Final Fantasy: Zack's second chance

Chapters

Chapter 1: What Friendship And Magic Can Do
Chapter 2: The SOLDIER meets the Wonderbolts
Chapter 3: A Night Out
Chapter 4: Palace of White Stone
Chapter 5: Under Siege pt.1- Meet and Greet
Chapter 6: A Revealing and Revalations
Chapter 7: A New Job
Chapter 8: Matters of Heart pt.1- Scars and Memories
Chapter 8: Matters of Heart pt.2- Confessions
Chapter 9: The Freeing of Chaos
Chapter 10: Playing with Fire
Chapter 11: A Mutual Understanding
Chapter 12: To Burn the Sky
Chapter 13: Reminiscing before the Storm
Chapter 14: And thus the horizon Darkened
Chapter 15: The Demon Inside of Me (pre-read, unedited)
Prologue: To Wish Upon A Star
Chapter 5: Under Siege pt.2- The Might of SOLDIER

Chapter 1: What Friendship And Magic Can Do

“You heard me,” Spitfire smirked with amusement, most likely at Zack’s expression of total and utter confusion. “I wished you here.”

“I… you… wish… you know what, just forget about it,” Zack growled at last, peering over the edge of their cloud. “I’ll think this whole thing over later… by the way, we should probably get down from here.”

“Awwww! Come on, you know you like being up here alone with me,” Spitfire teased, prompting Zack to once again groan and rub his temples in frustration; sure she was only drunk, but she was still starting to get really annoying.

In the last seven minutes or so she had done nothing but confuse him, and make his headache worse, but Zack knew it would be more than unwise to simply leave her high in the clouds in such a drunken state. The last thing he wanted to hear was that she’d rolled off during the night, and promptly plummeted to her death.

Hence, without saying another word, he briskly picked up the intoxicated pegasus and slung her over his shoulder, ignoring her hysterical laughs that were now ringing in his ears.

“I guess you’re a stallion who likes to take the lead then huh?”

Zack did nothing more than role his eyes and sigh at the statement.

“Just do me a favour,” he said firmly, casting a glance back at the grinning pony. “Be quiet, hold on, and try not to freak the hell out.”

“Do I look like a foal to you?” was the amused snort of a reply. “Nothing can scare me.”

“Yeah right,” Zack muttered with a shake of his head.

Then, taking a firm grip of Spitfire, and taking a final breath in, he sprinted forward and jumped from the cloud.

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Anyone who had ever seen a SOLDIER fight would have sworn they defied the laws of nature when they moved through the air. Zack, however, humoursly preferred to see it more of as an extreme bending of the law, rather than a breaking of it.

None the less, it was still a remarkable spectacle to behold as the black haired SOLDIER leapt between the clouds at extreme speed, making his way down toward the city below him... with a hysterical pegasus over his shoulder, no less. What amazed him the most, however, was that Spitfire wasn’t freaking out, but rather still laughing hysterically, which despite how annoying she was did eventually bring a small grin to his face.

He soon landed with a cushioned thud on the pavement, or what he guessed was supposed to be the pavement anyway; it was a little hard to tell what was street and what was someone’s front yard, given that everything in sight was made of the same white cloud.

Slowly, and as gently as possible, he removed Spitfire from his shoulder and set her down, the golden mare still in fits of drunken giggles from the ride down.

“Wow that was fun… we should do it again sometime.”

It was then Zack finally gave in and snapped, losing all control of himself as he broke down into uncontrollable laughter, right alongside the cider intoxicated pegasus.

“Spitfire… you… are… just… plain… crazy,” he somehow managed to get out before falling over onto his back beside her, sinking a few millimetres into the soft cloud as he laughed.

For a few moments he just lay there beneath the stars, trying to gather his thoughts; he had to admit it felt good to be happy after everything that had happened, his 'death' and all, and the fact he was laughing alone with someone else made it all the better, even if he barely knew what she was.

It felt like the day he'd befriended Cloud, laughing and mocking each other's hometowns like old friends.

