The Guardian Knights: Equestrian Angelsby AC PunkChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 1A New Life A lone castle sits atop a cliff base as a massive battle takes place at the bottom. The crack of thunder filling sky echoes throughout the battlefield. The rain is only making the battle more dramatic. As the rain falls on both the living and an army of reanimated corpses, four brave heroes manage to get inside the castle walls and into the compound. As they get inside, they stop and pull out a map of the structure. "Alright, we're here in the west wing," the leader explains, "Ashley is being held in the lower levels if the information is correct." "How should we approach this Adam?" One of the others asks. "Jacob," Adam begins, "You and Samuel will sabotage the draw bridge mechanism to allow the rest of the army inside. While this is going on, Marcus and I will make our way downstairs to the lab. Once there, we find Ashley and disable whatever is causing the undead army." "What about the target?" Samuel asks. Adam pauses before speaking. "Leave him to me." As the group splits up, Adam and Marcus begin their descent into the dark castle. Each floor beneath ground level is but a dungeon for the castle's owner to hold his experiment subjects in. As they reach the lab on the bottom floor, a bright green light fills the area as a single girl a little younger then Adam (19-20) seemingly defies gravity in the middle of the room. Her back is to the ground as several magical runes float around her body. Marcus can only watch as Adam brandishes his spear, the spear head glowing reviews ith blue flames. "Ah, so you did come for her?" A voice says. Adam and Marcus turn to the locatio of the voice and brandish their weapons as a elderly man in black and purple robes observes from an alter. "Nercro, what have you done to Ashley?" Adam asks, a hint of venom in his voice when pronouncing the mans name. "Oh Adam, always to the point. If you must know, I'm in the process of finishing the ritual I was in the process of completing decades ago." "What does this have to do with Ashley?" Necro Summons his staff as Ashley's body descends to the floor, standing upright. "I'm afraid I have to sacrifice young Ashley's soul in order to begin the ritual. That massive green light you saw was her soul being separated from her body." He taps his staff on the floor and another Ashley appears above him, bound in chains and glowing white. "YOU BASTARD!!!" Adam says before charging at Necro. Before he could get close to the alter, Ashley's body jerks and she appears in front of him. "I'm afraid I can not allow you to interfere with my plans, so I have taken the liberty of exchange the soul of young Ashley for one of my demon warriors." Ashley body then opens its eyes to reveal they are solid black. "No." Adam says in shock. The demon smirks before chuckling in Ashley's voice and shoving Adam back. "Marcus, go to the others. Keep the royal army from coming down here," He drops his spear and unsheathed a sword from his back, the blade catching fire as it exits the leather cover, "this is my fight." Marcus says nothing, knowing not to question his leader, and ascends the stairwell. An explosion echoing through it as he reaches the top. "So, you wish for a private audience," A massive shockwave erupts from the alter as Necro cuts his wrist, " SO BE IT, THIS LAB WILL BE YOUR GRAVE!!!!" Adam once again charges, locking swords with a possessed Ashley. The trade blows before Adam parries a strike and shove her out of the way. He manages to get to the alter before he is stopped, a painful entity gripping his body as Necro turns to him. "Time and time again, you try and stop me from saving this world," The demon appears behind Adam, her sword pointed at the back of his head, "for years I tried, only for people like you to get in my way. But not anymore, kill him." Before the sword could pierce his skull, Adam breaks free of his hold and grabs her head, slamming it into alter and stabbing her through the neck with his own blade. Necro turns in shock, only for Adam's enchanted blade to fly by his face. The blade lands with its tip stabbed into the ground below Ashley's spirit where the source of the shockwave came from, a magical seal. Necro turns back to Adam, only for a set of Brass knuckles to make a sickening crack as the make contact with his jaw. Necro falls back, holding his now broken jaw, and looks at Adam. "You fool, you've killed us all!" He exclaims in a slurred voice. Adam says nothing as he stabs Necro, killing him. As he walks towards his sword, he looks up to Ashley's spirit and smiles. "We'll see each other soon," he grabs the hilt of his blade, "I promise." Outside, Marcus and the others are at the base of the cliff, disposing of the last of the undead horde with the Royal army. As the last one falls, a massive explosion rips through the castle. A massive fire ball erupts from the lab and destroys the side of the massive structure, causing it to collapse. Seeing this, Marcus and the others retreat to safety as a faint white glow moves closer to a second before disappearing in a flash of light the same color as the magic seal. Adam wakes up in a place void of anything but light. Surrounded by nothing but white, he wonders if this is the afterlife. "I can assure you, this isn't the aftermite." A soothing feminine voice says. Adam turns around to see a woman in her mid thirties standing in the middle of the "rift". She has red hair the comes to her waist and white wings, a horn is also coming out of her forehead. "Who are you, and where's Ashley!?!" Adam asks, clearly agitated. "Your love is alive and well, but she is not with us at this moment. However," her hand glows with a golden aura as Adam's back suddenly catches on fire, "You are needed in the world I created. A paladin to lad those who will defend Equestria from the impending apocalypse." Adam cries out in pain and falls to his knees as the fire burns two angel wings into his back, they for a tattoo that covers his entire back, except for his spine. His silver hair gains blue highlights as two blue ethereal wings form from the tattoo on his back. Grabbing his chest, Adam looks up at the women, tears made of blood coming from his eyes. "What did you do to me?" He asks. "I have given you powers beyond your imagination. You will use them to fulfill your destiny. Now go, the others will know of your arrival and seek you out." Her figure becomes smaller as Adam fills a wind current flow from behind him and pick up speed rapidly. "Wait, who are you!?! You didn't answer my question!!!" Adam yells as he begins to fall at a rapid pace. The woman smiles softly as she looks down upon him. "I am Faust." Meanwhile... Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. It is currently celebrating Hearths Warming Eve as snow covers the city. At the Castle, we find Princess Twilight and her friends perparing to partake in the annual play once again. As they look over their lines, a guard appears in the doorway. "Sorry for the interruption, butrincess celestial has requested you all come to the dining hall." He says before turning to leave. "Well, I am kind of hungry. Why not?" The cyan colored girl known as Rainbow dash says before taking flight and heading out the door. "Oh well, it is Hearth's Warming Eve." Twilight says and begins to follow her Pegasus friend. As the group arrives at the dining hall, They find both Celestial and Luna at the foot of it. The table is covered in food appropriate for the holidays and the girls can only stare as the princess begins to laugh at their expressions. "Good evening twilight, would you and your friends came to join us?" Celestial asks. The mane six say nothing and take their seats. But before they could dig in, a massive tremor shakes the building as an explosive sound follows. "What I the world was that?" Asks Twilight. A being in a brown suit suddenly appears out of thin air, he is also wearing a holiday scarf. "I swear, it wasn't me." He says before disappearing. Before anyone could say anything, another guard appears in the doorway, several more towards where the explosion came from. "Your majesty, something has fallen from the sky and crashed into the east side of the castle!" He exclaims. "Isn't that where Bluebloods room is?" Luna asks. As the group makes their way to the east wing, they find a massive crater where several rooms onepce stood, and in its center lies a young man with several cuts and wounds exposed to the elements. As he tries to get up, a lone arrow hits the ground next to him. He looks at it before looking at the archer who shot it. The archer quickly shoves his bow into the hands of the guard standing next to him as the young ,an sighs and gets to his feet. As he does this, he begins to lose consciousness as several human like figures begin to approach him. The last thing he can remember before passing out, was Ashley. Author's Note So, for those of you that said " all I want for Christmas is a new story" your wish has been granted. This will be a story I work on when i can't think of anything to put into A Punks Love. I hope you enjoy it, because you will be in for one hell of a ride for this point forward. Chapter 2Welcome to Equestria Adam wakes up in what he can only describe as a hospital. Looking down, he finds his chest covered in bandages, along with the one he feels wrapped around his head. As he tries to get up, he feels something pull his hand. Looking over, he finds a tube feeding some kind of liquid into a vein. Before he could remove it, a nurse walks in. "Ah, you're awake." She says upon seeing him. Adam says nothing as the nurse replaces the bag of liquid the tube was connected to with a full one. "You have some guests. Would you like me to let them in." Adam sighs before motioning for them to come in. The nurse nods and leaves the room, Adam leaning back to stare at the ceiling in return. After a bit of waiting, the door opens again. This time, two people that look similar to the "Faust" person he met enter the room. One colored white with multi colored hair, the other purple with dark violet hair with a pink streak going down it. As they enter the room, Adam turns to look out the window. "Hello, would you like to introduce yourself?" The white one asks. Adam replies with silence, wondering where Ashley could be. "Okay, well I'm Princess Celestial, co-ruler of Equestria." Adam once again ignores them, only this time he pulls the beds blanket up. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, could you at least tell us your name?" Twilight asks. Adam finally acknowledges the two of them and speaks. "Adam, now leave me alone." He says before trying to go back to sleep. As he turns over, the two wings tattooed on his back are revealed. Seeing them, Twilight asks. "Oh, so you're a Pegasi?" She asks. Adam looks at her like she just asked what bread was. "No, I'm a human. Now will you two let me sulk before I lose my shit. I haven't had the best of days recently." Adam once again falls down to try and sleep. Hearing this, Celestial and Twilight leave before they begin to do more harm then good. As they exit the room, Twilight's Friends approach her. "Well, what did he say?" Asks Rainbow. "I'm afraid all we could get out of him was his name. Adam doesn't really want to talk right now." She replies. As the girls look towards his door, the sound of something metal hitting the floor fills the room. Opening the door, they Find Adam rubbing the top of his hand, the IV equipment tipped over on the floor. Looking at him, his only response is a scoff as he once again stares out the window. "Your Majesty, I believe the patient is suffering from some sort of psychological issue." A doctor suggests. Celestial nods at hearing this and tells Twilight and her friends to return to their rooms. As Celestia heads to her private living area, she finds her sister snoring on the couch. "Luna, wake up. I need you to do something for me." She says. Luna replies with a snore before twitching and waking up for her nap. "What is it that you require of us to do dear sister?" She asks while stretching. "The individual from yesterday appears to be suffering from some form of psychological trauma. I want you to enter his dream tonight and see what is wrong with him." "Consider it *Yawn* done. Now let's us retire to our bedroom. We have a big night ahead of us." Luna says before heading off to her bedroom. Later that night, Adam is in the middle of a dream. In the middle of a room, he see's Ashley being dragged away by several chains wrapped around her arms. He tries to help her, but right as he is about to save her, his grip slips and she is pulled full speed into a dark room. Crying out his name as she disappears, Adam sits on his knees and cries, wondering what the hell just happened. He was so close to being reunited with her, only to torn away yet again. "So this is the source of your trauma." A voice says. Adam turns to see the door disappear, and Ashley stand up, free of her shackles. "Ashley?" Adam asks. His hopes are diminished as she begins to take the form of Princess Luna. "We are sorry to have gotten your hopes up, but we are not your lover." She says. Adam says nothing and turns away from her. As Luna tries to approach, a massive wall appears in front of her. "Really, thou will have to do much better if you wish to stop us." She says before waving her hand and removing the wall. She is then shocked when the feeling of something piercing her abdomen begins to form. Looking down, she finds an arrow lodged I her stomach and Adam has disappeared. Removing the imaginary arrow, she waves her hand once more. Adam suddenly appears and he is clearly agitated. "Why won't you leave me the hell alone?" He asks. "Your are agitated, we only want to know the cause." "What's my problem, i just killed myself in order to save millions of others; my friends are gone, my parents are dead, my girlfriend is creator knows where, and I'm apparently apart of some damn prophecy where I have to lead another group of heroes to save 'Equestria' for an impending apocalypse." Adam begins to lie down. Hearing this, Luna is stunned. She quickly disappears from the dream realm and returns to her own body. As the sun rises for morning, she quickly meets with her sister. Adam on the other hand is struggling to do some for of rehab with his fingers. "Nurse, my hands feel like jelly." He says while trying to grab a ball. "Keep trying and your goal will be achieved." The nurse replies. A knock at the door then summons her away as Adam finally gives up as the ball falls in the floor. After a few short minutes, Celestia enters the room. Seeing her, Adam sighs. "Alright, listen. Before anything is said, I'm sorry for my actions yesterday. I was in a new place with no knowledge of the location." He apologizes. Celestia seems surprised at hearing this and smiles. "It is alright, my sister told me the source of your trauma. But, what interests me the most is that you mentioned something about a prophecy?" She explains. "Yeah, I did." "Could you please elaborate?" "Well, after I died I woke up in this 'void'. I met this woman who looked like you, but her hair was red. She said I needed to fulfill some kind of destiny in Equestria," he then rolls over to show the wings she gave him, "She burned this tattoo into my back. Called me a paladin, then I fell. Last thing I remember is standing up, then I woke up here yesterday." Celestia goes wide eyed at the mention of the red haired woman, but gathers herself before replying. "Adam, you are indeed apart of a prophecy. But that will be explained once we get you cleaned up. Retrieve your clothes and the guards will escort you to the throne room." She then teleports away. Adam shrugs at this and waits for the nurse. She arrives shortly after and removes the bandages and his bracelet before giving him his clothes. They consist of a pair of jeans, black combat boots, a black t-shirt, a gray leather jacket, and a black scarf with two crossed swords embroidered into the end of it. He thanks the nurse for her services and leaves the building, running into a man in golden armor with purple highlights. Seeing him, Adam raises an eyebrow. "Are you Adam?" The man asks. Adam nods and the man motions for him to get into a chariot. Adam is skeptical but gets in as requested. "So, who are you exactly?" Adam asks the man in the highlighted armor. The man turns to him and removes his helmet, revealing blue hair. "I am Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. I was assigned to escort you to the castle." He replies. "Oh, well thank you. I'm Adam, former hero and currently confused beyond recognition." Adam replies. After a quick ride, they arrive at the castle. Shining Armor escorts Adam through the halls to the throne room. Upon entering, He sees Celestia and Luna sitting on there respective thrones. Upon seeing him, Celestia motions for the guards to leave. When they are gone, she gets up from her throne. "So, what is this prophecy you wanted to discuss in private?" Adam asks. The princess says nothing as the window curtains shut on their own. "Long ago, an ancient evil attempted to open the gates of Tartarus and plunge Equestria into Chaos." Discord suddenly appears. "It wasn't me." He says before disappearing. Adam raises an eyebrow and attempts to speak before Celestia begins again. "As I was saying, this was before my sister and I were around. It happened shortly after Equestria was founded. The being wielded power no one had ever seen before. He could summon demons, raise the dead, and many other horrible things." "Sounds like Necro." Adam thinks to himself. "In order to protect her children from the apocalypse, Faust split her powers into five pieces and gifted them to five warriors worthy of wielding them. They made a heroic last stand and sealed their foe in the world he wished to let loose. What became of the heroes is unknown, but it was prophesied that the evil would return. And with it, five new heroes would stand against it." "So what does this have to do with me being a Paladin?" Adam asks. "Adam, Faust chose you to lead the Warriors against the evil that threatens us. We know not when it will arrive, only that with your arrival, it is imminent." She then waves her hand and the curtains open. "You must find the other four warriors. They will help you in fulfilling your destiny." "Okay, so where do I go next?" Adam asks. "I am sending you to Ponyville. You will be under the care of the Princess Twilight and her friends whil you search for the others." Adam nods at this and leaves. As he does this, Luna falls forward but catches herself. "May we please return to our bed now dear sister?" She asks. Celestia smiles and nods. As Adam rides the train to his destination, he Looks out the window at the sky. "Ashely's out there, I just have to find her." He says to himself before dozing off. As he begins to sleep, he doesn't notice his back begin to glow blue, outlining the wings on his back. He fidgets a bit and the glowing stops. Author's Note Adam is headed to Ponyville, what awaits him as he begins to unravel the mystery and form his team. Shoutout to everyone who supported the continuation of this story. The next Chapter will include Adam getting his new weapon and him fighting off timber wolves. The CMC will also make a cameo. Until next time. Also, I'm looking for an artist willing to make a cover for this story. If you wish to help, pleas reply in the comments. Chapter 3Discovering New Powers The morning had just begun in Ponyville; several of its citizens were out and about, either enjoying the snow or clearing the roads of it. However, the castle just on the outside of the city was preparing for something else. Inside, Princess Twilight and her friends were getting ready for their new guests arrival. Twilight was in the throne room while her friends went about cleaning the crystal structure. As she looked over the map of Equestria, she waited patiently for the guests arrival. "Twilight, we finished cleaning the castle!" Exclaims Rainbow as the group of friends meet up in the throne room. As they enter the room, they each sit in their respective thrones as twilight begins to speak. "Thank you for helping girls, I hope Adam appreciates the work we put into cleaning the place." She says. "I'm sure he will appreciate it darling. If what Celestia said is true, he is a stallion of good character." Rarity says. "Do you think he likes Cake, or parties, OR PARTYING!?!!" Pinkie asks before rainbow interrupts her. "Whoever he is, I'm pretty sure he's not as awesome as me." She gloats. "Rainbow, if what we know is true, then Adam has done more than we could ever do in a lifetime as the Elements of Harmony, or the council of friendship." Applejack explains. "Oh, do you think he likes animals?" Asks Fluttershy. Before anyone could continue, the sound of a train whistle echoes throughout the town. At the station, Adam exits his car and begins walking to the castle he apparently "will recognize immediately". As he walks through town, he takes the back alleys on purpose so he want draw attention to himself. But this proves futile as he suddenly comes face to face with pink haired girl in a matching pink sweater. Adam says nothing as he pulls his scarf above his mouth. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! Are you that person from another world that Celestia said was going to be staying with Twilight in her castle?" She asks, not even bothering to respect personal space. Adam says nothing and slowly backs away, trying hard to keep eye contact. As he does this, he bumps into another person. This time, it's a girl wearing a so cyan hoodie, her rainbow colored air showing from underneath its hood. "I wouldn't try running, you won't get away." She says with a cocky smirk. Seeing no way out, Adam kicks off the wall next to him and climbs to the roof, hoping he will be able to get to the castle without anyone else seeing him. "You won't get away that easy!" The girl from before exclaims from behind. Adam turns to see the girl flying behind him at a high speed. Right as she is about to tackle him, Adam disappears in a flash of violet light. When he reappears, he falls onto a ground with a thud. Groaning, he picks himself up and is surprised to see Twilight standing in front of him. "Hello Adam. Sorry if my friends went a little overboard." She says. "Oh believe me, that wasn't even close." Adam replies while standing up. After a bit of talking, Twilight gives Adam a tour of the castle. As they tour each and every hallway, Adam can't help but get flashbacks to the day he first met Ashley. His train of thought is quickly subsided when they reach the balcony. The view he had been gifted was breathtaking, he could see all of Ponyville and several cities on the horizon. He could faintly make out the Silouete of Canterlot jutting out from the side of the mountain. After some sightseeing, Adam follows Twilight to the room he will be staying in until they find him a place to live. After he gets settled, Twilight takes Adam on a tour of Ponyville. "And that is Sugarcube Corner." Twilight says while gesturing to the establishment. "Reminds of a gingerbread house." Adam replies. As the two continue to walk around town, Adam is suddenly tackled to the ground by a cyan blur. "Like I said, you had no chance of-" Rainbow is cut off as she is wrapped in a violet aura. She turns to see Twilight with an unamused expression. "Rainbow, you can't just tackle people for no reason." She tells her. Adam mentally laughs at the two friends argument, but stops when they see applejack run up to them. "I need y'all to come to Sweet Apple Acres. The timber wolves have gone berserk." She explains. The group quickly follows at hearing this, Adam just following the herd. "Why are they out during winter, shouldn't they be dormant?" Twilight asks as the group arrives at the iconic fence gate. When they got to the location of the barn, the girls were shocked to see you the normally warm weather loving creatures trying to ransack the place. "When did this start happening?" Asks Twilight. "About an hour or so ago," Applejack explains, "I tried to get Fluttershy to do something, but she can't seem to get through to them." Hearing this, Adam does the only thing he's good at. To his left he finds an axe sitting next to stump, obviously used for cutting fire wood. Smirking, he grabs and throws said axe at one of the timber wolves. As the axe makes contact, which causes the wolf to howl in pain, the girls all gasp as Adam retrieves the weapon and begins fighting. "What in Tarantino is he thinking?" Applejack asks. Her worry is quickly subsided as Adam begins to get the upper hand, using the axe to make quick work of some of the smaller wolves. As the timber wolves begin to dwindle in numbers, The remains of the smaller ones begin to glow and levitate towards what looks like the alpha, if Adam's memory serves right. The branches and twigs begin combining as the alpha male begins to grow. When there are no twigs left, Adam can only stare wide eyed at the massive wooden monstrosity that now stands before him. It apparently noticed his shock, because it lets out a loud and horrific roar as soon as it finished growing. "Well that's more than meets the eye." Adam says throwing the axe at the massive timber wolf. It only bounces off and the creature snorts. Adam is then kicked across the property and crashes through and into the barn. Now worried, the girls try and stop the creature before more harm can be caused. As Adam slowly gets back to his feet, he begins to hear a voice in his head. "Adam, you have the power to stop this." An all to familiar voice explains. "Faust?" Adam asks. When he doesn't get a reply, he suddenly feels some form of power and strength wash over him, a blue light begins to form on his back, outlining the wings. Adam then clenches his costs and the ethereal wings shoot out of his back. Grinning, he takes to the sky's in an instant. Back with the girls, their attempt to stop the alpha are proving futile as they only appear to be distracting the creature. But before anyone could spthink of a new plan of attack, a blue blue suddenly slams into it. The girls are shocked to say the least, but their confusion only strecpgnthens as Adam lands in front of them. "Adam!?!" The six of them ask in shock. Adam turns to them and smiles. "For the record, I'm as confused as all of you." He tells them before ducking to dodge a tree branch. Turning back to the wolf, his hands are set a flame as a magic seal forms on the ground below. Catching fire himself, the flames die down to reveal him holding a blade staff, two swords joined together at the handle. "This going to be fun." He says with a grin as the blades of his new weapon catch flame. Charging at the beast, he makes one slash and everyone looks at the wolf confused. But they are quickly stunned as the beast explodes into a blue inferno. Separating the staff into two broadswords and sheathes them on his back. His wings then disappear as the girls continue to stare at him. Chuckling at their expressions, Adam throws a nearby apple to get their attention. The fruit hits Twilight in the chest and she is snapped out of her stare. Looking at Adam, she can say nothing as his wings once again form and he takes off in the direction of her castle. "Well, that just happened." Rainbow states. Meanwhile... Night has fallen up in the snow capped mountains. In a small village, a teenaged Pegasus girl is seen packing up her things and taking off into the night sky. "I was hoping I wouldn't' have to leave you guys," she says in the direction of the house she left, "but I have to figure out why I was given my powers, even if it means leaving you. Goodbye Mom, Goodbye Dad, I love you guys." She begins flying in the direction of Ponyville. Author's Note Adam has discovered his weapon and powers. But what about the strange cloaked girl from the mountain village, what role does she have in all of this? I also realize I forgot the CMC, well sue me. NEXT TIME... A Snow Angel's Gift. Chapter 4A Snow Angel's Gifts After the incident at Sweet Apple Acres, Adam has become the target of the mane six for a multitude of reasons. Twilight wishes to study and examine what causes his powers, Applejack wishes for him to come and help out at the farm (try and work off the damages he accidentally caused), Rainbow wants him to race her in order to see how fast his wings can take him, Rarity wishes to use him as inspiration for her next fashion line, and Pinkie is well...Pinkie. Fluttershy seems to be the only one who doesn't wish to do anything and has been Adam's savior when he needs to hide from the others. Today, he is hiding from Twilight and her multitude of blood examinations, which involve her drawing blood from where his wings form on his back. Fluttershy uses this time to try and get to know her unusual friend from another world, she is currently returning from her kitchen with a tea set. She sets it down in front of Adam, who is sitting on the couch next to a very irritable bunny rabbit, and pours them both a cup. "So," she begins, "What was it like back in your old world?" Adam takes a sip of his drink before answering. "Home, in my opinion, was a place very similar to Equestria. We had magic, but it was more of a gifted child thing." He explains. "I'm sorry." "It's like this, you know how your species is born with some form of innate magic?" She nods, "Where I came from, Archane mages were a dime a dozen. My old team and I were lucky enough to be born with our powers, which is a rare chromosome at child birth. But with my parents being members of the council of Archane empowerment, I was already predicted to be born a magic user." Fluttershy shoots him a confused look, "It's when two dogs with the same coat color mate and their puppy has the same color as its parents." "Oh, now I get it," she then takes a sip of her tea, "So, who was your old team?" She asks. "There was me, Marcus, jacob, Samuel, and Ashley." He frowns upon saying her name. After he regains himself, he goes on to explain how they all met. He ended up having to leave his hometown after an undead legion invaded and destroyed everything, his parents sacrificing them selves in order for him to escape. He met Marcus not long after escaping death, the two of them became friends after fighting off a group of thugs wanting to rob them. Samuel he met in a tavern; turns out he was actually a mercenary who joined up with Adam for a paycheck, but gave it up after seeing how Adam was willing to put himself in harms way in order to protect his friends. Jacob he met while trying to save kids forced into child labor at factories, helping him sabotage a metal foundry furnace. But when he began to talk about Ashley, Fluttershy could tell something was off by the way he held his eyes. "Ashley and I met in the capital city. She was the daughter of a high ranking military officer who actually fought alongside and trained with my folks. He let my team and I stay at their estate and it was there that me and Ashley began to fall in love." A lone tear begins to fall for his eye, "She and I became very close friends as time began to move on, we were actually apart of some ancient prophecy form my home, but that's for another time. She was everything I could ever ask of a girlfriend to be: smart, beautiful, strong, everything. We became an item shortly after recieving our weapons the prophecy spoke of. We dated for a while before missions began, and continued when we had no assignments. Then...then I-" he stops and rubs his eyes, breathing unevenly. "I guess she ment a lot to you, huh?" Fluttershy asks, trying to calm him. "She was the only one I could ever truly confide in. She was always there when I needed a shoulder to cry on, which was very rare. Ashley was, well, I guess you could call her my soul mate. Around her, I was happy. She loved me, and I loved her. But now," he looks outside towards the horizon, "Now I don't know where she is. I know she is here in Equestria, but I don't know where." Before he could go off preaching again, a knock comes from the front door of the cottage. When Fluttershy goes to answer, she is greeted by a winged girl with snow white skin and light violet hair. Upon seeing the stranger, Fluttershy begins to cower slightly, but gathers her courage and speaks. "Can I help you." She asks softly. "I'm looking for a guy named Adam; he has black hair with blue highlights and has a tattoo of a pair of wings covering his back. Have by chance seen him?" She asks. Adam instead obliges himself to give her the answer and appears in the door way. "Whoever you got your facts from is wrong," he says, "my hair hasn't been black since I got my soul blade." Upon seeing him, she goes wide eyed and trips herself, falling backwards. Seeing this, Adam smirks and rolls his eyes before helping her up. Dusting her sweatshirt off, he notices an all to style of tattoo running the length of her neck. As she begins to speak, he places his hand over her mouth. "You were chosen by Faust to fight alongside me, which caused the tattoo going across your neck to be burned into your skin during some form of dream. And now you have powers that you can't seem to get the hang of and want me to help you learn to control and wield them. Did I miss anything?" He says. The girl raises an eyebrow before shaking her head, Adam the removes his hand from her mouth. "My name is Adam, and I'm Faust's chosen Paladin." He tells her. "I'm Astrea, the tattoo actually runs down both of my arms. She said I would fight alongside you wielding magic native to my homeland. But I don't know what that means." She explains. Adam is about to reply, but then notices the symbol on Astrea's backpack, a snowflake. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you are an ice mage." He tells her. She raises an eyebrow at this, but doesn't get to reply as a icicle suddenly appears in her hand. "Like I said." "Can you please teach me?" She asks. "Oh, I'm going to teach you. I did always find ice magic interesting, even if my attribute was fire." He replies, making a blue flame form in his palm to prove his attribute. As the flame disappears, Astrea suddenly grabs Adam from inside the cottage and hugs him. What throws Adam off is that she was just outside. "Thank You! Now maybe the teens from home will stop calling me snow Angel." She tells him Hearing this, Adam laughs and gets out her grip before taking off his top layer of clothing to reveal the many tattoos covering his chest, not just the wings on his back. Each one is some form of writing, the language being that of the Archane mages. "The one below my neck translates to fallen angel. Angels protect those who can't protect themselves. Being called one back home is a compliment, not an insult." He explains before placing his clothes back on. With this new Knowledge, Astrea smiles as she is escorted by Fluttershy to a spare room. When the two of them are out of earshot, Adam reaches inside of his collar, the inside glowing for a second, and pulls out a folded up picture. The image is of his old team the day before Ashley was kidnapped. Marcus is holding his like a cane, Jacob and Samuel are one the opposite side with their weapons propped on their shoulders, And Adam is in the center with a blushing expression as Ashley kisses his cheek with her eyes closed and arms wrapped around his neck. Smiling, he returns the picture to his secret pocket and heads outside, staring off into oblivion as he once again wonders where his lost love is. Author's Note Astrea is owned by CosmicAlchemist24, he supported the writing and also writes in the PoME universe. Check him out if you get the chance. The team is starting to form, what's next as Adam takes on training an ice mage? What, you want me to tell you? FUCK THAT, I DO T GIVE SPOILERS!!! See you all in the next update, and Merry Christmas! Chapter 5An Unexpected Find The day after Astraea arrived in Ponyville, both her and Adam met up on the outskirts of town. It would be there that Adam would teach her. while he was doing this, Rarity was working on her "Angelic" fashion line. The outfit was easy enough to craft, finding a proper model was what caused the problem. Sure, she had intended for the outfit to be modeled by herself. But as the outfit started to come together, it was clear that she would not be able to model the Black and blue outfit. She would instead begin finding a girl who fit the specifications she was looking for. "Twilight; no. Rainbow Dash; she would never agree to it. Applejack; possible but unlikely. Fluttershy; no, I won't put her through that ever again. Pinkie; her coat would clash with the colors. Why is it so hard the find someone who has the hair and eyes to work a black on blue dress?" She asks herself as her frustration gpbegins to grow. Right as she is about to throw her notebook away, however, she hears the all to familiar sound of the bell chime at her front door ring. Walking to the showroom, Rarity stops dead in her tracks as her eyes spot a girl who would be perfect for the outfit she designed, she is wearing a Black treapnch coat and her leggings are tucked into her knee boots. Her hair is black and her eyes are hazel, but are accented by Light blue eye shadow. She turns to Rarity upon seeing her and speaks. "Uhh, are you the owner of this place?" The girl asks. Rarity shakes her head, returning to reality, then replies. "Why yes, my name is Rarity. Welcome to Carousel Boutique. How may I help you?" The girls grabs a backpack she was wearing and pulls out a white and red cloak with a massive rip going down the center of it. "I accidentally tore this, do you think you could fix it?" Rarity takes the cloak from her hands and examines it, then looks up with a smile. "I would be more then happy to repair your outfit, but I first need you to do something for me." She then grabs the girl by the wrist and takes her into the back. While Rarity was busy with the mystery girl, Adam and Astraea were practicing combat. Astraea had managed to get her powers under control faster the what was originally thought, so Adam decided to help her get her weapon. Turns out she was gifted a halberd by Faust, but her inexperience quickly showed as Adam knocked it from her hands. His Bladestaff had transformed from what it previously was, the blades had shrunken to the size of katana blades. As the two begin to finish up, Adam knocks Astraea back, her weapon coming out of her grasp. She takes a knee as Adam goes in for a final blow, but before he could land it, she begins to glow. "What the, Adam?" Astraea asks, not knowing what's happening. Adam says nothing as she is suddenly sealed in a block of ice. "Her powers have been awakened." he says to himself as the block begins to break. As it does this, Astraea is revealed to have undergone a transformation. Her hair now sports white highlights, her outfit now consists of a Knights chest piece underneath a Snow White trench coat, and she wears a set of knee boots and ice blue gloves. Looking closely, Adam can clearly make out an image in her eyes. Both of her eyes have changed from there usual color to two glowing white snowflakes with her pupils in their center. As she looks up, Astraea begins examining her new outfit with much interest. "Wow, this is amazing!" She says with enthusiasm. While this is going on, Rarity is helping the girl from before into the outfit she designed. The cloak she asked to be repaired is no where to be seen, but she is more focused on trying to figure out the strange patterns on the dress. As rarity zips up the back of the dress, the girl turns to face her. As rarity sees the outfit beimg worn, she takes mental notes of what else could be done to improve the design. "Miss Rarity," the girl says, "I thank you for showing me this, but I'm afraid I have to go. I have a train to catch." She then takes off the outfit, with Rarity's help, and takes her leave. But as she leaves, the cloak she brought in still lays in the store, forgotten. As she gets to the station, she doesn't realize it's missing until the train begins leaving. It's destination, Trottingham. Later that day, Adam arrives at Carousel Boutique with Astraea. She has reverted to her normal appearance and is wearing white scarf around her neck. As they enter the store, Rarity can be seen in the back, working on the dress. Seeing this, Adam and Astraea head into the back. As they enter the room, Rarity sees them. "Oh, hello Adam, Astraea. What bring you two here?" She asks. "Astraea wanted to see what you were working on, and against my own opinions I decided to tag along. So what are you working o-" Adam stops speaking as he spots the white and red cloak the girl from before left behind. He literally makes a b-line for it, much to the two girls shock, and picks it up. His eyes are wide and filled with a mix of shock and sadness. Turning, he looks at rarity. "Where did you get this." He asks her. "Why, a girl came in earlier today asking for it to be repaired. Unfortunately, in my haste to have her model my newest outfit, she and I must have completely forgotten about it. Why do you ask?" Adam drops to his knees and holds the cloak close as tears begin falling down his face. He looks up at the two girls. "This was my girlfriend's, it was a gift. Ashley was here, AND I FUCKING MISSED HER!" He yells before falling to the floor. He begins crying, but stops as a hand touches his back. Looking up, he sees rarity with a smile on her face. "It's okay Adam, this is only proof that she is alive and well. Sadly, the girl that came in looked nothing like the description you gave of her to us at the party pinkie through for you and Astraea last night." Adam then gets up to his feet, wiping his tears. "Ashley was a highly skilled shapeshifter. She could use her powers to not only change her own appearance, but her friends as well. She probably changed her appearance to not draw attention to herself." Adam explains. Hearing this, Rarity gets a flashback to the changelings, but quickly shakes her head. She repairs the cloak shortly after the conversation and gives to Adam, who wears it over his shoulder. As the three friends of their separate ways, the night sky begins to appear. As Adam returns to his room at the castle, he places the cloak on his bed and looks out into the night sky. "All I know is that you're alive, next step is finding you. I just hope I can get to you before something bad happens. Stay safe Ashley." He says. Meanwhile... The city of Trottingham, a city known for its industrial might and sophistication. But behind the guise of a good society is a a workforce of both adult and child labor, street gangs forcing people to go to work as there leader hides behind his shield of commerce and political standing. In the Whitestable Borough, a young man sits on the rooftops overlooking the rest of the city. In one of his hands is a set of brass knuckles, the other is being filled by kukri that appears to glow everytime he grips the handle tightly. Looking towards the lights, a tattoo can be seen on the young mans hand and up the back of his neck. "This city is suffering, the corruption has gone on long enough." He says, getting to his feet. As he does this, his tattoo and weapons begin glowing. "I am going to fix this, rid this city of its corruption. They are the problem," he puts on a top hat and a black trench coat and raises the collar to hide his face,"And I am the solution." Author's Note Ashley is alive and well, but who is this strange new character? and for those of you wondering, yes he is inspired by Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Next Chapter, we see Adam and Astraea head to Trottingham in hopes of tracking down Ashley. Sorry for the wait, damn writers block. Hope everyone had a good holiday season. I hope to get the next chapter in by New Year's Eve, but the New Years Six bowls games are coming on so who knows. Once again, I ask for someone willing to make me a cover for this story. If interested, please respond. Hope you guys/gals enjoy the story, and hope you have a great new year.
