Unite

He sat at the dinner table with the two of them, his mind completely absent. Sapphire paused with a mouth full of food, giving him a pensive glare before looking over to Lyra who sat also happily munching away. Lyra noticed her gaze and her small gesture towards the biped who sat at the opposite end of the table. The pangs in his stomach begged him to at least eat something, but his mind was on an entirely different matter. Slowly he took a few bites of his potato, slowly chewing, but in the end he didn't even swallow half of it, the remaining amount of the starchy substance drawing the moisture from his tongue.

"You still with us?" Lyra giggled, her words muffled from her chewing.

Snapping out of it, his face lit up as he sat up straight in his chair, sweat beading on his forehead from the embarrassment, "U-uh yeah I'm good just..."

"You're weird." Sapphire laughed and went back to her eating. Cory glared at her in annoyance, standing up from his chair and marching to his bed room. He plopped down onto the mattress as he exhaled.

Lyra shot daggers at her housemate whom shrugged in confusion, "What, it wasn't my fault."

"That is not hospitality." Lyra snapped.

Sapphire levitated her fork down onto the table, "He's pretty sensitive for a guy, most would have just laughed along with me." Lyra didn't say another word to her, she trotted to where Cory lay in his bedroom, eyes stuck on the ceiling.

"You enjoyed dinner?" She asked, smiling warmly as she sat down on her rump.

"Yeah. I was actually able to eat a little something for once."

Lyra's ears slightly drooped down, "You seem, bothered by something. And I don't mean bothered from being away from home. Did what Sapphire say really bother you that much?"

Cory put his hands behind his head, "Not really, a lot has happened even before I came here."

"Like what?" She tilted her head.

"I told Sapphire about it briefly, but I had a sister."

"What do you mean had?" It took a moment before it finally set in her mind just what he meant, "Oh... Oh no, I'm very sorry I..."

"You didn't know." He shrugged it off.

"here," her forelegs wrapped around him. This shocked him, she seemed far more comfortable around him than he had imagined. He lightly returned the hug and felt his hand trace her side as she pulled back. She had a warm look in her golden eyes, they sent him a clear message that he had her hospitality.

"Thank you." He felt his spirit being lifted. Since he met her and the wall eyed winged equine, a warm sense of security washed over him.
As he thought over their hospitality, her eyes trailed amongst his form. He certainly was different, but it perked her interest, "Raise up your arms."

He gave her a puzzled look but obliged, raising them from his sides. She inspected them with her large, amber irises. His form peaked her interest, the veins in his arms stuck up in some places underneath his skin. he pulled them back a bit as her hoof traced the small bit of hair he had on his arms. He placed his hands down onto the mattress that was a tad bit small for him, making his feet hang off the edge. She blew out the candle but allowed for her horn to illuminate the room as she turned to leave for the night. However, She noticed Cory's stare in both amazement and confusion.

"How do you do that?"

"Magic!" She chirped, "You humans are like earth ponies, right?" By the look he gave her she could tell he had little idea of what she was talking about. "What I mean is, humans don't have magic, right?"

"I guess you didn't hear me talking to your ruler early." He sat up, bringing his feet in closer, "Its all just a gag where I come from. How are you so sure that your horn isn't bio-luminescence?"

She giggled, "Could bio, whatever it is do this?" She levitated him from the mattress, making him flail his arms in annoyance. She toyed with him for a minute before she dropped him back down.

"Ok ok, I get it now." He rubbed his eyes, his head aching slightly from being toyed with. Lyra giggled and illuminated the room once more before leaving, "Sweet dreams."

She stopped in the door way and awaited his reply. He nodded, "Goodnight. And, thanks."

"No problem. Now get some sleep you." She smiled. And without another word she closed the door. Finally alone in the bedroom, he looked out the window that allowed from moonlight to spill onto the floor. Sighing as he lay his head back onto the pillow, he slowly, but surely, fell asleep.

