Rise from the Ashes: Book 2 - Kasaitatki

Chapters

The Adventure Begins!
A New Player, A New Bond
Through the Mountain
The Past Hurts

The Adventure Begins!

Firebelt, Scorchhop, Lightning, Applejack and Flicker Blitz were all heading down a path leading away from the gates of Canterlot. It had been only a few minutes ever since the doors have closed behind them.

“So first stop is Kasaitatki? Isn’t that the place where Luna and Celestia used to get her tea?” Firebelt asked, not only because he was curious but bored already too.

“Eeyup, they make the finest tea from what ah can recall from ‘er words.” Applejack replied. “But what else ah recall, gettin’ in ain’t gonna be easy as eating an apple. Thanks to that stinkin’ war, it’s hard for other ponies to get into other kingdoms.” she added on as she trotted up to Flicker. “What do you recommend we do?” she asked her.

“This would be simpler if the leader wasn’t so spoiled…” Flicker Blitz replied with a puny growl. “Dumb king got all upset over asking for a bit of red tea. Yeah sure he makes the right decisions and all, but he is intolerable as a filly jumping and down on their bed screaming.” she added rolling her eyes to this. “Not sure his guards are gonna let us in so easily…”

“Well hey, who says we need their permission to head in? Besides we’re just gonna talk nicely to the king, tell him the situation, ring the bell, and then poof we’re out of here! Also, keeping an eye out for any elements of harmony or Sol’s goons.” Scorchhop reassured with a smirk as she trotted up behind the group.

Lightning nodded, “Agreed, like it or not Golden Hoof has to realize the importance of this task. Not even he is that spoiled…I hope.” she said with a bit of a happiness and worry with a small smile. Firebelt just chuckled as they all followed Flicker Blitz on the road leading into a dense forest.

Meanwhile, in another secluded place.

In a haze of a shadow, a figure and a group were watching the five go into the forest. “Hm...so they aim to get the Elements of Harmony back up and working and try to stop me? Playing a royal flush before a game has even begun is no fun at all…” Sol said raising an eyebrow and floated on his back.

“Why not just lead a full assault on the group and wipe them out? It’s just a simple as that…” one of the group members said with a huff, but Sol glared back at them.

“Assault? A mere assault on the group?” he spoke irritated and approached the member. “You listen here, I don’t care if you are the only one who can use that fake’s element’s powers but their demise just can’t be that easy! It needs to have some spice in it!” Sol said, before looking back at the demons lurking in shadows around them. “Well…we have one of our own inside Kasaitatki… so all we need to do is wipe out that group and then slowly rip the kingdoms apart from the inside one by one!” he said with a now sadistic grin. He then gazed in the shadow at Applejack, “Hmm...I have a special opponent for this little pony.” he said with a smirk and faced back at the group.

“Um...Mr. Sol sir….I’m not sure I can be mean like you…” the member said nervously, but Sol wasn’t phased.

“I revived you for a reason ya know, besides there is a little animal out there who needs your care.” Sol said with a smirk, seeing the member’s eyes brighten up a bit.

“Oooh! I’m sure I could take care of him for you Mr. Sol!” the member said with an innocent smile.

“Oh yes indeed, he has been a naughty one. Attacking a kingdom’s livestock is very naughty...but I guess he could have a good reason for it. Besides… I heard the leader kicked a puppy.” Sol went on with a smirk, to see the member now fill up with rage.

“He did?! How dare he would do something to an innocent puppy!” the member shouted in anger and jumped up before Sol took a grasp of the member’s mane.

“Down girl, down. Besides, a full out attack will just get you slaughtered. You need to seduce that deer first...it may seem stupid to you, but keep him distracted while our man on the inside do the work. Plus, you get to get back at that pony who left you.” he chuckled with a smile as Sol showed the illusion of Applejack on the wall.

The member went right back to calm, “Um...Mr. Sol, I’m sure she didn’t-” she said before Sol touched her back and felt a little shock to her back. She couldn’t help but squeal in both pain and fear as she started to feel angrier and angrier. “B-but she….she didn’t….” she stammered before glaring up with her eyes red. “I’m going to KILL her!” she shouted.

Sol started laughing, “That’s good! That is exactly what we want! Now then…” he stopped before opening a portal filled with a dark haze. “Go out there and meet our subordinate!” he ordered giving her a little hoodie to conceal herself. “Should be waiting right outside the palace…he’ll take you to the ruler. When you have him under your little spell that I gave you, use that chance to go with our friend and get that beast under control!” he added on with a smile. The member nodded and flew into the portal. “And now the game has become a little more interesting…” he thought with a smirk.

“Um sir, did Golden Hoof really kick a puppy?” a member from the group asked.

“I dunno, probably not. But hey I had to say something to get the fire in her burning.” Sol answered with a smile and quickly closed the portal and then reopened it to another destination. He faced back at the demons in the shadows, “You all! Go out and get that group! But remember, injure them as much as you want but no fatalities! We must give a certain pony her wish.” he ordered with a delightful smile as the demons poured from the wall into the shadows. Sol just grinned and chuckled as they poured into the portal. “Let the games begin.”

Meanwhile, back with the group.

The group continued to walk through the deep and dark forest. The atmosphere felt damp and the darkness around them creeped in further and further as the sun set. Firebelt let off an irritated grunt, “So how far is this kingdom anyways?” he whined.

“It’s about a twelve hour walk, we’ve only been walking an hour.” Flicker Blitz replied, looking up at the sky as the sun was disappearing over the horizon and night was starting to befall over the land. “Though I think it was a bit of a mistake leaving near the afternoon.” she admitted with a bit of a sweat mark.

“Does this mean were going to be butchered by creatures of the night?” Scorchhop asked.

Applejack shook her head, “Nah, ah wouldn’t be too worried about ‘em. Though ah think it’s time we set up camp by here, we should continue in the mornin’.” she recommended, giving a look at Flicker Blitz.

“I agree, and besides it could keep you quiet for a while.” Flicker Blitz agreed with a teasing grin towards Firebelt. He gave an unamused look right back at her.

Lightning just shook her head. “Come on, and Firebelt try to get some of those apples from that tree.” she said pointing towards it. “While Rarity did give us food, it’s best we can try to preserve it with some good old food.” she added on. Firebelt chuckled and attempted to climb up the tree before Applejack walked up.

“Ah don’t worry, ah can get them apples down.” She said as she gave the tree a hard kick, and the apples came raining down...along with Firebelt.

Firebelt hit the ground with a bit of a grunt, “Ow...you could’ve waited until I got down.” he sneered and lifted himself up.

“Sorry there sugarcube...was in the urge to kick somethin’.” Applejack apologized with a small blush of embarrassment. “Though why didn’ you just use yer-” she quickly stopped herself, reminded that by the looks of the bandages on his wings that they weren’t usable. “Erm...nevermind.”

Firebelt let off a sigh, “No no, it’s good. Not my fault the muscles that held the wings were born disfigured.” he said looking at them, mentioning why the tips of the wings seemed fine from the other bandaged side of his wings.

“Reminds me of my dad, born with half of his horn not fully grown.” Flicker Blitz commented with a small pat on the shoulder of sympathy. “So, you’re not alone.” she assured with a comforting smile, Firebelt let off a small smile in return. “Now then, could you and Applejack try to check the perimeter to make sure it’s safe for the night?” she asked looking at the two.

“Sure, why not?” Firebelt replied, with Applejack nodding in agreement.

“Good, me, Scorchhop and Lightning will set up a little homely spot for us.” Flicker Blitz said using some of her magic to pick up some leaves and moving around some grass. Firebelt and Applejack trotted off to check around while the three others went to work.

A few minutes later, Firebelt and Applejack were patrolling a fair distance around the camp. Firebelt let off a yawn of boredom, then looked at Applejack as they kept looking. “Hey...Applejack? Do you mind telling me something?” he asked trying to spark a conversation.

Applejack looked back at him, “Sure sugarcube, what is it?” she replied.

