Against My Sins

At the mid point on the journey of life, I found myself in a land of talking ponies, for the sane path was lost...

- Dante Alighieri

Inside the enormous walls of the Crystal kingdom, the Elements found themselves waiting patiently for the arrival of the sisters; Twilight, though, was not patient. She had been pacing back and forth for the last hour and it was getting on the nerves of some of the Elements. Cadence on her part was left behind to attend the the duke and duchess of Maretonia, until the other princesses arrived.

Finally, Applejack decided to stop her march. "Sweet Celestia, Twi, could you stop doing that? I already feel dizzy from just watching you!"

"I can´t help it! We are about to meet another species, warriors no less!" Applejack cocked her head to the side, her expression saying a silent ´and?´. "We are not warriors, we don´t know how they will cope with us or how they will react, they could have zero tolerance and worse... they could be killers."

Applejack shook her head. "You are over thinking it, Twi. Princess Celestia asked for their help for a reason, Ah´doubt she would bring monsters in here."

Twilight released a sigh and prepared to talk, but was interrupted by a certain rainbow maned pegasus. "Besides, they are adventurers! How awesome is that?! We will have tons of adventures like Daring Do, alongside rough, strong and full of scars warriors!"

Suddenly, a loud whining sound was heard coming from a white unicorn. "Ugh! That is so barbaric! I was thinking more of a long blond hair, strong, heroic and handsome type." Upon finishing the sentence, Rarity let out various loud moans, as she imagined the whole scene. Suddenly, Pinkie appeared with an enormous curtain with a door at the center and placed it in front of Rarity, then placed a ´Don´t bother´ sign on the knob.

The rest simply rolled their eyes at the scene.

"Ah´still think you´re overreacting. For all I know, we could trust their word if they are brought by the princess and they do not have a reason to suddenly raise war with us." Applejack insisted.

"Being a warrior does not equals honor, Applejack, there have been many important soldiers in history whose story has been less than honorable, what says they are different?" Applejack let her words sink in.

"I´m actually a little afra..." A very low voice tried to enter the conversation, but was interrupted by Rainbow.

"Come on Twi! Aren´t you a little bit excited to be able to go out from all this boredom?" The pegasus never noticed Fluttershy alongside her as she began talking. "We could go to places were the danger is real! With monsters dying to fest on our flesh and ready to launch themselves for the kill!"

As she finished her sentence, the yellow pegasus let out an adorable squeak and ran to hide herself behind Twilight, who launched a dead stare towards Rainbow, who simply responded with...

"What?"

"Not helping, Rainbow...." The pegasus´ cheeks turned red, then released a sheepish smile. "Maybe you are right, girls, maybe I could be overreacting and they aren´t actually that bad, although I honestly hope they look just as Rarity described them, I mean, they shouldn´t be so ugly... right?"

"Actually, I have the feeling Dashie here hit the nail on the head about those guys!"  Said Pinkie, who appeared behind Twilight and naturally made her jump of surprise.

After a few seconds of catching her breath, Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by somepony else. "I´m actually a bit afraid of going, girls."

Suddenly, another voice entered the conversation, this one holding a sophisticated tone. "Don´t worry, Fluttershy, you don´t have to go alone."

As sudden as the voice appeared, Twilight reacted. "Discord, what the hay are you doing here?" The big draconequus suddenly appeared in front of Twilight, his face showing the beginnings of an excited smile and in his claw, he was holding a camera.

"Why, I´m only here to receive the new guests."

"Bad idea, you are only going to upset them and Celestia knows how much patience they have." Twilight said.

Discord crossed his arms, a frown appearing in his features. "Oh come on! You are just overreacting, besides, I could learn a thing or two about them." The draconequus sighed. "After a millennia of doing chocolate clouds, it really becomes boring, you know?"

"Not for me!" A pink flash appeared between the pair, who simply decided to ignore Pinkie.

Twilight was by now more than annoyed, a fact noticeable by the big frown painted on her face. "No, you´re only going to make things worse."

"Ýou´re only going to make things worse´" Discord´s less than average impression of Twilight, did nothing to better he mood. "How about a little more faith in me?"

"Faith? Seriously?" Twilight rolled her eyes at his words. The situation was already tense enough and bringing the draconequus in would only cause more trouble. "For all we know this guys could have a zero tolerance policy, plus, if we can barely tolerate you, imagine a pair of hardened warriors with little to no patience."

Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh come on! You´re just being ridiculous."

"No I´m not, things could get really out of hoof." Twilight insisted. "An what says they won´t simply go ahead and try to harm us or you."

Discord released a mocking grin. "Awww look at that! The little princess is worried about me."

"No, I´m not!" Then the game began.

"Yes, yo are!"

"No, I´m not!"

"yes, you are!"

As the fight went on, the rest of the group could not help but to stare at the discussion. The fight would have continued till the end of the day if certain shy pegasus hadn´t decided it was time to intervene.

"Stop!" As the words left her mouth, both Discord and Twilight stopped their discussion to turn and stare at her.

"I´m sorry Discord, but I agree with Twilight , maybe it would be better if you just waited until the princess tells you to make your entrance, at least by then we will know how tolerant they are and I really don´t want anything happening to you." Fluttershy´s sweet face stroke hard against the draconequus, who was having and internal battle about whether or not he would agree the condition.

He really didn´t want to see Twilight´s annoying winning stare, but Fluttershy was very important and dear to him. The choice was simple.

With a deep sigh, Discord unfolded his arms and stared at the floor. "Very well, I will wait here until the ´cute´ little princess tells me to make my entrance." The draconequus could not help but to smile once he heard Fluttershy´s ´Thank you´; Twilight, however, held the ´I win´expression Discord had been expecting. "But try to not to take too long, I could get a little anxious and forget about my promise."

Contrary to Twilight´s roll of her eyes, Fluttershy released a chuckle."We will try, Discord."

A few moments passed as both pegasus and draconequus stared at each other, their smiles never leaving their faces, Twilight on the other hand, couldn´t help but to place her hoof on her forehead.

The little princess´ growl of desperation was cut short by Rainbow. "Relax, Twi, you really should get yourself a stallion." As soon as she finished her sentence, the pegasus was assaulted by the killing stare of Twilight and immediately stepped back from the ireful mare.

Applejack took this moments to approach the duo. "Rainbow´s got this one right... or the ´relax´part at least, we shouldn´t jump to conclusions before even knowing this guys."

The anger expression had already left Twilight, who only sighed as a response. "You are right, Applejack, the most we can do right now, is wait." She now held a more relaxed expression, as her nervousness was fading away. By now, Rarity was already going out of her quick and improvised curtain, a bright shade of red appeared on her face, as she got closer to the group. Twilight could not help but to chuckle at the scene. "Maybe, it won´t be as bad as I thought and if the princess selected them specifically, then what is the worst thing that could happen?"

