Conceptual Chronicles: Equestrian apostles

Chapters

Arrival -EDITED-
Sacrifice
Discovery

Arrival -EDITED-

Conceptual Chronicles: Equestrian Apostles Ch. 1

By Simon Fraisure

“It does not take a great man to do great things. Even an unknown can rise up to the challenge and become a hero, all it takes is heart.” –Anonymous

In the beginning, there was only one consciousness, one being, floating in an endless void, he was all and none, everywhere and nowhere all at once. He saw that there were none but him, and willed that to be untrue, and so it was. He then realized there was nothing but him and his children, so he willed that to be untrue, and so it was. Lastly, he realized that his children were without light, and willed it to be untrue, and so it was. All that came to be, came to be because he willed it to be so. However, all power comes at a price, and the greater the power, the steeper the price…

With the limitless power that he commanded, he became unstable, splitting into eight selves, each a singular element of creation personified, be it negative or positive, their power, while still extending far beyond the comprehension of the mere mortal children of the creator, were mere fractions of their fathers.

The mortals came to revere the positive aspects, while despising the negative. This caused the negatives to grow dark and twisted, while the positives grew bright and holy, and so the once identical concepts began to differ. The disharmony between the eight grew greater and greater over time, until they finally bifurcated into the Conceptual Council and the Lords of Decay, the council was the purest collection of positive energies in the multiverse, while the Lords of Decay were pure negativity made real. As time went on, seven of the children longed for bodies of their own, and the council did their best to accommodate these seven.

The first asked for a sturdy body, strong as the earth below and linked to the magic of the land. Therefore, the council carved a stone into the first Stone Ogre, making his bones of steel, his muscles of rubber, and his skin of stone, at his core a natural generator and conduit of the natural mana running through the ley lines of their home.

The council then named the planet Faeterra, thus awakening the planet to its magical energies.

The second requested magical power unlike any other, and sleek, skilled movements to be natural to their body, so the council brought forth the body of a wolf and made it as them, raising it to two legs and morphing its front paws into strong arms and hands, and gifting them the ability to tap into the power of the mana in the air, allowing them to grasp objects within their vision with naught but their minds, leaving their arms free to do as they wish.

These beings came to be known as Luperians.

The council then brought forth the moon, forever tying the Luperians power to this celestial body.

The third asked for a mind unrivaled in wit and cunning and feet as fleet as the wind, so the council brought forth the magic of the world, forcing it into a physical form. It's hide hard enough to withstand extreme blunt force, and it’s brain gifted with a knowledge reservoir unlike any other, creating the Gremlish as a result.

The Council then filled the air with mana, letting the wind flow with their power and creating the weather.

The Fourth, seeing the great power bestowed upon its companions, asked for the ability to fly, and to be able to live peacefully with their companions without fear of injury. The council took a dragon's body and made it as them, granting her the ability to wield the fires of Faeterra as a weapon, and unleash it from their very souls, therefore blessing us with the first Dracovo.

The council then made the flora and fauna of Faeterra, allowing the future children of the world to have food to eat.

The fifth, seeing all the game ready to be hunted, told the council that he wished to be an unbeatable hunter of these mighty beasts, the council reluctantly agreed, and changed a bear to be as the others, yet strong and stout, and thusly was the first Bjorn born.

The Council then made the oceans, filling its depths with fish to feed the people of Faeterra.

The sixth, seeking dominion over his siblings, Asked for strength greater than any other, and stature so great that all who gaze upon them will be stricken with fear. The council was so struck with disgust by this request and adamantly refused, so the soul went to the lords of Decay and made his request, They eagerly agreed, taking fog from the marshes and forming it into a truly massive shape, making them taller than the very trees. And thus the Fog Giants were born.

They then looked to the mortals so far and sneered, quickly putting weakness and sin into the hearts of these mortals as the council was distracted with granting the wish of the seventh.

This seventh had but one wish, to be closest to their fathers in appearence. And so the Council made the race of man, forming them from their combined power, carefully balancing all aspects of their power with his making

Upon seeing the council's work, the other souls begged and pleaded for bodies as well, but the Council was not going to be taken advantage of, they granted these souls their wishes, but restricted them to the body types that had been chosen before.

This is how the seven races came to be… and this? This is the story of one group of heroes, a light fighting against the darkness…This is but one story:

Darkness… there was naught but darkness as far as the eye could see… I was lying down on a cold stone floor as far as I could tell, normally this would be comforting, but given the lack of light I am quite unhappy with my current position ‘Where am I? I could remember praying to The Council… by the spawns… where are Zinu and Marcus!?’

I panicked and stood up, my head seeming to burst through the ceiling as I saw that I was underground, I forced my way out of the ground and looked to my surroundings, I would of called out to my boys, but there was the glaring fact that I had no idea where I was, with no idea of what would hear me. Instead, I felt through the ley lines for the mana signature that I had come to know so well over the years…

I felt them… they were to the right... about a mile east of me, in a large crystal structure… They were unconscious… there was a large magical energy emanating from the structure, as if the very crystal it was built from was alive in some way. I turned eastward and began walking as I growled to myself ‘If any harm has come to my children, I shall not hold back.’ I walked and I looked to my stoney hand before I stopped and pounded it on the floor, calling the metal in the ground to me in the shape of a pick-hammer that fit neatly in my hand.

As I kept walking, I came across a large pack of wolves, seemingly made of wood. They growled at me and began to circle around me, gnashing their teeth angrily. I looked to them analytically with my glowing purple eyes, silently scanning their mana, before long, I realised that these creatures, nay,aberrations,were corrupted spirits of the forest! And as I looked to their prey, what I saw was an equine behind them, cut and bloodied, various rips in her clothing, but still recognizable as a druid... I then looked to the wolves in a hostile manner before tightening my grip on my hammer. The cream yellow winged equine mare looked to me pitifully, as if she were about to faint from fear. This, I will not stand. “I know not if you can understand me, fell spirits of this forest, but you shall not sate thy bloodthirst here!” My voice was as the grave; cold, hard, and promising of death, as if the councilman of death himself was speaking through me.

I belted out a mighty warcry before the wolves leaped at me, As they tried to bite and scratch me, their wooden bodies broke upon my stone skin, those that were smart enough not to leap at me were quickly crushed into splinters under my hammer, I then looked to the yellow equine to see that she had fainted, I sighed and lifted her up into my arms, carrying her through the rest of the forest, humming a hymnal of the council that had been in my head the last hour.

