Against My Sins

The numerous group had arrived at the Crystal castle. It had been an hour since the fight between two gods, and everything was now in peace. Silence had soon stopped, allowing the multiple groups to openly talk amongst themselves; between them, a certain Spartan was deep in a conversation with Twilight, who had lost any fear she had.

"... and then Sunset decided she didn´t want to be evil," the alicorn had taken it upon herself to tell Kratos about her numerous adventures, and, to the surprise of everypony and everyone, the Spartan gave her his full attention. "it was then that I knew everypony could change, leave their pasts behind to become better ponies." Kratos scoffed as a response to Twilight´s words, getting her attention in the process,as she quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

The Spartan looked at her for a few seconds before answering. "If I had been in your position, I would have not shown her mercy." Twilight shook her head. "I would have ended the demon without a second thought."

Twilight couldn´t help but to shake her head in response. It wasn´t weird for her seeing Kratos take this approach, aster all, she doubted too much he would worry himself with a peaceful way of solving these kind of situations. "Have you ever considered using the word instead of the sword?"

After rolling his eyes, Kratos directed his gaze towards the alicorn, and grunted. "Do not start with the friendship speech, child."

Noticing his desperation on the matter, Twilight let out a chuckle. "It is not about friendship, Kratos, it is about respect for the living." Kratos cocked his head to the side. "Shouldn´t we have mercy on those who live and breathe like us? I know that not everypony has the ability to change, and that´s why there are places like dungeons or...." In a quick manner, Twilight looked at Discord, before returning her sight to the Spartan. "Stone prisons to keep them at bay, but in the end, they are living beings, and they deserve their lives as much as us."

Kratos shook his head in response. "Forgive me if I cannot see it that way, but in my experience, a bad ivy can come back to hunt you, if you do not destroy it by the root." And this thought actually had saved his life many times, for him to let go of the thought.

"And that root is the heart if you manage to touch it." After noticing the look on Kratos´ face, Twilight took the opportunity to push further. "I know it sounds corny, but if you actually manage to do it, even the most indomitable beast can change."

"How can you be so sure?" Asked Kratos.

"Sunset wasn´t exactly a cup of sugar, now she is the friendliest pony in the human world." Letting out a grin, Twilight turned to look at the draconequus up ahead with Fluttershy. "Discord changed from being a despicable agent of chaos, to Fluttershy´s closest friend, and a... somewhat kindhearted being, and princess Luna..." Following her instruction, Kratos took a look at the moon princess, who found herself walking alongside Dante. For Twilight, reliving that particular memory, was actually kind of terrifying, in the end, the princess was actually pretty feared. "Princess Luna used to be darkness itself, a feared mare by everypony, and now..." She returned to stare at the Spartan and released a smile. "Well, you get the idea." Kratos scoffed in response to the alicorn´s explanation. "Point is, you can always give your enemies a second chance to see how good they are, and it actually gives you more allies than enemies."

"There is one thing you are not seeing, child." Replied Kratos.

Twilight gave him a puzzled look, clearly interested in the Spartan´s words. "And what is that?"

"My world was different from yours, had it been my father the one you faced, you would have been dead by now." After he told her this fact, Kratos could see the shocked look on Twilight´s face. "Scared of the thought?"

The alicorn shook her head in response. "No, I actually kind of feel bad for you, Kratos."

"I do not need your compassion." Kratos replied, a frown appearing on his features. For Kratos, compassion was an insult to ones´ bravery, giving it to a being signified that he was weak, and Kratos didn´t consider himself a weakling.

For Twilight, though, it was stupid how somepony could refuse comprehension and help from anypony else, she had always thought that friendship wasn´t only the strongest force, but it was also a life savior. There wasn´t anything better in a problem, than to have the understanding of your friend, to have a shoulder for you to cry, an ear that could listen. It was clear that Kratos´ ideas were completely different than hers, regardless, she could identify with his thoughts in some way. Before she moved to Ponyville, Twilight´s idea of friendship was that of a heavy burden, she didn´t consider it something helpful, and while most of the time she didn´t care about what other ponies could think about her, she did find discomfort in the thought of herself being weak, especially when she was Celestia´s personal student.

Still, she wasn´t a warrior like Kratos, she didn´t have to worry about feeling that way in the heat of a battle, plus, she ended up understanding that one´s view of himself or herself, didn´t have to change just because somepony gave you a characteristic you didn´t have. Insults, critics, etc. It did not matter in the end, but what did, was you view yourself, and nothing more. Placing herself, in Kratos´ place, Twilight could understand the Spartan´s point of view, pride was an important aspect of one´s personality, and to have this pride destroyed, is to shatter the heart of the same being; it certainly wasn´t a pleasant thought, and she knew that what Kratos was doing, was to defend his existence.

"Princess Twilight!" Soon enough, a voice cut the alicorn´s thoughts.

Twilight lifted her head and looked in front of her, catching the silhouette of an all too familiar pegasus. The alicorn smiled. "Hi, Flash, what..." Just before she could finish her sentence, Twilight noticed how the pegasus was using his wings to travel around, and how his right hoof was bandaged. She waited until Flash was at close proximity and proceeded to hold his hurt hoof. "What happened to you?"

The stallion chuckled. "I kind off hit a wall." Moving his sight from Twilight, his eyes fell upon the enormous Spartan standing before her, who received him with a kill look. "A wall that looked suspiciously similar to him."

Kratos grunted in response, giving one step up front, and getting Twilight on her guard. He wasn´t pleased at all tosee this stallion, Kratos simply despised beings with his cocky personality. "His big mouth caught up with him." After the words left his mouth, Twilight turned to look at him, silently asking what had happened, to which Kratos replied by crossing his arms. "If you want an answer, then you should ask your brother."