“What’s it like? You know...not being hated, having lots of friends?” Firebelt asked, wondering since he was hated so much in Canterlot what it was like to be so loved. Applejack paused a bit, surprised he was bringing up such a question at this time.

“Well sugarcube, it’s certainly nice and all...people give ya a nice ‘Hello’, and maybe even an offer to drink or eat somethin’.” she answered looking up at the stars. “You always feel accepted for who ya are, but then when yer friends pass...it hurts…” she added before looking down at the ground upset. “But not nearly as bad as losin’ yer family…” she added with a sad expression.

Firebelt saw her expression, “Oh, I’m sorry I brought that up.” he said, feeling bad now that Applejack was like this.

Applejack just shook her head, “Na, don’ be. Can’t change what happened….” she said, trying to cheer herself up a bit. She was undoubtedly upset by the lost of her friends and even her whole family.

Firebelt shook his head, “At least you had a good life.” he said reassuring. “Scorchhop is my best friend and all, but being treated as garbage and forced to steal to survive is unbearable…” he went on shaking his head a bit. “Lightning hates me for being like this for not accepting a life with my dad.” he said before Applejack stopped him.

“Now now sugarcube, if Lightning really did hate you she wouldn’t have busted ya out all those times ya got caught.” she cutted in, giving him a confident look. “She may be cold ah won’t deny, but she loves ya with all ‘er heart.”

Firebelt felt a little cheered up by her words, but then he remembered something. “So wait… why did you try to let us go? You know before…” he paused cringing a bit. “...that thing came up.” he finished.

Applejack gave him a firm look, “Despite yer a thief, ya knew what you were doing was wrong. Plus ah could understand why Luna would give you death if ya did somethin’ horrible, but while ya did steal ye never hurt anypony in the process.” she said. “These times made Luna not think straight, so when she’s angry with somepony she gets a little rash.” she added on, before her ears pricked up. “Wait….what in tarnation was that?” she asked before looking around.

Firebelt looked around too and saw movement among the bushes heading back towards the camp, the two of them looked at each other and raced back towards the camp. Before darting in they saw Flicker Blitz, Lightning and Scorchhop stood up and looking around paranoid.

“Ambush!” Flicker Blitz shouted as multiple shouted, and with that several shadow-like creatures leaped at the group. Applejack and Scorchhop both gave a nasty kick to the two that leapt at them, while Firebelt threw the one that leapt for him overhead.

“The hell are these things!?” Lightning asked, impaling one on her spear and tossed the dead one into the other ones.

“Don’t know! But they’re attacking us so I’m guessing they aren’t friendly!” Flicker Blitz replied, blasting a lightning bolt from her horn at the shadows. Scorchhop stabbed relentlessly at one she had pinned on the ground before jumping back and kicking another shadow in the face.

“They certainly are plentiful!” Scorchhop shouted as she cut another shadow’s throat, and noticed more and more creatures continuously pouring in and surrounding them.

The fight went on and on, with more slashing and kicking the shadows aside with ease. However, the fighters slowly started to tire one by one. “Gah...sorry ponies...can’t keep movin’...” Applejack gasped before collapsing out of exhaustion. Flicker Blitz slowly tumbled on the ground behind her.

“This...is bad…” Lightning said before slowly succumbing to her exhaustion.

“Sorry...same here...” Scorchhop said with a sigh and flopped down on her face. Firebelt slowly went onto his knees, gasping for breath.

“You gotta be kidding me...is this it already?...We lose before we even get to the first kingdom…?” Firebelt stammered as he couldn’t find himself the power to fight any longer and was left at the mercy of the shadows. He observed them dance around them before they charged at the five exhausted ponies. Firebelt shut his eyes and futility raised his weapon in front of him, hoping to block the attack.

However, while his eyes were drawn shut he heard a large amount of screaming and felt something splat on his face. Firebelt slowly opened his eyes to see the blood of the shadows that were attacking him on his face, and saw the rest of the shadows had been slain. “Is it a miracle?” he thought, before slowly dropping on his face. In a last chance he looked up and saw a figure upon the branch of a tree high above them. He noticed that the figure was cloaked and yet had purple wings and a purple horn with magic glowing around the figure. “Wait...is that who I think it…?” he thought before flopping down on his face fully.

The figure looked at the group, but then their ears perked up as there were voices getting closer. “Dad! The scream came from over here!” a young female voice spoke up. The figure fled quickly as soon as the voice spoke up.

“I’m coming dear! What is it?” a male voice spoke up.

The young female screamed, “Oh my Celestia! There are ponies, and they’re hurt! But...what are these things around them?” she shrieked in confusion and worry.

“Sprint, go back to the village and get help! I’ll check if they’re alive!” the male voice ordered, and it was the last thing Firebelt heard before passing out into darkness.

A New Player, A New Bond

Back in a hidden cave shrouded in darkness, Sol let off an irritated yet amused growl. “So, the Element of Magic decides to play her hand early. I’m surprised that assault nearly killed the group.” he said as his yellow stuck curled like a snake’s tongue. “Disappointing to say the least… but a new player always introduces a bit of spice to this. With Twilight in the game, Celestia must not be that far behind…” he added on as black magic flared around his hooves. “Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. The three alicorns back together again, not to mention they’re the trio who brought me to such a state.” he said before facing back at the shadows. “Nonetheless, we can’t say for sure Celestia is here with them…” he thought carefully as he try to concentrate on a plan before a voice spoke up.

“Oh? Those three? Are they really such an issue to you?” an unfamiliar male voice out of nowhere spoke up behind him.

Sol’s eyes flickered in panic and surprised. ‘What?! An intruder here?!’ he thought in shock before facing around. “Who's there?!” he shouted out in rage, with black magic flickering around his body. A small hint of chuckling was his only response despite his irritation and fierceness.

“What an ill-mattered shadow you are… and yet you are supposed to be the Essence of Hate.” the voice responded, simply teasing Sol. “Have you even taken into consideration that little quarrel back at Canterlot? You may have controlled the Imps… but I controlled something greater.” the voice added on as a dark red glow pierced through the dark with a horn that seem split and crooked into two narrow pieces of a horn. The head below the horn was hooded with a dark black cloak with multiple tears in it and red hair sticking out through holes in the top of the hood.

Sol blinked in confusion, stepping back a bit at this display. Though heeding the figure’s words he thought back to the assault on Canterlot, he did remember catching a glimpse of three ponies being chased by some monster. However, despite it not being his creation he used it to his advantage to escape Canterlot unnoticed. “Hmmm…. I suppose you were the one behind that little freak of nature? Is that suppose to be your royal flush and the game hasn’t even begun yet?” he questioned the nature of his own assault.

The figure just let off a pale smirk, “You could say...but now it’s time for a little proposition I was here to offer...let’s see….” he grinned teasingly as he made a little note from his magic and threw it at the shadow. The shadow barely moved but the note stabbed into the rock only inches away from his head and stuck into the stone like a pickaxe.

“The hell…?” Sol thought as he looked at the note before looking back at the figure, to see that the figure whom he didn’t even get to see his full body had vanished out of thin air. With many thoughts in his mind about the cloaked pony he opened up the note, to see words stained with magic burns.

“Watch the moonlit skies of Canterlot tonight, for you shall see the fall of Luna beneath my might.”

Reading this Sol couldn’t help but ponder over this, was the figure actually going to try to fight Luna? This was something he couldn’t miss. Without much thought he left the note behind and disappeared into the darkness of the shadows, the only thought is how long was this figure going to last?

Meanwhile…

Firebelt felt his eyes slowly opened after so long, he awoke to see a wooden ceiling and he was tucked in a bed. He looked to the left and realized he was in a wooden cabin by himself. The room was made from oak wood, the bed and blankets were made from cotton and a small table beside him was made from oak wood as well. The furniture in the room was cupboards, a rocking chair, and one small wooden table with three legs. A window on the side of the room with the sun’s lights piercing through them giving off a warm aurora. A door on the other side of the room slowly opened with a creek and a dark green stallion walked through it.