When I eventually exited the dreadful forest, I felt the malevolent aura that had been surrounding me recede and heaved a sigh of relief, I walked to a small cottage that had a magical signature reminiscent of the yellow equine mare and set her at the doorstep before kneeling in front of her and beginning to pray, I let the power of Gabriel Zivot fill me and channelled the healing energies through my body, into the equine, I felt the gaze of five others to my left after I finished my prayer and turned to them after placing my new hammer at my belt. They were equines as well, yet… only two of this group had wings, and she was a light cyan in coloration with a rainbow mane, instead of yellow and pink in coloration, and was dressed as if she were a scout for some sort of an army. Truly, the only one who had any features in common with her was the pink one, and she was far more… excitable, at first glances evaluation, as well as dressed in the attire of a Bard.

The purple horned one that had wings as well looked to me cautiously as she approached me, her attire reminding me of an archmage “Who are you, and why do you have Fluttershy?”

‘Ok, her name is Fluttershy, then…’ I smiled and looked her in the eyes “I am Griswell, priest of the council. I saw the one you call Fluttershy under attack from spirits of the forest, they had possessed a body comprised of dead wood, molded into a wolf like body.”

Twilight gasped “She was under attack from Timberwolves!?”

‘Ah, they are referred to as Timberwolves, best learn that quickly…’

The cyan one flew up into my face at a high speed “And what was with that weird magic you were doin, huh?! What were you doing to Fluttershy!”

‘...These equines are way too hostile with strangers they know nothing about…’

I smiled warmly in an attempt to appease her “I was healing her wounds, the Timberwolves had injured her badly. If I had not acted when I did, she would be in great pain when she awoke.”

The cyan one looked to Fluttershy before looking again to me, then looked to the orange one, who was wearing a warrior's attire “Is he lying AJ?”

‘By Parhaels ever putrid breath! are they capable of keeping secrets?!’

AJ looked to the Cyan one and shook her head “Nah, RD, he’s telling the truth.”

‘...I am seriously considering the possibility that these Equines lack an education in the way of the world of any sort.’

RD looked to me and smiled shyly before rubbing the back of her head. “Heh… sorry about that, I get kind of crazy when people hurt Fluttershy.”

I smiled knowingly, as I had a good guess of exactly how she felt about her. ‘Ah to be young and in love…’ I then looked eastward again, seeing that the crystalline structure was, in fact a massive castle. I looked to the five equines and smiled “Do you know who lives in that castle? I believe my boys may be in there, and I wish to see them.”

The purple one looked to me in a curious manner “You have kids in there? But, that can’t be, there are only some unknown creatures in there, and they look nothing like you.”

My smile faltered as anger seeped in for a moment. “I am quite sure that these… creatures as you call them, are my adopted sons. They are a Luperian and Rabboo. Please let me see them so that I may be sure.”

The Pink one leapt to me excitedly “Hi!-I’m-Pinkie-Pie!-I-just-know-that-we’ll-be-best friends-because-I’m-besties-with-everyone-and-I-will-hug-you-andgiveyoucupcakesNONOTTHOSECUPCAKESREADERS!IwillneverdothatbecauseIhatemakingmyfriendslosebloodandickystufflikethatnormallyalthoughIguessI’llhavetogetoveritsoon!”

I blinked once before looking to the others while pointing to Pinkie pie “Who are the readers? Are they your divinity?”

The Purple one shook her head as she laughed “No, we worship Faust. None of us know who she means when she talks about the readers… no one really gets her, honestly, she’s… just Pinkie.”

I nodded curiously and started walking towards the castle before the Purple one flew in front of me “Wait! If you really have to check, can you go around the town? The Ponyvillians scare easy!”

I sighed and nodded before turning a little bit to the right “I’ll make sure to avoid the town, thank you for the warning.” I then continued on my way, only to find the mares following me… I sighed and smiled ruefully, it seems that I won’t be visiting my children on my own after all.

The white one with the purple mane then decided to speak, apparently stunned into silence before, she was dressed in the attire of an arcane rogue “Dahling, wherever did you find those dreadfully colored clothes! And those markings! They are simply-”

I looked to her calmly before she began to insult my priesthood markings “They are the marks of my priesthood, and I would rather you did not insult them. They are as much a part of me as your horn is a part of you”

The white one then looked to me in shock and what seemed to be regret “I apologize, You have been not but a gentleman to us, and here we are accusing and insulting you.”

I smiled as she looked down guiltily as well as her companions “It is well, pale one, I know you did not mean any offence by it, but simply wished to inform me of my poor dress sense, I shall see if I may go to a tailors to see if they can make a new suit for me, my markings will go onto anything I put on. Also, what should I refer to you as? I have overheard everyone's name but your own.”

The white mare smiled charmingly “I can help with that, and my name is Rarity.”

I smiled at Rarity and nodded, ready to meet my sons.

Sacrifice

As I walked along the path to the castle, the LONG path… I casually talked with the six equines, finding that this land was called Equestria in the process ‘Hmmm… I wonder if the council sent me to an unknown country… entirely possible, now that I think of it.’

The pink one, what was her name? Pinkie Pie? Yes, that’s it. She was prancing around me, singing an upbeat song welcoming me to ponyville until she looked at me curiously “So, Grizzy, where are you from?”

I smiled warmly “I am from the Craglands of Faeterra, I am actually quite certain that it is a long ways away from here.”

Twilight shot me a curious glance before she asked me a question that actually answered a few of mine. “Where is Faeterra? We have explored every inch of this world… so I am curious as to where this Faeterra could be.”

I would've laughed if it wouldn’t unnerve the ladies around me, was it possible that Faeterra was not even on this planet? I smiled as I thought of Marcus ‘He’s going to have a field day here.’

I then froze as I felt another, much more powerful presence fill the castle. It felt… wrong, tainted… as if it opposed every fiber of my being just by existing… I ran to the door, the ground shaking under my feet as I threw it open and ran for my boys, the equines running after me shouting “Stop!” and “Wait!” but I did not listen, my boys, my precious sons, were in trouble! I reached the room where they were resting and what I saw made my very core freeze over with fear. It was the Lords of Decay… they were here, in the flesh! And… they had a Fog Giant with them, shackled to the floor with chains made of zaccarite, the metal made by the power of the Lords evil intent…

The four of them laughed sinisterly and pointed to my sons, Zinu and Marcus, who lay unconscious, floating in the air with red crystal knives pointed at their jugulars, poised to strike. The Lord of Chaos, Parhael Zmatok, looked to me and laughed again, this time a demented chuckle, his straightjacket was torn and no longer served to restrain him, the long sleeves torn into just the right length, and his signature dragon skull helm was tilted atop his head at what you could even call a jaunty angle, half of his head concealed by the bone, only his eyes visible out of the top of his head, as he was staring unblinkingly out of the eyesockets of the dragons skull “Why ‘ello there, “Grizzy”, happy ta see me? I’m happy ta see you!” He grinned with his rows upon rows of yellow stained needle sharp teeth.