Once he had fairly much regained himself, he sighed and looked up at the heavens, silently wondering how he had ended up in a place such as this one... although considering he should’ve been dead, he didn’t regret it in the slightest.

“Hey Zack, you coming or what?”

Zack looked over to see Spitfire was already standing a short distance away with her tail to him, smiling and indicating that although it had been fun, she was ready to go somewhere else.

“Um, where exactly is that you plan on taking me?” he asked as he got to his feet, shaking his mass of black hair to dislodge any cloud had become stuck in it.

“Well, considering you made me leave my cloud, I now need to find another place to sleep… so I guess my hotel room would be a good start.”

“Are you sure about th…”

“Oh come on you,” she laughed with a shake of her head, her elegant mane dancing from side to side like tongues of flame. “I brought you into this world didn’t I? What kind of friend would I be if I just left you out here?”

Zack bit his lip and stroked his chin for a moment; admittedly, the idea of sleeping outside wasn’t a good one, and his honour was telling him letting Spitfire walk back to her hotel room alone and drunk was a bad plan as well... still, he felt a little uneasy about the whole proposition.

But she had called him ‘friend’, which despite barley knowing her still meant he had a duty to look out for her all the same, lest he forsake one of Angeal's golden rules.

“Alright, wait up,” he said at last, leaping forward and clearing the ten meter gap between them in a single jump, landing softly right beside the awaiting golden pegasus mare. "Has this all even sunk in for her yet? Eh, probably not."

The walk back to her hotel was spent predominantly in peaceful silence as Zack observed his new surroundings; literally everything he laid his eyes on was made of white and light blue cloud, from houses, to benches, to the occasional street lamp they passed. Every so often the two would come across a random pegasus, who would stand and silently gawk at Zack, they usually, however, kept walking when he threw a dangerous smile at them, and reached up and grasped the hilt of Angeal’s Buster Sword.

It seemed that the fear of sharp metal things was universal.

The fact he still somehow had it was unrelentingly screwing with his mind; he clearly remembered Cloud lifting it from him, and yet it was still in his possession, which didn’t make any sense... but then again, the fact he was even alive didn’t make sense either.

Ugh, one headache was enough for now.

“Hey Zack,” Spitfire jutted in gently halfway through one his ponderings. “Can I ask you something?”

He glanced down and saw her eyes looking up into his own blue ones, a soft expression on her face. “Sure.”

“You’re not… angry… are you?” she asked quietly. “About me bringing you here and all. I never intended for anything bad to happen.”

Zack lowered a hand and placed it gently on the young mare's golden shoulder, a smile growing on his face as he spoke and pulled her in gently against his leg. He could see she was sorry for any harm done, if there was any, but in truth he couldn’t bring himself to disdain her in any way.

“Spitfire, this is going to sound absolutely insane, but... I'm pretty sure I basically died in my own world... if that makes any sense... so if anything I should be thanking you for bringing me... well, here… because realistically you’re the reason I’m alive. So no, I’m not angry. Am I confused? Yes, do I feel somewhat out of place? Yeah, a lot, am I angry about it? Hell no.”

She said no more but settled into a quiet happy mood, and since she seemed to enjoy the feeling of having his hand on her shoulder, Zack left it there as they walked. He had to admit she was no longer the annoying drunken pegasus he had woken up next to earlier, what exactly she was now, however, he wasn’t entirely sure, perhaps he did see her as a friend after all.

"I swear Angeal would be laughing his head off if he could see me now."

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“Well, welcome home Zack,” Spitfire said happily as she at last managed to release the lock and push the door open, taking a quick glance over her shoulder at her SOLDIER guest. “Well… home for a few days anyway.”

Zack was forced to duck through the doorway to get in. Once inside though, he was glad to find the ceiling was just high enough for him to stand upright, something which surprised him given he was just over six foot. Running his fingers over the walls, and eyes around the room, he noted literally everything was made of shaped cloud, even the dresser that sat in the room’s far corner, and even its own sliding draws, were made of the fluffy white substance.