The trip towards the castle had gone as smoothly as it could, with the princess of the sun taking an opportunity to inform Virgil about the location of the castle, from there, the poet took it upon himself to lead the way.

Celestia could have brought a carriage to take all of them or she could have simply teleported all of them to the castle, but she wanted to know more of the two warriors before introducing them to the Elements, for this, she and Luna had decided they would split to hear both stories. By now, Celestia was wishing she would have chosen Dante instead.

Being immortal, Celestia has seen numerous stories of deception as well as having suffered several loses. She was no stranger to war and the deaths it could bring to both soldiers and families, but she has never heard a tale as pale and cold as the Ghost of Sparta himself.

First things first, he was immortal as well, and not only that, but the son of a god, and the king of the gods no less. This was... interesting to say the least, and it also brought her to the second point, he had been a god, and even though, Kratos neglected his godhood, she could feel a certain power inside of him. Maybe something inherited by his father? She did not know, as it was but a small spark.

Third, he was a cold blooded and psychotic murderer. killing in a war was one thing, slaughtering your entire family without any kind of remorse was another. ´His father, his brothers and sisters´  she thought, mourning inside her mind about the atrocities the Spartan had committed. In the end, she partly understood the Spartan. His wife and child had died, although Celestia did not know how, which was a fact Kratos did not want to share, with the only thing mentioned by the Spartan being that a god killed them. His story was one of revenge, then.

She was now having second thoughts about bringing him to her world, but she had no other choice, something powerful was coming and she as well as the Elements would need help. If what Pandora had told her, was true, then another type of Chaos, even more ruthless than the one they had, would come to her land.

This thoughts aside, Celestia found something interesting. How could Kratos remain calm after all that has happened him? Was he really that strong? Or maybe he is completely nuts to even realize the extent of his actions. Celestia couldn´t help but to feel bad about him, as deep sadness invaded her, sadness noticeable by the way she was looking at the Spartan.

"... At the end, I was expecting one last god to appear, but it seemed hope stopped his entrance." Kratos said.

"What god?" Celestia asked as she saw Kratos´ features releasing a frown.

"The reason why we are here." The Spartan turned to look at her. "Chaos".

"Of course, I se... Eep!" Suddenly, Celestia wide open her eyes as soon as something made click inside of her mind. Dante and Kratos where here to protect the Elements from Chaos, but if Kratos confused their entity with the one from his world, nopony would even know what the Spartan would do to Discord. She had decided to keep their Chaos hidden until she could clear things up with him, as she was more than sure that Discor would annoy Kratos as soon as they meet each other. Celestia needed to speak with Chaos first.

Unknown to her, Kratos had observed her reaction, and she was now hoping he was not some kind of face reading expert. Luckily for her, Kratos did not see to care about her expression, which made Celestia cease the opportunity to lead the conversation elsewhere. "I am so sorry for your losses, I cannot imagine how it feels to go through everything you have lived."

"I do not need your compassion or your help, Celestia; I have already learned to leave it all behind."

Celestia couldn´t help but to shake her head at the stubbornness of the Spartan, which had made her forget the Discord debacle rather quickly. The princess of the sun had not expected him to be this cold, and decided to tempt the waters, as Kratos turned to face her, his expression as serious as always. "Nopony can live without friends, nopony´s an island."

"I need no friends." His head turned towards the path ahead once more. "I have lost too many of them to the heat of war and the betrayal of those I followed."

She could not believe that way of thinking, and even if she respected others opinions, her heart was struggling to understand that. With this in mind, she took it upon herself to at least try to convince the Spartan. "But you are in a different time and a different world, it doesn´t have to be the same way, maybe here you can learn that friendship knows no bounds and is unbreakable in front of the face of adversities."

Kratos released ´Hmmph´as a response. "Keep lying to yourself, Celestia."

The princess frowned. "I am not lying to myself, Kratos, I am as immortal as you are and I have surely gone through a lot." Celestia took the opportunity to place herself in front of the Spartan. "Mark my words, Ghost of Sparta, nopony can live without company and I will not rest until you see it as well, until you understand the magic of friendship!"

"Then you will be running a fool´s errand... out of my way!" The two beings stared at each other, both of them holding a frown. Finally, Celestia decided that it would be better to let this discussion go.

"Ugh! You are so stubborn." With those words, which Kratos scoffed as a response, the princess proceeded to place herself alongside her sister and let the Spartan continue his march.

The princess had not noticed that both Dante and Luna had remained silent as the small discussion began. Contrary to Celestia, their conversation  was way more friendly. Luna found herself more relaxed knowing that Dante was way more amicable; his words flowed with enormous passion as well as his love for all that surrounded him.

Laughs did not falter from their talk, but it was his enormous love for this Beatrice that caught her attention. She had read and seen many tales of love, but nothing as pure and true as the one Dante held for this woman; Luna could not help but to respect the poet. Celestia, however, quite the contrary towards Kratos, a fact noticed by her sister.

"Not as smooth as you thought, right?"

Celestia released a grunt and placed her hoof on her forehead. "He is impossible, I can´t understand how somepony can live without friends, no wonder he is so embittered. Ugh! I´ve seen elder ponies less cranky than him."

Both Dante and Luna let out a hearty laugh at Celestia´s words.

"He doesn´t seem like the type of man who enjoys the beauty of life." Dante said.

"Nor even know what the word ´enjoy´means." Added Luna.

Celestia´s normal smile returned, as she turned to face the duo. "You two seem to be getting along pretty well, at least we have somepony able to make friends."

"Indeed." Replied Dante. "I find your kingdom rather beautiful, it almost seems like a mere dreamland."

Celestia´s mile widened. "Thank you for the compliment, Dante. So... mind telling me a bit about yourself?"

However, the answer would come from Luna. "Well, we seem to have a poet amongst us." Dante couldn´t help but to smile. Before war ravaged his beautiful Florence, the man used to bath himself in the beauty of the plume and the word, often reciting what his heart commanded his voiced, but ever since he entered the inferno, his love for this art left his being. Right now, in this beautiful place, his love for poetry had returned.

Celestia did not wait any moment to make her request. "Is that so? Well then, why don´t you delight us with some of your work?"

Dante chuckled. "As much as want to delight us on this day, I would prefer to know a bit more about you and this magnificent place."

Although a bit disappointed, Celestia understood his decision. "Well, aside from what I suspect Luna has already told you, there is not much more to tell, other than the ascension of my student, besides, neither me or my sister are very good with tales." The disappointed look formerly appearing on Celestia, now had infected Dante, who was eager to know more. "But, you can ask Twilight about the history of Equestria, I am sure she would be more than eager to introduce you to our world and she is also more specific than we could ever be."

"Then I will have to hide my excitement, for I am more than looking forward to know your student." Dante said, his normal smile reappearing on his face.