I growled angrily “What do you want, Mad Lord?”

Parhael laughed and flipped upside down before pacing around me. “Straight to tha point, I like that! Ya see, as a senior priest of the council, you have power, power that we need.” He walked up to me and grabbed me by the head, his sharp clawed fingers like a vice grip on my stone head. “So, as long as you want to see your boys and these innocent bystanders to see the light of day again, ye’d best be givin’ us that power.”

Siever Mortos normal happy looking mask switched to an angry shark toothed one as he dusted off his black and white checkered Jesters outfit and reached for his massive black zaccarite cleaver, twirling it in one hand as it’s edge scraped the ground and created black sparks. “Hey! I thought we were going to be killing them! It’s no fun if no one dies!”

Mar Auftrag sighed and smacked Siever across the back of his head with his Manonic Rifle, a blue zaccarite made weapon capable of firing magical shots powerful enough to pierce a primordial dragons hide. He adjusted his blue rune-riddled leather armor and looked to the angry Siever “Be quiet, glorified clown!”

Sabriel Zivot laughed, his thorny bramble like body rustling as masses of weeds and toxic flora coursed and pulsated within him “I agree with Mar, be silent and let them suffer instead, a life full of suffering and pain is so much more pleasant than a death of any kind… Like a fine wine…”

I looked to my children helplessly as the mares from before rushed in to help, I sighed as Parhael put knives to their throats as well, getting the message. “How do I do it?”

RD struggled angrily as she tried to get away from the knife, only to be grabbed in Parhaels telekinetic grasp “Let me go you freaky bald chimp!”

Parhael brought her towards him and smiled, releasing my head, thank the council, as I could feel cracks had been starting to form. “Aaw… what’s wrong little filly, still all tense from looking fer little shy?”

RD looked to him in shock before regaining her composure and spitting at his face, to which he simply opened his mouth and swallowed it “Aaw, dude that’s just gross!”

Parhael laughed before he looked to Twilight “And you, trying to figure out how I know all your names? Hmmm, Twily? Well let me save ye all the trouble, I’M. A. GOD. I KNOW EVERYTHING!” when he shouted, the entire castle shook to its very foundation. He then walked to Pinkie and smiled “For example, I know Pinkie says she’s losing weight, but has recently gone up to an E cup.”

Pinkie blushed and covered her breasts as she screamed what could only be called a cry of violation as the disturbingly perverted god chuckled “You perverted meanie! My weight is a secret between me and mr. scale!”

Parhael laughed out loud as the other gods left “It’s a good thing I just have tae be here fer this, else Seiver’d kill ye all!” He then looked back to Pinkie and smiled “Oh, and I’d say it’s more a secret between ye and mr. donut, ya fatass horse woman!”

I growled angrily, grabbing Parharels attention “Tell me what I have to do, Parhael… and stop this inane arguing!”

Parhael smiled and teleported right onto my shoulder, lounging lazily before flipping over and crouching on it, whispering maliciously into my ear. “You just sit there, while I take what I want from ye...” He then ripped the crystals out of my back, along with a multicolored mist that was equal parts red, blue, black and white, causing a cry of agony to escape my lips as I looked to my boys, I felt my powers fade… I… I never felt so… so weak… I fell to my hands and knees, no longer capable of holding myself up as I looked to Parhael feebly and spat tar to his bare clawed feet “You got your accursed power… now give me my boys, and… and let the Fog giant… and the equines go…”

Parhael sighed in annoyance, “Yer lucky that the old rules bind me to me word…and I was just startin tae have fun, too!” he snapped his fingers and the three of them went free, the chains on the Fog Giant disappearing alongside Parhael in a puff of red smoke as I dragged myself to my boys and tried to wake them up “Zinu... Marcus... Please, wake up...”

Marcus was the first to awaken, as he rubbed his head and twitched his nose I honestly have never been so happy to hear my son swear in Gremlish in my life… “Grok mershen… my head… What happened?”

I smiled “It doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you two are safe.”

The Fog Giant was the next to wake up. It sat still for a moment, taking in its surroundings. Then, slowly, it lifted itself up to its full height, towering above even me. There was a sharp snap as it cracked its knuckles. “Tarel, where?”

I looked to the Fog Giant and smiled weakly “You are in Equestria, it seems the Lords of Decay used you as a bargaining chip.” I laughed “Like I’d even consider saying no with even one hostage…” I then thought of something “How are we going to get you out of this castle? You are far taller than me, and I barely fit through the door…”

Marcus looked to the doorway in question and pulled out his manonic rifle, a custom one hge made by hand called the Ixion, and charged a light spell in the ammo clip, firing it as a laser beam into the top of it to melt the upper arch, adding enough height for Tarel to leave “There, that should do it.” He then looked to the molten crystal on the floor and smiled as it rapidly cooled and separated into shards “Ooh! I sense some serious magical energy here!” He took out a large metal box and scooped up a large amount of the crystal for later study, Twilight twitching her eye all the while.

“You know I could of just teleported her outside, right?” Twilight exclaimed as she slapped her hand to her face in what my children would call a facepalm.

Marcus laughed “Yeah, let see you try to teleport a 18 feet tall and three ton, AT LEAST Fog Giant! that is... IF and this is a BIG IF, you don’t die from overexertion of your soul, you’ll probably futz up the teleportation and either maim or kill Tarel here!”

Twilights face blanked out for a moment before she looked Marcus in the eyes, rage burning in hers “Are you implying I’m bad at magic?”

Marcus shook his head “No, I’m saying I don’t wanna see inside out fog Giant, tell me, would you teleport in good conscience a living being you knew little to nothing of the biology of? Especially at risk of leaving behind some vital organs?”