As an answer, Twilight simply shook her head, before setting her gaze on Flash, and poked his hurt hoof with enough care to ensure she couldn´t hurt him. "Does it hurt so badly?" The alicorn lifted her gaze, and frowned at the pegasus. "Why are you even here? You should be resting!"

Flash chuckled. "Don´t worry, princess, I still have three hooves, a job and my full confidence and good looks!" In a moment, the stallion noticed the small grin forming on Twilight´s features. Soon enough, his face revealed a worried expression. "Where have you been?"

"In a rather surprising ring match."

Upon her words, the pegasus turned to look at Kratos, a puzzled look on his face. "Did you really feel the necessity to break a few other bones?" Kratos grunted in response, as he began to tense, a warning, Flash did not even pay any mind. "You should seriously get one of those stress balls, they can make wonders with bad humor."

As an answer, Kratos gave one step up front, giving Flash a menacing stare. "Or I could use you as my diversion!" The stallion flinched at this. "Keep your mouth shut, grunt, or I will not think twice before using you as a training manikin!"

Noticing the tension rising, Flash did his best to raise his left hoof, in an attempt to calm the situation. "Okay, just relax, dude! I´m only joking!"

Far from the calmness the pegasus wanted, Kratos still found himself angered by the stallion´s words, fact noticeable by the kill look on his face. "I do not find the joke amusing."

Flash  wasn´t an easy to intimidate stallion, making his actions in these kind of situations rather harsh. In the end, he would have to be, being a royal guard was not an easy task, less when you were more noticeable between the rest of the guards, simply by your skills. Though, he had to admit that looking into Kratos´ eyes was a rather terrifying experience, it was like if he was watching into Tartarus itself, regardless he tried to keep his humor up.

"Hey, I have a good idea on how to recover your humor." The Spartan inhaled deeply, trying to contain his ever growing anger, as he already knew what was coming from the stallion´s big mouth. "It is pretty simple, really, it involves you and a mirror... that´s it."

In a moment, Kratos gave one huge step ahead, closing his left fist, as he stretched his right arm, ready to grab the pegasus who backed away from the raging man. Just before it could get out of hand, Twilight stepped in. "Wow, calm down, both of you!" The Spartan stopped his advance, his eyes never leaving the stallion, who could feel his heart racing. "Kratos, I know Flash can be a little annoying." Letting go of his fear, the pegasus reacted ´Hey!´, regardless of his answer, Twilight ignored him. "But he is a good kid, could you stop trying to hurt him?"

A few tense moments passed, as Kratos looked between Flash and Twilight, giving thought to the alicorn´s request. If there was one thing Kratos hated, was big mouthed asses, he could simply not stand a coward´s mock towards him, as he view it as sign of weakness, and he didn´t like being mocked by weaklings. However, he found himself considering Twilight´s request, he did not care about killing one of these equines, but there was something in the alicorn that made him comply with her request. After he inhaled deeply Kratos turned to look at Twilight. "As long as he holds his tongue, otherwise," suddenly, the Spartan gave Flash a kill look, "I will have to rip it out of his mouth."

Noticing Kratos lowering his guard, Twilight couldn´t help but to release the breath she was holding, as a thin smile appeared on her features. "Thank you." The alicorn was clearly expecting a harsher action, and it was a relief to see that Kratos was open to contemplate a different option than that of the murder, because she knew that if he wanted, Flash would paint the walls red with his blood.

Setting this thoughts aside, Twilight noticed Kratos going past them, and into the long hallways of the Crystal castle, before turning around once more to look at her.

"I shall see you at throne room." Kratos said, then set his gaze on Flash, silently launching a threat to the pegasus, who shivered in response.

A few seconds passed before Kratos became lost in the distance, leaving the two ponies alone. It wasn´t long before Flash turned to stare at Twilight, releasing the breath he was holding in the process. "So..." He said. "Who is this guy, anyway?" Giving one quick glance behind him, Flash released a chuckle. "Hasn´t anypony told him that bald albino ape season is over?"

As an answer, Twilight punched him in the gut, causing the laughing stallion to grab his ribs. "Come on, Flash, don´t be rude." Letting out her frown, the alicorn smiled warmly. "He is not an ape, and his name is Kratos."

"So, how did mister Sunshine get here?" Flash asked.

"Princess Celestia brought him alongside two other humans."

The pegasus chuckled, as he recalled his former beating in the training yard. "Yeah, I saw the other one. Not as cranky as Kratos."

She had certainly heard the same complain before. Kratos was not a very friendly being, that much was true, but maybe they weren´t giving him enough time to warm up to them. "I know, he can be a little rude sometimes, but he is not that bad actually." Flash deadpanned at this, knowing how stubborn she could be at times. Noticing this, Twilight couldn´t help but to roll her eyes. "So, how did you meet him?"

"Well, I was pretending to be a punching bag, and he got a little crazy with his punches." The pegasus answered, grabbing his hurt hoof, as the memory of the fight came back to him. Flash wasn´t exactly the type of stallion who freed himself of having injuries, on the contrary, during his infancy, he had suffered from several fractures, regardless, it was not a pleasant situation for him.

On her part, Twilight found herself a little surprise at this. If she thought picking a fight with Kratos was dangerous, now that she had seen what he was capable of, she look at it as suicide. "Wait, why exactly did you pick a fight with him?"

Flash shook his head in response. "It´s not like I had this crazy dream of having my head smashed or anything, but..." In a moment, Twilight could notice a sheepish smile forming in the pegasus´ features. "Your brother may have asked me to represent the kingdom´s forces." Rather surprised by this fact, Twilight wide opened her eyes, as a frown began to appear on her features, realizing what Flash meant to say. "Yeah..."