"Oh and believe me when I say I know you two are going to get along pretty well."

"Eggheads..." Luna´s words made Celestia giver a look, however, Dante simply laughed at it. Celestia immediately knew he would be the perfect contrast to Kratos. It surely felt well that at least one of those two was merrier.

Soon her thoughts were cut short by Virgil, who took not too long to speak, his voice as calmed as the gentle breezes in a cold day.

"Excuse me for the interruption your highness, but I believe we have arrived at our destination and I don´t know if this shadow you see before you is going to resist the urge to explore such beauty."

indeed, they were at the edge of the Crystal Kingdom; a few houses were already visible in front of them and Celestia was about to take the opportunity to calm the citizens so they would not alarm after seeing the three companions. "And explore we all will, Virgil; thank you for guiding our guests as we took the opportunity to know them." The poet nodded in response, but before the walk continued, Virgil noticed the worried expression that suddenly appeared in Celestia´s face. "Say, where is Kratos?"

Virgil wasted no second to turn around to the place the Spartan was supposed to be and released a quiet grunt. "It seems our ´friend´ has taken it upon himself to enter the city without the escort of your beautiful highness, I wonder if that soul knows the meaning of prudence."

The princess of the sun could not resist the urge to plant her hoof on her forehead. "Ugh! That Spartan is going to be a problem." Her gaze directed towards Luna and Dante. "Come now, we must hurry if we want to avoid our subjects from screaming in fear thinking a new invasion has arrived and I´m sure Kratos will contribute to that thought."

Not saying another word, Virgil and Celestia continued their walk, leaving Luna and Dante behind. As the duo began their slow march, the princess of the moon got closer to Dante.

"I have the feeling this is going to be a very long day."

Dante sighed. "How I wish you are proven wrong, although I highly doubt it."

Screams were heard left and right across the streets of the kingdom,  the reason for this, a certain angry Spartan making his way towards the castle without a care in the world.

Sure, ponies were already used to weird being visiting them every once in a while, but they have never seen a two ft. tall, angry looking and pale as the moon monster walking down the streets. But his appearance was not what unsettled the citizens, rather the aura emanating from him, the aura of violence.

It had all been very strange for Kratos, probably one of the weirdest days of his life and afterlife, but he was here for a reason and nothing more; if the citizens of the Crystal kingdom wanted to run away from him and scream, it did not matter to him.

Step by step Kratos came closer to what he assumed was the crystal castle. His plan was to reach the entrance and wait for the rest to arrive, if these so - called Elements appeared and decided to introduce themselves, better for him.

Soon enough his walk was interrupted.

"Halt! Take no step further and state your business!" Seeing how pacific this place was, Kratos was not expecting any kind of royal guard to stand against him, but life had managed to surprise him many times by now. The Ghost of Sparta took a few steps further, regardless of the guards saying otherwise and placed himself in front of one of them.

"Move aside, grunts! I came here with your princesses!"

every guard present could feel their hearts accelerating, as they did their best to not look afraid of Kratos, who had taken notice of their predicament.

The Spartan was about to push them aside and continue his walk, but one of them decided to talk.

"If what you say is true, then where are princess Celestia and Luna!" The guard received the stare of the angry Spartan, who wasted no time to tower above the stallion, whose eyes immediately shrunk.

"I do not have to explain myself to the likes of you! Move aside and I will spare your life!"

As nervous as they were, the royal guard was noble to the princess and were able to fight for their honor, as such, each of their spears raised against the Spartan´s face, which remained unchanged. They were sure Kratos would be just a minor inconvenience, even though his looks said otherwise, plus, he seemed unarmed; what none of they knew was that Kratos did not need weapons.

"You have sealed your fate, grunts." The Spartan closed his fists and placed them to his sides, ready to slaughter the royal guard blocking his path, but thankfully for the stallions, a voice they prayed would speak, echoed across the tense streets in front of the castle.

"Halt! Stop your approach, he comes with us!" As soon as the guards spotted Celestia, they moved aside their weapons, this action made Kratos lower his guard.

The rest of the group (mainly Virgil, Luna and Dante) were coming behind Celestia, who found herself looking at Kratos´ angry expression.

"You took your time!"

Celestia grunted. "Or maybe you should learn what patience means, Kratos, but that is not the point right now. What where you thinking by entering the city without us? You could have caused major anarchy within the streets of the Crystal kingdom and most of my subjects could have gotten scared to death by any action you could have committed!"

"I care little for you or your subjects! The only reason I am here is to finally achieve the freedom I have long searched for!" Celestia could not help but to roll her eyes in response, for her, Kratos was nothing more than an ignorant bully.

The next words that came out of her mouth were carefully chosen to pronounce as much sarcasm as she could. "And I am sure acting all mighty and rude is going to help in your holly quest to achieve peace." Kratos´ frown was every second more apparent. "Stop being so ignorant, Kratos, nopony will ever help if you continue to act this way, peace is not achieved through violence!"

"You want peace? Then prepare for war." With those words, the Spartan turned around and continued his march towards the entrance of the castle, but stopped midway to face the princess once more "This is how I was raised."

Celestia, who stayed behind, shook her head. Kratos would not open so easily.

"Sister..."

"Ugh! He´getting on my nerves! Please, let´s just enter the castle and get this over with, before that Spartan decides to create another commotion."

Not wanting to give a heavier weight  to the princess, both Luna and Dante silently complied. As the three of them walked behind Celestia, the Florentine turned his gaze towards Virgil. "You know? I am starting have seconds thoughts about our companion, he does not seem to have the heart for this kind of aid and princess Celestia doesn´t seem very fond of him, maybe she was wrong and we really don´t need him."

Upon hearing his words, the poet smiled. "I understand your concern, my boy, but your highness doesn´t know that she needs him more than she thinks and vice versa."

"What exactly are you talking about?" Luna, who had been listening to their conversation, decided to enter the chat. Virgil nor Dante minded and instead greeted her.

"Why would you want to spoil the surprises life has in store for us, wouldn´t you rather enjoy the fresh moment than knowing the end since the beginning?" Upon the look that both Dante and Luna gave him, Virgil could not help but to laugh. "Soon enough, but I hope not so soon, you will know what my words mean."

Dante sighed in response. "I still do not know if he can be of trust, poet, his actions so far have spoken against him, for his rage is what decides for him what to say next, rather than his heart."

Feeling the doubt inside the two beings in front of him, Virgil did not hesitate to put to rest their uneasiness and placed each of his hands on their shoulders. "In time, Kratos will prove himself to all of us, we just need to give him time."

"I´m afraid time is not something we´ve ever had, poet."

Virgil smiled. "Time is all we have and it is what gives us the gift to enjoy the moment." For a moment, Virgil directed his gaze towards the entrance of the castle and spotted both Celestia and Kratos going inside. "Right now, I believe we should make haste, I´m eager to see how this meeting will turn out."