Twilight looked to Tarel, who was looking confused by all the magical talk, and blanched “G-good point…”

Zinu woke up at this, he looked to me and frowned “Father… why are you so weak? You normally have a much stronger magical signature…”

I sighed “The Lords of Decay stripped me of my power, in exchange they freed you all.”

Tarel looked at the, now larger, opening. After a few seconds she looked back down at me. “You helped Tarel?” She looked at me for several long seconds, clearly trying to think something over. “Tarel help you,” she said after some time.

I looked to Tarel and smiled warmly, as best as I could in my state of exhaustion “I was going to recommend we stay together, as it seems we are no longer on Faeterra anymore, and will most likely need each other’s assistance…”

Zinu looked to me and then to Tarel before nodding “Agreed.”

Pinkie looked to me in shock “Why did they do that!? Those meanies are soooo not getting invited to any of my parties!”

I smiled at Pinkie and ruffled her mane “I doubt they’d be good guests anyway.” I then looked to Tarel and smiled as I gestured to my boys “These are my sons, Zinu the Luperian and Marcus the Gremlin, and these,” I gestured to the six mares “are the six whose castle we are currently in.”

“Tarel,” she said gesturing to herself.

I laughed weakly, I could feel that my magic has been severely drained... if I don’t restore it soon… I dread to think what will happen... “Tarel, do you remember anything from before you came here? All I remember is going to sleep in my home, next thing I know, I’m buried underground in a forest and my sons are in this castle.”

“Sleeping in swamp den, waking here,” she said. Apparently she didn’t remember much.

Zinu nodded solemnly “Same, went to bed, woke up here.”

Marcus rubbed his head “I… was running some experiments and got knocked out in an explosion…”

Zinu smirked “Par the course.”

Marcus huffed before shrugging and nodding, begrudgingly agreeing with his brother.

There was then a flash of light as Parhael reappeared, accompanied by a trio of Corrupted, two archons, and a goliath, their bodies riddled with cracks for the archons, and cuts, bruises and lesions as well as various diseases and infections on the flesh of the Goliath. Their bodies were also overgrown with red crystal that formed claws and armor, as well as the Goliaths club. The red crystal in question was physically manifested negative chaos energy, The two archons, or corrupted Stone Ogres,were armed with red crystal pickhammers, and they had the spark of intelligence drained from their eyes in classic Corrupted fashion. The Goliath, or the Corrupted Fog Giant, was huge, even by Fog Giant standards, it was so tall that it had to crouch as it looked to us and growled menacingly, it’s bone club was overgrown with the red chaos crystal. Parhael laughed maniacally before waving at us “Heyo! Almost fergot ta leave the welcoming party! Well, Ta!”

The trio of enemies split up to take on the three remaining threats to them, and laughed as they prepared to destroy us. Zinu was the first to act, he quickly ran to the archon on the left and took out his daggers, flinging them at high speed into his crystal armor, embedding them into the crystal's surface right before Marcus ran up to the archon that got the daggers, while taking out a manonic grenade. He leapt up the archons body while using the daggers as footholds, freeing them as he leapt from dagger to dagger, plunging the grenade in its mouth before springing off of the fell creature, using the archons jaw as a base board and making it bite down on the magical explosive, causing it to burst in a seething hellfire, giving Marcus the equivalent of a rocket propelled jump towards the ground, “That there’s for using us as hostages, ya punk!”

The two archons roared in pain, one missing their bottom jaw and the other limping badly, Zinu and Marcus went back to back as they readied some Bolo-bombs, Zinu levitating them in mid air, spinning them faster and faster as they orbited around the two brothers before flinging them at the archons, each of them wrapping around a limb before exploding in various elements, leaving the archons limbless and ground bound. Marcus laughed “Now that was teamwork right there!”

Zinu nodded and smiled “Brothers make the best partners.”

Tarel looked to the Goliath and growled angrily “Tarel kill dark kin! Tarel crush dark kin!” She rushed the Goliath and shoulder checked him, sending him sprawling as she tore off his helm and began to brutally stomp on his head until a loud crunch was heard, the Goliath’s body going limp.

The six mares, who had been standing guard over me and making sure none of the fighting got too close to me, cheered their victory, Pinkie Pie and RD the loudest.

I laughed weakly before breaking down into a coughing fit “That’s… not the last of ‘em… things are about to get... much worse…”

The three corpses began to crackle with red energy and float into the air, their various gore and rubble from the grunts fusing together as they formed an orb which began to rotate and pulse with power until it began to crack, crimson spider limbs sprouting from the orb as a face seemed to project to the ‘front’ of this creature, a sick amalgamation of the other creatures facial features. It was a Ghast, a horrible monster hashed together from the corpses of the Lost, pain and rage all that they will ever know.

Marcus gulped and looked to Tarel and Zinu “Welp, let’s get busy!” He then readied his rifle and went to a table, knocking it over to use as cover as Zinu ran after him, Tarel looking around for a weapon. I whistled to her and tossed her my pick hammer “Take it, I can’t fight in this condition…”

Tarel nodded and ran at the Ghast as it began to charge her, roaring in agonized rage as it fired a ball of crackling red energy at her, Tarel swatting it with my pickhammer straight back at it before clubbing it on the leg, causing it to crack slightly before Marcus took aim with his manonic rifle, charging several spells into it before firing it all together as a runic ball blast that sent him flying backward, colliding with the mares, thankfully, who grabbed him, thus preventing any harm. The Ghast, however, took a runic ball to the cracked limb, then had said limb shatter before the ball collided with his core and imploded with elemental energy, leaving a core of earth, light and fire energy, crackling somewhat with chaos. Marcus ran to the core and grabbing it before slamming it into a box identical to the one holding the castles crystals.

As the fight ended there was a second flash of light as a letter appeared in my hand. “Huh...a letter…” I opened it and handed it to Marcus, who read it aloud so that my companions and I could hear it.

“Dear Griswell and company, or more specifically Marcus and those to whom he is reading to:

We have sent you to the world of Equestria as a sort of task force, we are searching for heroes from across Faeterra to represent each of the seven races. We need these heroes to save this world, as it is key to our future plans. We will keep you posted as to key information to your quest, as of now, you may want to go to Froggy Bottom Bog. There may be a surprise for you four there.”

Marcus looked around excitedly “Wow, a whole new world! I wonder if it’s in another dimension, or just somewhere else in space, the rest of my Crew would do anything to be here with me…”

I looked to the back of the letter to find a map that leads to, presumably, Froggy Bottom Bog. I looked to my boys and newfound friend. “Well, let’s go then, eh?”

