the most sometimes might corrupt your mind if you cannot control yourself. Still, it was darkness itself not in a controlling and destructive way, but darkness in a healing way.” Twilight Sparkle flips the page as you see an image of a small pony able to sleep through a nightmare with the princess aiding his sleep. “She also is in disadvantage on controlling her powers, due to her lover, Starswirl, the bearded pony, dying in confrontation with Sunset Shimmer, the Baneful Princess. She managed to fight with him the monster… But both couldn’t escape the crumbling castle together.” Twilight Sparkle looks up, saddened by a true, sad and old tale. “Last but not least, comes one of my closest relationships, the Herald of Love… Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Twilight Sparkle takes a necklace from her hood out, in the shape of a heart and shows you a picture of a breath-taking pony, her multi-colored mane and pink coat complete her pink eyes. “Cadence for short, she is the representation of love itself, she is what gives ponies the will to just go on and keep having faith on each other…” She smiles. “It is because of her that I stood faithful that somepony like you would show up.” She looked down. “She is the only pony who has not suffered any losses. Her lover is my own blood brother, Shining Armor, the head of the Royal Guards.” She said with a proud voice. “They both keep the spirits of every single pony up with hope, and their wishes for us all to go on just makes all bearable…” She looks down. “For the time being…” She looks outside the window. “So far now, I cannot tell you much more, because I need you to seek the other Heralds and inform of what is going on… Like what is happening, Cadence is on the move, and the Crystal ponies are gathering to Ponyville…” Twilight Sparkle outside of the window to the direction of the Crystal Empire, a sunset just shown a gloom image of sadness and hopelessness, yet everyone in the room, you included, shone with a few embers of hope. “Seek the old Manehattan fields… That city is long gone, and all resting on it now is a pile of rubble and a war going on them… I think you can find Luna there…” Twilight Sparkle comes to you, putting a hand on your chest. “Take this…” As you look to your chest, she leaves you a purple feather. “No matter the danger, call upon the Magic Herald… My power shall carry you away from your blight, and free you from your peril… I promise you to help you in any possible way I can…” Twilight Sparkle comes closer and gives you a tender and friendly hug. ----+---- As you exit the library, Spike the Dragon and Sweetie Belle, come to you with a gift, they smile when they see you: “Hello again… I think you’ll be leaving soon enough, so I decided to make you a gift…” Spike hands you the gift. “We decided to craft you a hand-crossbow… It shoots magical bolts…” As you open the present, it is really as they say. A hand-crossbow, small and handy, you can spin and twirl it around your fingers with ease. “We made it as a way to saying thanks… You helped me and protected me from Big Macintosh…” Spike scratched the back of his head. “I know he really wasn’t being himself…” Sweetie Belle nervously says. You smile, telling the two to stop worrying as you thank them both for the gift, they smile warmly at you. You aim the crossbow at the sky and shoot it at a crow, two bolts and down the crow goes. “Nice aim.” Spike compliments you. “Well, I think I’ll tend to the library… I have to clean the dust.” Spike walks to the library. “I’ll help you with the books.” Sweetie Belle accompanies him. Just as you see the two entering the library, Applebloom comes to you, you look to the yellow mare as she looks up to you, you can’t deny her sad eyes. ----+---- Applebloom: “I have to say thanks…” You look to her eyes in silence. “Thanks for freeing my brother from that curse… It was 3 years not knowing anything from him…” She smiles, a tear rolling down her cheek as she cleans it. “A-At least I know he died in peace now…” She gives you a small present. “I just wanted to say thanks and leave you this, now that I know you’ll be leaving soon enough… It is 10 of those sap bombs… Make good use of them.” She smiles warmly to you, giving you a peck in the cheek and running to her house. You look to her running away, thinking how much that curse has taken from so many ponies, and how much more will it take. You can do something about it, can’t you? Won’t you do something about it? If you can do something about it, then you will do it now. You walk towards the paths reading to Manehattan, it reads that more than 200 miles await your travel… I guess it is going to be a long road to the Moon Herald. [END OF PROLOGUE] [TO BE CONTINUED]