It wasn´t the first time her brother had wanted to do something like this, in the end, he was rather apprehensive of her, something, she had to admit, part of the personality he shared with her. In the end, Twilight hated when somepony else stuck their nose where it didn´t belong, even if it was her own brother. "Shinning, and I are going to have a little chat after I talk with Celestia."

On Flash´s part, he didn´t want to create a problem, and not because of his position withing the royal forces, but because he didn´t want twilight involved in some kind of fight. "Hey, don´t go too hard on him, he just wants to protect his little sister." Twilight turned to look at him, giving away a deep sigh, as her frown remained in place, making Flash try something to lessen the bad mood. "I would totally do the same if I had one, I just wouldn´t have a monster to kick his behind." Finally, he managed to get a chuckle out of Twilight, causing him to relax a little. Now with that out of the way, the pegasus decided to change the subject. "So, when are you returning to Ponyville?"

"I don´t know, maybe tomorrow, why?" The alicorn answered, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"It´s just that if you happen to magically grow a castle from nothing, try not to forget about me, okay?"

Twilight let out a chuckle. "I wouldn´t, believe me." As her smile faded, Twilight lowered her head, melancholy invading her, as she remembered her last talk with Kratos. The problem she was facing, which made the alicorn feel a nude on her throat. "I just wish I had a castle, though."

Trying to make her feel better, Flash placed hi good hoof over Twilight´s shoulder. "You will have, Twilight, I know you will." The alicorn lifted her face, smiling at the pegasus. "I don´t know any other pony that deserves one as much as you."

In a moment, both their stares became locked, unable to remove themselves from the sight of the other, it wasn´t until a bit later, that Twilight managed to recover most of her senses to speak.

"Thank you, Flash."

Steps echoed across the shining hallways inside the Crystal castle, as Kratos made his way towards the throne room to meet with the rest. As the walk continued silently, the Spartan couldn´t help but to notice solitude accompanying him once more. The lack of movement, the complete silence invading the long hallway, which was allowing Kratos to even hear his own breath, and it reminded him of his punishment. He had enjoyed this in the past, but the disturbing afterlife he had, was forcing him to succumb into madness. Kratos felt angst.

The Spartan began to take deep breaths, trying to resist the sensation from overcoming him, which seemed like a rather weird thing to the Spartan. He liked having some time to think, but since he had an eternity, the loneliness had caught up with him. Suddenly, the walk seemed to be eternal, almost as if he had found himself inside an endless hallway, where he would walk for years without end, and it caused him to desperate. The Spartan was starting to breath faster each second that passed, coupling with the sensation that the wallks were closing in.

Without noticing, Kratos began fastening his pace, and was soon, almost running across the place. From the corner of his eyes, the Spartan could see a dark shadow starting to blind him, darkening every corner of the place... he could take it no longer. Just as the Spartan thought he would faint, his feet stopped in place, as his eyes took notice of a distant figure, which was soon to be revealed as Celestia herself. On his part, Kratos sighed in silence, feeling his angst leaving him, and at the same time, his breathing returned to normal.

As he began to walk slowly, Kratos clenched his fists, feeling the weakness of loneliness invading him. He had felt something similar to this, back when his brother was kidnapped by Ares and Athena. he thought he had overcome the feeling, but his strength was betraying him. Soon, Celestia noticed Kratos, and began her approach, forcing Kratos to try and remain calm, so he could not show how he felt.

Was she waiting for him? The Spartan grunted at the thought, he did not know why he felt so much distaste on the sun princess, it was as if he hated her for no reason. Sure, she could be annoying, but it was no reason enough for him to hate her, there was simply something about her. Taking the decision of ignoring her completely, Kratos passed by Celestia, as she tried to approach him. Behind him, the Spartan could hear a faint grunt, before the sounds of hooves made their way to his position, making him realize she was not going to leave him alone. "And what do you want?" He asked, forcing the silence to end.

Celestia remained frozen for a few seconds, before she recovered her senses. "Nothing, it´s just that..."

"If you have nothing else to do than wasting my time, then leave me be!"

Celestia closed her eyes, as she gritted her teeth. She was struggling to comprehend what she was doing wrong, but as much thought as she gave it, Celestia could not find a viable answer to the interrogative. Setting these thoughts aside, she tried to come up or an excuse for her to wait on the Spartan, which soon came in the form of her former student. "I was just wondering what you two were talking about." Kratos turned to look at her, his expression unchanged. "I know Twilight, and I know she found interest in you."

"Whatever we were talking about, it is none of your concern, Celestia."

Celestia rolled her eyes at this. "It was only a question, Kratos." As an answer, the Spartan sped up his pace, infuriating the sun godess, who did her best to remain calm and quickly follow Kratos. "Could you stop being so rude for at least a moment?"

"I will, the day I find you of my liking, which is close to impossible." The Spartan answered, continuing his walk, as he was unable to see how Celestia now had a furious look on her face. She was tired of Kratos´ mean personality.

"Okay, that´s it!" In a moment, Kratos stopped his tracks, slowly turning around to stare at Celestia. For him, this was going to be interesting. "I don´t why the Heck you keep treating me like dirt, but know that I will not allow this humiliation any longer!" Celestia raised her hoof, pointing at Kratos, who remained unfazed by her outburst. "You will treat me with respect, or otherwise there is going to be a problem!"

Silence endured between the two beings, forming a sense of dread for the princess to feel. Moments later, a look that scared Celestia to her core, appeared on Kratos´ face, as he slowly made his approach to the princess. The alicorn did her best to keep her angry expression, while feeling the weight of Kratos´ stare. With each step the Spartan gave, Celestia´s heart sank further, not exactly knowing what to expect from him.