Zinu nodded and took out his daggers “I’ll protect my brother, you watch Tarel’s back.”

I nodded “Buddy system... sounds good.”

Tarel nodded silently, and headed for the door. She stopped next to it, waiting for the rest of us to go first.

RD flew in front of me and shouted “What the buck just happened!? Who were those guys?! WHY DID THEY TRY TO KILL US? AND WHY TRY TWICE?!!”

I sighed, this was going to take a while…

[One creation myth walkthrough later]

Twilight was surrounded by scroll after scroll of information as she jotted own her last notes. “Okay, this is just amazing!”

RD just looked to me in confusion “I don’t get all that mystic mumbo jumbo… but I guess I’ll let it slide, for now…”

Pinkie giggled “It sounds like this Council deserves a party!”

Twilight then paused in thought before scrunching up her nose and looking to Marcus “You are going to have to work off the damages to my castle, you do realise that, right?”

Marcus shrugged “Hey, it’s better than her having to bash her way through, what, have you never heard of opening a door for a lady? I guess good manners really are dead.”

I sighed and made a note to chastise Marcus later as I looked to Tarel and held out my hand “Would you mind steadying me, I’m afraid having lost so much magic has taken its toll…”

She looks down at me for a moment before lowering her hand for me. It’s surprisingly gentle given her size. She carefully helped me to my feet, keeping her eyes on me the whole time.

I smiled and looked to Tarel “Well, I think we should head off toward this Froggy Bottom Bog,” I then paused and looked to the six mares “Would any of you like to show us the way?”

Twilight was looking at Marcus angrily as she crossed her arms “I’ll go, but only because I owe you for saving my life. Not to help that obnoxious jerk who called me names!”

Marcus shrugged “Hey, it’s good to be a brainiac, you get to think up a lot of the stuff that defines the generations to come!”

I coughed into my hand and felt something wet coat my hand, oh by the council… not already! There was tar coating my hand, a sure sign that I was in bad shape, for the other races, this would be the equivalent of coughing up blood… I looked to my sons with dread and straightened my back “We need to go now.”

Zinu looked to me in concern as I started walking towards the swamp that we were told to seek out, following Twilight’s lead “Father? Why are you coughing up tar? Is that not your lifeblood?”

Marcus froze in his tracks for a moment before running to catch up with us “YOU HAVE BEEN COUGHING UP TAR?! HOW LONG?!”

I shushed my sons and smiled gently “There is no need to worry, if I die, then it is my time, if not, then I have further use to be to the council. Either way, I am content.”

Twilight flew over to me and looked at my tar covered hand “A-are you ok?”

I nodded “Just clearing my throat, nothing more, now how close are we?”

Twilight looked to me uncertainly before gesturing to the trees behind her “We are here… be careful, a hydra has moved in here.”

I looked to Twilight, and then to the swamp, trying to feel for a signature of the council again, while I still could, it was much more hazy almost as if I was viewing the mana with dirt in my eyes… I eventually found my way to a chest buried in the ground and pointed to it “Tarel, can you dig here? I’d use my magic, but my mana is almost… almost…” I collapsed to my knees and looked to Tarel “Please, the chest...open it…”

She nodded silently and quickly dug out the chest, flinging handfuls of swamp mud out of the way. After a minute or two she reached down and dragged a chest out of the hole. With a loud snap she opened the lid, breaking any sort of lock that had been on it.

Inside, there was a medallion with the symbol for the council on it, a triangle with squares attached at the corners as well as a pickhammer made from Divium, or the metal of the council. I reached out to the contents of the chest and the pickhammer and medallion flew to my hands. I felt my strength return as I held the amulet, and I quickly fastened it to my neck “My thanks to the council… I feel my strength returning…” I then noticed a letter attached to the pickhammer and removed it, seeing that it noted to read it aloud, I spoke as it dictated:

“Dear Griswell;

We have seen your bravery and self sacrifice, and due this we have decided to grant you a second chance at life, keep this medallion on your person at all times, as it is the only thing keeping you alive at the moment, in a few weeks you will be at full strength without it. Use this pickhammer to protect thyself, and walk in our name.

-The council”

There was a second note within the letter as well, I opened it to see that it was red ink on blue parchment

“Dearest Twilight, please do NOT inform the princesses of the council's existence, nor of that of the Lords of Decay, we are going to introduce ourselves soon, just… wait till you get another letter from me, kay? Tah!

-Raphael Zmatok

What he said, I do NOT need the panic that would cause, it would make keeping order much harder if the main populous of the world descended into panic and hysteria.

-Uriel Auftrag

P.S. They couldn’t agree on the color of the ink, so we made them compromise.

-Michael Nox and Gabriel Zivot”

I laughed as my strength returned, feeling like my most vital organ was now connected to me by a string seemed to give me a sense of levity, strangely enough. “Seems they get along as well as usual.”

Zinu nodded and chuckled “Nothing new.”

Twilights eyes twitched as she fell on her back while a goat bleat was heard “I don’t get your gods…”

Discovery

[? POV;Shores of Time]

I walked along the black, shining death sand beach, enjoying the ebb and flow of the sea of departed memories. I had sensed a presence in my realm and decided to see who had intruded into my home, only to find my brother Raphael whistling a tune I could not place as he twirled his cane, observing a clock that floated by. I walked to a freshly stopped clock and gingerly picked up the machine, death sand flowing from every crack and crevasse of it as I opened it, releasing a soul into the skies above before taking it into my cloak to give to Gabriel later as I turned to Raphael, smiling as best I could for my second favorite sibling, my first being Gabriel, whom I often play checkers with “Greetings brother, what brings you to my realm?”

Raphael stopped twirling his cane and smiled “Hello, brother of mine! Just here to remind you that you need to give your blessing to someone out of our current motley mortal crew. It’s been a few weeks, you know.”

I deadpanned, completely unamused by my brothers obvious ploy to alarm me.“You do know I am outside of times reach here, yes? I will simply go to a few days from when the four current champions met.”

Raphael nodded, the smile never leaving his lips “You do that, I’m going to go get a pint.”

As he faded from my realm, I could not help but laugh at the antics of my brother, knowing as well as anyone that we cannot get drunk. I flitted from clock to clock as I searched for a suitable candidate out of the ones sent to the land of Equestria by the Lords meddling “Hmmmm…. Who shall I send?” I spent under a millisecond looking, as I already knew exactly who I would choose, and where her clock was. A Dracovo hunter, skilled in the art of the hunt and a master of stealth, I decided that now would be a good time to tap into her thoughts and view her from the shadows, my mechanical form hidden perfectly.