As the poet proceeded his walk, Luna took the opportunity to approach Dante. "Is he ever that cryptic?"

The Florentine released a chuckle. "You get used it, but rest assured he is as wise as time itself, I have no reason to doubt him."

Luna returned the grin. "He reminds me of somepony, somepony long gone by now."

"Come, Luna, I am also eager to see what will happen next." The princess nodded in return and continued her walk alongside Dante. "I have the feeling Kratos will leave a mark on your friends and I don´t want to miss such misfortune for your Elements."

"Ha! You are so evil!" Luna mocked, her laugh infecting the Florentine, who did not think twice to release one of his own, as they both approached the entrance of the monumental castle.

Silence, complete and utter silence was the thing that greeted Celestia, who found herself walking alongside the Ghost of Sparta. None of them where in the mood to talk to each other. On his part, Kratos had found the princess annoying to say the least, he thought Celestia simply avoided seeing the truth in front of her eyes, he thought she has been living in a fantasy all for her subjects followed blindly. Friendship would always end in tragedy, love would always be destroyed by the flames of those whose soul is tainted; decency is non existent, for the heart of man is weak.

All that truly mattered was power and respect, hold your enemies through your might, that was the true meaning of life, his life. This was the only thing he ever had; having being born a Spartan, the rules of humanity dissipated, giving way for the warrior inside to raise, but Kratos was different, he always has been, he was destined to greatness, or so he thought.

As much as she was interested in seeing the gentle part of the Ghost of Sparta, Celestia respected and loved herself so much to go through numerous insults, in the end, all that mattered was the well being of her subjects.

The awkward silence would not stop, at least until the duo arrived at the entrance of the throne room, where the Elements awaited for her and the guests.

Not too far from them, Luna, Dante and Virgil came walking, the three deep in a friendly talk, pretty evident by the loud laughs of the fast made friends. Celestia smiled at the scene; Dante looked like a grown up child, regardless of his own odyssey, his own bloody tale and unlike Kratos, he truly got over his faults and became a better and purer man.

"You enjoy it, don´t you?" A voice Celestia wished not to hear in that moment assaulted her ears, as Kratos placed himself alongside her. "But once the smiles fade, the monster that lives inside of you will crave to see the light and in that moment, I´ll be the first one you see."

Celestia frowned at the Spartan. "Then I´m dying to see that face, the face that knows I was right all along, that friendship is the strongest power of all and in that moment, oh! Will I enjoy seeing you with no other choice than to give in." Kratos scoffed in response.

"Then I´m glad to know you are immortal, for you will wait thousands of years for that to happen."

"You are going to end alone, you know that?" Celestia replied, however Kratos remained with the same expression.

"That, already I am." Kratos turned to face the door, thanks to this, he never noticed the sad look Celestia was giving him.

Whatever she was about to say would have to wait, as her sister approached her. "I have to be honest, I am not looking forward to this meeting." Shortly, she took a look a the two poets behind of her, then returned her gaze towards Celestia. "I am not worried about Dante, but rather your equally albino friend. Do you really think he will beha..."

"I will not harm your subjects, if that is what you were gossiping about." Without none of them noticing, Kratos stepped in front of the two. Anger was not the thing visible on his face, but rather annoyance.

Luna, far from being intimidated, did her best to release a convincing smile. "Heh heh! Good to know, right?"

"Ugh!" Celestia rolled her eyes. "Let´s just get this over with." With those words, she directed her steps towards Dante and Virgil. "So... you ready?" The two nodded in response. "Truth be told, I do not know how they will react and I would prefer if you let us enter first with Vergil, then Dante and finally... Kratos." The spartan scoffed in response.

"We understand that decision, your highness." Answered Virgil.

Nervousness was certainly more apparent in Celestia than Luna, as she did her best to simply nod, then placed he hoof on the door and released a deep sigh before turning to stare at Kratos one more time. Her gaze turned towards her sister, who nodded in confirmation, with that she proceeded to open the door. "Here we go."

The Elements who remained inside, instinctively stood up and stared at the opening door, as Celestia Luna and... something else stepped inside the large throne room. Contrary to the normal greet the two of the would receive, the Elements found themselves speechless as the stared at the floating, bright blue figure.

The door closed and silence was apparent in the moment. Neither the sisters or the Elements made a move, Virgil however, held a warm smile towards the group of ponies.

"Is that a ghost?" Of course, the silence had to be stopped by a certain blue pegasus, who received a stare from Twilight. "...what?"

Far from getting a scold from the ghost, the Elements were greeted with a gentle laugh. "There is nothing to worry about, I understand my aspect causes controversy amongst your pure kind, but your hearts remain the same as mine, for my love for all that surrounds us is as big and powerful as the two beautiful princesses that rule this lands."

None of them had been expecting this kind of greeting, for all they knew, a warrior would have different looks than what came inside the throne room, still, Celestia had told them she had invited two of them.

"I know what you are wondering." The figure interrupted the girls´ thoughts. "And no, I am not one of those two you are eager to see, still, my presence here is to relieve you of the nervousness that haunts your souls and I am excited to answer every question you have, until those two come inside." Some of the tension in the Elements went away once they noticed the figure´s calmness. "First things first and although I am not the one I once was, my name still clutches to me for it is the one the lord has decided to give me, as such, you may call me Virgil."

Everypony, with the exception of the three alicorns, scratched their head, trying to piece together the puzzle that were Virgil´s words.

"Second," He faced rainbow, who gave a sheepish smile in return. "yes, my girl, I am what you would call a ´ghost´. But enough of that, right now I would like to know the names of each one of you and if your curiosity is as big as the pureness all of you hold, then do not let it be lost in history, for I am more than happy to satiate your doubts."

"...Uh?" It was the response Virgil got from the orange mare, thankfully Twilight was there to clarify.

"He told us to introduce ourselves and then ask him any questions we have." Much to the young princess´ annoyance, she got a ´oh´ from the rest of the group, then decided to approach the poet, thus being the first to speak about them. "Greetings, Virgil, my name is Twilight Sparkle the Element of magic and these are my friends...

Rarity, the Element of generosity

Rainbow Dash, the element of lotalty

Applejack, the Element of honesty

Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter and finally...

Fluttershy, the Element of kindness."

As Twilight finished introducing herself and her friends, Virgil listened with the attention of a child upon discovering something new. He was delighted to say the least, fact proven by what he did next. After slowly floating towards the yellow pegasus, who found herself shaking slightly, Virgil proceeded to place himself to one knee, so that his towering stature remained as close as it could to Fluttershy´s height, then gently scratched her mane.

"You are special, little one, never have I seen such compassionate eyes."

"Thank you..." Answered Fluttershy, her voice, although a bit shy, still loud enough for Virgil to hear, who in return assaulted her with a warm smile.