“Well, you finally woke up.” he said with a stern look. The stallion had a slick hairstyle with his hair going down his neck and had a stone with an herb on it for a cutie mark. “You’re the last one to wake up out of all of them.”

Firebelt blinked at this, “All of them? Where are the re-” he asked trying to get up before cringing back in pain from his hind leg. He looked underneath his sheets to see bandages wrapped all around his right leg, with a bit of blood poking out through the bandages.

“Well it doesn’t seem you healed completely...but if you’re wondering about the rest of the girls, they’re all wide awake and in the garden.” the stallion said, putting the clipboard at his side. “I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Stone Beam. The others seem to call you ‘Firebelt’ so no need to introduce yourself. Besides, you’re infamous already.” he said before going into some cupboards at the side.

Firebelt couldn’t help but grunt at this, “Great, not only did we nearly die and we haven’t even reached a kingdom, but my horrible reputation has spread outside of Canterlot.” he thought with a sigh.

“Don’t worry,” Stone Beam suddenly interrupted his grumpiness. “, Applejack already told us about how you were on a quest with them to ring the Cryer Bells. So, you’re safe for now.” he assured him as he pulled out a case of pills. He took one out and gave it to Firebelt, “Here, it’s just incase you have any infections. That may be a small wound, but it can give off a nasty infection if left untreated.” he said.

Suddenly a bright red young earth pony with a black mane walked in through the door, “They’ve all rested up a bit, and now they’re wondering what happened. So might as well get the whole group together to tell them.” she said before looking at Firebelt.

Stone Beam looked at the pony. “Thank you Sprint, go tell them he will be there in a moment.” he said politely, before Sprint went off back out the door. He then turned his attention back to Firebelt, and thought about the way how he tried to move his leg. “Hm...you might need to help with that nasty leg of yours.” he mumbled before looking out the door. “Hey Wild Bird!” he shouted, and before long a dark purple pegasus walked in through the door. She was quite tall, and her wings were quite wide with a black and blue mane; and she was quite pretty with an a green wing for a cutie mark. "Think you can watch our friend while we get a temporary crutch for his hind leg?” he asked her.

“Certainly.” Wild Bird replied, Stone Beam smiled at her and went out of the room. She turned back to Firebelt to see him gazing up at the ceiling, barely paying any attention to her.

Firebelt was still thinking about last night, his final bits of sight saw what appeared to be an alicorn. Not only did this confuse him, but it also fascinated and excited him. “The Element of Magic...has she returned?” he thought calmly inside his head before Wild Bird broke his concentration.

“Pardon me, but I need to check your scar.” she said, looming over him as if she was about to kiss him. Firebelt blinked at this, but nodded and showed her his leg. Wild Bird carefully removed the bandage slightly to get a peek at the scar left on his leg. “Ngh, it’s a deep one. Don’t worry though, that pain you feel when you try to move it is temporary. Should be fine again in the morning.” she said with a smile before wrapping his leg up again. “But what were those things you were fighting?” she asked.

Firebelt let off a shrug, “I don’t have much of a clue either. Demons, some sort of black magic, I don’t know what to say about it.” he said as he stretched his jaw a bit. “Speaking of which...are we at Kasaitatki?” he asked out of context.

Wild Bird shook her head, “Unfortunately not, you still have a whole mountain to go around. We just live out in the forest, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help travelers here. Me, Stone Beam and Sprint all live together here as if we’re a family.” she said as she observed through the window. “Here you can get a full view of the mountain, though you can’t really see since you’re in a bed…” Wild Bird said, poking a bit of fun as she saw Sprint walked in with a crutch.

“Stone Beam was just checking if the others were uninjured, he told me to bring the crutch here.” Sprint said as she handed it over to Wild Bird.

“Let Stone Beam know I checked his wound.” Wild Bird said before going off to give it to Firebelt, but Sprint stopped her briefly.

“Um, Stone Beam already checked his hind leg and you know that.” Sprint said, giving her friend a stern look. “Why would you check it again?” she asked.

Wild Bird let off a teasing smirk, “What? Fella’s got himself a nice fla-” she said before Sprint covered her mouth.

“Wild Bird! For goodness sake he’ll hear you!” Sprint whispered irritated into her ear.

Wild Bird took her hoof off of her mouth, “Flank.” she finished with a teasing smile. “Oh relax, he isn’t even paying attention.” she said, looking back at Firebelt who was just staring up at the ceiling before looking back at the two mares.

“Huh?” Firebelt said, completely oblivious to their conversation.

Wild Bird giggled, “Oh nothing.” she said before helping Firebelt sit up straight and attach a crutch to his hind leg. “Incase you want to know, the way up the mountain is a 2 day journey. However there is a passage through the mountain that the Diamond Dogs use which can shorten that time to a 4 hour walk.” she said with a smile as the crutch was attached.

Firebelt trotted around a bit to test if the crutch worked. “Hm...not bad. Also, thanks for the tip.” he said as he went down the hall with Wild Bird and Sprint.

In the healing gardens, Stone Beam just finished checking up on Scorchhop. The garden was beautiful with a miniature pond in the center with a giant tree right beside it. Pathways were paved it from the dirt and bushes were right beside the path. “You’re clear, just a few scrapes.” he asked before bandaging up one of the scrapes. He then peered at a door opening to see the three walk in. “Oh, by the way Ms. Flicker Blitz, Firebelt here has a bit of a nasty scratch on his leg. It seems that it hurt everytime he moved it, I suggest you should wait until tomorrow for it to heal.” he said, explaining why Firebelt had a crutch to her.

Flicker Blitz nodded, “It would be the best of action. Plus do you mind if we have a bit of supplies for our journey? Those creatures ripped apart the food and potions that a friend gave us.” she asked politely, showing him her bagged that was ripped all over.

“I think we can manage the food, but we’re out of potions for the moment. We ran out yesterday and it’s gonna take us a while before we can batch up a few.” Stone Beam said, scratching the back of his head.

Flicker Blitz grunted annoyed, but then nodded understandingly. “Okay then, we’ll just have to manage without them until we get to Kasaitatki.” she said, looking at the group again. “But we have some time to kill since Firebelt’s hind leg has to recover. Stone Beam offered us shelter here until tomorrow, but we have a long walk ahead of us around that mountain.” she spoke up. However Firebelt interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey, Wild Bird mentioned something about a rail line through the mountain that the Diamond Dogs use! It’s only a four hour walk if we-” Firebelt went on but was stopped by Scorchhop.

“Sorry to say Firebelt, it’s a bit of a risk taking that way. The Diamond Dogs aren’t that friendly and we don’t have any gems of the sorts to offer them, other than the Elements of Harmony.” she said before Applejack tagged in.

“And ain’t no way we tradin’ in the Elements of Harmony to them.” She added on, Firebelt sighed defeated and looked at them.

“But if we sneak in? You know, maybe pretend we’re other dogs or sneak in…?” He suggested, but Flicker Blitz shook her head.

“There is a way to sneak around the Diamond Dogs but that way is even more dangerous, considering that is a way even the dogs don’t go. Whatever is lying in wait in their frightens the heck out of them.” She said.

Lightning raised a question, “Hey Flicker, since you’re the unicorn can’t you teleport us there?” she asked.

“I wish it could be that easy, but I have never been to Kasaitatki nor is it that easy. The same goes for me flying there, since the rest of you can’t fly.” Flicker Blitz said, and giving a look at Lightning to still see her wing broken.

Firebelt sighed, “Hey, but don’t you have the Elements of Harmony? Can’t you just make up some stuff like ‘By order of Princess Luna...’ and all that.” he said giving them a look, obviously Applejack wasn’t amused by the thought of lying to get past. “Well we can either sneak in there, or at least tell a white lie to let us through.” he said, shirking back away from Applejack.