The room itself was quite spacious given there were apparently only two occupants, plus it seemed all things basic luxury had been included as well. A walk-in wardrobe sat on the right side of the room, beside another door which presumably led to a bathroom of sorts, a four draw dresser sat in the far right corner along with a bookshelf, bar fridge, desk, and a balcony overlooking downtown Cloudsdale even splayed out on the opposite side of the room.

Two large beds lined the room’s left wall; both were as he had half expected made of cloud, including the blankets and pillows. The only things he noted that weren’t made of cloud was a mirror, and the occasional golden wall light, which for some reason seemed to run without any source of power.

“I take it you share the room,” he remarked with a curious glance at Spitfire, inclining his head to the room’s second bed, which had obviously been slept in.

Spitfire dimmed the lights in ready for sleep, and then snorted, sighed, and rubbed her face with her hoof before answering.

“Yeah… you’d think being as a professional athlete would get the managers here to at least let you have your own room,” She grunted distastefully with a shake of her head. “I’m sharing with Soarin, who you’ll probably hear come in later with a mare he picked up at the bar… and he’ll also be drunker then I am too, just so you know.”

“He doesn’t sound like the most honourable or trustable of friends,” Zack replied dryly, tearing his eyes from the window and the city beyond. “I’m surprised you’d get along.”

“We don’t get along!” she snapped, a surprising amount of anger in her voice. “Personally I can’t tolerate him in the slightest sometimes, but unfortunately we’re team mates, so I have no choice but to put up with his horseapples... ugh… look Zack... I’m sorry I’m cranky, but he really got on my nerves tonight, plus I need some sleep. I think I had too much to drink earlier.”

Zack silently rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the floor of the now dimly lit room, trying to avoid her gaze and potential wrath; it was predominately covered in empty bottles of alcohol, and the occasional food wrapper.

Then, however, his eyes fell on a striking blue piece of clothing, which he promptly bent down and picked up. Spreading the soft fabric out in his fingers he noted the striking golden lightning bolts that crossed it.

“You don’t seem very intoxicated anymore… by the way, this yours?” he asked curiously, holding it up.

“Yeah that’s mine,” she yawned with a flick of her tail as she walked past him, jumping up on her bed and once again getting ready for sleep. “I wear it when I’m performing or need to be in the public spotlig… hey, are your eyes glowing?”

Zack took a glance over at the mirror, and saw her statement was true. In the dim light of the room his blue eyes were just about acting like tiny blue glimmering torches.

“It’s just a side effect of mako exposure and being a SOLDIER,” he sighed, first replacing her uniform on the dresser before reaching over his back and removing the weight of his Buster Sword, turning the massive metal blade over in his hands a few times as he sat down on the end of her bed.

Looking down he saw his own reflection in the glistening silvery metal; his facial features other than his eyes looked completely like that of an ordinary everyday human... the same, ordinary human he once was before SOLDIER. For a sad moment he looked over everyone he had now left behind, and subsequently would never see again, their individual memories reflected in the blade that had known them just as well as he had; Cloud was now lost and on his own, Aerith would never be able to see him again, and his days of doing SOLDIER work with his comrades were over... in truth, he'd never before felt so alone.

It dawned on him that in a way he understood why perhaps Sephiroth had gone mad when he discovered what he truly was; he himself was after all now in a similar position, trapped in a world where he was the only one of his kind.

“But I am not like him,” Zack murmured, running a gloved finger along the edge of the mighty blade. “And I swear I never will be.”

Something soft came up and rested on Zack’s shoulder; with a look over his back he saw Spitfire sitting on the bed next to him, with a hoof now resting gently on his arm. Even with the darkness he could see an expression of what looked like sympathy on her golden face, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she looked between him and the sword.

“Sorry for asking… but from the way your looking at it... I take it that thing wasn’t always yours then huh? Belonged to someone who meant a lot to you?”

Zack shook his head and returned his eyes to the blade, pulling the sword slowly back so the cold metal lay flat against his forehead while he spoke.

“It belonged to my mentor and close friend, Angeal… before he died that is. This may sound strange, Spitfire, but I shouldn’t have this thing. I gave it to someone else before you brought me here, so I just can’t understand why it’s still in my possession. I’m not saying that I’m not happy about having it, in fact I’m glad, but I just don’t know how it’s even possible.”