It wasn´t long before they were face to face, the silence enduring between the two, as they became entailed in their stares. The alicorn´s heart began to race, as she was silently prying for him to simply turn around, and it wasn´t long before she saw Kratos about to answer for her outburst. "Very well." Kratos´ muscles did not take long to relax, as well as his facial expression, which was now calm. Celestia blinked in surprise, not knowing that Katos had actually found her outburst rather fascinating.

On his part, he did not know what to think about it. Sure, it was time for her to show some auto respect, but he wasn´t expecting her to actually do it. Setting the thought aside, Kratos remembered the reason for him to follow the rest.  "What exactly are we going to discuss at the throne room?"

Celestia remained still for a few moments, slowly catching her breath after Kratos´ deception, however, after a quick shake from her head, the sun princess managed to regain her senses in time to follow Kratos. "It´s just that we will not remain in the Crystal kingdom for too long, and I wanted to ask you what you wanted to do."

Kratos raised an eyebrow at this, as he set his gaze on her. "Where would we go, should we choose to leave?"

"Me, Cadence and my sister, to Canterlot," she answered, "Twilight and her friends, however, to Ponyville." Averting her gaze for a second, Celestia noticed the group up ahead, before turning around in time to spot Kratos´ annoyed expression, which made the sun princess roll her eyes. "I know what you´re thinking, and no, you´re not going to be preached about friendship every five seconds in Ponyville." The Spartan scoffed. "I actually find the place rather peaceful, if not for the usual overlord." An idea soon crossed Celestia´s mind, as she set her eyes on the rest of the group. This morning had been quite a ride, and it would be a good idea to provide something to break the ice. "Actually, if you could give me a second." With that, she made her way to the rest of the group. "Cadence, maybe all of us should go for something to eat, while we discuss any further plan."

The love princess gave a smile, as she greeted Celestia, who was now walking alongside Cadence. "Not a bad idea, I´m sure our guests are hungry by now."

Just before she could ask them, the Florentine took the opportunity to step in. "Actually, I find myself quite in need of a feast," Dante averted his gaze from Cadence, to Virgil, "wouldn´t you agree, poet?" Ever since his travel through Hell began, the poet did not have time to feast, something that had actually concerned him. He was desperate to taste the food in his mouth, to remember what it felt like to be alive and outside of the terrible realm of the dead. Truth be told, he wasn´t a glutton by any means, but he could not deny the allure of a fine steak or even a fresh apple in his tongue, it was simply refreshing.

On his part, Virgil could understand Dante´s need of food, even if he was physically in no condition to follow on his footsteps, although, it did not mean he didn´t enjoy Dante´s excitement. "I would, if I had could feel the need to satiate myself with the riches of this world, regardless, I will be there to discuss whatever decision your majesty will make us part of."

Agreeing with the decision, as the rest of the group, Luna stepped in the conversation. "It is settled then."

Just before they could head to their now chosen goal, Celestia stopped on her tracks, looking from left to right for a certain alicorn princess. "Wait a minute," the rest froze in place, turning to look at the sun princess with a puzzled expression, "where is Twilight?"

"I´m coming!" It wasn´t long before an all too familiar shadow came running from the long hallway, soon making her way to the rest of the group. A few chuckles greeted Twilight, as she arrived at the scene, while trying to calm her breathing after a long run.After composing herself rather quickly, the mare turned to look at the several amused faces looking at her, which caused her to raise an eyebrow.

It wasn´t long before Applejack decided to break the silence, and smirked as a thought crossed her mind. "Guess she was getting kissy kissy with that Flash pony."

Immediately reacting, Twilight planted her right hoof on the ground, frowning at the cawpony, as she desperately tried to dismiss what her friend said. "No, I wasn´t!"

Sadly for the alicorn, her predicament was simply too amusing to avoid Rainbow from taking part in the moment. "Really? You sure where taking your time."

Several laughs and chuckles came to her direction, with the only exception of Kratos, who simply chose to cross his arms, was his always serious expression remained in place. Twilight couldn´t notice, but her face went from purple to a very vivid red coloration, some ponies could even say there was some smoke coming out of her ears. Thankfully for the young princess, a benevolent spirit would come to her aid, and it wasn´t the one know as the Ghost. "If it or if it is not, we should not concern ourselves with every action or decision she takes." Twilight couldn´t help but to release a small but grateful smile at her savior, which came in the form of Virgil. "I know, you would not like to be in the same situation."

"Thank you, Virgil." Twilight said, as the chuckles were soon over, letting the alicorn give a sigh in relief. to which Virgil responded with a warm smile.

"It is my pleasure." He answered, before making his way back to the group, however, just before he could proceed, a mischievous smirk appeared on his features. "Though, I have the feeling you WERE kissy kissy with our friend." Far from being angered, Twilight actually found herself rather surprised at this, she didn´t know Virgil could be this amicable and funny, and she was ready to let go of the mocks, until a certain draconequus made his way towards the spirit.

"Oh, believe me, Twilight here often dreams about the guy."

Once more, a furious look appeared on Twilight´s features, thankfully for her, Virgil would come to her aid once more. The spirit turned to stare at Discord, as a smirk appeared on his face. "If I were you, my friend, I would not mock the one being that shares the same passion as you," in an instant, Discord´s as well as Fluttershy´s faces gave away a red coloration, with the draconequus being the one frowning at Virgil, "you don´t know how easy is to forget the mocked being by another which is found more amusing."

Staring into his eyes for a few moments, while deciding whether to answer or not, Discord released a grunt, then, turned around before dissappearing into thin air, leaving a chuckling Virgil behind.