"Do not thank me, for I should be the one to thank you for gracing my sight which such beauty." As she heard those words, Fluttershy could not help but to smile back, her full confidence now returning to her. "Oh! How much would I have given to have such living beings as yourselves to fill my land with the peacefulness and grace of this place."

One by one, the rest of the Elements gave in to Virgil´s sweetness, but without any of them noticing and in between the shadows, a certain draconequus felt a little insecure by the way Virgil had approached her, if only he could...

"And such is your grace, that even our hidden guest feels the evil of jealousy invading the love he feels for you." Discords eyes wide opened, was he referring to him? "Although I would prefer to personally know the shadow that watches this conversation like a crow waiting for it´s prey to die. So... come out and step into the light, for my eyes wish to bask in more of the magnificence of this world."

Yep! He was referring to him. ´I guess he wants an entrance and quite an entrance I´ll give him´ Discord thought. Sadly, Celestia intervened just before he could appear in the room.

"Actually, I would prefer for him to wait until everypony is introduced." Virgil directed his gaze towards the princess with a look of doubt in his eyes. "Originally I did not know how you would react to his presence. Discord is everything but natural and I was afraid you would take offense from his shenanigans, but even though you and Dante have shown me the contrary, I still have my doubts about Kratos and his... godly past, and I would prefer to keep him hidden until everything is settled." Even if Virgil was disappointed, the poet understood the decision and happily complied.

"Very well, your majesty." He looked at the ceiling. "But I would like to at least know the name of the one kept hidden."

"... Discord..." It was all the draconequus managed to respond, as he was still shocked to know the poet had sensed him. Sadly, by the looks of it, Virgil still wasn´t satisfied with the response, fact apparent by the way the poet motioned with his hand for the voice to continue.

"And? Do not stop there! I can clearly feel the excitement upon naming the titles that for some reason you avoid to tell. Surely a creature such as yourself does not go around in the world naming himself with a simple word that does not do justice to describe what you are capable of." Discord found himself confused. "And for the same reason, your highness does not call herself simply Celestia or Luna, but rather princess Celestia and princess Luna."

Now getting where he was getting, the draconequus filled himself with pride as he prepared to say his titles. "My name is Discord, the god of chaos."

Far from the look Discord had been expecting, Virgil remained smiling. "Such a lovely title, my friend and please, do not worry about her," He motioned to Fluttershy, "for I know she has the same feeling you feel for her. Jealousy only manages to break bonds and infect what could have been a lovely union." Discord remained quiet, surprised once again this creature had sensed him. The poet chuckled once more. "Yes, my friend, I did sense your reaction, but do not take my actions to the bad side of your heart, for I had the purest intentions."

This time the draconequus remained silent and Virgil guessed he would speak no more. Thankfully the silence ended.

Celestia gently placed her hoof on the poet´s shoulder to call for his attention and he, with the expression of years of wisdom and love, gave both of his ears and eyes to the princess. "That went better than I had expected, but we should hurry with this, so we can introduce those two."

Virgil gave a small vow. "And hurry we shall, your Majesty." With that, he turned to the Elements. "Well then, do not be shy and let your mind and heart speak, so that I can clarify any doubts you have and at the same time know more about you."

"Very well, who goes first?" Celestia asked, then grinned as soon as she saw who would take it upon herself to ask the first question.

With one big step, Twilight approached Virgil and smiled.

"This is taking too long." Outside the throne room the two warriors remained chatting... well, Dante talked, Kratos just grunted and sometimes answered a few questions or complained like right now.

Dante was far more patient, it was this treat that helped him endure a few minutes with a man like Kratos, however, Kratos did not find the Florentine annoying, part of this was because of the fact he was a warrior as him.

Kratos held a special place for those able to make a stand in battle, however, he still had to see what Dante was capable of and see if whether what he said about his journey was exaggerated or  not.

The Spartan struggled to understand many of the things Dante told him, due to the fact that he was basically new to the world he had returned to, as such, his knowledge about the beings roaming the planet were close to zero; but he cared to little about this, as the only thing that interested him was to know how much could Dante endure in battle.

Spartan´s training was savage to say the least and Kratos´ was certainly no different, sometimes he actually considered his demigod, or how Dante put it, Nephilim traits a gift. With his godly bloodline in mind, Kratos wondered if Calliope could... ´No, not right now.´ The Spartan thought.

Trying to set this thoughts aside, Kratos approached Dante once more. "Why would they make us wait? We do not have to hold the sensibilities of six ponies on our shoulders, if what Celestia says about them is true, then she would not have to worry about them getting scared and we should not care."

Dante sighed. "Their rules are as different as this world, I understand the princesses not wanting to create a commotion so that things go smoothly."

Kratos gave his words a little thought, as much as he wanted to get this done quickly, Dante was right about the commotion. Any harsh movement would make this quest harder for him and he did not want that.

As a struggle to keep the impatience away, Kratos tried to start a conversation with the Florentine.

"What do you think we´ll be facing?"

"Although I do not know the answer to that, I have at least one thing for sure." The Spartan looked at him with curiosity. "It is dangerous and powerful."

Kratos cocked his head to the side. "How would you know that?"

"Have you felt that power those two princesses carry?"

The Spartan gave his words a little thought before answering. Indeed, Celestia and Luna carried great power, Kratos had to give them that. "Yes, I have."

"Now, try to feel what comes from the inside of that door." Kratos did as Dante said and turned to stare at the throne room, what he felt... was one of the most powerful magic levels he had ever felt.

It wasn´t just great, it was glorious and pure. As surprised as Kratos was, his face showed nothing and remained the same, his words, though, did revealed amazement. "Then Celestia spoke the truth." The Spartan returned his gaze towards Dante. "These Elements carry something powerful and they haven´t realized it yet."

Dante smiled as he got close to the Spartan. "Or maybe they already have and they just don´t want to show it, maybe they truly give honor to their title."

Kratos cocked his head to the side once more. "Harmony?"

"Harmony indeed and maybe that is what we need." Upon hearing his words, Kratos released a ´Hmmph´.

"At least we can agree on something."

Dante chuckled. "Then I´m glad I decided to speak, my friend."

Kratos faced him once more. "We are not friends, Dante, but merely partners in this battle."

Far from the answer Kratos was expecting, Dante smiled in response and shook his head. "Kind of funny that I have the feeling this world is going to change you more than you think. Who knows? Maybe you could end up singing a song while being surrounded by birds."

"I would rather return to my prison and have a night of passion with Clotho than to welcome that fate."

Even though, Dante had just a mare idea of Clotho, he understood what he meant and released a hearty laugh. "Well then, I accept I went a little to far on that."

As the conversation ended the sound of the door opening greeted the two warriors, who prepared to receive whoever would come from the throne room.