CHAPTER VIII - Trip of Desolation+CHAPTER VIII+ Trip of Desolation As you walk the long and tortuous road to Manehattan, you see many signs of the curse taking its toll on ponies. You see dark images that scar your sanity… Piles of charred corpses litter the streets, filling the air with a deplorable stench of carrion. Some ponies walk around aimlessly, holding broken weapons of many sorts. They all seemed to be warriors that fought against the curse, you see their fate, sadly, they all fell victim to the curse. For your luck, your robes, which are very simple, make it easy to make you undistinguishable from the soldiers. They make no great deal of your presence as you walk among them; they forgot the most basic functions in their minds. They forgot how to even speak properly as they make gurgling sounds when they try speaking something to each other. The scene fills you with the grimmest of feelings. Passing through the fields of soldiers, you look behind to witness what this curse has taken; an outpost of soldiers. Probably all that lived here were soldiers with honor. Lived their days, guarded this outpost for the sole reason of protecting nearby villages, brave ponies. You just wave gently while walking to Manehattan. 100 Miles still are between you and your destination. The moon herald, or Luna, as you heard. She lost her lover when she was much younger, as the Old Mare told you. “From the time that happened, could that still scar her mind?” That is a question you make as you keep on walking. ----+---- Even though lost on so many questions, for a fraction of a second, when your hoof slips on the Purple Feather given by Twilight Sparkle, your mind focuses for a second, you hear a loud shriek right behind you, and on the ground, you can see the clear shadow of something huge trying to snap you into two separate pieces. In a quick movement, you roll to your left as the creature slams its front members on the ground, a cloud of dust emerging where it struck. Still a bit startled by the creature’s sudden appearance, you ready yourself fast, unsheathing your blade and taking the Blue Shield that Spike gave to you. Once you see what the creature was, you remain surprised to see that it was a female griffon. Victim of the curse, her feathers were grey, her lion body was much skinnier than usual. Her eagle talons seemed covered with infection. A wound from that would be fatal if not treated soon. Her blank eyes locked onto yours as she twitches her head. She moves at a fast speed. She throws her left claw at you in a sweeping motion; you duck to defend yourself from the poisonous slash. Success! Her slash goes right over your head as you manage to slash the same claw she attempted to wound you. She shrieks in fury as she uses her elbow to hit you right in the chest. She hits you fully as you fall on your back, and man, did it pack a punch, you have some difficulty catching your air again as the creature is in the air. You see that she is coming down to pierce your chest with a deadly slam. Instinctively, you use the Bottled Cloud that Scootaloo gave to you as you manage to roll away from certain death. The griffon smashes at the ground, angered by her frustrated attempt of killing you. You regain your posture, readying yourself for another round of fight. Needing to end this fight as soon as possible, you ready the blade under your arm, aiming at the griffon’s chest. You take the Blue Shield, readying it for something you consider stupid. The griffon kicks her back leg twice, readying a pounce towards you. If she slashed you with one of those front claws, your death sentence was more than signed. You dash towards her as she does the same, in a desperate motion; you slam your shield against her claw, jamming her claw in your shield as you take that brief opening to do your worst. You pummel your blade into her chest, slashing her neck open. Her dark blood pours out, splashing onto your face and body, coating your clothes on a mixture of red and brown tonalities. ----+---- The griffon roars and shrieks in agonizing pain, trembling in defeat as it manages to pull back from your shield, but not before destroying it in the process. In a last coward attack, she slashes your arm, falling on her back, and finally succumbing to her loss of blood. You look to your wound, worried about the possible diseases that you might be acquiring soon. Maybe your adventure might be ending as soon as this… Maybe not, who knows? This world has been so full of destruction and death; you hardly think that you might ever find some sort of chance. “No time to worry.” You say to yourself, washing your wound with some clean water from a nearby river and then patching it quickly with a rag ripped from a part of your clothing. You continue your path along the road. No sign of civilization, neither any kind of direction boards for you to follow. You are lost; you travel onward desperately, hoping foolishly that you might run into the Moon Herald. As the night draws closer, your temperature has gone over the normal, you ache on fever, your senses are dampened and your whole body is numb. “What kind of infection has that wound given me?” You say to yourself as you look down to your arm. You notice you’re about to pass out; trying your best to try staying awake, you notice a silhouette of a mare on the distance. Summoning the last of your energies, you hope the best of it as you drag yourself to the pony. Falling on your hooves, you look up to the mare: “Who are you?” The mare says as she looks to you. You warn of the problem at Ponyville, speaking of the reunion of the Crystal Empire, drowsed by the curse, you stumble to the side. “BY THE MOON!!” She holds you with her arms, looking to your arm. “This wound is terrible! Hold on, pony! I shall take you to the med…” You keep trying to hear the pony’s words, but your pain is subduing you fast, your vision blurs, and you finally collapse. [TO BE CONTINUED]