Chapter 1A New Life A lone castle sits atop a cliff base as a massive battle takes place at the bottom. The crack of thunder filling sky echoes throughout the battlefield. The rain is only making the battle more dramatic. As the rain falls on both the living and an army of reanimated corpses, four brave heroes manage to get inside the castle walls and into the compound. As they get inside, they stop and pull out a map of the structure. "Alright, we're here in the west wing," the leader explains, "Ashley is being held in the lower levels if the information is correct." "How should we approach this Adam?" One of the others asks. "Jacob," Adam begins, "You and Samuel will sabotage the draw bridge mechanism to allow the rest of the army inside. While this is going on, Marcus and I will make our way downstairs to the lab. Once there, we find Ashley and disable whatever is causing the undead army." "What about the target?" Samuel asks. Adam pauses before speaking. "Leave him to me." As the group splits up, Adam and Marcus begin their descent into the dark castle. Each floor beneath ground level is but a dungeon for the castle's owner to hold his experiment subjects in. As they reach the lab on the bottom floor, a bright green light fills the area as a single girl a little younger then Adam (19-20) seemingly defies gravity in the middle of the room. Her back is to the ground as several magical runes float around her body. Marcus can only watch as Adam brandishes his spear, the spear head glowing reviews ith blue flames. "Ah, so you did come for her?" A voice says. Adam and Marcus turn to the locatio of the voice and brandish their weapons as a elderly man in black and purple robes observes from an alter. "Nercro, what have you done to Ashley?" Adam asks, a hint of venom in his voice when pronouncing the mans name. "Oh Adam, always to the point. If you must know, I'm in the process of finishing the ritual I was in the process of completing decades ago." "What does this have to do with Ashley?" Necro Summons his staff as Ashley's body descends to the floor, standing upright. "I'm afraid I have to sacrifice young Ashley's soul in order to begin the ritual. That massive green light you saw was her soul being separated from her body." He taps his staff on the floor and another Ashley appears above him, bound in chains and glowing white. "YOU BASTARD!!!" Adam says before charging at Necro. Before he could get close to the alter, Ashley's body jerks and she appears in front of him. "I'm afraid I can not allow you to interfere with my plans, so I have taken the liberty of exchange the soul of young Ashley for one of my demon warriors." Ashley body then opens its eyes to reveal they are solid black. "No." Adam says in shock. The demon smirks before chuckling in Ashley's voice and shoving Adam back. "Marcus, go to the others. Keep the royal army from coming down here," He drops his spear and unsheathed a sword from his back, the blade catching fire as it exits the leather cover, "this is my fight." Marcus says nothing, knowing not to question his leader, and ascends the stairwell. An explosion echoing through it as he reaches the top. "So, you wish for a private audience," A massive shockwave erupts from the alter as Necro cuts his wrist, " SO BE IT, THIS LAB WILL BE YOUR GRAVE!!!!" Adam once again charges, locking swords with a possessed Ashley. The trade blows before Adam parries a strike and shove her out of the way. He manages to get to the alter before he is stopped, a painful entity gripping his body as Necro turns to him. "Time and time again, you try and stop me from saving this world," The demon appears behind Adam, her sword pointed at the back of his head, "for years I tried, only for people like you to get in my way. But not anymore, kill him." Before the sword could pierce his skull, Adam breaks free of his hold and grabs her head, slamming it into alter and stabbing her through the neck with his own blade. Necro turns in shock, only for Adam's enchanted blade to fly by his face. The blade lands with its tip stabbed into the ground below Ashley's spirit where the source of the shockwave came from, a magical seal. Necro turns back to Adam, only for a set of Brass knuckles to make a sickening crack as the make contact with his jaw. Necro falls back, holding his now broken jaw, and looks at Adam. "You fool, you've killed us all!" He exclaims in a slurred voice. Adam says nothing as he stabs Necro, killing him. As he walks towards his sword, he looks up to Ashley's spirit and smiles. "We'll see each other soon," he grabs the hilt of his blade, "I promise." Outside, Marcus and the others are at the base of the cliff, disposing of the last of the undead horde with the Royal army. As the last one falls, a massive explosion rips through the castle. A massive fire ball erupts from the lab and destroys the side of the massive structure, causing it to collapse. Seeing this, Marcus and the others retreat to safety as a faint white glow moves closer to a second before disappearing in a flash of light the same color as the magic seal. Adam wakes up in a place void of anything but light. Surrounded by nothing but white, he wonders if this is the afterlife. "I can assure you, this isn't the aftermite." A soothing feminine voice says. Adam turns around to see a woman in her mid thirties standing in the middle of the "rift". She has red hair the comes to her waist and white wings, a horn is also coming out of her forehead. "Who are you, and where's Ashley!?!" Adam asks, clearly agitated. "Your love is alive and well, but she is not with us at this moment. However," her hand glows with a golden aura as Adam's back suddenly catches on fire, "You are needed in the world I created. A paladin to lad those who will defend Equestria from the impending apocalypse." Adam cries out in pain and falls to his knees as the fire burns two angel wings into his back, they for a tattoo that covers his entire back, except for his spine. His silver hair gains blue highlights as two blue ethereal wings form from the tattoo on his back. Grabbing his chest, Adam looks up at the women, tears made of blood coming from his eyes. "What did you do to me?" He asks. "I have given you powers beyond your imagination. You will use them to fulfill your destiny. Now go, the others will know of your arrival and seek you out." Her figure becomes smaller as Adam fills a wind current flow from behind him and pick up speed rapidly. "Wait, who are you!?! You didn't answer my question!!!" Adam yells as he begins to fall at a rapid pace. The woman smiles softly as she looks down upon him. "I am Faust." Meanwhile... Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. It is currently celebrating Hearths Warming Eve as snow covers the city. At the Castle, we find Princess Twilight and her friends perparing to partake in the annual play once again. As they look over their lines, a guard appears in the doorway. "Sorry for the interruption, butrincess celestial has requested you all come to the dining hall." He says before turning to leave. "Well, I am kind of hungry. Why not?" The cyan colored girl known as Rainbow dash says before taking flight and heading out the door. "Oh well, it is Hearth's Warming Eve." Twilight says and begins to follow her Pegasus friend. As the group arrives at the dining hall, They find both Celestial and Luna at the foot of it. The table is covered in food appropriate for the holidays and the girls can only stare as the princess begins to laugh at their expressions. "Good evening twilight, would you and your friends came to join us?" Celestial asks. The mane six say nothing and take their seats. But before they could dig in, a massive tremor shakes the building as an explosive sound follows. "What I the world was that?" Asks Twilight. A being in a brown suit suddenly appears out of thin air, he is also wearing a holiday scarf. "I swear, it wasn't me." He says before disappearing. Before anyone could say anything, another guard appears in the doorway, several more towards where the explosion came from. "Your majesty, something has fallen from the sky and crashed into the east side of the castle!" He exclaims. "Isn't that where Bluebloods room is?" Luna asks. As the group makes their way to the east wing, they find a massive crater where several rooms onepce stood, and in its center lies a young man with several cuts and wounds exposed to the elements. As he tries to get up, a lone arrow hits the ground next to him. He looks at it before looking at the archer who shot it. The archer quickly shoves his bow into the hands of the guard standing next to him as the young ,an sighs and gets to his feet. As he does this, he begins to lose consciousness as several human like figures begin to approach him. The last thing he can remember before passing out, was Ashley. Author's Note So, for those of you that said " all I want for Christmas is a new story" your wish has been granted. This will be a story I work on when i can't think of anything to put into A Punks Love. I hope you enjoy it, because you will be in for one hell of a ride for this point forward.
Chapter 2Welcome to Equestria Adam wakes up in what he can only describe as a hospital. Looking down, he finds his chest covered in bandages, along with the one he feels wrapped around his head. As he tries to get up, he feels something pull his hand. Looking over, he finds a tube feeding some kind of liquid into a vein. Before he could remove it, a nurse walks in. "Ah, you're awake." She says upon seeing him. Adam says nothing as the nurse replaces the bag of liquid the tube was connected to with a full one. "You have some guests. Would you like me to let them in." Adam sighs before motioning for them to come in. The nurse nods and leaves the room, Adam leaning back to stare at the ceiling in return. After a bit of waiting, the door opens again. This time, two people that look similar to the "Faust" person he met enter the room. One colored white with multi colored hair, the other purple with dark violet hair with a pink streak going down it. As they enter the room, Adam turns to look out the window. "Hello, would you like to introduce yourself?" The white one asks. Adam replies with silence, wondering where Ashley could be. "Okay, well I'm Princess Celestial, co-ruler of Equestria." Adam once again ignores them, only this time he pulls the beds blanket up. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, could you at least tell us your name?" Twilight asks. Adam finally acknowledges the two of them and speaks. "Adam, now leave me alone." He says before trying to go back to sleep. As he turns over, the two wings tattooed on his back are revealed. Seeing them, Twilight asks. "Oh, so you're a Pegasi?" She asks. Adam looks at her like she just asked what bread was. "No, I'm a human. Now will you two let me sulk before I lose my shit. I haven't had the best of days recently." Adam once again falls down to try and sleep. Hearing this, Celestial and Twilight leave before they begin to do more harm then good. As they exit the room, Twilight's Friends approach her. "Well, what did he say?" Asks Rainbow. "I'm afraid all we could get out of him was his name. Adam doesn't really want to talk right now." She replies. As the girls look towards his door, the sound of something metal hitting the floor fills the room. Opening the door, they Find Adam rubbing the top of his hand, the IV equipment tipped over on the floor. Looking at him, his only response is a scoff as he once again stares out the window. "Your Majesty, I believe the patient is suffering from some sort of psychological issue." A doctor suggests. Celestial nods at hearing this and tells Twilight and her friends to return to their rooms. As Celestia heads to her private living area, she finds her sister snoring on the couch. "Luna, wake up. I need you to do something for me." She says. Luna replies with a snore before twitching and waking up for her nap. "What is it that you require of us to do dear sister?" She asks while stretching. "The individual from yesterday appears to be suffering from some form of psychological trauma. I want you to enter his dream tonight and see what is wrong with him." "Consider it *Yawn* done. Now let's us retire to our bedroom. We have a big night ahead of us." Luna says before heading off to her bedroom. Later that night, Adam is in the middle of a dream. In the middle of a room, he see's Ashley being dragged away by several chains wrapped around her arms. He tries to help her, but right as he is about to save her, his grip slips and she is pulled full speed into a dark room. Crying out his name as she disappears, Adam sits on his knees and cries, wondering what the hell just happened. He was so close to being reunited with her, only to torn away yet again. "So this is the source of your trauma." A voice says. Adam turns to see the door disappear, and Ashley stand up, free of her shackles. "Ashley?" Adam asks. His hopes are diminished as she begins to take the form of Princess Luna. "We are sorry to have gotten your hopes up, but we are not your lover." She says. Adam says nothing and turns away from her. As Luna tries to approach, a massive wall appears in front of her. "Really, thou will have to do much better if you wish to stop us." She says before waving her hand and removing the wall. She is then shocked when the feeling of something piercing her abdomen begins to form. Looking down, she finds an arrow lodged I her stomach and Adam has disappeared. Removing the imaginary arrow, she waves her hand once more. Adam suddenly appears and he is clearly agitated. "Why won't you leave me the hell alone?" He asks. "Your are agitated, we only want to know the cause." "What's my problem, i just killed myself in order to save millions of others; my friends are gone, my parents are dead, my girlfriend is creator knows where, and I'm apparently apart of some damn prophecy where I have to lead another group of heroes to save 'Equestria' for an impending apocalypse." Adam begins to lie down. Hearing this, Luna is stunned. She quickly disappears from the dream realm and returns to her own body. As the sun rises for morning, she quickly meets with her sister. Adam on the other hand is struggling to do some for of rehab with his fingers. "Nurse, my hands feel like jelly." He says while trying to grab a ball. "Keep trying and your goal will be achieved." The nurse replies. A knock at the door then summons her away as Adam finally gives up as the ball falls in the floor. After a few short minutes, Celestia enters the room. Seeing her, Adam sighs. "Alright, listen. Before anything is said, I'm sorry for my actions yesterday. I was in a new place with no knowledge of the location." He apologizes. Celestia seems surprised at hearing this and smiles. "It is alright, my sister told me the source of your trauma. But, what interests me the most is that you mentioned something about a prophecy?" She explains. "Yeah, I did." "Could you please elaborate?" "Well, after I died I woke up in this 'void'. I met this woman who looked like you, but her hair was red. She said I needed to fulfill some kind of destiny in Equestria," he then rolls over to show the wings she gave him, "She burned this tattoo into my back. Called me a paladin, then I fell. Last thing I remember is standing up, then I woke up here yesterday." Celestia goes wide eyed at the mention of the red haired woman, but gathers herself before replying. "Adam, you are indeed apart of a prophecy. But that will be explained once we get you cleaned up. Retrieve your clothes and the guards will escort you to the throne room." She then teleports away. Adam shrugs at this and waits for the nurse. She arrives shortly after and removes the bandages and his bracelet before giving him his clothes. They consist of a pair of jeans, black combat boots, a black t-shirt, a gray leather jacket, and a black scarf with two crossed swords embroidered into the end of it. He thanks the nurse for her services and leaves the building, running into a man in golden armor with purple highlights. Seeing him, Adam raises an eyebrow. "Are you Adam?" The man asks. Adam nods and the man motions for him to get into a chariot. Adam is skeptical but gets in as requested. "So, who are you exactly?" Adam asks the man in the highlighted armor. The man turns to him and removes his helmet, revealing blue hair. "I am Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. I was assigned to escort you to the castle." He replies. "Oh, well thank you. I'm Adam, former hero and currently confused beyond recognition." Adam replies. After a quick ride, they arrive at the castle. Shining Armor escorts Adam through the halls to the throne room. Upon entering, He sees Celestia and Luna sitting on there respective thrones. Upon seeing him, Celestia motions for the guards to leave. When they are gone, she gets up from her throne. "So, what is this prophecy you wanted to discuss in private?" Adam asks. The princess says nothing as the window curtains shut on their own. "Long ago, an ancient evil attempted to open the gates of Tartarus and plunge Equestria into Chaos." Discord suddenly appears. "It wasn't me." He says before disappearing. Adam raises an eyebrow and attempts to speak before Celestia begins again. "As I was saying, this was before my sister and I were around. It happened shortly after Equestria was founded. The being wielded power no one had ever seen before. He could summon demons, raise the dead, and many other horrible things." "Sounds like Necro." Adam thinks to himself. "In order to protect her children from the apocalypse, Faust split her powers into five pieces and gifted them to five warriors worthy of wielding them. They made a heroic last stand and sealed their foe in the world he wished to let loose. What became of the heroes is unknown, but it was prophesied that the evil would return. And with it, five new heroes would stand against it." "So what does this have to do with me being a Paladin?" Adam asks. "Adam, Faust chose you to lead the Warriors against the evil that threatens us. We know not when it will arrive, only that with your arrival, it is imminent." She then waves her hand and the curtains open. "You must find the other four warriors. They will help you in fulfilling your destiny." "Okay, so where do I go next?" Adam asks. "I am sending you to Ponyville. You will be under the care of the Princess Twilight and her friends whil you search for the others." Adam nods at this and leaves. As he does this, Luna falls forward but catches herself. "May we please return to our bed now dear sister?" She asks. Celestia smiles and nods. As Adam rides the train to his destination, he Looks out the window at the sky. "Ashely's out there, I just have to find her." He says to himself before dozing off. As he begins to sleep, he doesn't notice his back begin to glow blue, outlining the wings on his back. He fidgets a bit and the glowing stops. Author's Note Adam is headed to Ponyville, what awaits him as he begins to unravel the mystery and form his team. Shoutout to everyone who supported the continuation of this story. The next Chapter will include Adam getting his new weapon and him fighting off timber wolves. The CMC will also make a cameo. Until next time. Also, I'm looking for an artist willing to make a cover for this story. If you wish to help, pleas reply in the comments.
Chapter 3Discovering New Powers The morning had just begun in Ponyville; several of its citizens were out and about, either enjoying the snow or clearing the roads of it. However, the castle just on the outside of the city was preparing for something else. Inside, Princess Twilight and her friends were getting ready for their new guests arrival. Twilight was in the throne room while her friends went about cleaning the crystal structure. As she looked over the map of Equestria, she waited patiently for the guests arrival. "Twilight, we finished cleaning the castle!" Exclaims Rainbow as the group of friends meet up in the throne room. As they enter the room, they each sit in their respective thrones as twilight begins to speak. "Thank you for helping girls, I hope Adam appreciates the work we put into cleaning the place." She says. "I'm sure he will appreciate it darling. If what Celestia said is true, he is a stallion of good character." Rarity says. "Do you think he likes Cake, or parties, OR PARTYING!?!!" Pinkie asks before rainbow interrupts her. "Whoever he is, I'm pretty sure he's not as awesome as me." She gloats. "Rainbow, if what we know is true, then Adam has done more than we could ever do in a lifetime as the Elements of Harmony, or the council of friendship." Applejack explains. "Oh, do you think he likes animals?" Asks Fluttershy. Before anyone could continue, the sound of a train whistle echoes throughout the town. At the station, Adam exits his car and begins walking to the castle he apparently "will recognize immediately". As he walks through town, he takes the back alleys on purpose so he want draw attention to himself. But this proves futile as he suddenly comes face to face with pink haired girl in a matching pink sweater. Adam says nothing as he pulls his scarf above his mouth. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! Are you that person from another world that Celestia said was going to be staying with Twilight in her castle?" She asks, not even bothering to respect personal space. Adam says nothing and slowly backs away, trying hard to keep eye contact. As he does this, he bumps into another person. This time, it's a girl wearing a so cyan hoodie, her rainbow colored air showing from underneath its hood. "I wouldn't try running, you won't get away." She says with a cocky smirk. Seeing no way out, Adam kicks off the wall next to him and climbs to the roof, hoping he will be able to get to the castle without anyone else seeing him. "You won't get away that easy!" The girl from before exclaims from behind. Adam turns to see the girl flying behind him at a high speed. Right as she is about to tackle him, Adam disappears in a flash of violet light. When he reappears, he falls onto a ground with a thud. Groaning, he picks himself up and is surprised to see Twilight standing in front of him. "Hello Adam. Sorry if my friends went a little overboard." She says. "Oh believe me, that wasn't even close." Adam replies while standing up. After a bit of talking, Twilight gives Adam a tour of the castle. As they tour each and every hallway, Adam can't help but get flashbacks to the day he first met Ashley. His train of thought is quickly subsided when they reach the balcony. The view he had been gifted was breathtaking, he could see all of Ponyville and several cities on the horizon. He could faintly make out the Silouete of Canterlot jutting out from the side of the mountain. After some sightseeing, Adam follows Twilight to the room he will be staying in until they find him a place to live. After he gets settled, Twilight takes Adam on a tour of Ponyville. "And that is Sugarcube Corner." Twilight says while gesturing to the establishment. "Reminds of a gingerbread house." Adam replies. As the two continue to walk around town, Adam is suddenly tackled to the ground by a cyan blur. "Like I said, you had no chance of-" Rainbow is cut off as she is wrapped in a violet aura. She turns to see Twilight with an unamused expression. "Rainbow, you can't just tackle people for no reason." She tells her. Adam mentally laughs at the two friends argument, but stops when they see applejack run up to them. "I need y'all to come to Sweet Apple Acres. The timber wolves have gone berserk." She explains. The group quickly follows at hearing this, Adam just following the herd. "Why are they out during winter, shouldn't they be dormant?" Twilight asks as the group arrives at the iconic fence gate. When they got to the location of the barn, the girls were shocked to see you the normally warm weather loving creatures trying to ransack the place. "When did this start happening?" Asks Twilight. "About an hour or so ago," Applejack explains, "I tried to get Fluttershy to do something, but she can't seem to get through to them." Hearing this, Adam does the only thing he's good at. To his left he finds an axe sitting next to stump, obviously used for cutting fire wood. Smirking, he grabs and throws said axe at one of the timber wolves. As the axe makes contact, which causes the wolf to howl in pain, the girls all gasp as Adam retrieves the weapon and begins fighting. "What in Tarantino is he thinking?" Applejack asks. Her worry is quickly subsided as Adam begins to get the upper hand, using the axe to make quick work of some of the smaller wolves. As the timber wolves begin to dwindle in numbers, The remains of the smaller ones begin to glow and levitate towards what looks like the alpha, if Adam's memory serves right. The branches and twigs begin combining as the alpha male begins to grow. When there are no twigs left, Adam can only stare wide eyed at the massive wooden monstrosity that now stands before him. It apparently noticed his shock, because it lets out a loud and horrific roar as soon as it finished growing. "Well that's more than meets the eye." Adam says throwing the axe at the massive timber wolf. It only bounces off and the creature snorts. Adam is then kicked across the property and crashes through and into the barn. Now worried, the girls try and stop the creature before more harm can be caused. As Adam slowly gets back to his feet, he begins to hear a voice in his head. "Adam, you have the power to stop this." An all to familiar voice explains. "Faust?" Adam asks. When he doesn't get a reply, he suddenly feels some form of power and strength wash over him, a blue light begins to form on his back, outlining the wings. Adam then clenches his costs and the ethereal wings shoot out of his back. Grinning, he takes to the sky's in an instant. Back with the girls, their attempt to stop the alpha are proving futile as they only appear to be distracting the creature. But before anyone could spthink of a new plan of attack, a blue blue suddenly slams into it. The girls are shocked to say the least, but their confusion only strecpgnthens as Adam lands in front of them. "Adam!?!" The six of them ask in shock. Adam turns to them and smiles. "For the record, I'm as confused as all of you." He tells them before ducking to dodge a tree branch. Turning back to the wolf, his hands are set a flame as a magic seal forms on the ground below. Catching fire himself, the flames die down to reveal him holding a blade staff, two swords joined together at the handle. "This going to be fun." He says with a grin as the blades of his new weapon catch flame. Charging at the beast, he makes one slash and everyone looks at the wolf confused. But they are quickly stunned as the beast explodes into a blue inferno. Separating the staff into two broadswords and sheathes them on his back. His wings then disappear as the girls continue to stare at him. Chuckling at their expressions, Adam throws a nearby apple to get their attention. The fruit hits Twilight in the chest and she is snapped out of her stare. Looking at Adam, she can say nothing as his wings once again form and he takes off in the direction of her castle. "Well, that just happened." Rainbow states. Meanwhile... Night has fallen up in the snow capped mountains. In a small village, a teenaged Pegasus girl is seen packing up her things and taking off into the night sky. "I was hoping I wouldn't' have to leave you guys," she says in the direction of the house she left, "but I have to figure out why I was given my powers, even if it means leaving you. Goodbye Mom, Goodbye Dad, I love you guys." She begins flying in the direction of Ponyville. Author's Note Adam has discovered his weapon and powers. But what about the strange cloaked girl from the mountain village, what role does she have in all of this? I also realize I forgot the CMC, well sue me. NEXT TIME... A Snow Angel's Gift.
Chapter 4A Snow Angel's Gifts After the incident at Sweet Apple Acres, Adam has become the target of the mane six for a multitude of reasons. Twilight wishes to study and examine what causes his powers, Applejack wishes for him to come and help out at the farm (try and work off the damages he accidentally caused), Rainbow wants him to race her in order to see how fast his wings can take him, Rarity wishes to use him as inspiration for her next fashion line, and Pinkie is well...Pinkie. Fluttershy seems to be the only one who doesn't wish to do anything and has been Adam's savior when he needs to hide from the others. Today, he is hiding from Twilight and her multitude of blood examinations, which involve her drawing blood from where his wings form on his back. Fluttershy uses this time to try and get to know her unusual friend from another world, she is currently returning from her kitchen with a tea set. She sets it down in front of Adam, who is sitting on the couch next to a very irritable bunny rabbit, and pours them both a cup. "So," she begins, "What was it like back in your old world?" Adam takes a sip of his drink before answering. "Home, in my opinion, was a place very similar to Equestria. We had magic, but it was more of a gifted child thing." He explains. "I'm sorry." "It's like this, you know how your species is born with some form of innate magic?" She nods, "Where I came from, Archane mages were a dime a dozen. My old team and I were lucky enough to be born with our powers, which is a rare chromosome at child birth. But with my parents being members of the council of Archane empowerment, I was already predicted to be born a magic user." Fluttershy shoots him a confused look, "It's when two dogs with the same coat color mate and their puppy has the same color as its parents." "Oh, now I get it," she then takes a sip of her tea, "So, who was your old team?" She asks. "There was me, Marcus, jacob, Samuel, and Ashley." He frowns upon saying her name. After he regains himself, he goes on to explain how they all met. He ended up having to leave his hometown after an undead legion invaded and destroyed everything, his parents sacrificing them selves in order for him to escape. He met Marcus not long after escaping death, the two of them became friends after fighting off a group of thugs wanting to rob them. Samuel he met in a tavern; turns out he was actually a mercenary who joined up with Adam for a paycheck, but gave it up after seeing how Adam was willing to put himself in harms way in order to protect his friends. Jacob he met while trying to save kids forced into child labor at factories, helping him sabotage a metal foundry furnace. But when he began to talk about Ashley, Fluttershy could tell something was off by the way he held his eyes. "Ashley and I met in the capital city. She was the daughter of a high ranking military officer who actually fought alongside and trained with my folks. He let my team and I stay at their estate and it was there that me and Ashley began to fall in love." A lone tear begins to fall for his eye, "She and I became very close friends as time began to move on, we were actually apart of some ancient prophecy form my home, but that's for another time. She was everything I could ever ask of a girlfriend to be: smart, beautiful, strong, everything. We became an item shortly after recieving our weapons the prophecy spoke of. We dated for a while before missions began, and continued when we had no assignments. Then...then I-" he stops and rubs his eyes, breathing unevenly. "I guess she ment a lot to you, huh?" Fluttershy asks, trying to calm him. "She was the only one I could ever truly confide in. She was always there when I needed a shoulder to cry on, which was very rare. Ashley was, well, I guess you could call her my soul mate. Around her, I was happy. She loved me, and I loved her. But now," he looks outside towards the horizon, "Now I don't know where she is. I know she is here in Equestria, but I don't know where." Before he could go off preaching again, a knock comes from the front door of the cottage. When Fluttershy goes to answer, she is greeted by a winged girl with snow white skin and light violet hair. Upon seeing the stranger, Fluttershy begins to cower slightly, but gathers her courage and speaks. "Can I help you." She asks softly. "I'm looking for a guy named Adam; he has black hair with blue highlights and has a tattoo of a pair of wings covering his back. Have by chance seen him?" She asks. Adam instead obliges himself to give her the answer and appears in the door way. "Whoever you got your facts from is wrong," he says, "my hair hasn't been black since I got my soul blade." Upon seeing him, she goes wide eyed and trips herself, falling backwards. Seeing this, Adam smirks and rolls his eyes before helping her up. Dusting her sweatshirt off, he notices an all to style of tattoo running the length of her neck. As she begins to speak, he places his hand over her mouth. "You were chosen by Faust to fight alongside me, which caused the tattoo going across your neck to be burned into your skin during some form of dream. And now you have powers that you can't seem to get the hang of and want me to help you learn to control and wield them. Did I miss anything?" He says. The girl raises an eyebrow before shaking her head, Adam the removes his hand from her mouth. "My name is Adam, and I'm Faust's chosen Paladin." He tells her. "I'm Astrea, the tattoo actually runs down both of my arms. She said I would fight alongside you wielding magic native to my homeland. But I don't know what that means." She explains. Adam is about to reply, but then notices the symbol on Astrea's backpack, a snowflake. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you are an ice mage." He tells her. She raises an eyebrow at this, but doesn't get to reply as a icicle suddenly appears in her hand. "Like I said." "Can you please teach me?" She asks. "Oh, I'm going to teach you. I did always find ice magic interesting, even if my attribute was fire." He replies, making a blue flame form in his palm to prove his attribute. As the flame disappears, Astrea suddenly grabs Adam from inside the cottage and hugs him. What throws Adam off is that she was just outside. "Thank You! Now maybe the teens from home will stop calling me snow Angel." She tells him Hearing this, Adam laughs and gets out her grip before taking off his top layer of clothing to reveal the many tattoos covering his chest, not just the wings on his back. Each one is some form of writing, the language being that of the Archane mages. "The one below my neck translates to fallen angel. Angels protect those who can't protect themselves. Being called one back home is a compliment, not an insult." He explains before placing his clothes back on. With this new Knowledge, Astrea smiles as she is escorted by Fluttershy to a spare room. When the two of them are out of earshot, Adam reaches inside of his collar, the inside glowing for a second, and pulls out a folded up picture. The image is of his old team the day before Ashley was kidnapped. Marcus is holding his like a cane, Jacob and Samuel are one the opposite side with their weapons propped on their shoulders, And Adam is in the center with a blushing expression as Ashley kisses his cheek with her eyes closed and arms wrapped around his neck. Smiling, he returns the picture to his secret pocket and heads outside, staring off into oblivion as he once again wonders where his lost love is. Author's Note Astrea is owned by CosmicAlchemist24, he supported the writing and also writes in the PoME universe. Check him out if you get the chance. The team is starting to form, what's next as Adam takes on training an ice mage? What, you want me to tell you? FUCK THAT, I DO T GIVE SPOILERS!!! See you all in the next update, and Merry Christmas!
Chapter 5An Unexpected Find The day after Astraea arrived in Ponyville, both her and Adam met up on the outskirts of town. It would be there that Adam would teach her. while he was doing this, Rarity was working on her "Angelic" fashion line. The outfit was easy enough to craft, finding a proper model was what caused the problem. Sure, she had intended for the outfit to be modeled by herself. But as the outfit started to come together, it was clear that she would not be able to model the Black and blue outfit. She would instead begin finding a girl who fit the specifications she was looking for. "Twilight; no. Rainbow Dash; she would never agree to it. Applejack; possible but unlikely. Fluttershy; no, I won't put her through that ever again. Pinkie; her coat would clash with the colors. Why is it so hard the find someone who has the hair and eyes to work a black on blue dress?" She asks herself as her frustration gpbegins to grow. Right as she is about to throw her notebook away, however, she hears the all to familiar sound of the bell chime at her front door ring. Walking to the showroom, Rarity stops dead in her tracks as her eyes spot a girl who would be perfect for the outfit she designed, she is wearing a Black treapnch coat and her leggings are tucked into her knee boots. Her hair is black and her eyes are hazel, but are accented by Light blue eye shadow. She turns to Rarity upon seeing her and speaks. "Uhh, are you the owner of this place?" The girl asks. Rarity shakes her head, returning to reality, then replies. "Why yes, my name is Rarity. Welcome to Carousel Boutique. How may I help you?" The girls grabs a backpack she was wearing and pulls out a white and red cloak with a massive rip going down the center of it. "I accidentally tore this, do you think you could fix it?" Rarity takes the cloak from her hands and examines it, then looks up with a smile. "I would be more then happy to repair your outfit, but I first need you to do something for me." She then grabs the girl by the wrist and takes her into the back. While Rarity was busy with the mystery girl, Adam and Astraea were practicing combat. Astraea had managed to get her powers under control faster the what was originally thought, so Adam decided to help her get her weapon. Turns out she was gifted a halberd by Faust, but her inexperience quickly showed as Adam knocked it from her hands. His Bladestaff had transformed from what it previously was, the blades had shrunken to the size of katana blades. As the two begin to finish up, Adam knocks Astraea back, her weapon coming out of her grasp. She takes a knee as Adam goes in for a final blow, but before he could land it, she begins to glow. "What the, Adam?" Astraea asks, not knowing what's happening. Adam says nothing as she is suddenly sealed in a block of ice. "Her powers have been awakened." he says to himself as the block begins to break. As it does this, Astraea is revealed to have undergone a transformation. Her hair now sports white highlights, her outfit now consists of a Knights chest piece underneath a Snow White trench coat, and she wears a set of knee boots and ice blue gloves. Looking closely, Adam can clearly make out an image in her eyes. Both of her eyes have changed from there usual color to two glowing white snowflakes with her pupils in their center. As she looks up, Astraea begins examining her new outfit with much interest. "Wow, this is amazing!" She says with enthusiasm. While this is going on, Rarity is helping the girl from before into the outfit she designed. The cloak she asked to be repaired is no where to be seen, but she is more focused on trying to figure out the strange patterns on the dress. As rarity zips up the back of the dress, the girl turns to face her. As rarity sees the outfit beimg worn, she takes mental notes of what else could be done to improve the design. "Miss Rarity," the girl says, "I thank you for showing me this, but I'm afraid I have to go. I have a train to catch." She then takes off the outfit, with Rarity's help, and takes her leave. But as she leaves, the cloak she brought in still lays in the store, forgotten. As she gets to the station, she doesn't realize it's missing until the train begins leaving. It's destination, Trottingham. Later that day, Adam arrives at Carousel Boutique with Astraea. She has reverted to her normal appearance and is wearing white scarf around her neck. As they enter the store, Rarity can be seen in the back, working on the dress. Seeing this, Adam and Astraea head into the back. As they enter the room, Rarity sees them. "Oh, hello Adam, Astraea. What bring you two here?" She asks. "Astraea wanted to see what you were working on, and against my own opinions I decided to tag along. So what are you working o-" Adam stops speaking as he spots the white and red cloak the girl from before left behind. He literally makes a b-line for it, much to the two girls shock, and picks it up. His eyes are wide and filled with a mix of shock and sadness. Turning, he looks at rarity. "Where did you get this." He asks her. "Why, a girl came in earlier today asking for it to be repaired. Unfortunately, in my haste to have her model my newest outfit, she and I must have completely forgotten about it. Why do you ask?" Adam drops to his knees and holds the cloak close as tears begin falling down his face. He looks up at the two girls. "This was my girlfriend's, it was a gift. Ashley was here, AND I FUCKING MISSED HER!" He yells before falling to the floor. He begins crying, but stops as a hand touches his back. Looking up, he sees rarity with a smile on her face. "It's okay Adam, this is only proof that she is alive and well. Sadly, the girl that came in looked nothing like the description you gave of her to us at the party pinkie through for you and Astraea last night." Adam then gets up to his feet, wiping his tears. "Ashley was a highly skilled shapeshifter. She could use her powers to not only change her own appearance, but her friends as well. She probably changed her appearance to not draw attention to herself." Adam explains. Hearing this, Rarity gets a flashback to the changelings, but quickly shakes her head. She repairs the cloak shortly after the conversation and gives to Adam, who wears it over his shoulder. As the three friends of their separate ways, the night sky begins to appear. As Adam returns to his room at the castle, he places the cloak on his bed and looks out into the night sky. "All I know is that you're alive, next step is finding you. I just hope I can get to you before something bad happens. Stay safe Ashley." He says. Meanwhile... The city of Trottingham, a city known for its industrial might and sophistication. But behind the guise of a good society is a a workforce of both adult and child labor, street gangs forcing people to go to work as there leader hides behind his shield of commerce and political standing. In the Whitestable Borough, a young man sits on the rooftops overlooking the rest of the city. In one of his hands is a set of brass knuckles, the other is being filled by kukri that appears to glow everytime he grips the handle tightly. Looking towards the lights, a tattoo can be seen on the young mans hand and up the back of his neck. "This city is suffering, the corruption has gone on long enough." He says, getting to his feet. As he does this, his tattoo and weapons begin glowing. "I am going to fix this, rid this city of its corruption. They are the problem," he puts on a top hat and a black trench coat and raises the collar to hide his face,"And I am the solution." Author's Note Ashley is alive and well, but who is this strange new character? and for those of you wondering, yes he is inspired by Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Next Chapter, we see Adam and Astraea head to Trottingham in hopes of tracking down Ashley. Sorry for the wait, damn writers block. Hope everyone had a good holiday season. I hope to get the next chapter in by New Year's Eve, but the New Years Six bowls games are coming on so who knows. Once again, I ask for someone willing to make me a cover for this story. If interested, please respond. Hope you guys/gals enjoy the story, and hope you have a great new year.