Lightning put a hoof on Applejack’s shoulders. “To be fair, it’s that with only the Diamond Dogs and whatever they’re scared of, or have a 2 day walk around the entire mountain dealing with every monster available in the forest. I don’t mean to disgrace your honesty Applejack, but since those things that hit us last night we may want to make the journey as short as possible.” she said, giving her a firm look. “I know it’s breaking your character, but this is the only time we’ll be doing this I swear.” Lightning promised her. Flicker Blitz gave her a look, still leaving it up to her but in the end Applejack had to agree with them.

“Ah’ll play along this time, ah really don’t like lying but if we have to…” Applejack sighed, a bit upset but understanding.

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to say a thing.” Firebelt assured her, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

Flicker Blitz stood up, gazing at Applejack and Firebelt. “I’ll be making plans for this attempt, but if something goes wrong we’ll knock the dogs out. I will be trying to make other plans first to sneak around them as well, or any form of compromise. The white lie will be a last resort.” she said firmly, wanting to do just to make it easier on Applejack.

Applejack smiled a bit, and Flicker Blitz went through a single door that seemed like her room. The others went off one by one, leaving Firebelt all by himself. “Well...okay then.” he said, and started making his way back to the room until it was night time.

In the middle of the night, Firebelt was tossing and turning in his bed amidst a nightmare about the creature they encountered in Canterlot. With a final toss, he jolted awake. “Gah!” he gasped awake, terrified of the nightmare and relieved it was only as such. He went a bit silent, as now he couldn’t find the urge to sleep and walked out of his room and back towards the garden.

Firebelt was sat down on the edge of the pond, looking at his bandaged hind leg before gazing into the pond. With how Flicker Blitz described the monster incarnate as a forgotten piece of Firebelt’s personality, and he wanted to keep it forgotten from the looks of it. “....that thing just isn’t-” he thought in his head before a voice spoke up behind him.

“Ya’ll okay sugarcube?” it said; it was Applejack. When he turned around, she looked tired as hell.

“Not necessarily, had a damn nightmare about that...thing.” Firebelt said, rubbing his eyes as he was not infallible to the effects of drowsiness. “What about you? Couldn’t sleep either by the looks of it.” he said, giving her a firm look as she leaned against the tree not too far from him.

“Nope.” Applejack replied bluntly, as she looked at him. “Yer scared by that vermant aren’t ya?” she asked in compassion, since this was a hard time he had gone through. Firebelt didn’t reply, but rather just gaze with an empty stare into the pond. “No need to hide it, fear one of the oldest emotions we ponies have.” she said, trotting up a bit.

“That I do know...but was it really Sol who made that thing? I’m just shocked of how accurate it really was…it said how I could hate the truth sometimes, hiding behind others, the useless wings, I was just freaked out at the thought if it knew if I ever saw my da-” Firebelt went on before screeching to a halt, not wanting to let out more secrets that the doppelganger didn’t spill out.

Applejack looked at him, “Ah presume you mean yer dad? Wilder Wind right?” she asked. Firebelt blinked in surprise and in shock.

“How did you…?” he asked, before Applejack cut him off.

“Yer dad was just as infamous as you, only for him he was as cold as a freezer in a snowstorm.” She said, giving him a look. “Ponies say he was rotten to the core, actin’ so smug and cruel. No pony was surprised when ya ran away, but what they didn’t expect is fer you to become a thief.” she added on, giving him a compassionate look.

“Man...sometimes having a family blows.” Firebelt said with a sigh, before Applejack suddenly stood up.

“Now now, havin’ a family is the best thing you could have.” Applejack said, rather sternly at him.

“Then what is the worst?” Firebelt asked.

“Havin’ to bury nearly every family member ya have….” she said, tipping her hat over her eyes. Firebelt blinked in surprise, at the sudden turn in the conversation.

“I-i’m sorry...but I’m sure you have somepony to turn to.” Firebelt said, trying to be compassionate.

“It’s alright sugarcube...ah have mah friends to turn to, but they just can’t replace yer own blood.” She said, leaning back a bit.

“Friends can be your family too, even if they can’t replace them.” Firebelt said assuring. Applejack couldn’t but let off a small chuckle at this, leaving Firebelt clueless.

“Y’ know, yer not as bad as Luna made ya out to be.” Applejack said with a smile. “Whenever ye were brought up, she always went on about how much of a heartless doo-doo head yer were.”

Firebelt only let off a smirk, “Wouldn’t be the first time somepony said that about me.” he said, a bit proud that he really wasn’t a jerk as the doppelganger was. However he gave a look at her face to see she was definitely more tired than before. “Say...should we head back to our beds?” he asked.

Applejack just shrugged as she laid down on the grass, “Ah’m gonna just sit out ‘ere for a bit. Yer welcome to stay if ya want.” she offered, she seemed to enjoy his company so far.

Firebelt blinked, “Erm, okay, but only for a bit longer.” he said as he sat down beside her.

Applejack just smiled a bit, “Ye seem to be cookin’ up a bit.” she pointed out.

Firebelt blinked, to realize his cheeks were heating up a bit. “Well...it’s just I never really had this type of chat with any other pony rather than Lightning and Scorchhop. So I’m just happy about it, I guess…” he said scratching the back of his head.

“Really? Aren’t ye some Robin Hood that used to sweep mares off their feet?” Applejack teased a bit.

Firebelt blinked at this out of nowhere comment, “Now now...if that was true I’m sure you’d be sweeping stallions of their feet.” he said, a bit embarrassed at this.

Applejack only smirked at this, “Nah, most ponies nowadays want a pretty unicorn like Rarity rather than a dirty cowgirl like me.” she said with a smile.

“Oh come now, you’re not that dirty and I think you’re pretty enough for any other-” Firebelt said before stopping himself dead cold, realizing what he had just said. Applejack started laughing at Firebelt’s sudden flirt.

“First time ah heard that in a while.” she said with a smile, but now she let off a giant yawn and tipped her hat again over her eyes.

Firebelt just tilted his head a bit at this, “Oh come now, I’m sure some other stallion wanted to walk up to you and say-” he went on before stopping, to see Applejack was snoring away. She had fallen asleep finally.

He just shook his head with a smile, “Well then...let’s get ya back to bed.” he said, getting up with a bit of difficulty thanks to his crutch. He lightly lifted Applejack on his back, before he heard a small crack. “Um…” he thought as he looked around, but then suddenly collapsed flopped on his belly. The cracking was from his crutch that suddenly snapped in two. As if this couldn’t happen at a worst time, now that Applejack was fast asleep on his back and wasn’t waking up anytime soon. “Applejack...get up.” he whispered irritated but no avail. “Applejack seriously, I can’t move…” he tried again and still nothing. “Applejack!!”

At Canterlot Castle.

Luna strolled with Rarity through the streets of the now quiet Canterlot. There were no lights on, and only the torches lighted up the street. “I’m sure they will succeed Rarity...just why can’t I get rid of this feeling that I should be the one out there instead of my apprentice and the other…” she said, looking down a bit.

“Now now darling, the kingdom could simply not run without their princess of the moon at their side.” Rarity said with a firm smile as she looked at Canterlot Castle as they approached. “Don’t think about it too much deary, you still have a kingdom to run.” she said and knocked on the door calmly, expecting a guard to open it. There was a brief bit of a silence before she knocked again. “Um...Mr. Guard? Your princess and the Element of Generosity are here..” she said and knocked again.

Luna then opened the door with her magic, “Do not fret dear Rarity, they’re tired I’m sure they just fell asleep on the-” she said before jumping back in shock. Rarity squealed in fear as what Luna saw greeted her sights.

The Canterlot guards were brutally beaten on the floor, with blood painted on the walls with another guard impaled on a spear next to it. There were a trail of guards, either alive and in agony or put out of their misery. Luna rushed to one of the guards that were moaning in pain. “What happened here?!” she asked, as she used her magic to lift up the guard.

“Ngh…an intruder…broke into the castle…we couldn’t stop him…too strong….” the guard said weakly, as he opened one eye. “He went to…the throne room….”

“Sol…” Luna thought in anger. She let off a growl and handed the guard over to Rarity, “Find any survivors and bandage them up! I’m going to face off with our intruder!” she ordered to Rarity as she raced off the down the long hallway. Rarity nodded as she used her magic to pick up the guards and tried to carry them over to the nurse’s office.