Soon enough, the silhouette of Luna was visible, as she directed her eyes towards Dante. "This is going better than I expected."

"I am glad to hear, Luna." Answered Dante and received a smile from the princess.

"And glad you should be, for I think is time for you two to enter." Dante found himself surprised and motioned with his hand both him and Kratos.

"You mean, both of us?"

Luna nodded. "Indeed, just..." Her stare directed towards Kratos. "Try to behave and not scare them, okay?" The Spartan did not respond and simply crossed his arms, soon enough Luna felt awkward. "Okay then... lets get inside."

No word was said, as the two warriors prepared to enter the throne room, mentally getting ready for what was about to come.

So far the Elements had found themselves comfortable alongside the guests Celestia and Lune brought with themselves, plus, Virgil seemed like a very wise entity, there was something about him that calmed any nerve presentable inside the mares, almost like evryone´s spiritual father.

So far so good. Indeed, he was no warrior, but Virgil would give great balance to the other two beings still yet to be known, the wait would not last any longer, though, as the spirit was just finishing the answer to the last question.

"Yes, I would have loved to taste those which you call cupcakes, but sadly my time has already passed and I´m no longer in shape for eating anything." He finished with a smile and rubbed Pinkie´s mane. "But maybe I will pray the lord to grant me the miracle of tasting such amazing flavor and satiate my soul with such gift."

"Okie dokie lokie!" As soon as she finished the sentence, her head turned towards the opening door and pointed at it with her hoof. "Hey, princess Luna is coming back! We´re going to meet the heroes!"

Rainbow flew fast towards Pinkie, the rest followed her behind, although slower than her energetic move, the with excited words she spoke. "Oh yeah! At last we´re going to meet something really awesome!" The pegasus took a quick peak at Virgil, who remained smiling even after her words. "No offense, dude!"

Virgil chuckled. "None taken."

Soon enough, Luna and the two warriors entered the room and much to Rainbow´s excitement, they looked as she had thought. The pegasus wasted no time into releasing a mocking laugh at Rarity. "Ha! Told you they had to look cool! Rainbow: 1, Rarity: - 1!" The unicorn simply rolled her eyes in response.

With the exception of Pinkie and Rainbow, the rest of the group remained skeptical about the new comers. Twilight noticed Celestia worried for some reason and it gave her a bad hunch.

Neither Dante, Kratos or the other ponies did anything, until Pinkie and Rainbow decided to approach the two warriors.

"Wow!" The pegasus flew straight to Dante. "That scythe looks so awesome! Where did you get it? Did you fight a magic overlord?"

Dante smiled. "Actually, I took it from the spirit of death himself."

Rainbow remained silent for a few seconds and the Florentine began to worry he had scared her, but soon enough she regained her excited expression. "You battled death? And won?!" She gasped.

Behind the two mares, who were all over Dante, Twilight found herself both skeptical and confused. "Wait a minute, If you defeated death, then who comes to claim the souls?"

This was a question Dante was not expecting and it had certainly gotten him to think. On a deeper thought, what will happen now that there is no ferryman and no judge of the dead?

Thankfully, before Twilight could assault Dante with another question, Virgil decided to step in. "Dead souls cannot die a second time, they just remain damaged momentarily before divine power restores their former physic or until the lord decides to replace those souls."

Twilight scratched her mane for a few seconds. "The afterlife sure has a weird way of organizing things, but aren´t our worlds different? Is there an underworld for each universe?"

Virgil placed a hand under his chin. "Certainly, that is a very interesting question, for I have never seen your kind in both my life and afterlife."

Twilight was about to open her mouth yet again, but Rainbow interrupted. "Okay! Egghead reunion is over! Don´t you see we have two awesome warriors in here with us? And one of them actually kicked death´s behind?"

The young alicorn princess rolled her eyes. She certainly loved an interchange of knowledge and Virgil was clearly full of it, but the main reason for them to be there was to meet the other two.

Twilight was the next one to get close. "I am sorry, but I don´t remember catching your names."

As an answer, the Florentine got on one knee. "Indeed, little miss. My name is Dante Alighieri." The poet remained silent for a few seconds, as he took hold of the alicorn´s appearance. "You must be the one your highness speaks highly of. Yes, I remember, Twilight Sparkle, It is an honor meeting you at last and if the princess was correct, then you´ll be happy to know I have questions for you."

And happy she got. Twilight´s cheeks turned red for all the praise she had received and now more relaxed, she offered her hoof to the Florentine, who gracefully accepted it. "The honor is mine, Dante."

The poet stood up, as he noticed an orange mare approaching. "What is that thing you have in there?" She pointed her hoof towards the cross.

"you must be Applejack." The mare smiled in confirmation. "And to answer your question, this is a holy cross, given to me by my beloved Beatrice."

"Awwww!" pinkie stepped in. "Isn´t that romantic?"

Dante smiled. "It is more than just romantic, it is pure and holy, for my crusade was to rescue her from a fate she did not deserve."

The next one to approach was Rarity. "So it is like one of those stories were fate separates the lovers and the prince in shining armor must fight through impossible odds to reunite with his true love?" The unicorn finished her words while pacing her hoof over her head in a dramatic way.

"Have you been watching me?" Dante mocked and received a chuckle from Rarity.

"Or maybe I knew you would be that kind of warrior, which reminds me..." The unicorn pointed with her hoof towards Rainbow. "Rarity: 1, Rainbow: - 1"

The pegasus crossed her hooves. "Yeah, yeah! Whatever, at least he still looks cool!"

Soon, the mares formed a circle around Dante, assaulting the poet with questions and so caught up they were with basking themselves with the Florentine, that they had completely forgotten about Kratos, he did not mind, though.

The Spartan found himself arms cross in a corner of the room, silently watching the scene unfold. Suddenly, he felt Celestia approaching. "Looks like Dante is stealing audience, don´t you think?"

Kratos scoffed. "I could care less."

Celestia released a mocking grin. "Hey! I have an idea, what about you start smiling a bit and maybe you´ll have them around you as well?" Kratos did not answer with words, but rather with a kill look, Celestia however, simply chuckled. "Just a thought, just a thought!"

After a few moments, Kratos felt something pulling his skirt, as he watched the princess´ mocking grin wider. "Who would have thought! One of the Elements actually got close to you."

Indeed, once Kratos looked towards the floor, he spotted a yellow pegasus staring at him.

"Excuse mister, I was just worried that nopony seemed to notice you." Kratos remained silent for a few seconds.

"Worry not." His gaze turned towards the group, then returned to Fluttershy. "I am not here to be the entertainment of anyone."

Fluttershy´s ears fell as well as her head. "Oh, I´m sorry if I bothered you."

"You didn´t." As soon as she heard the words, the pegasus´ mood returned to normal and gave a weak smile towards the Spartan.

"My name is Fluttershy, would you mind telling me yours?"