Once the draconequus was gone, Celestia decided to speed up the moment, as she prepared herself to get the attention of the entire group."Twilight´s coltfriend thoughts aside," every pony and man present, turned to look at the sun princess, with Twilight being the only one to release a rather loud´ARG!´. Celestia simply ignored this. "I believe we should hurry, the faster we eat the faster we get to see if Kratos´ bad mood was because of hunger."

Now it was time for the Spartan himself to release a grunt of his own, however, before he could even react, Dante stepped in. "Actually, I would like to see that as well."

"Don´t you start as well, Dante." Kratos answered, clenching his fists in anger, after their careless mocks.

Wanting to ease the mood, Dante got close to Kratos, and placed his right hand over the Spartan´s shoulder, who wasted no time to shake it off. Dante did not mind. "Come on, Kratos, don´t you try to tell me you are not eager to taste the flavor of food in your mouth." Kratos, however, did not answer, and Dante was not going to wait for the situation to become uncomfortable. Kratos was rude, tht much was true, but he was also a warrior that often, if not all the time, took his mission seriously, an aspect Dante respected highly. With this in mind, he did not become bothered by the Spartan´s lack of answer, and made his way with the rest of the group, towards the dinning room, leaving Kratos behind, who hanged his head, as he remained deep in thought.

"Kratos, is something wrong?" Suddenly, the sweet voice of Twilight, cut off the Spartan´s thoughts, as he turned to spot the alicorn staring at him, deeply concerned about him.

The moment he was free from his solitude prison, Kratos had no time to think about the things of this new world he did not know, including the food. Back in Sparta, the feasts were great, something given to its most fearsome defenders, the Spartan army. The thing was, he could not remember any of those things, he was struggling to grasp the tip of the days he had everything, and even those where he had nothing. A fool´s errand. "I have spent so many centuries in the dark," a somber look greeted Twilight, as she stared into the eyes of the forgotten, "I don´t even remember how water tastes." The flavor struggled to infect his tongue, as his mind went through numerous possibilities to this sole interrogative. What was the taste? How did it feel? He even did his best to think about the sensation of the meat, the juiciness of a fresh fruit, the warmness of a kiss... A long forgotten feel, a dead soul in search of that which gave some good to a bad life.

On her part, even if she couldn´t place herself on his shoes, Twilight did her best to understand his predicament. She had never been caste aside, away from those she loved, and the only pony she could come up with, who had that experience, was Luna, however, at least she had somepony to greet her, and love her. Kratos had nopony... There was simply no way for her to give the Spartan, the right answer, and did her best to say something positive. "Then I guess it´ll be like the pleasure of the first time, don´t you think?"

Kratos looked at her for a few moments, before turning his gaze to the front, and walking away from her. Twilight sighed at this, and not because of the rudeness of the situation.

Just before she could give the matter some more thought, Celestia appeared from behind, as she got close to the alicorn, while her stare remained fixed on the fleeing Spartan. "Hard to get, don´t you think?" twilight turned to look at her. "I have tried to get him to open up as well." Suddenly, she set her stare on Twilight´s, letting out a warm smile. "Guess you are doing alright."

Shaking the comment off, Twilight pondered about the interrogative that seemed to be the most important, regarding the Spartan´s presence. "Princess, I´ve wanting to ask you." Celestia looked at her, already knowing the question she was about to be asked. "Why him?"

The sun princess remained silent for a few seconds, then lowered her head while giving away a sigh, wondering the answer of Twilight´s question. "I have yet to know the answer to that, as well." So far, her search for the truth had gone sour, and she felt she was not close to knowing the thing that was occupying her mind at all times. Regardless, she wasn´t sure if she could talk with Twilight about it, at least not in that moment, first, Celestia had to learn a few more things before being able to open up to her former student. "Don´t worry, the moment I know for sure, you will be the first one I tell." Twilight grunted, her gaze going towards the hallway Kratos took. She clearly had a hard time letting Celestia´s secret go, but as many other times, she had a reason for doing the things she did, or at least, that´s what she wanted to think. "Considering you don´t find out by then." ´If I find out by then?´ wondered Twilight, as she struggled to now the meaning of her words. How could she discover it by herself if she didn´t even have any ground to stand? What could Kratos have that could give her a hint? Maybe his power? The darkness he carried? Whatever it was, it only exasperated her further.

As soon as Celestia noticed Twilight´s silence, she decided to continue the walk towards the dinning room. On her part, Twilight was still going through Celestia´s words, and it wasn´t long before Twilight came with a plausible answer to the princess´s riddles, and this answer seemed to be logical, considering the strength both Dante and Kratos held. "Princess," Celestia turned to look at her,  "Tirek is not the only thing we are facing, right?"

The sun princess cocked her head to the side. "Why do you ask?"

"Because otherwise you wouldn´t have brought them into Equestria." Celestia sighed at this, almost regretting talking with Twilight. "They seem too powerful for a single centaur."

She was right, even if this wasn´t the answer to what she was hiding, it was a part of it. She had talked to Pandora before, and the young girl had told her about what was coming, yet Celestia remained stoic about it. Of course, she had agreed to get the aid of the two warriors, in the end, it was for the good of Equestria, but whether something was coming or not, she did not know, regardless, Celestia would not take any risks. "I don´t know what will happen, Twilight, but at least we are not alone to face whatever is coming." Twilight raised an eyebrow at her comment, as she prepared to ask another question, to which Celestia quickly silenced with a warm smile. "Let us not think about that for now, we should get our bellies full first."