Lyra trotted to her bedroom just down the hall when Sapphire stopped her, her expression was one of mischief. "So, you seem rather concerned for his well being. I know you're thrilled to see your little 'crypt' turned out to be real, but you seem to have a whole different kind of interest in his well being."

Lyra's face flushed red, "I'm just doing what Celestia asked of us."

"She said to just watch him and make sure he stays out of trouble, not to baby him just because he thinks my jokes are mean spirited." Sapphire rolled her eyes and trotted away, "Goodnight Lyra, make sure you stay in your own bedroom."

"Funny." Lyra mumbled. Illuminating her horn, she closed her bedroom door and turned in for the night. As she lay in bed, a touch of giddiness brewed in her. She giggled and rubbed her hind legs together, "He is real, I knew it all along!" She nuzzled her pillow before drifting off to sleep.

XXXXX

"Agh!" he cried out, the side of his face scraping across the muddied ground. The combination of tears and rain water clouded his vision. The left side of his face throbbed in a dull pain, as he desperately tried to clear his eyes. Thunder clapped overhead as his eyes opened to the man who stood in front of him. His emotionless face was unmoving, his stance towering as he kept his hands behind him. Before Cory knew it, a spade hand collided with his cheek, knocking the mouth guard from his mouth and into the mud.

"You don't need it, get up boy."

Sobbing he stood up, stumbling as he did so. His eyes widened in horror as he was lifted from his feet, his fathers fist clenched tighly around the collar of his Gi. He tossed him to the ground, landing his fist into his stomach. He hacked up saliva as his eyes widened from the shock and pain from the blow.

"If you don't come at me seriously you'll lose. I expected better from you." He turned his back to his son, arms folded behind his back as he walked away in anger, paying no heed to the rain that ran down his Gi. He stopped as he heard Cory stumble to his feet, gasping for air as he gripped his fractured shoulder. His father stopped and turned around, his glare was solid as it was when they started fighting. He balled his fist once more and brought it towards his side and then....

Everything went black. The shock he was experiencing in his dream faded, and the next thing he knew he was in a large, open field. There was nothing around for what seemed like miles. No trees, no mountains, houses or anything. Just knee high grasses. The sky was a dark blue due to the thin cloud layer that gave peeks of the evening sunset that he could see just barely over the horizon. The air was a tad cool, but the ground beneath him was warm. After he completed observing his surroundings it took him a few moments before he realized someone, or something, was holding his hand.

"Sarah..."

She lay in the grass by his side, her face was blank until he looked over at her, and at that moment she smiled. She sat up from where she lay and began running from him. Cory to stood up and chased after her, calling her name. She was extremely fast, easily out running him despite the fact he was miles ahead of her physically. Just like when he was back in the streets of town she laughed as he gave chase, glancing back at him to see where he was at. As he stopped so did she, her smile fading as he gave her a stern glare.

"Sarah, whats all this about? Where the hell are we going?" He asked between breaths.

She didn't answer. Running back to him she grabbed his hand, pulling him along until the came to a fairly steep drop off, and what he saw amazed him. What appeared to be castle ruins, like the ones you would see in parts of Europe. She slid down the hill and beckoned for him to follow her. Growing frustrated he followed her into the castles entrance. The inside resembled the sort of castle in which a King and Queen lived in. Torches immediately ignited and paved the way down the hall way. . The entrance was more or less like a mansion, asides from the stone pillars that supported the ceiling. At the end he saw Sarah, still smiling at him. As he advanced down the hallway, his foot steps echoed throughout the walls.

That was when he came to a large, open room, like a large, catholic church.

His brows furrowed, "What is this?" he kept an even pace as he ventured into the void, "Oi! Anyone here?" His voice echoed, in such a large building he thought that at least some other soul would be there other than him.