Spitfire was silent for a few moments, trying her best to come up with a logical reasoning, which wasn’t exactly easy given her state of mind. She had never been one to pay any attention to magic, she wasn’t a unicorn after all, but she wanted to at least try and help her new friend.

“I think… I can give you a rough idea, Zack, now look at me,” she said gently, sliding back in the bed a little as he turned around and faced her directly, kneeling with his hands on his thighs in front of her and blade across his lap. “I don’t know about your world… but just about everything in our world is based around what we know as the magic of friendship. Again... I-I don’t know what your world was like, but friendship between ponies here is more than just an acknowledgement of our feelings for one another; friendship in Equestria is like the giving of a small piece of yourself to somepony else to love and cherish, like you become a part of them and they become a part of you. When your friend Angeal gave you that… sword… it was like he gave you a piece of himself Zack, something to remember him and his friendship by… which became part of you just like he was.”

“So when you called me into this world,” Zack put in, looking down and wrapping his fingers around the blade’s grip. “Because this sword was… part of me… in a sense, because of my friendship with Angeal… it got pulled into your world with me?”

She nodded to show her affirmation while Zack ran his eyes over the weapon.

“But Spitfire… I gave this to Cloud to remember me by,” Zack went on, his blue eyes rising from the blade to meet her gold ones again. “As a symbol of our friendship... I guess... so it wasn’t really mine anymore.”

“Zack, this probably isn’t the sword you gave your friend… look at it closely, this is sword Angeal gave you, and not the one you gave your friend Cloud,”

Now even more confused Zack looked down at the blade closely, running his fingers and eyes together over the blade as he tried to make sense of what she was saying. It was then his heart nearly stopped when he realized something, the blade literally was the same one Angeal had given him; Zack remembered exactly what the sword had looked like the day he had received it, memorizing every scratch it had bared when it came into his possession as Angeal passed into the Lifestream.

The sword that sat in his hands had every scratch the one Angeal had given him did, but this one had no more, none from his fights with Sephiroth, Genesis, the clones, or the Shinra soldiers. It was an exact version of the sword Angeal had given him right after Zack had fought and bested him.

It finally dawned on Zack that the sword he now possessed was not the one he had given to Cloud, but the one Angeal had gifted to him with his dying breaths.

“But... how?”

“The magic of friendship is something nopony truly understands, Zack,” Spitfire said gently, leaning forward and placing a soft hoof over his hand. “So it’s best not to question it… but I know it can do things beyond one’s wildest dreams, and bringing you here was a perfect example.”

For the first time since Zack had entered the room a smile crossed his face, his glowing blue eyes leaving the sword and meeting Spitfire’s soft gold ones. He still wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about this strange new world, but at least things were for the time being looking somewhat positive.

The peace between the two of them, however, was suddenly broken by a surprisingly loud slamming open of the door, and a moment later they both looked over to see two drunken pegasus ponies stumble inside to join them. Both were laughing hysterically between intimate kisses and wandering hooves, still one managed to kick the door shut behind them as they stumbled across the room together, oblivious to the fact they were being watched.

Spitfire gave out an annoyed groan at the sight to show her frustration, and that was enough for the SOLDIER to go on. In a mere instant, Zack was off the bed with his blade up, floating the silver edge out forward so the tumbling pair met the cold flat of the sword as they fell towards the bed.

“Hey! What the buck Spitfi…” snapped a blue pegasus as he felt the cold edge lay against his shoulder, his slurred male voice trailing off as he was met by a set of angry glowing blue eyes.

The grey mare was obviously drunk to say the least, but she still managed to go ridged and freeze on the spot as her own eyes fell on Zack, and then his rather massive sword. Neither said a thing for a few moments, but just traded looks with each other, and the strange creature that was for some reason in Soarin’s hotel room.

Eventually though, the blue stallion saw Spitfire sitting on her own bed and biting her lip.