As Luna made her way down the halls, she was greeted with the dead body of guards in more gruesome and grotesque positions. Luna saw a bright red glow peering from between the two giant doors that lead to her throne room, she roughly kicked down the door with her two front hooves. The throne was very high up, with steps leading up to the chair to which a cloaked figure had sat down firmly. The figure’s body was of bright orange color, and small bits of blood red hair peeked out from under the hood. The horn of the figure was split in two, with each of them leaning away from each other in a V shape. Before she could react two wings stretched out from his back, only instead of majestic wings of feathers the figure’s wings were dragon-like; scales covering them and tips of hooks attached to the bottom of the figure’s wings. Bits of red magic sparked between the split ends of the horn as a pair of eyes were revealed beneath the hood.

“Good evening Luna…… Mind if I crash the party?”

Through the Mountain

Luna gazed up on the hooded ‘alicorn’ upon her throne. “An alicorn…? No wait, his wings aren’t right...they’re supposed to be like a pegasus, not a dragon. Why is his horn split in two? No way this is Sol... what in Tartarus is he?” she thought conflicted in her mind.

“Quite a place you have here...did it belong to your sister?” the figure said with a smirk on his face, leaving Luna only fumed. “You’ve been running the system quite poorly here… not to mention your powers have dropped significantly ever since that blasted war. It’s almost redundant of how many lives it has ruined and the backlash. Ponies start thinking maybe, just maybe they can get over it. However no matter how reasonable one can be, there is always one certain pony who disagrees with ‘em.” he said as she started stepping down towards her. “So tell me Luna...how do you rejoice peace and friendship to those who don’t want it?”

Luna just snarled at him. “I don’t care about your damn philosophy… you have butchered my guard and broken into the royal castle! ” she shouted at him before suddenly the figure disappeared and then reappeared right in front of her.

“My my my, hot tempered and always to ignore the point as always.” he said shaking his head and vanished once more. “You act so ignorant and idiotic, just so you can forget about the pain. The pain of all the lives that were taken by your hooves, just to wear a mask to hide the pleasure of vengeance to make you seem heroic!” he spoke from nowhere, yet the voice was all around her. Luna froze up and glanced around the room, to see where the figure has gone. “Don’t be ashamed of it, all those who fought for what they thought they believed in were all like you. They all wanted revenge for the blood that was spilled, for the innocent lives that were taken.” the voice went on as he appeared behind the throne again before Luna blasted him magic from her horn.

“There’s nothing I can do to change what history has written! You are the same type of butcher that we all once were in that damned war!” Luna shouted at him and fired at the figure again, on for the figure to deflect the beam with a barrier of magic.

“Hm, good analysis Ms.Obvious.” the figure said with a smirk before firing a large beam of magic, knocking Luna back across the floor. Luna struggled up back on her hooves, looking at the figure. “Now...let’s see if you still have that butcher left in you.” the figure said with a psychotic smile and fired a beam right at her once more.

Luna quick flew up above to evade, but the figure tackled her as she was above his head. The two crashed through the window and tumbled in the air before breaking apart from each other. The figure fired multiple beams from his horn while Luna counterattacked with a shield and whacked the figure with her shield and knocked him across the sky. Then used magic to surround her and tackled the figure once more as they crashed like a meteor into the outside forest.

Luna stood up from the rubble, and looked around to see the figure not in sight. “More of this vanishing trick…? Coward.” she thought irritated in her mind. When she felt like he had gone for good this time, she felt an immense pain her shoulder and saw blood splash right beside her. She froze up in shock and stared down at her shoulder, to see a beam of red light had pierced through her shoulder. Trying to ignore it, she whipped around and fired at blast at the beam’s direction. The beam was suddenly deflected by a red barrier and struck Luna on rebound, knocking her through a tree.

“I admit you caught me off guard with your strength, but you need to do better than that.” a male voice spoke up, the hooded pony stood before Luna with glowing red eyes. Luna held her shoulder in pain as blood trickled down her leg, before magic encountered her horn. The magic formed the horn like it was a tip of a very large spear and she charged at him, aiming right for his head. However the figure’s split horn caught the tip of it and redirected it while their foreheads collided.

Luna was both irritated and shocked to see this figure’s strength. “Who are you?!” she shouted out right in his face and then attempted to slash at him with her horn. However a red electricity surrounded the split horn and shocked Luna on impact, causing her to stagger and then was blasted through the forest and landed in front of the gate to the kingdom.

“I don’t feel like introducing myself just yet...but I guess I could just leave a little quote for you to ponder.” the figure said before charging up his horn and letting off a powerful blast which knocked the gates wide open and sent Luna hurling down the streets. Went she finally stopped tumbling, Luna felt her whole body in pain and coughed up a small bit of blood.

Luna stared around weakly with her vision blurry, she saw ponies peak out of their houses to see what was all the ruckus about. They seem horrified that the princess of the moon was beaten and broken. Luna laid on the ground as the ponies came to help before her eyes closed shut firmly and a voice echoed in her head.

“Thy name is misery, for that is all that thy brings.”

On the tip of the walls of Canterlot, a shadow was devastated and delighted to see such a sight. It was Sol, the one whom the figure had visited before this duel. “He...he actually beat her.” he thought, still trying to comprehend what had happened.

“So...now about that proposition I made…” a voice suddenly spoke up beside him. He jumped back a bit to see the figure who attacked Luna stand before him.

“Ngh...yes...you now have my attention.” Sol spoke, giving him a firm look.

“I propose to be a second in command in your quest to destroy the Elements of Harmony.” the figure spoke with a solemn smirk. Sol blinked at this, the figure who was clearly stronger than him wanted to be a second in command for his scheme.

Sol stepped back a bit and thought for a moment in his head. It was obvious this figure wanted something from him but what it was remained anonymous. Could this figure have something planned, and if so why didn’t he act beforehand? However the chances of victory with this stallion increased tenfold, it was like a mystery card that had not played it’s hand which was the way he liked it except for this scenario. Sol swallowed a bit and thought this risk he was going to take would be his last.

“You’re hired.”

Meanwhile.

Scorchhop let off a yawn and stretched around in her bed. “Mmmm….that was a nice sleep.” she mumbled and looked at Firebelt’s bed. “Erm...Firebelt? Where did you go?” she thought out loud. Lightning, who had woke up earlier than Scorchhop, looked around a bit and then stared out the window in the garden.

She was smiling, “Would you look at that.” she said, motioning Scorchhop to come over and see. Scorchhop wandered over to the window and couldn’t help but giggle.

“Awwww…ain’t that cute?” she swooned a bit, with a smile and walked out the door to meet the two sleeping ponies in the middle of the garden. Firebelt had fallen asleep with Applejack laying on his back, and it was an odd yet cute look. Lightning went up to the sleeping two, and used the other end of her spear to poke Firebelt’s nose.

“Rise and shine cousin.” Lightning said, after a few pokes Firebelt started to stir a bit.

“Mm...er….what?” Firebelt mumbled as he looked up to see Scorchhop and Lightning stare down at him. He then looked on his back to see Applejack still fast asleep, he then felt his cheeks heat up to realize they think they were cuddling in the middle of the night.

He shot up, standing fine at this. “Hey this isn’t what it looks like!” he spoke out irritated at this. “She fell asleep so I tried to take her back to her room and-” he ranted on before Scorchhop cut him off.

“Now now...don’t want to wake your apple.~” Scorchhop teased, before Firebelt grabbed her with his hooves and pushed her into the lake out of grumpiness. The splash from the water land on Applejack’s nose, finally waking her up.

“Ugh…” Applejack grunted as she rubbed her eyes. She looked down to see she was off the ground, “What in tarnation…?” she mumbled but then looked that she was on Firebelt’s back. She immediately hopped off, incredibly embarrassed. “Whoops! Erm...sorry about...er…” she thought up trying to make an excuse.