That was when he noticed a large mantle towards the end of the room, "What's this?" He slowly brought his hand down to his side and continued to walk towards the mantle, the five slots were empty, save for the top one that began to pulsate. The sound of a heart beat reverberating throughout the room was the only thing he heard. The top of it began to glow white, its essence, its warmth encouraging him to go closer to it. When he heard his sisters laugh he turned his head, seeing her standing on the other side of the room. She stopped smiling and nodded to him. Could he trust her? He lay his hand on the mantle, his body convulsing as electrical charges tore though him. As this happened, images flashed through his mind.

Large monsters tore through entire villages, flames engulfing homes as they ran a muck throughout the unknown civilization. Towards the end of his terrifying episode, two glowing, oval eyes glowed in the dark abyss. The same eyes that glowed with white light that bore right through his body. He knew them from.... The forest where he experienced the illusion of the Manticore. He snapped awake after the horrid images that flashed through his mind, but he was not in the bedroom of Lyra's home, no, he was in a dimension of light, it was dark all around him yet he glowed with light, and he could see through the dark abyss with light. It was dark, yet there was light. Just where was he... He heard his name being called somewhere off in the distance, it was a firm yet stern voice, almost angelic in a sense. It sounded as if whoever it was, was beckoning to him.

"Where? Where am I? Who's calling my name?"

In the midst of the seemingly never ending space, a light began to glow, unlike the rest it was a dark crimson color. Eventually it spread to reveal a large, V shape that glowed red. Moments later a humanoid being materialized from the light. It was silver with dark grey in a few spots, its eyes were bulbous oval shape. It was him, the Titan that he had seen in the illusion.

"Who are you? You are, you're the one who called me? Why?" Cory asked, a bit shaken up in fear from how large the giant truly was. He recognized this titan all to well. He heard the being of light speak to him once again. "I am the ancient guardian of this land."

He thought back to the illusion, the one he had of him destroying the Manticore in one strike," Please tell me, why am I here?"

"Those that yearn for peace and harmony will be in need of my assistance. I would like to borrow your potential strength." he opened his hand, a small item, a relic of some sort floating towards him. When Cory grabbed hold of it, the green gem on it flashed a dark blue. It was warm to the touch, the ivory body radiating a soothing warmth that made his tense hand relax.

"This is?" he asked, his mind racing. Why was he there? Who was this Titan? He had only been there for two days and already he was being greeted by this Silver Titan and given an unknown task.

"Use it when precious lives are in peril."

Music insert: A Beast's Rage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev363o86Bz0)

Before he could reply, a loud, terrifying roar tore through the air. Everything was happening so fast, when he opened his eyes after just blinking, he was back in Equestria, it was night though, the sky was dark, and strangely it was starless as well. The air had an abnormal chill to it being it was the dead of summer. As he looked back towards the sky, dark clouds gathered at it's center, a stream of crimson light screaming down towards the earth from the eye of the clockwise rotating clouds. From the stream of light formed a large, humanoid form. Its body seemed to be covered in armor that was dull gray and silver in places, while its head was like the helmet used by medieval knights from Earth, except in place where the visor should be, a glowing yellow eye sat in the middle, while pointed ears adorned the sides of the head. However, it was the center of the chest that caught Cory's attention, there appeared to be what looked like a light in the center of the chest, in the shape of an upside-down triangle, but glowed a steady blue while a golden sheath covered the edges of it. The thing let out a cry, much like the cry an elephant call would give, if its voice were warped and distorted. It was easily sixty meters tall, towering over the trees in the back ground.

It roared once more, scanning it's surroundings for signs of life. When it's single eye caught the human, it roared with glee and made it's towards the human, the ground rumbling beneath his earth crushing steps. Cory was frozen in both fear and confusion, but was knocked from his trance like state when a ball of light descended towards the ground between him and the armor clad titan. It hit the ground with a rumbling force, making the giant stumble back in surprise. The light slowly faded, revealing another titan, the same one Cory had just witnessed in the other dimension. Why was he there as well?

Music insert: Noa's birth (Skip to 1: 30, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKvEi2pKhAA)

Whatever was going on, the fact that he was there seemed to greatly upset the monster, Apatee, who bellowed in frustration. Ultraman stood tall, his stance stolid and proud. Was this giant protecting him?