“Spitfire… who’s this?” he snorted angrily, his eyes flashing between her, and then Zack, and finally back again.

“Name's Zack Fair, SOLDIER,” Zack replied coldly, slowly removing his sword from Soarin’s flesh before setting his glowing eyes on the frightened grey mare. “I suggest you go home now.”

The mare was out the door before anypony could even blink; Soarin, for his part, looked down right pissed off, and made it clear by glaring at Zack as he slowly replaced his sword over his back.

While the two males stared off Spitfire silently bit her hoof nervously, hoping to Celestia that bringing Zack back to her hotel room wouldn’t be the reason her vice-captain got brutally killed.

“You wanna t-tell me… why… y-you just ruined my n-night?” He slurred, taking a stumbling step toward Zack who just huffed in reply, looking down at the drunken blue pegasus with dislike.

“Because, while I’m around you will act with some level of honour, Soarin… which means not taking advantage of someone who’s drunk,” Zack replied firmly as he turned and returned to the end of Spitfire’s bed, his gaze then returning to Soarin who was yet to move as he sat down. “And I’m going to be around for a while, so you better get used to it if you want to stay in one piece.”

Soarin gave an amused drunken snort and looked over at Spitfire, who was at that point halfway through yawning and crawling into the comfort of her own cloud bed.

“You can’t be serious right. Spitfire, where the hay did you meet this… whatever he is?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow at training when you’re sober, Soarin,” Spitfire sighed as she rubbed her forehead and pulled up the blankets, heavy eyes telling her that she needed sleep, and fast. “It’s a long and complicated story to say the least... but yes, Zack will be around us for quite a while.”

Soarin gave another angry snort and glared at Zack again to show his hatred of the fact, but at last, much to Spitfire’s relief, he dropped the subject and retreated to his own bed; with the copious amounts of alcohol in his system the stallion was fast asleep in pretty much under a minute, the tension that had filled the room being replaced by his loud snoring.

Zack wasn’t exactly sure what to think of the blue stallion yet as he eyed him, but the prospect of sleep was beginning to nag at the veteran SOLDIER, and Soarin’s snores were only seconding that idea. Hence, with a little effort, he cleared the patch of floor beside Spitfire’s bed of any rubbish and quietly lay down next to her, the cloud floor just as comfortable as the mattress he had been on a moment earlier.

Gently, he laid Angeal’s sword at his side, peacefully knowing now that he was meant to have it after all.

“Thanks for taking care of that… I know he’s a pain” Spitfire sighed, at last as she looked down at Zack again, her head gently resting on her cloud pillow as she flicked her eyes at Soarin. “But you’ll get used to him, eventually,”

Zack cracked a small smile as he looked back up at her.

“Yeah… eventually… anyway, night.”

Even though there was only a tiny amount of light left in the room, Zack could clearly see the young mare’s face brighten with a toothy grin.

“Good night, Zack.”
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Notes:

For those of you who haven’t played Crisis Core, Zack’s mentor Angeal taught him a lot about the importance of one’s honour, and hence Zack sees it as a very important life trait. Soarin in just about all the fics I’ve read that include him is depicted as very dishonourable when it comes to mares, hence the reason for their current dislike of each other.

Chapter 2: The SOLDIER meets the Wonderbolts

“So... what exactly do you and your team do?” Zack asked as the two of them walked, stretching his arms above his head to get the blood flowing.

The action prompting a grin from Spitfire. “We’re mostly aerial performers, so we do mid-air stunts and those kinds of things,” was her reply, nodding to the massive cloud stadium they were approaching. “Although we’re also slightly involved with the Equestrian military... but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Zack simply smirked and lowered his arms, his eyes taking a glance down and admiring the design of Spitfire’s uniform. It wasn't anything like those of SOLDIER, but it still spoke of skill and authority.

As they came to the main entrance, Zack noted two armored pegasi guards on either side of the door, both with stunning white coats, golden plates, and sharp blue eyes... which instantly locked on Zack as he and Spitfire approached.

“He’s with me, guys,” Spitfire offered, gaining only a single nod from the guards in acknowledgement.