With no other choice than to comply, Twilight followed Celestia the rest of the way to the dinning room. So far, her mind had been going around the show stopped Kratos, which didn´t let her think about her opinions on the other two guests. Back home, her library contained books about numerous topics, one of those were the adventure type, and while she wasn´t so crazy about those, the young princess did enjoy them from time to time. Now, in front of her, was the vivid manifestation of what she knew about as ´ancient tragedy´, in which the hero often lost his family. Only difference was, Kratos did not seem like a hero, quite the contrary, if he had found his way to Equestria without Celestia´s aid, Twilight was more than sure he would end up becoming an overlord. This thought was not exactly a relief, considering the fact that contrary to other foes they have faced, Kratos had nothing to loose, which made him far more dangerous.

Averting her thoughts from the Spartan, Twilight couldn´t help but to notice that Dante seemed to balance Kratos´ personality, giving it a breath of fresh air from all the bad mood. In the end, she could not go that hard on the Spartan, at least he was not being mean to her anymore, and had actually decided to open up a bit.

Thinking about Kratos and Dante, made her remember some of those psychology books she had studied back in Canterlot. The difference of perception was shown by the two warrior´s personalities, and their way of handling things after a tragedy. Both of them learned from their mistakes, and shaped them into the beings they were now, but different from Kratos, Dante had actually closed the circle with his quest. Thinking about the Florentine, Twilight couldn´t help but to release a smile, his tale reminded her of a love novel, which made perfect contrast with Dante´s sensible side. It was amazing how true love could overcome things, and she was more than sure that Cadence was eating this fact up.

Then, there was Virgil. Although he was hard to read, Twilight could see a lot of compassion, and love. The ancient poet had seemed to take a like on Pinkie, regardless of his opinion about Fluttershy; the reason for this seemed to be related with the pink mare´s abilities.

Soon enough, Twilight found herself entering the dinning room, with the rest of the group going to their places. To the head, sat Celestia, alongside her were Luna and Cadence. To the right was Kratos, with Pinkie bouncing her way to the chair, alongside Virgil, who sat alongside Rarity. To the left, Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy found their sits. The table was quite crowed, and yet voices were lacking. She seemed to think it was because of the latest problem.

The young princess decided to take place alongside Celestia, just as the royal servants came in with several dishes of food, which were placed all around the table. It wasn´t long before everypony, with the exception of Virgil, began grabbing whatever they found palatable. Suddenly, as she sat down, Twilight could catch a fain grunt coming from a certain Spartan, who was looking at his plate with a questioning look.

"Where is the meat?" Suddenly, everypony, and everyone left what they were doing to stare at Kratos, who had a puzzled loo on his face. "What?"

Luna cocked an eyebrow at the Spartan´s lack of understanding, and common sense. "You do realize we are ponies, right?"

Kratos grunted. "And when did I say I cared about what you were?" Luna rolled her eyes in response to the Spartan´s words. "I only ask for meat."

Wanting to avoid ruining the moment, Celestia tried to ease the mood. "I thought humans were omnivorous." Once more, Kratos found himself gritting his teeth, feeling each time more desperate that he did not get what he wanted. Celestia simply sighed at this. "We do not have meat at this moment, you know, considering we ponies do not eat meat." Now that she noticed Kratos calming himself, Celestia decided to break the ice further. "However, we have an special reserve for when a carnivorous kind comes to Canterlot." Suddenly, a thin glimpse of satisfaction could be seen on the Spartan´s features. "I promise that as soon as we get there, you will get to taste some blood."

"I hope so." It was all Kratos answered before he set his gaze on the bunch of apples, the pear he grabbed, and some breath resting alongside his plate, with a glass of water resting alongside him. He became lost in the objects, almost as if he was admiring every single bit of the food. It had been so many centuries since he saw fruits that he struggled to remember their taste.

It was as if Kratos had seemingly stopped wishing to eat them, he didn´t want past memories to flood his mind the moment his tongue tasted the apples, regardless, the Spartan could feel a faint pain on his stomach, which soon evolved into a new language being spoken by his belly, which called for the attention of everypony and everyone present; Kratos paid them no mind. Rather slowly, his hand reached for the pear, before bringing it into his mouth. His teeth began to close, as the fruit touched both them, and the tongue. The sweet liquid made its way into his mouth, filling the vocal cavity with much rejoice.

Kratos gave the pear a few chews, before passing the rest through his throat. If he hadn´t any pride, he would have lot out a moan the moment the fruit passed through his mouth.

Now that Kratos seemed to be absent from the rest, and deep in concentration with his food, Celestia figured it would be  good time to talk about their travel to Canterlot and Ponyville. "Setting carnivorous Kratos´ desires aside, I would like to discuss any further plans."

Virgil was the first to react, giving the sun princess, a small cordial vow. "And plans we shall discuss, you highness." Hi gaze was soon met by Celestia´s, as he let out a warm smile. "What has come to your mind?"

"We part to Canterlot tomorrow morning, from there, me and my sister will stay at Canterlot, and the Elements will return to Ponyville. We clearly cannot decide for you, that is why I would like to ask you, where would you like to go?" Celestia asked.

Virgil sighed. "As much as I would like to meet this Canterlot, I would rather stay close to the Elements, and discover everything they have to offer." Taking the moment to cast a quick glance at the aforementioned group, Virgil chuckled. "The chance to walk amongst a  power as pure as this, is an opportunity I would not let go, besides..." The spirit raised his hand, as he pointed towards the youngest princess in the room, who received the benevolent shadow with a smile and slight reddened cheeks. "Lady Twilight strikes me as a very illuminated being, and I´m sure I will get to know more about this place, plus, I love towns, I cannot find as much peace and beautiful ambiance  as in these kind of places."