A lithe form crept silently through the underbrush of the forest she mysteriously found herself waking in not two hours prior. Her crimson eyes missed nothing as they took in the nearly silent oak and birch trees. A light rain had started ten minutes ago, but the Huntress paid it no mind, save to unstring her bow lest it become useless.

She did not know how she had come to be in this place, though she suspected the work of the Lords of Decay, or simply one of their servants, the ebony scaled Dragoness was not particularly picky, nor as devout as some others of her kind to the Council. Her life was not easy, nor was it particularly carefree, but it was her life and she planned to continue it.

To do that though, she needed to eat, and the striped horse she had been following for the past hour looked to fit the bill. True, it was a strange looking horse, the way it was decorated with golden bands and even what looked like earrings, but the Dragoness was not really focused on that at the moment, she was focusing on what she needed to do to fill her empty belly.

The Huntress briefly checked the winds to ensure her quarry would not be scenting her any time soon before stepping forward again, her well oiled leather armour protecting her from the discomfort of the odd poking branch while also keeping the rain off of her. Ahead of her, she spotted her quarry, seemingly settling down for a rest in a sheltered clearing. The Huntress nodded silently to herself before drawing a long dagger from her belt, the metal of the blade darkened by smoke so as not to give away her position.

Closer she crept until she was almost within striking range. She felt the familiar surge as she prepared herself for the kill, her mind briefly flashing back to the accident in her youth that took her wings from her, forever tying her to the ground, but she suppressed the memory as she had so many times before. However, just before she made to leap, something burst on her feet, releasing a cloud of green smoke that she could not avoid breathing for a few critical seconds before she attempted to hold her breath. She was ready to advance again and track down the prey that had surly fled as a result of such strange happenings, when she found that she could not move. Her panic lasted only a moment, and she quickly regained control of her senses as the odd smoke cleared. To the Huntress’s surprise, the sight before her was not of the empty clearing she expected, but the odd horse standing calmly before her and looking curiously over her form. Yet even this odd sight paled in comparison to what happened next…

“It seems you have fallen for my little brew, but I must ask: what do I call you?” The Huntress was sure she would remain in stunned silence at this turn of events, yet she found herself answering all the same.

“My name is…Serana…” The striped horse nodded and seated itself, its various ornaments jingling a little and shining in the wetness of the light rain

“I am Zecora, a Shaman by trade, a healer who has many potions made. To heal the sick and infirm folk, I do not need to pry or poke.” The horse, Zecora, looked into the Huntress’ eyes for several long moments before speaking again. “These eyes you have Child, I have seen them before, though always on those returning from war. For a Dragon so young to look so old. May I ask what happened, or would that be too bold?”

Serana had mixed feelings about this situation, here she was, trapped by some kind of spell by the very prey she had intended to eat, and it was asking to hear of her troubled life? She didn’t enjoy talking about it at the best of times, and she considered this to be far from the best of times. What would a strange horse know about her troubles anyway? The rhyming speech was more than a little jarring as well, not to mention irritating to her ears. Even though she intended to tell this Zecora to back off when her stomach loudly reminded her just how empty it was.

“Look, just remove your stupid spell and I’ll leave you alone…I still have to hunt something up to eat before tonight…” While the Huntress attempted to keep her tone slightly more pleasant than she usually did, her normal levels of snark and the general feeling of just wanting to be left alone still, in some ways, bled through. “I don’t have the time or need for making friends…”

The horse frowned a little, but tapped her body in a few places. Suddenly she was able to move freely and thus promptly fell flat on her face.

“It is unwise to walk the Everfree alone, I am more able because I well know my home. You may possess an indomitable will, but I think it best if I sent you toward Ponyville…” Serana picked herself up quickly, but not before she heard Zecora speaking her directions to this ‘Ponyville’, in rhyme of course. It was annoying, but sadly, the Dragoness didn’t see a lot of alternative. Night was coming on and…while she might have been used to sleeping out in all manner of weather, she greatly preferred doing so with a full belly. As a result, she found herself swiftly taking the trail pointed out by her former prey and headed toward the village.

As said village finally came into sight through the thinning trees, she began looking for anything that could possibly be an inn or tavern, someplace she could hopefully get something to eat. She had just settled on the gingerbread house building as the most likely candidate and reached the outer edge of the village, when her vision filled with…pink…

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

…

‘That seems to be enough data, now, let’s see if she reacts well to me. If she hates me on sight, I may have to convince her to join the others with bribery…guh… I feel like my brother Seiver… this is why I find meddling with mortals lives distasteful…’’

I stopped time and walked through a clock face, entering the world of Equestria. I materialized right behind her and tapped her shoulder, making her capable of moving through the effects of my stop-time spell. She turned around and saw me, instantly becoming livid at the sight of me, as I expected. “You…” her voice dripped with venom as she spoke “How DARE you speak to me after what you have taken from me! ”

She tried to slap me, but her hand stopped upon making contact with my metallic cheek, her hand making a loud crunch as her bones broke, to which I sighed and waved a hand, taking her wound and bringing it upon myself, my metallic hand clanging as gears and oil fell from it, before my black sand surged and repaired the damage and retreated within me “I know you are mad at me for your loss, but mutilating yourself in the attempt to harm me will change nothing.”

Serana snarled as she looked to me, her mouth filling with flame “I would not recommend that, as my black sand will react to any offensive magic cast at me, and breathing fire counts as a spell, last time I checked the Dracovo’s magic useage.”

She growled still “And why should I listen to you? My mother thought of you as a dear friend, and look at what that brought her!

I sighed “I cannot give you back your mother, as that would disrupt the weave. But I can give you a memento of her.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, smoke leaving her nose as she looked at me “You have three seconds, then I am leaving.”

I nodded solemnly “I loved your mother, more than I loved any living being… It broke my heart when she died. I had to let her die though. My accursed brother made it so that if I did not let her die, many more would die in her stead.”

Serana grunted and just stood there a moment before she looked into my eyes, I swear it felt as if her mother was gazing back at me “You loved her?”

I nodded solemnly “With all of my being. She was the only one who did not fear me for my work, and saw that I was just doing what I existed for. If I did not do my job, then my brother would be killing mortals left and right. A mass murder campaign aimed at all things mortal. I have seen the timelines where I stopped my work, and I can NOT let that happen.”