Once they were a decent distance down the stadium entrance passage, Zack flicked his gaze over his shoulder, eyeing the shadows of the guards that laced the doorway. He admitted they looked dependable enough for guard duties, although how they would fare in a proper war he wasn’t so sure, they had after all just let a none-equine creature walk past them without a question or second thought.

“So those are Equestria's mainstream military then?”

“Eh, yeah, pretty much, but the Cloudsdale guard aren’t anywhere near as well trained their royal guards are,” Spitfire shrugged without breaking stride, flicking her mane as she took the lead in front of Zack. “We only keep them around so fans don’t come and disrupt our training.”

Zack simply smirked and released his grip on his sword; this strange world of talking ponies was truly one of peace and tranquillity by all accounts.

Eventually he and Spitfire emerged into the massive expanse that was Cloudsdale stadium, the brilliant white cloud structure impressive even by Zack’s terms. Most of the stadium's centre was empty of anything; it was, to put it bluntly, more or less a giant hole in the cloud which was rimmed with the ten meter or so wide ring. The empty space did however contain what looked like obstacles and training tools, including hoop shaped clouds, curving cloud tunnels, and what looked to be markers.

“This is where we individually work on our speed and dexterity… but I wouldn’t expect too much today, since we’re all pretty hung over,” Spitfire explained with a grin, nodding towards the various floating cloud arrangements. “Our routines we usually practise together as a team in open sky.”

“Good old training,” Zack said with an amused smirk. “Nothing like it to leave you feeling sore and strained.”

Spitfire lost her composure for a second and let out a rather filly-like giggle. “We try not to work ourselves to the point of pain, just because we perform so often; we’re actually performing at the Grand Galloping Gala in a week and a half.”

Zack raised a curios eyebrow at the name.

“It’s a royal gala the princesses put on every year,” she went on, her eyes suddenly darting to the opposite side of the field. The other Wonderbolts were already gathering and chatting. “I’ll explain the details a little later on… you wanna come meet the decent members of my team?”

“Sure,” Zack smirked.

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As they had both expected, everypony stopped talking and locked their eyes on Zack as the two of them approached the huddled group... although Zack wasn’t sure if they were looking at him, or rather his sword.

Most of the group were wearing the same uniform as Spitfire, except for one storm cloud grey stallion, who was instead simply wearing a green cap and nothing more.

“Uh… morning guys,” Spitfire started, immediately drawing the attention, that had been on Zack, to her. “This is my friend Zack Fair, he’s knew around here and I’m housing him… so for the time being he’s part of the team in a way, alright.”

“Spitfire’s bodyguard I guess you could say,” Zack put in with a quick dose of quick improvisation, folding his arms over his chest. “I’m a former member of SOLDIER, a group of human-jenova elite shadow units who fight for Shinra.”

With a quick glance down Zack saw Spitfire grinning up at him, clearly impressed at his quick thinking.

Naturally, every other pegasus in the group just looked blankly at him and each other with utter confusion, none of them knowing anything about what humans were, let alone jenova or Shinra.

Eventually, however, before either Zack or Spitfire could talk again, the grey stallion stalked forward from the cluster of ponies, running his gaze over Zack’s hulking form like Angeal had done when he had been a new recruit.

“Well, I’m Coach Stormwing… and just to say it now, I ain’t ever seen anything like ya before Zack,” the stallion remarked dryly as he walked in circles around the SOLDIER. “Look like some hairless minotaur to me... but... if you’re a friend of Spitfire’s, I guess…”

An annoyed snort from a certain blue stallion suddenly turned the conversation his way; it was rather obvious to Spitfire that Soarin was yet to recover from his dislike of Zack from the night before.

“Do we really need him around coach?” Soarin grumbled. "he's probably gonna scare off the fans."

“You know, you're attitude could use an adjustment,” Zack said flatly, returning his glare.

“Alright you two, that's enough,”

The tension between the two of them died a little when Spitfire stalked over, looking far from pleased with either of them.