“Well, it looks like your leg is all better now.” a voice spoke up behind the group, it was Flicker Blitz. She approached the group, holding a bag of food and the Elements of Harmony. “Scorchhop could you dry yourself off? We leave in several minutes.” she ordered as she used magic to levitate Scorchhop out of the pond, soaking wet.

“Erm, sorry about that Scorchhop.” Firebelt apologized, scratching the back of his head.

Scorchhop just shook her mane about, leaving it with a puffy look on her. “It’s alright.” she said with a smirk, to see the water she shook off covered Firebelt.

About several minutes later, the group was now at the foot of the mountain with Sprint, Stone Beam and Wilder Wind. The three had decided to walk the group to the mountain for a goodbye and to ensure they made it this time.

“Good luck to you when it comes to those Diamond Dogs, they’re a rough crowd but I think you can handle them.” Wilder Wind said, looking at the group.

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to violence or lying, but we should be able to convince them.” Flicker Blitz spoke calmly, politely shaking Stone Beam’s hoof. “We are in your debt for helping us.” she said, the others said their thank you’s one by one.

“Now you all don’t go getting yourself into deadly situations now!” Sprint said with a smile, though the group couldn’t help but feel that they were going to get into these situations whether they like it or not.

“We can assure you we don’t plan on failing.” Lightning replied bravely.

“Good luck to you!” Stone Beam said, before starting to walk off with Wild Bird and Sprint behind him. They faced back towards the mountain and started to make their way up the mountain.

Along the path up the mountain was ragged with sharp rocks and a dirt path that was all messy and distorted. Rocks were pointed upwards up the hill from as far as they could see it they went straight to the top of the mountain that remained out of sight in the clouds. About one hour up the mountain, they came across a split in the path. Flicker Blitz knew by looking off her map the left way led to the Diamond Dog’s mine while the right way went around the mountain. She guided the group up the left path, but they all couldn’t help but feel tense if Flicker Blitz’s plan ever went wrong.

“We’re only a few minutes until the entrance of the mine… stay quiet and let me talk.” Flicker Blitz ordered calmly, giving them a look. Firebelt, Applejack, Scorchhop and Lightning nodded. As they approached, they saw two wooden boards with one on top of the two. When they approached, green eyes shined from the darkness in front of them.

“Mehehehe...ponies!” a voice cackled, a diamond dog wearing a red vest stepped out from the darkness; Rover.

“Greetings Fido, we wish to use your mine to pass through the mountain.” Flicker Blitz said firmly, giving him a firm look.

“Mehehehe! If you have something to offer...possibly! If not...impossible!” Rover said with a fierce glare, expecting gems of some type in return.

“We do not have gems...but we can do something greater for you in return.” Flicker Blitz said with a smirk, Rover raised an eyebrow at this.

“Like what?” Rover asked, leaning in a bit to listen in on this.

“We can take care of that thing that scares you so badly in the caverns.” Flicker Blitz offered. The others were caught off guard by her suggestion. They were expecting something crazy in response, but not this crazy.

“Hmmm...a tempting offer! Agreed!” Rover said quite willingly, obviously he was quite sick of this beast himself but the group was not so sure they could pull this off.

“Pst, Flicker Blitz, you sure about this? We have no idea what that thing scaring them really is!” Firebelt whispered in her ear.

“What choice do we have? It’s either that or resort to violence or lying which Applejack and I want neither.” she responded firmly. “I know it may be difficult, but we can do it.” she added on before following Fido into the cave.

“Say, where are the other Diamond Dogs?” Scorchhop asked up, knowing there were three but yet only one had greeted them.

“Fido, and Spot are working inside the mines. Gems...hard to find!” Rover spoke up as he motioned for the group to follow. “Remain quiet! That beast...is vicious!” he explained as he led the way down the railways.

The stone walls were barren and full of holes, and small bits of dust flickering down ahead of them. The stone beams stood strong and looked new despite the place being so old, and the way was lighted by multiple lanterns and torches. Firebelt felt more and more nervous as they approached a split in the path with the rails leading one way and the other way having a sign saying “DANGER! Do not go forward past this area! Beware of monster!” Flicker Blitz raised an eyebrow at this.

“So he would be this way...if that monster is a he or she.” she asked Rover. He nodded and grabbed a lantern off the wall, once more they proceeded. This time the walls weren’t cover in holes but rather in scratches.

“By the looks of it, how has it not eaten you three by now?” Lightning asked.

“Monster fierce...but lacks agility!” Rover said with a smug smirk, before realizing they were right near the monster’s home. “It lies in wait here…” he said shirking back a bit.

Flicker Blitz stepped forward, “Come on!” she quietly ordered the group before moving on without Rover. They slowly peeked around a corner, to be greeted with a very open space of dirt and scratches all around the rock walls. A light through a hole in the ceiling pierced into the room with a warm aurora in a circle shape, but not a monster was in sight. The group couldn’t take any other chances at all, Lightning and Scorchhop peeked around the corners while Applejack, Firebelt and Flicker Blitz looked forward.

“Um...he’s not here.” Flicker Blitz told Rover.

“What?!” Rover blinked as he lept up and looked around. He went to the center to see footprints from the monster, he observed the hole to which the light pierced the room. “That was never there before…” he murmured as he followed the footprints and it showed them heading off one of the railways. “Follow it!” he suddenly ordered and raced off. The group looked at each other and then raced after him.

For twenty solid minutes they ran, until they all collapsed with exhaustion.

“Well….I don’t think it’s around here anymore….” Scorchhop said, trying to catch her breath.

“The other Diamond Dogs...will they be okay with that thing running around?” Flicker Blitz asked concerned that the other two dogs were still far apart from them.

“The others...are on a different path that the beast went down...so yes!” Rover replied, also trying to catch his breath.

“Wait, is it possible to see how long these tracks have been around Rover?” Scorchhop asked inquisitively.

“Tracks were on here today...so recently!” Rover said as they started to make their way down the path once again. “The beast however...usually never steps outside it’s cave! Nor was that light their before!” he went on.

“So, somepony broke into the cave an’ possibly scared the vermant right out of the other side?” Applejack asked as they trotted along the path.

“It appears that way.” Lightning answered her as they made along.

After a very long walk both following the tracks and heading to where Rover said was the exit, light finally breached the dark cold caves with a bright and warm aurora. Firebelt had to hold his front leg over his eyes to get used to what light was again. “Gah...finally!” he smirked as he raced towards the front. Flicker Blitz just observed the prints as they stepped outside and a lush green forest greeted them with a light blue sky with white puffy clouds in the sky. It felt so good to step out of the cave after a four hour walk and mystery concerning the beast that had haunted the Diamond Dogs for so long.

“We’ll take care of the beast, you guys can continue your work without any worry for now.” Flicker Blitz said calmly, shaking Rover’s paw with her hoof.

“Good luck to you...ponies!” Rover said bluntly, but happily as he went back into the deep dark depths of his cave. Understandably happy that the beast is gone, but nervous that it may return to the caves if not dealt with.

Flicker Blitz caught up with the rest of the group with Scorchhop now leading ahead. They could all see over the tree tops that a large stone wall, after all that they had went through they finally came across Kasaitatki, the land of the deer. “Woohoo! Last one there is a flank kisser!” Scorchhop shouted as she sprinted ahead.

“Hey no fair! Head start!” Firebelt shouted irritated as he raced quickly behind his old time partner. Lightning just smirked and Applejack chuckled, with the two of the allies acting like fillies and colts playing. Flicker Blitz just trailed behind the lot before the atmosphere of happiness and accomplishment was cut off by a loud scream.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!” a voice had screamed out of nowhere; it was Scorchhop.

“Scorchhop!” Flicker Blitz thought out loud in panic and flew ahead of the two, with Lightning and Applejack racing quickly behind them. Flicker Blitz was the first to see Scorchhop dead frozen with Firebelt not too far behind her and trying to comfort her. What they saw before them astonished every one of them; goat’s and cow’s rotting corpses with multiple slashes and gashes on each and everyone one of them.

“Oh mah stars…” Applejack spoke quietly.