"...Kratos."

The mare raised her hoof, expecting the man to shake it. "It is nice to meet you." Her smile fell a little once she noticed Kratos was not going to shake hooves, but it did not destroyed her mood. "Why don´t you get close so that the rest can meet you?"

"And what would the point be? I came here to help with a threat and that´s what I am going to do. " Suddenly, his was directed towards the smiling faces surrounding Dante. "Showing myself would just be a waste of my time and yours."

Fluttershy gave a quick chuckle and shook her head in a negative. Yes, there was something of importance that Celestia planned to tell them, but right in that moment, there was no danger. She had decided to approach the Spartan. the reason for this was the curiosity she felt because of his silence, a silence that wanted to tell a deep story. Fluttershy began to wonder if it was a tragic one, a sad life that caused his mouth to close.

Fluttershy has always been a compassionate pegasus and if somepony was in any kind of trouble, she would have to help, besides, Kratos and Dante were there to help them; if they were in any kind of trouble, lending a hoof would be the least she could do.

"Do not think like that, it would be rude of us to simply use you and besides, there is no danger... at least not right now." The Spartan stared at her. Sure, he had expected them to be this way, but not to the degree of them getting close to someone like him. Normally any man, no matter how strong he was, would run away as soon as he got sight on him; his world was cruel and full of hate, but this place held the tranquility Kratos sometimes wished he had. "Come on, Kratos, If the reason you don´t want to talk is for shame, I promise we won´t judge." He did not trust her or anyone and certainly not Celestia, but the pegasus´ words held the kind of truth Kratos has heard very few times. "Even if you haven´t noticed, you are between friends, it doesn´t matter we´ve yet to meet you."

The whole time since Fluttershy took the opportunity to get close, Celestia had been listening closely, waiting to see how things would turn out with the Spartan and much to her surprise, Kratos was not being rude. She had expected him to cast her aside with his all-mighty rudeness, but it was quite the contrary, Kratos was calmed and cooperating with Fluttershy, then the moment came to see if Kratos would truly open up, or at least try and he truly surprised her. Unaware to her, Virgil had noticed as well.

"What do you want to know?"

Fluttershy released a wide smile. "Everything! Or at least... everything you want to tell."

The spartan grunted in response and held his head in thought, indeed, he had already told part of his story to Celestia, but left unexplained some aspects of his life, leaving them as simple as he could. Still, opening up like this was never a very good idea, with this in mind, he decided to leave many things out.

"It is a large story."

The pegasus smiled. "Oh! I have time and I´m sure the rest does as well."

"The rest?" Asked Kratos.

"Come on, I am sure we all want to hear about you." Kratos gave thought to Fluttershy´s words. His head turned to spot the circle still around Dante.

"It doesn´t seem like it." He finally replied and although his word did not present jealousy, they did seem to hold a little sarcasm, however, this went unnoticed by Fluttershy, who chuckled as a response.

"How do you know if you haven´t tried?"

The Spartan remained silent for a few seconds, letting her words sink in, then with a deep sigh, Kratos answered.

"Very well." The pegasus nodded with her head. "But let get something clear, I am not to be forced into speaking, I will talk what I deem important tell."

Fluttershy grinned. "Don´t you worry about it."

With that, the pegasus returned with her friends, leaving Kratos to think, until a voice cut short his thoughts. "I have to say, Kratos, you got me worried for a second there." The Spartan gave her a look. "Are you really going tell them your story?"

Kratos scoffed. "I said I would."

"Its just that I thought..."

"I am a man of my word, Celestia! Although I wont exactly tell everything." Celestia couldn´t help but to flash a big smile. She certainly respected Kratos´ opinion, as such, she nodded in response.

Virgil, who had been taking notice of this whole conversation, just decided to step in the wall of questions towards Dante. The poet was responsible for the Florentine, but Kratos was in the same boat as them and no one would be cast aside. Slowly, he approached the Elements, who found themselves sitting around Dante as he finished his story.

"It was in that moment, where my quest throughout Hell had finished, giving way for a new step of discovery, but fate had decided something different for me and my protector." Each one of the mares were fixated on the Florentine, who, with the words of a holy poet, retold his journey. So much passion held his words that the Elements couldn´t help but to imagine every single syllable told by the poet. Even Twilight, who was still full of questions, had decided to stop asking them and let the man finish. "As soon as we descended and ascended from Lucifer´s side, a shining light came towards us; her voice so sweet that illuminated the darkest corners of the inferno. So much grace held her words that  we could not deny ourselves from listening. Pandora had a quest for us, a quest we gracefully accepted to carry; it was in this moment that she explained to us the nature of the problem, she told us about your princess and the aid she was seeking, then..."

"... Then life rewarded us with a new companion." Virgil interrupted, catching the attention of both the Elements and Dante. "Although I know Dante´s words flow like a crystalline river, it is not us who should tell the next tale, but rather he who has decided to let himself be unseen." The poet turned his gaze towards the corner of the room. "Kratos," The Spartan stared at him, "I believe it is your turn to delight these souls with your story."

The Elements, as lost as they were with Dante´s story, they did not notice the Spartan. Some cheeks turned red from the embarrassment of having forgotten about the second warrior, this was followed by the occasional ´oops!´, however, Kratos simply grunted in response and nothing else.

Twilight and the rest of the group could tell there was something different about this new character whose name they just knew, whereas Dante was joyful and cheerful, this Kratos seemed to be quite the contrary. Truth be told, he even seemed to be more aggressive than the surprisingly poet warrior, it was this fact that made some of the Elements feel a little intimidated by the man´s futures.

On the side of Kratos, Celestia had chosen to remain silent as she witnessed the Spartan get close to the group; Luna gave her sister a worried look, as she wasn´t present when the yellow pegasus and the man talked, but to her relief, Celestia gave her a confident smile.

For Kratos, it was uncomfortable and not for the fact that these Elements were about to hear from him, but because he did not want to. Not a single man would be happy if he had to retell the atrocities he has committed time and time again.

Sure, he had left some things behind, but there was almost anything good he could remember to counterweight the bad things flowing through his memory. But there was one thing for sure: even after so many centuries... he missed them.

Each step the man gave, felt like a quake, they could all feel his presence strong as a raging fire.

Just before he made it to the group, Virgil turned to the mares and said. "Gather now, my friends and hear this tale with open hearts, for you are about to listen the story of the Ghost of Sparta, the god slayer."

"God slayer?" Twilight muttered silently.

Dante stood up from his sitting position and made his way towards the side of his protector, who welcomed him with a smile. The mood of the poet, however, did not infect anypony, as the Elements found themselves staring silently at the eyes of Kratos. None of them, not even Pinkie or Rainbow Dash dared make a move, as the towering figure blocked the shining sun from embracing them with its luminescence.