Apatee was first to attack, dashing towards Ultraman, his body weight causing plooms of dirt to erupt from beneath his feet. Ultraman nodded and ran forward as well, both giant's pushing against each other. Ultraman used every iota of strength in his being to push back his armored foe, before releasing him and using the ball of his foot to kick Apatee back. Apatee stumbled back, gaining his balance and swatting at Ultraman who caught his arm, tossing him over his shoulder with what seemed like relative ease. Apatee roared in anguish as he was tossed aside so easily, standing on bended knee, hands down at his side. He placed his hands on his torso and leaned his head back, roaring in a higher tone than previously. Was he, laughing? As he stood up, his waist began to glow, and from there an armor like skirt formed, along with thicker shoulder armor that adorned his shoulder and knee caps. His right arm formed into a ball and chain, swinging it while going into his fighting stance.

Music insert: Incident Occurs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzlnXFLSCr0&index=13&list=PLEBF16B37B4050315)

Ultraman was taken back at Apatee's transformation, but held his battle stance, and despite Apatee's new form, was first to advance. He dodged a strike from Apatee's spiked ball that crashed into the earth, making Cory fall forward from the shock. As Apatee's back was turned, Ultraman ladned a heel kick to his back, making him stumble forward. Apatee roared in annoyance, his other arm becoming a long, jagged blade. It was his turn, Apatee thrust his lance forward, hoping to the impale the ultra, but luckily Ultraman managed to block it in time, knocking it away from him, but Apatee merely brought it up in an upward slash, the double-edged blade cutting him on the chest and sending sparks flying. Apatee swung down, and struck Ultraman again. This time he was knocked backwards. Then, Apatee tried a different tactic; its body seemed to ripple like a liquid, and he morphed his mace hand back into a normal one, but with a iron lance that he gripped tightly. He tossed his new weapon at the down giant who managed to roll out of harm's way.

The growth in armor had easily doubled Apatee's strength, blocking a round house kick from Ultraman and planting a front one to his chest, He grabbed the hero of light's arm, tossing him over his shoulder with a roar of pure joy. Ultraman hit the ground with a thud, but performed a kick up and squared off once again to Apatee. Apatee's blade arm morphed back, going into a fighting stance as well. Just what the hell was this thing Cory thought, immortal?

As Apatee charged, Ultraman parried a punch from him, grabbing hold of his shoulder armor and falling back, using his right foot to kick him overhead. Infuriated that he was rag dolled, Apatee materialized another lance, raising his in preparation to ultimately strike down the Ultra. Quickly, Ultraman brought his fore arm to the dark sky, blue energy cackling around the armed nexus before making a lower case T with his arms. A sea blue stream of energy fired from his vertical forearm. The beam was quick, lasting no more than a second, but it was all the fatigued giant could muster. The beam struck Apatee in the chest, blowing away chunks of armor with ease. Apatee gave one last cry of anguish as he fell backwards. His body was limp, the light that he originally descended from dissolved his body into matching colored particles. The clouds soon dissipated, and the stars of the night sky came into view. Ultraman slowly lowered his hands, slowly looking towards the human who looked in awe.

Music insert: Encounter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVK8IZJs86c)

"Amazing...." Slowly, the titan raised a hand to him, pointing at the human.

"And so it begins..."

"But wait, I don't under-." He couldn't finish his sentence before he was awoken from his sleep. He spastically glanced around his bedroom, sweat dripping from his brow as he slowed down his breathing. The room was entirely empty, save for himself, "Fuck..." He exhaled, falling back with his arms out to his sides, relieved that it was all just simply a dream. He wiped the sweat from his brow, turning onto his side, unaware of the relic that lay next to him as he entered a stage of dreamless sleep.

As if reality hasnt changed enough, Cory would enter an era that would forever change him.

Chapter 2, end.