The Past Hurts

Firebelt couldn’t take his eyes off of the rotting corpses of livestock in front of him. “What the hell happened here…?” he pondered out loud. When he finally gazed up from the mess he saw multiple deer sealing off the scene and dragging the corpses of the livestock away past a shack on the side of the trail. He witnessed Applejak suddenly racing to a deer within a heartbeat.

“What in tarnation happened?!” she exclaimed as she came up to them. The deer gave a strange look to her and they went off without answering her, but then a male deer from a shack stepped out towards her.

“We’re not really sure what happened here… we woke up in the morning and saw dead livestock all over the field.” the deer gently spoke out, Applejack could see the fear expressed on his face. “My son said he heard the animals shouting in the middle of the night, they usually do that when they’re hungry but from what we can tell is they certainly weren’t crying for food… He went out to feed them but… that monster got him too.” the deer explained as he hanged his head.

“Ah see… but what the other deer? Ya know the ones takin’ the corpses away?” Applejack asked as she observed the deer who were doing as she claimed.

The deer looked back up in her eyes. “They’re getting the corpses off the road to avoid making a scene, we don’t want to panic the kingdom to think this is starting all over again.” he acknowledged. “This sort of stuff unfortunately happened before but not in quite some time!” he added on. Applejack thought back when the group traveled through the mountain. Could it be possible the monster that was terrorizing the Diamond Dogs be the culprit behind this as well?

“Does yer king know about this?” she inquired.

“Not yet unfortunately, the guards just got here and they say the king is in the middle of something but they won’t explain what!” the deer roared with a furious tone.

Flicker Blitz stepped forward, “We’ll go have a word with him.” she assured the deer.

The deer looked at her as the rest of the group came forward. “Be careful with the guards, I don’t mind new faces but you know how it’s been.” the deer advised as he went back to the shack.

“You heard the deer, let’s go!” Flicker Blitz ordered as she went towards the gates of Kasaitatki. Unlike Canterlot the gates were not as tall as a skyscraper but rather the size of a building, with tips of houses peeking out. They were painted in a stylish red with patterns of vines in gold sealed around it for detail. Two large doors stood tall with two deer guards in lamellar armor, with helmets shielding their eyes. “Excuse me, Flicker Blitz, Princess of Canterlot, needs to speak to your king. It is quite urgent.” she said calmly.

“How do we know we can trust you?” the guard snapped at them. “Are you out to spill more blood again?” the guard accused further. Flicker Blitz was surprised with this sudden accusation.

“We’re not here for a long stay, but we need to inform him of an incoming threat! The Cryer Bell in his catacomb is necessary-” Flicker Blitz retorted but was immediately cut off.

“The only threat I see here is you and your so called friends. Beat it or we’ll make you run away with your tail between your legs.” the deer hissed at her, arming his sword with magic from his antlers.

Applejack pushed Flicker Blitz aside, “Ya’ll listen here featherbrains! Ah don’t care whatever grudge you had back at that chaotic war, but do ye want more innocent ponies and deer pay the price for your arrogance?!” she roared at them.

The guard finally had it and withdrew his sword before another voice interfered.

“Hey you twits! What in hell do you think you’re doing?!” a male voice shouted as sudden a large double sided spear came out of nowhere and stabbed the ground right between Applejack and the guard. The two of them leaped back in shock at this, with the deer whipping around to face the direction and stand tall.

“S-s-sorry sir! They just came from Canterlot and-!”

“Bullshit! You shut up and stand tall at your post! I don’t expect a word from you until you get that stick out of your ass!” the voice barked at the guard again. The guard did just that as another deer approached them. The deer was tall and dark brown with green eyes with dark red lamellar armor, and his hair tied into a ponytail. To their surprise as the spear retracted back to the deer, they saw he didn’t have one but eight double sided spears on his back. “Now then, what is this threat you spoke about?” he asked when he faced back towards Flicker Blitz.

Flicker Blitz blinked and then cleared her throat. “Erm...right, we need to speak to Golden Hoof about an incoming threat. Can you please escort us to him Mr…?” she went on.

“Razorhoof, Golden Hoof’s elite guard.” the deer answered her. “I think I may be able to handle that, but stay close our friend here isn’t the only idiot in town.” he said as he motioned for the two guards to open the deer to open the door. The two deer with their magic opened both of the doors with a loud creak. The streets were filled with deers of all genders and ages, wearing types of hanfu and other garbe striving happily.

A few minutes later Razorhoof opened the doors of the castle as they arrived. The inside walls were filled with artifacts made of gold and to see the cone on top was made of glass tainted in gold, giving a bit of color to the sunlight that pierced the room. Halls were split up inside leading to multiple rooms as Razorhoof walked straight down the path, which they assumed was the way towards the throne room and they were right as they had a large door opened.

“Your majesty! Guests are here to see you! They are from Canterlot!” Razorhoof shouted at the door as he knocked on the door. After a long pause of silence he knocked again with a groan, “Your highn-!”

“HEY PONIES WANT ME TO EAT YOUR SOUL?!” a voice shrieked as a skeletal head engulfed in a dark blue flame stuck through the door.

“AAAAAAAAAAAH!” Everypony went into a group hug and screamed at the sight.

Razorhoof just covered his ears from the screaming and just groaned again in annoyance. “Oh be quiet!” he barked at the group and they all settled down. They could hear the sound of laughing which was the skeletal head, which quickly revealed itself has a light blue unicorn with a black spiky mane running down his neck.

“You should’ve seen the look on your faces! Pahahahaha!” the unicorn laughed as his head stuck through the wall and Razorhoof in response kicked his face back through the door.

“Oh shut up and open the door Flick!” he grunted in annoyance, the group broke up from the group hug they pulled. Flicker Blitz grunted that she shared part of her name with this pony she just met and already hates but his magic was intriguing nonetheless. The door opened slowly and the blue unicorn stood in front of them. “Now Flick, how is his majesty?”

Flick just turned around, “Well to be fair I didn’t look at him when I went through the wall but-” he went on before seeing a light brown deer with a white underbelly wearing a golden crown and a long red cape lying on the throne. His eyes were open but no pony was home. “Umm…” he paused as Razorhoof raced over to him.

“Your majesty! Your majesty!” Razorhoof shook him wildly and finally the king jumped up.

“Where is she?! Where is my darling?!” Golden Hoof gasped as he scrambled around in Razorhoof’s grip but he held him still.

“Your majesty calm yourself! Who was here?!” Razorhoof demanded from his superior.

“My darling! The beautiful Fluttershy! Where is she?!” Golden Hoof pleaded.

The entire room went silent. They had to comprehend what the king had just said about seeing Fluttershy.

“WHAT?! My lord I think you’ve been seeing things! The Element of Kindness has long since passed!” Razorhoof stammered as he loosened his grip on Golden Hoof. Firebelt looked at the group’s shocked expressions and noticed Applejack’s face was full of grief.

“No you fool! It was more definitely her! It had to be! It had to be!” Golden Hoof retorted. Suddenly a splash of water flew straight past Razorhoof’s head and went smack dab into Golden Hoof’s face, right behind the two was Flick holding a bucket with his magic.

“Flick!!” Golden Hoof fumed as he shoved Razorhoof aside with his antler glowing with yellow magic. “Have you forgotten who you are mocking?! Who do you think you are?!” he shouted in anger but Flick continued to not take him seriously.

“I’m Daring Do, watch me swing from a vine!” Flick joked then was blasted in the face by Golden Hoof’s magic.

“Then crash on the floor, you blithering buffoon.” Golden Hoof spat as he looked back at the group and Flick trying to pick himself up.

“Now that you’re a bit more settled your majesty do you still believe you saw Fluttershy?” Flicker Blitz interjected.

“It was definitely her without any doubt. Her beautiful voice and looks cannot be duplicated by any changeling or imposter!” his majesty glorified and went on and on how he adored Fluttershy. When Firebelt looked around amidst the group and realized Applejack had run off with her tail just around the corner as she ran off. He quickly pursued her while everyone else was trying to get some information out of Golden Hoof.