Serana sighed, shaking her head slowly “ I don’t know why, but I believe you… Can… can you tell her I miss her?”

I sighed “I cannot go where the spirits of the departed go, but… I can give you something that was closer to her than even you.”

Serana raised an eyebrow “Oh? What exactly is that?”

I summoned her mother's clock, an intricately carved piece of work, swirls of silver, bronze and gold lining its surface, I then reached into it and felt for the piece I was looking for… that one piece that no other clock had… that made this clock unique among all others… “There…” I grabbed it, the gear that symbolized all of her mother's thoughts, beliefs, and passions…the gear that defined her as a person.

“To think, such a small piece, making such a difference…” I smiled sadly, gently removing it from the broken remains of this dead, stopped clock. I took a thread from my robe, making the gear into a single charm on her new necklace,I then removed one of my teeth, to pair this gear with a charm from me, a tooth from my beak that would gift her the ability to commune with the restless dead. “There. Take this, my friend.”

Serana eyed the necklace before looking to me before taking the necklace and eying it. “What is the catch?”

I then pressed her hands in my own in a gentle hold “ I need you to protect a certain Luperian that was sent here as well, his name is Zinu Nightrend, adopted son of Griswell Gloomhallow.”

Serana nodded slowly before looking to me with a raised eyebrow “And why would I do that?”

I chuckled lightly before sighing “Because his fate and yours are intertwined. You are Faeterran, as is he, and all Faeterrans sent here will meet eventually. I just want you to have as many people watching your back as possible.”

Serana sighed and put on the necklace as I began to fade, returning to my home in the consulate as things around me began to move again. “I will see you soon, my friend. May your dagger be sharp,”

Serana smiled “And my foes dull, I know, old hunters proverb...”

I smiled and nodded, deciding then to take the two clocks in my possession to Gabriel for reincarnation, I sighed, happy that I could give Serana this one gift at least

She then noticed me fading, and time beginning to resume its course. “Wait, where am I supposed to go to meet this guy?!”

I smiled and laughed, disappearing completely as I spoke my last directions and set time to flowing again “Just follow the pink one!”

*****************************************************************************

[POV switch, Serana]

I looked around as time started up again, seeing the pink equine fall onto her face, then look around for what I assumed was me. When she saw me, she smiled and, well, I could only really say she bounced over to me. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, who are you? I am super duper excited to meet you, and I can’t wait to bring you to my friends and-”

I gently placed my clawed hand over her mouth and spoke in a calm, clear manner “I am Serana. That is all you need to know, now please take me to see the Luperian Zinu Nightrend.”

Pinkie Pie promptly paused her prancing to look at me “ How do you know him? Is he your boyfriend~?”

I chuckled in an attempt to mask my annoyance, the nerve of this one! “No, I have only heard of him. May you take me to see him?”

Pinkie Pie shrugged and bounced towards a large crystal castle “Okie Dokie Lokie! Follow me!”

I followed her through the town as various other equines stared at me while I walked through their village, now thankful that I was stopped from hunting the Zebra, who was most likely a friend to some of these .

As I walked with her, I noticed that there was a large silhouette and two much smaller ones to either side of it in front of said castle. As we drew closer, I saw that it was a Stone Ogre Priest, a Gremlin Engineer, and a Luperian Rogue. They seemed to be talking to each other, the majority of the discussion escaping my hearing mostly due to my lack of interest in what they were saying, that is, until I noticed them mention a Fog Giants name “-seriously! How do we misplace a FOG GIANT?! She is literally 15 feet tall! Tarel! Where are you!”

I then felt the earth shake as a fog Giant, whom I assumed was Tarel, came bounding toward them, a smile adorning her face “Tarel gather food! Tarel bring meat and veggies!”

I grabbed my stomach as it rumbled hungrily, reminding me that I haven’t eaten in awhile. I walked up to them with Pinkie Pie, my mouth began watering as I smelled the meat and the veggies. Pinkie Pie bounced over to them and began talking at high speed again, much to my annoyance. “Hi everybody! This is Serana, she says she knows you! I think she might be hungry, could you share some food?”

The Gremlin nodded and walked over to me, holding out what looked like a loaf of bread stuffed with meat and cheese, literally stuffed full of it, I eagerly snatched in and ate it all as quickly as possible, not even bothering to wait for breath to return to my lungs. After I finished, I looked to him and nodded “Thank you for the food. What was it?”

The Gremlin shrugged “I got it off of a Griffon, he called it a ‘hot pocket’ whatever that is.”

I nodded slowly “Well, it tasted good, so I don’t really care.” I turned to Zinu and smiled awkwardly, as I was unused to even trying to be friendly “Hello, as you heard from the pink one, my name is Serana and-”

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

I turned quickly to see a massive explosion coming from the direction of the forest I had just left. “By Raphaels immortal liver! What was that?!”

Pinkie smiled and patted my back with her hand “Well, duh, that was an explosion, you silly… erm… dragoness.”

I winced before I looked to her angrily and spoke in an unnaturally even tone “Don’t, EVER, touch my back.”

Pinkie nodded uncertainly, unsure of what she did wrong “O-okay, serry, I won’t.”

Griswell looked to Tarel and smiled “Tarel, I need you to stay here and guard the town and the castle. If someone is using explosives, we want them as far from the civilians as possible.”

Tarel nodded and sat down with the large raw meat as she summoned some fire in her hands “tarel eat meat, so big and strong to help ponies.”

With that said, everyone started running for the Everfree Forest, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into…

POV switch, Griswell

As we entered the area that the explosion emanated from, I noticed that the woman who we had just met had come with us, but was refusing to fly, as if she didn’t even have wings. Very interesting… especially considering her not liking to be touched on the back… I must ask her about this later.

We then reached the site of the explosion to find a strange mound of red visceral ooze, I looked to it with my Krel visten, or second vision, to see that there was a luperian inside the visceral ooze. “Boys, if you would be so kind, would you please remove the person inside that… disturbing... pile of remains.”

Marcus nodded and leapt over to the gore mound and reached inside “Bluegh, smells like an outhouse in the summer… after a few weeks…”

Inside the pile, the luperian began to stir, rising from it like he was waking up from a nap. “Ugh, must of passed out,” it said, looking around at us. “You all weren't here a minute ago, am I still on Faeterra? Things got a little fuzzy for a second,” he said, as he stood up showing his fur to be charred and blackened, along with most of his clothing.