Celestia noticed the excitement in Virgil, as he stood up to make emphasis on his own likes regarding towns. He did look like a very family ambiance being, and she could certainly understand his decision, however, he was not the only one with free choice in the room. "Very well." The sun princess set her gaze on the Florentine, almost already knowing his answer. "How about you, Dante?"

"I will head to Ponyville as well." He answered. "I could surely need some peace and tranquility, besides, I could not leave the side of my protector, it makes the journey rather lonely."

Celestia was not surprised by his decision, since they arrived, she could notice Dante´s closeness to the ancient spirit, and by his tale, Virgil had helped him unconditionally, plus, Dante clearly admired the poet. Setting her thoughts away from the pair, her sight went towards the Spartan, who was still munching every fruit that perished under his hunger, and stopped for a moment. An almost sight expression escaped her features, as she noticed Kratos silently enjoying his food like he had not eaten in... ´centuries´, Celestia thought, soon realizing the Spartan´s predicament. The man was so easy to be feared, yet in this moment, the only feeling that invaded Celestia as she looked at him, was sadness. "Kratos?" She finally asked, forcing the Spartan to raise his sight, with a look similar to that of a colt who had been discovered eating something he shouldn´t. "I kind of feel dumb to ask, as I know you are not too fond of peaceful places, and I would really like to have you around in Canterlot, so..." The Spartan swallowed his food from his fourth plate, and placed his full attention on the sun princess. "Where are you heading?"

With his right hand, Kratos cleaned what was left of the fruit he just devoured, and pondered about his answer, when his gaze rested on the youngest alicorn princess. That look, that reminder of a cursed fate, the look of a child that he knew, had a huge future... his answer was immediate. "Ponyville."

Celestia cocked her head to the side, confused by the Spartan´s answer. "Are you sure?"

"I am."

The sun princess blinked in surprise, and nodded silently. In reality, she was not sure how Kratos could react to a town like ponyville, she did not know how ponies would react. Celestia made a mental note to inform Canterlot´s soldiers to inform town about the guests, so to avoid any kind of panic, still, she felt uneasy about not keeping her eye on the Spartan. Celestia figured she would pay him a visit from time to time, once they arrived home.

And so it was that the group continued their talk, with the exception of Kratos, who went for his fifth dish. It was a relief to have the Spartan lost in his food so he could not bitter the moment with some of his rudeness, still, Celestia felt a bit sad about Kratos´ necessity to feel something in his mouth. Averting her gaze from the man, the sun princess spotted Dante chatting amicably with Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow. She had a hard time trying to understand how a man with his looks could be so friendly, yet, she had learned through the ages, not to judge a cover by its books.

Dante had managed to close a circle, complete his journey of self discovery, but it was more than clear that he had to work roughly to be where he is now. The Florentine was a poet, not a fighter, yet he had an aura so pure, that it overwhelmed Celestia´s own control over the shinning sun. Some of it, she recognized as love, which was the same as the one Cadence had, however, there was something else more... divine. It almost was like a comedy, for her to see such a gentle soul butchering his way through Tartarus.

Then her sight went towards Virgil, that´s when deep nostalgia invaded the sun princess. Something about the shadow reminded her about an old and loved friend now gone. He had this gentle expression, a pair of eyes that screamed of wisdom, and the voice of a loving father that could make you fall asleep if you were not careful. Virgil had spent his time trying to stop Pinkie from introducing food into his mouth. Celestia smiled at the mare´s intention of making him taste the sweetness of a fruit, fact that seemed to be highly amusing for the spirit, who took his time to chuckle at Pinkie´s shenanigans.

"Okay!" Said Pinkie, holding a pie on her right hoof. "Here comes the train, open wide!"

Same as before, the food simply fell to the ground, making the mare rather desperate, something that was noticed by Virgil, who placed his hand over Pinkie´s right hoof to stop her from continuing her crusade. "I know you are eager to see me taste this meal, but as you can see, I cannot swallow what any living being consumes, besides," averting his gaze from her, Virgil´s eyes went to the floor, where there was a small food mountain, then looked back at Pinkie, and grinned, "we are really making a mess on the floor."

Pinkie let out a chuckle, as she placed the next piece of pie back on the table. "Don´t you worry, silly, I´ll have this cleaned in a jiffy!"

Faster than the eye could see, a pink blur made it past Virgil and behind his chair. On the ground, almost as if magic was involved, all the fallen food was now gone before the same pink blur as before passed again, leaving the ground shinning. It wasn´t long before the blur made it in front of Virgil, revealing itself as a smiling Pinkie. On his part, the spirit could not help but to laugh at her unusual abilities.

"Are you not a remarkable girl?"

Pinkie chuckled at this. "No I´m not, I´m just Pinkie!"

"And I am sure that means more than anything else." Virgil raised his hand, and placed it on Pinkie´s puffy mane, gently robbing her head. "You heart is as sweet as your innocence."

Cadence, who had been staring at Dante, couldn´t help but to notice his battle costume, ravaged like if it had gone to Tartarus, which actually had. Soon enough, she came up with an idea. "I was thinking about something." Dante turned to look at her. "Now that you are all heading to ponyville, you could spend some time in getting something fresher to wear." The Florentine cocked his head to the side, before looking at his own attire. "I know you must feel uncomfortable wearing that all the time, or am I wrong, Durante?"

The poet analyzed his clothes, noticing the numerous things he made to himself, so to find redemption for his sins, yet it was not a demonstration of the Dante that lived before the battle of Campaldino, but rather the manifestation of his own madness, and blind faith towards those that led him astray. "Wear a mask for too long, and you will loose perception of who you are." Dante answered. "You are not wrong Cadenza, but who will supply us?"