Grudgingly, Zack backed off, and Soarin did the same. Neither said so much as a word to each other, but rather traded glares of disdain, the rest of the Wonderbolts not entirely sure if they wanted to stay around the two enemies for much longer.

“Alright you lot,” Stormwing cut in at last. “You’ve all got training exercises to do so get up there! And Soarin, that includes you.”

In an instant the other Wonderbolts were up and away, or rather as far away from Zack and Soarin as possible. After a few more moments of glaring, the blue stallion at last gave in to his coach’s words, and with a final sneer joined his teammates, leaving Zack, Spitfire, and Stormwing on their own.

“Uh… he really has a nerve sometimes,” Spitfire snorted, casting an annoyed glare up at her vice-captain as he began a set of sprints. “Sorry about that, Zack.”

“It’s not your fault,” Zack shrugged in reply. “Sorry about getting wound up in front of your team.”

“Soarin’s the lead stallion in this team, Zack, has been since he got promoted to vice-captain couple years back by my predecessor, so it might take some time for him to get used to you. Don't get me wrong, he's a good kid and a good flyer, just... a bit hard-headed.” Stormwing chuckled from behind them, causing Spitfire and Zack to turn and face his aged face. “Personally, I’m kind of glad there’s somepony around who can knock some sense into him for once.”

Zack smiled at Stormwing, guessing that if Angeal had somehow been reincarnated as a stallion, then Zack was pretty sure he was looking straight at him.

With a final smile, Spitfire left the two males to themselves and flew off, the veteran SOLDIER watching her go and suddenly feeling strangely like a fish out of water.

“She’s a good girl too, that one,” Stormwing chuckled, his deep voice tearing Zack’s gaze away from the mare to find the old stallion was staring at him. “So tell me, Zack, what exactly can you do?”

The question caught Zack somewhat off guard, causing him to unintentionally reach back and scratch his neck.

“Well I can fight to say the least… why do you ask?”

“Because I only let the best of the best on my team, kid, so if you’re going to be travelling around with us, and introducing yourself as our captain’s bodyguard, I need to know you’re worth the extra expense and attention. I don’t have anything against you Zack, so don’t take it personally or anything, but if you want to be associated with us in any way I need to make sure you’re something worth being proud of, we don’t let just anypony hang around with us Wonderbolts.”

If it were anyone or anypony else they probably would have felt insulted by the stern words, but not Zack, if anything he felt excited. Stormwing was putting forward a challenge to see what he could do.

“You want to see what I can do?” Zack grinned wickedly, reaching back and removing his blade with a light metallic 'ting'. “Alright… but I’ll need a few targets.”

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“You sure you want all these?” Stormwing asked, inclining his head to the six clouds he had prepared. They were arranged in front of them around the stadium, all floating two meters or so above the cloud floor, and spaced roughly ten meters apart.

“You asked to see what I’m capable of,” Zack replied with a smirk, his Buster Sword firmly grasped in his hands. “So sit back and enjoy the show.”

The aged stallion sat on his hinds and went quiet, the signal Zack guessed for him to start.

In a flash, Zack was running forward, the SOLDIER covering the ground between him and the cloud in a matter of seconds, a feat made easy by his superhuman hybrid speed. As he neared the first cloud he swung his blade far out in ready, two words filling his mind as he channelled the energy through him and into his blade.

“Firaga blade!”

As the two words took over his mind, the blade of his sword ignited. Shifting his weight, Zack swung the weapon in an arc through the cloud without breaking stride, the curving motion leaving a momentary trail of red fire in its place as the fluffy white target was vaporized.

The next two clouds he rapidly cut down in a similar brilliant fashion, only with the first he used Thundaga blade, and the second Blast wave.

As he approached the fourth cloud he decided it was time to start showing off a little bit; in the space of a heartbeat he drew on his SOLDIER skills and summoned an orange aura of power around himself. Coming within striking distance of the cloud, he unleashed his Chain Slash, performing a flurry of lethal sword strikes on the cloud in less time than it took his grey stallion observer to blink.