As Firebelt raced down the hall, “Applejack?! What’s wrong?” he tried to call out and looked around for the earth pony though he didn’t get a response from the pony he was looking for.

“If you’re looking for the orange earth pony she ran down to the garden.” A guard spoke from behind him and pointed with his spear to the hallway on his right.

“Thanks.” Firebelt responded as he darted down the direction the guard pointed him to. The farther he went down he saw a bright light up ahead which he assumed was the garden that the guard spoke of. When he reached it he was right.

The garden had a large skylight poking through the roof and the place felt like a picture from a fairy tale book he used to read with lime grass, large gardens filled with various flowers, and one giant tree in the middle of it all surrounded by a pond. As he looked towards the tree he saw Applejack staring down into the pond with a reflection showing an empty stare.

“Applejack? Is something the matter?” Firebelt asked as he approached. “One of your best friends is alive! Shouldn’t you be happy?” he inquired before Applejack slowly turned to face him.

“Ah-ah-ah can’t face her…” she stammered and her face showed pure grief.

“Why not? You are one of her best friends and she should be happy to see-” Firebelt insisted before a sudden burst.

“NO SHE WON’T!” Applejack snapped with tears starting to form in her eyes. “It’s all mah fault… it’s all mah fault…” she panicked as she paced back and forth.

“Woah woah, calm down.” Firebelt sympathized as he put a hoof on her shoulder which stopped her from pasting. “Now, I know it may be hard for you but what happened?” he inquired as he looked right in her eyes.

Applejack paused with a small look on the ground but looked right back at him. “It was six years ago during the war, me and Fluttershy had to evacuate a civilian train that got hit by ah misfired bombshell.” she started slowly.

“Me and ‘Shy arrived to see that some of the ponies were hurt or killed, some of the ponies needed to be transported to the medics quick as they could. However we learned from one of them that ponies went into a nearby cave for shelter and haven’t came out in a long while. Ah was about to venture in to go after them however Fluttershy seem to have a problem moving some of the ponies to the meds, so ah stupidly asked if she could go inside the cave with a few soldiers.” Applejack went on before pausing a bit, but then forced herself to go on. “She was a bit reluctant at first and ah was quickly about to change mah mind, but some more soldiers volunteered to go with her which that made her a heck of alot more confident. Ah asked her again if I should go instead but she replied with something ah can’t forget…” she stopped a bit. “Don’t worry Applejack, ah can handle this. You go help the ponies who need you.” Applejack quoted with tears forming in her eyes.

Firebelt held her a little closer as she went on. “Applejack… I’ve heard what I need to hear just st-” he tried to comfort her.

“No, ah have to get this off mah chest.” Applejack forcefully insisted. “After a while ah got worried and went in after ‘er with about three other ponies. We didn’t see anything for about three minute walk but… what ah saw at the end of that tunnel…” she stopped as she braced herself for what she was about to reveal. “Ah saw a pile of pony’s dead bodies...and Fluttershy’s was right on top...” Applejack said before finally breaking down in tears in Firebelt’s chest.

Firebelt was speechless at what his friend had said. Not only was she the one who discovered the body but now she felt responsible for Fluttershy’s death. “Did… did you find the perpetrator?” he asked.

Applejack wiped her eyes of tears, “No… we didn’t find ah single pony or whatever could have killed Fluttershy and those other ponies.” she moaned as she tipped her hat over her eyes. “But we all know who was responsible…” Applejack sobbed as she curled up in a ball. However Firebelt raised her hat a bit.

“Applejack, if you really feel that responsible then why don’t we go apologize to her now that we know she is alive and well.” he suggested as Applejack looked away a bit.

“Ah don’t know… she’ll hate me for sure… ah just know it.” Applejack mumbled.

“No she won’t! I know you’re not responsible since neither of you knew whatever killed those ponies was in there!” Firebelt said sternly. “Just apologize to her and tell her what you feel… that’s what I can recommend. That’s all I can say…” he said before seeing a bit of a blush on Applejack’s face to see he was holding her hoof. He instantly let go completely embarrassed by this.

“Erm, sorry about that I-I-I-I sort of gave into the moment and-” he stammered a bit before a sudden cut off.

“Hey!” A female voice suddenly spooked them both leading Firebelt to tumble into the pond right beside them. Applejack couldn’t help but laugh at the stallion’s display, then turned to see it was Flicker Blitz. “It’s sweet to see you two getting along and all but we have matters to discuss.” she said lifting Firebelt out of the water with her magic with a smug smirk leaving Firebelt unamused.

After Firebelt dried off Flicker Blitz, Applejack and Firebelt met back up with the group. Golden Hoof with Flick and Razorhoof at his side were waiting in front of Lightning and Scorchhop. “Ah, there you all are? Now can we address your business?” he demanded.

Flicker Blitz cleared her throat, “Golden Hoof, or your majesty if you really prefer it that much, we have news that an old enemy of Equestria and creatures have popped up that take the guise of other ponies to psychologically torment and then kill them. We need to use your Cryer Bell in part of the effort to wake up the Tree of Harmony but it is currently locked up and you have the key. We humbly ask for you to unite with us and let us ring the Cryer Bell.” she asked politely.

Golden Hoof raised an eyebrow at this. “Hm… while the citizens may not agree to this, it seems like the perfect time to try to be the kingdoms we once were. What is past is past, and now it’s time to put our trust to the test.” he acknowledged with a smile. “I agree.”

Happiness flooded over Flicker Blitz, “Yes! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much Golden Hoof!” she said as she shook his hoof quickly.

“Yo-oo-oo-ou-uu-uu’--re wel--com--ee!” Golden Hoof stammered as he was shook by Flicker blitz until he had to use his magic to make her let go. “We shall open it later tonight, when fewer citizens are here to see. I want to keep this a secret until I announce it within your departure.” he announced, though it didn’t make that much sense but Flicker Blitz guessed doing it in daylight could cause a bit of ruckus. “Flick! Make some use of yourself and guide our guests to the cafeteria for the day! They must be awfully hungry…” he ordered.

Flick wasn’t even paying attention to what was going on, he was only staring off into space. Golden Hoof responded to this as he picked him up with his magic and then shook him.

“Take. Them. To. The. Cafeteria!” Golden Hoof said firmly mid shake.

“Alright alright alright! Just stop the shaking or I’ll remind you what I ate this morning!” Flick gasped as he was being shook and then Golden Hoof put him down. “Alright you heard the majestic brat… let’s go.” he said as he stumbled from the dizziness down the hall. The group followed the swaying unicorn with Razorhoof and Golden Hoof going down separate hallways.

Later that afternoon, two figures outside the wall met in the shadows. One of them was Sol while the other was hidden, “Our little friends are going to meet up at the gate to the catacombs later tonight. Our violent friend and the new recruit have been notified and are lying in wait.” a male voice sneered.

“Excellent! Remember, we can leave no witnesses!” Sol hissed at him. “One other thing, did you really have to butcher all of that livestock and that deer?” he added on with a look of confusion.

“I was getting bored and I needed to cut flesh off of something and as for the deer I didn’t want any witnesses either.” the figure let off a psychotic smirk and licked his lips.

Sol just shook his head at this. “Well stay focused! It’s a miracle you got out of there before any other deer arrived and our friend only failed to kill the king because that oaf of a blue unicorn unknowingly intruded on our royal flush!” he complained.

“So any other reasons you called me here besides you getting angry?” The figure inquired.

“Oh yes…” Sol coughed as from the shadows he presented him with a strange necklace.

“A...necklace…? Are you kidding me?” the figure groaned at this, then noticed the center jewel. “Hey...that looks like…”

Sol chuckled at this, “Glad you caught on. It’s not exactly what you think it is, but merely a duplicate I’ve been working on.” he explained as the figure took the necklace. “Use it as a last resort and we’ll see how well this goes!” he cackled as he vanished to the shadows. The figure looked at the necklace and only chuckled, seeing the reflection of himself in the dark moth.