Zinus eyes widened and he leapt to Marcus, grabbing him and carrying him back to our group “Fire, dangerous!”

As soon as he heard those words, the charred luperian laughed. “Well of course fire is dangerous, but then again so many things are,” he smiled and started to walk toward our group. “Now, if you said I was dangerous. I’d be forced to agree with you.”

Pinkie hopped up and smiled “Hiya kenny! Would you like to make some s'mores with me! We could have a camp party right here!”

He smiled at her, “I love parties, we could burn some trees, make a nice big ole forest fire, and cook some,” he looked back to the pile he climbed out of, “of… uh... Whatever that is. It’ll be a grand time, and do you know the best part?”

Pinkie Pie raised her hand “OOH! We can have quesadillas without Twilight screaming?”

“NO! The main course is already here!” he laughed, as he began to gather flames in his hands, that began to spread to the rest of his body, only for Pinkie Pie to pull out a fire extinguisher.

“I’ve got you, Kenny! Don’t worry!” She screamed as she began to put out the fires, and he began to try to escape her, only for her to give chase.

Serana looked blankly to me as I looked to her in an awkward glance “Well… I guess we should tell her about this ‘Kenny’ before she gets herself hurt?”

I nodded slowly “Erm… yes, I do think we should. But… I am rather scared to get between them..."

Marcus gestures to the comedic scene behind him, still being held by Zinu “What’s so bad about him? Also,” He smacked Zinu upside the back of the head “PUT ME DOWN, DAMN IT!”

Just as Zinu put down Marcus, I stepped between him and this… this psychopath. “That is an ancient Luperian gifted with power over fire, his true name long lost to history, now known only as the Forsaken.” I sighed sadly “His history is a mystery to all but the gods… but from what I could gather from his eyes, it still eats at his very soul.”

Marcus laughed in a humorous manner. “Hey, you just rhymed!”

I glared at my son, annoyed with him to a great extent. “Did you listen to what we were saying at all?”

Marcus shook his head “Nope! Was thinking about Golem designs!”

“I was listening, I love storytime,” said the Forsaken standing right behind us.

“Me, too! Can we hear another?” Pinkie Pie said “Maybe about how you met your kids? I’d like to hear that one!”

“But first, introductions are in order, you obviously know me, yet I have no idea who any of you, delicious looking morsels, are,” he said with a vicious look in his eye.

I looked to him and readied my pick-hammer “If you try to eat either of my beloved sons, I will not hesitate to strike you, powers or no.”

He laughed as soon as the words left my mouth, “I wouldn’t dream of it, they both look rather scrawny. Are you sure you're feeding them well?” He turned his head to Serana, “I would prefer to start with her,” he said licking his lips.

Serana readied her knives and growled threateningly “Don’t even try it, fluffy.”

“Wait! I just realized, I lost my staff.” He started digging in his pockets as if expecting it to be there, even though it was on his back, before running through us, before I could even blink, and began to dig through the pile he emerged from. “I knew it was here somewhere.”

Pinkie Pie walks over to us and sprays what looks like whipped cream from the fire extinguisher and eats it “Mmmm! So what did I miss?” She looked to the forsaken and smiled “Hi kenny! What are you doing in that slimy icky sticky stuff?”

“I know it has to be here somewhere,” he said standing while still looking to the pile, when he went to scratch the back of his head, only to feel it there behind him. “Why is it that whenever I lose you, you’re always the last place I check?” he asked his staff as if expecting an answer.

Pinkie pie giggled “How else would the comic relief work?”

Marcus thought a moment “With slapstick comedy?”

Pinkie shook her head “No, it’s no fun if somepony gets hurt.”

This caused the Forsaken to start laughing, “I think it’s only funny after someone gets hurt. Here I’ll show you!” He suddenly began conjure a barrage of fireballs, before launching them at us.

Marcus was the first to be attacked, he responded by taking out his pistol and firing at the fireball, slowing it down until it came to a complete stop and began to shrink until it was about the size of an apple, and it then crystallized, before he quickly grabbed it and tossed it in a box at his belt. “You don’t have a chance against Gremlin tech!”

“Well this just calls for more fire!” He yelled before engulfing himself in flames, that spread to the grass and trees around him.

Zinu was the next to act, lifting the murky swamp water over the forsaken and dropping it on him with his telekinesis “No wildfires.”

Serana, too busy dodging the barrage of fireballs to attack, huffed angrily “I really wish I didn’t breathe fire right now!”

I, meanwhile, was trying to block the fireballs, thankful for the protective enchantments on my suit as I grabbed a Fireball and threw it back at the Forsaken “May The councils light purify thee!” I then raised my pick hammer aloft and pointed it above him, raining the council’s purifying light shower down onto him as he was busy with my son Zinu.

As soon as the light hit him, his fur began to smoke, causing the water that was dropped on him to turn to steam. Then lunged forward grabbing Marcus by his head, holding him aloft.

“I’m beginning to grow tired of this, and I don’t even know who you are. Oh well,” he said in a low voice before throwing Marcus into Pinkie Pie, causing him to land on her, his lips connecting with hers in an accidental kiss… oh my, I do believe that was his first kiss… I must say I feel bad for him, he has never even gone on a date with her!

“Now, for the fun part, you ask for your gods to help, I may as well do the same.” He struck his staff upon the ground, creating a massive summoning circle. Out of which rose the largest krugog, I’ve ever seen. “Let’s see how you handle this!” the Forsaken yelled before he began to walking away into the forest.

Zinu’s eyes widened in shock before he grabbed the crystallized fire from Marcus’s belt, Marcus himself in a daze and blushing while babbling incoherently, he then threw the crystal at the krugog, which bit into the crystal and caused an explosion that seemed to have absolutely NO effect aside from making the already fuming beast further enraged.

I looked to everyone and sighed taking out a scroll I had hoped not to have to use at this moment “Kingmakers bridge! I call upon thee, take us to the safe haven of Ponyville, away from this foul creature!” I then threw the scroll and it formed a blue divium archway that I gestured to frantically “RUN! NOW!” As everyone walked through the archway, me the last to cross, I looked to my sons and smiled as Zinu carried a blushing Pinkie Pie into the other side of the gate alongside a babbling Marcus, I sighed and looked to the gate “Here goes the one chance of us going home…” I walked through and followed them, the bridge disappearing behind me as I walked. “Council damn thee, Forsaken of Parhael.”