Rarity did not take long to jump into the conversation, less when it was about her own hobbies. She loved making clothes, and she was loving the Florentine´s personality, so it was more than obvious who would aid the poet. "That would be me, Dante, there is nopony better than me to give anything you desire about fashion."

Dante couldn´t help but to release a chuckle at Rarity´s self ascension, and mocked. "I like your modesty."

Rarity smiled at this, as she shook her head in response. "Is anything wrong with that? You just said masks make you loose perception of who you are, and I don´t plan to hide myself any time."

She was right. "Fair enough, lady Rarity, but..." Dante looked on his pockets, trying to find a small bag of coins, but stopped his search once he realized that he did not have money, and the possibility that Equestria´s currency was different from his. His face released a concerned look. "I do not know how to pay you."

Rarity let out a chuckle, once more shaking her head, before assaulting the Florentine with a warm smile. "There is no need for that, Darling, it goes on me."

"Are you sure?" Dante asked.

"There aren´t many gentlecolts in touch with their feelings anymore, and it feels nice to have one with us." The mare did not waste the moment, and gave Dante a wink. "Of course I´m sure."

From her place. Twilight, who was watching the scene, noticed the Spartan´s almost nude body. Being an Element of Harmony, she did not find Kratos being left out, fair. "And what about Kra..."

"Five bits!" Rarity interrupted, her words gaining the attention of the Spartan, who turned to look at her with an annoyed look, making Rarity feel uneasy. "Heh, heh! I meant to say it is free as well."

Kratos scoffed at her false attempt at being friendly, and crossed his arms after letting the newest piece of breath on the table. "I do not need your second hand products, and I highly doubt you are worth enough to forge an armor."

A collective gasp was soon to be heard, after Rarity´s ability for this kind of work was placed in doubt. On her part, the fashion mare found herself in fury after the Spartan´s insult, and immediately lost all fear of him. "Of course not! I´m a lady! Do you really think I would ruin my hooves in creating an armor?"

A mocking chuckle went out of the Spartan, as his face remained as serious as ever. "Then I was right to think you are as useless as you are ugly"

Rarity was about to get off her chair, and go preach Kratos, but was stopped by Celestia who decided to intervene before the Spartan went crazy again. "How about we forge you one at Canterlot?" As she had predicted, the sun princess got the attention of Kratos, who aversed his gaze from the unicorn to stare at her. "We have some of the best forgers in Equestria, and it would suited to your needs."

Kratos´ frown lessened, but before he could even speak, a pink blur positioned itself in front of him. "Uh! Can I forge an armor?" The Spartan gave a small jump, going off his chair, and placed himself in combat position, until he noticed it was only Pinkie. "I´m very good at making armors!"

"When in tarnation have you ever done one?" Asked Applejack.

"You don´t remember?" Answered the party pony, who placed herself on the table, then raised her left hoof to the air, before letting out a serious look. "I remember as if it was yesterday! We were deep under the catacombs of Canterlot, ready to blend the toughest metal in all of Equestria, and..." Then, she pointed at Luna. "You were there," the next one was Twilight, "you were there," then Dante, who cocked his head to the side in confusion, "you were there," after she named her armor building partners, something happened that made Kratos speechless. Pinkie reached her mane with her hoof, searching inside it for a second, before pulling it away with an armor Kratos knew too well, "and we made this!"

There, resting on the pink pony´s hoof, was the armor Kratos wore when he was a god. For a moment, he had wondered if he had managed to find a way to sleep, and still was inside his prison back in hell, but sadly for him, this was all real. Rather slowly, he approached her. "What treachery is this?"

The rest opted to remaain silent, with the ponies already aware of Pinkie´s strange abilities, leaving Dante and even Virgil to scratch their heads in confusion at the scene, but highly amused by Kratos´ reaction to the pink pony.

Pinkie chuckled, waving the piece of cloth on her hoof. "It´s not treachery, it´s an armor, silly!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Pinkie placed her hoof back inside of her mane, alerting Kratos, who raised his hand to stop her. "Wait!" Sadly for the Spartan, Pinkie´s appendage went back outside without the armor. Kratos found himself highly exasperated- "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Pinkie asked, as Kratos hurried himself over the table, while placing his hands inside of the mare´s head, desperately searching for the object.

Kratos grunted, as he took his hands off her mane, and looked at her with a furious look on  his face. "The armor, you witch!"

Pinkie cocked her head to the side, now confused about the Spartan´s words. "What armor?"

Kratos remained silently looking at Pinkie, his right eye giving away a faint tick. The rest present were observing in suspense for whatever Kratos was about to do. On his part, his mind went complete white, as his... sot of calmness was replaced by fury upon the rather pathetic loss of that fine piece of armor, which he had personally watched being create in the past. Many questions entered his mind, ranging from the numerous possibilities for it to appear inside of her mane, to the numerous ways he could torture her to get the armor back. He was in a nightmare, a nightmare full of buffoons making fun of him, and it aggravated him. His fists clenched tightly, his teeth gritted in anger, but just before he could explode, the Spartan gave up. Giving one small jump, as he came back to reality, Kratos got oof the table and went towards the exit doors, then turned back to look at the rest. "We head to ponyville today!"

With that, the Spartan violently closed the doors, even making them crack. This action made Celestia sigh, who simply placed her hoof on her forehead. So far Kratos screamed of problems, and even when she thought he could behave, something happened that set his fury ablaze. It was clear he did not have enough patience, and could only hope Equestria could get to him, then there was their travel to Ponyville. It was in that moment, that Celestia took the decision of keeping her eyes on Kratos, but even if she was, there was one thing she knew for sure...

"This is going to be a fun adventure."