Dante had been cheerful and even his face screamed kindness, but this Ghost of Sparta screamed danger. It wasn´t just his expression, it was his aura, his eyes that seemed like daggers penetrating the strongest hearts.

It wasn´t long before Twilight took it upon herself to speak. "Kratos, right?"

The Spartan kept silent, as he took a look at the rest of the Elements, silently analyzing them, he even noticed the pink one trying to salute him with a cheerful smile, but the nervousness was apparent, then he noticed Fluttershy with a confident smile.

Finally, his eyes returned to the young alicorn. "Yes."

Twilight gulped. "So, uh... would you mind telling us a little about you?"

"What would you want to know?" The Spartan asked. He still noticed the looks the rest of the group were giving him, he did not mind.

"What about the place where you come from."

Kratos crossed his arms. "There is not much for me to tell and I will only say the necessary." The Spartan remained silent for a few seconds. "To answer your question, I was born in the city of Sparta..."

From there, the man made his best to simplify his life, leaving certain aspects like his brother and the dead of his family by his own hands, outside of the tale, he did talk about them passing away, though. He did spoke about career as a general of the great Spartan army, his servitude to the gods; following this, his imprisonment by the furies, his assignment in Attica and so on. Although, the few aspect he kept hidden from the other two humans, the princesses and the ponies, was everything related to Ares, and the fact that he murdered his own wife and daughter, leaving a weird gap in the events of his story. Thankfully, no one would notice.

The Elements remained silent the whole time, most of the time doing their best to not cover their ears as they heard every thing Kratos has made.

On his part, Virgil had expected Kratos to tell certain important aspects of his life, but he did understand why he chose the leave them out. No man, no matter how strong they are, should be able to speak a story similar to that of the Spartan.

Everypony had found interest in the story, but it was Twilight who had taken notice of very interesting things: Is he a god? And the one of war no less. This could certainly explain his actions, even though they do not justify such violence, but setting aside these points, there was one that stroke hard against the young alicorn... Kratos was the son of the god´s king.

She had heard of treachery, but family treachery was something despicable. Family is one of the most important things for anypony and Kratos´ was broken to the point of hideousness.

Fluttershy, who had taken upon herself to get close to the Spartan, found it unbelievable to think she had gotten close to him. She had certainly thought something else about him, still, she could feel there was something Kratos refused to tell, adding to this she noticed the expressions both Virgil and Celestia held.

"Woah, woah, woah! Didn´t Dante here defeated or whatever, Death?" Suddenly asked Rainbow.

Twilight stepped in. "No, he said the embodiment of death, they are two different entities." Added the alicorn. "Although I am not completely sure about something." Her gaze returned to the Spartan. "Which one did you kill? The god of the dead or the god of death?"

"... both."

There was a collective gasp amongst the Elements, followed by wide open eyes and utter silence. It wasn´t too long before Applejack got close to Twilight´s ear. "The god slayer, uh?"

"Yep." Kratos´ story was brutal. True, Dante´s was as well, but it was more because of the inferno itself rather than by his own hand. "And what happened next?"

The Spartan let out a sigh. "After I enacted my vengeance against my father, the blood lust that had blinded me was vanished and in its place I saw..." Kratos lowered his head, his expression frowning in anger and pain. He could feel his heart racing, his hands sweating and his brain asking him to stop. "I saw only death and destruction."

Stares were shared between the Elements, not exactly knowing how to react or what to tell. Some felt a little undigested about such cruelty and selfishness.

After a shook of her head, Twilight asked. "Is there... I don´t know, something actually good that you´ve made?" The Spartan shot daggers towards her, making the princess release a sheepish smile. "No offense."

Kratos took a deep sigh. "There  was nothing I could do to help the world which laid destroyed, but I did gave it the tools to survive... I gave what I gained from Pandora´s box."

Everypony released an incredulous look. "You mean the evils?" Asked Rarity. "I´m sorry, but that doesn´t seem too good, unless of course you are some kind of psychopath who thinks OUCH!" Suddenly, Applejack´s hoof collided with Rarity´s side, in hopes of shutting her up, however, somepony else would carry the discussion.

"Who thinks OUCH!?" Said Pinkie, who was scratching her mane, then stared at Kratos. "Mr psycho, do you think OUCH?"

Upon Pinkie´s words, Twilight could not help but to plant her hoof on her forehead. Kratos, however, instead of being angered by this, he was simply confused. Was this a joke?

Thankfully, Twilight clarified. "What she meant to ask was if what you gave to your world were the evils of the box."

"The evils were what infected the Olympians, I did not hold such thing." Twilight released her breath. "What I gave... was hope."

Upon hearing the words, the Elements cocked their head to the side.

"What do you mean by Hope?" Asked Twilight.

Once again, Kratos explained the aspects of his tale. Twilight was having a hard time trying to understand how Pandora was still alive after being used to open the door and once more she and the rest of the Elements thought about the implications of this. The greed on the Spartan was something that sickened everypony in the room, but it was the mere fact that he had sacrificed himself to heal the world that gave Kratos the benefit of the doubt.

In the end, if he was so despicable and selfish, why did he sacrificed himself? Was this connected to the reason of why Celestia chose him?

After this fact, they took notice on something very interesting... Athena. Twilight wondered if she had always been so evil, or if it was because of the evils and something more, how did she manage to return from dead and the other gods didn´t?

Setting the thoughts aside, the fact that Kratos had given up power was one of the redeemable aspects for the Elements, even though some of them were still cautious about him.

There were other aspects of his tale that set the Elements on their hooves, including the fact of the missing Blade of Olympus and Athena´s sudden disappearance from the face of the Earth. In the end, it was no wonder why Celestia had decided to ask them for their help.

"So that´s how you arrived here." Said Fluttershy. The pegasus was already going over the fact that Kratos was a wild animal. It was the detail of his end that gave her Hope towards him.

On their part, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity were still trying to wrap things up on their mind, trying to decide what to think in the end about him. Pinkie, on the other hoof, tried to give the most sincere smile, an act that of course confused Kratos.

Suddenly, the silence was over. "Well... " Said Rainbow. "Ghost of Sparta sound like a cool nickname." The pegasus gave away a sheepish smile once she noticed the look Kratos was giving her.

As the seconds passed, Dante and Luna shared an awkward and worried look. Certainly, Kratos had caused an impression in a world as pacific as this, thankfully, the silence would not last as suddenly the doors to the throne room opened to give way to Cadence.

"So sorry for the delay, but those two surely... " The princess stopped on her tracks and gave a funny look towards the three new beings inside. Sure, she had expected Celestia and Luna to arrive with humans, but they looked too different from what Twilight described about the other side of the mirror. These looked more... brutal, sadistic; well, at least the one with the cross on the chest looked less animal than the white one. It took her a few seconds to regain her composure and managed to speak. "umm... hi?"