With power now surging through every cell in his body, Zack moved onto his second last target, bringing forth the devastating technique he had gained from Sephiroth, the Octaslash. Faster than any normal creature could realize what they were seeing, the SOLDIER delivered seven swift sword strikes to the cloud followed by a massive downstrike, resulting in the sixteen equally sized fragments floating off in individual directions.

Now only one target remained, and now it was truly Zack’s time to shine. The amount of pure power surging through his veins was unbelievable, and he wasn’t about to waste it on some standard, unimpressive technique.

Lining himself up perfectly, and with a quick glance to make sure the area was clear, Zack jumped into the air, encased in an orange aura of power as he hurtled upwards to the maximum height of the cloud stadium, the voice of his best friend Cloud ringing in his mind.

"The power of SOLDIER."

“All right, here comes the big one!”

Then, sending every last ounce of energy into his blade, Zack swung it in a mighty arc, unleashing a barrage of destructive flaming hell with the motion. A moment later, a chores of explosions filled the stadium and shook the entire structure on its foundations.

Once the flames and smoke had cleared there was no longer anything left of the cloud, plus it was evident Zack had also created a rather large hole it the stadiums rim as well. With ease the SOLDIER landed, and quickly went to admire his handy work, looking over the new hole's edge at the green world that lay below.

“Wonder if I woke anyone up down there?” he chuckled to himself, turning around and coming face to face with a rather unusual sight.

The now landed Wonderbolts and Stormwing were all standing a short distance away, all of them slack jawed as they tried to understand how Zack had, with apparent minimal effort, just summoned a rain of meteors... all of them except a certain unimpressed blue stallion, that was. Eventually, Spitfire slowly trotted over and joined him at the rim of the hole, looking cautiously between him and the cloud crater from behind her flight goggles.

“Um… what exactly did you just do?”

“It’s a skill called Meteor Shots,” Zack replied simply with a small shrug, his might blade still grasped in his left hand. “It’s a good technique for dealing with clusters of non-flying enemies.”

Spitfire was silent for a few moments before replying.

“Ok, so let me get this straight,” she said, pulling her goggles free of her golden eyes and pushing them up to her ears. “You just casually jumped forty meters into the air, and threw down a volley of meteors?”

Zack just grinned and cracked his knuckled, feeling a little embarrassed under her unfaltering gaze.

“Yeah… I guess I did.”

For a moment the pegasus was completely silent again, and then a massive grin spread across her face as she shook her head in amusement.

“Well, I gotta give it to ya Zack, that’s... pretty impressive, not to mention it was bucking awesome to watch if I do say so myself… so what do you reckon coach, can he stay?”

The two of them broke into chuckles before looking back at Stormwing with inquiring glances, and as it were, so did every other member of the blue uniformed team, all wondering the same obvious thing. For a moment the old stallion did nothing more than bite his lip, before he at last let out a sigh and answered.

“Alright Spitfire, he can stay and be your bodyguard… but for the sake of Celestia's royal plot, make sure he doesn’t go destroying anything else!”

Zack went to thank him for his generosity, before he got the chance, however, he found himself locked in a tight embrace by Spitfire, the golden mare having her hooves wrapped affectionately around his torso while she laughed happily. In reply Zack just grinned, shook his head and hugged her back, thanking the goddess he had a friend like her in this strange new world.

“Well it seems you won’t be getting rid of me anytime soon,” he chuckled, rustling her fiery mane with his left hand, and ignoring the few murmured laughs from her teammates... and the rather loud grumble from Soarin.

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Notes:

I’m going to ignore the DMW limit break system from Crisis Core, just because it’ll be confusing to anyone who hasn’t played, so limit breaks will be used at will by Zack here and there.

Chapter 3: A Night Out

“So tell me, did you like what you saw out there?” Spitfire asked as she came over to where Zack was standing, shaking a few stray drops of sweat from her fiery mane as she walked.

"Have to admit I was pretty impressed,” Zack replied, matching her smile with his own, and abandoning the cloud wall he had been leaning against. “I can see why you’re called the best team of flyers around... and just quietly, I can also see why you’re team captain.”

Even in the crimson light of the setting afternoon sun, Zack could see Spitfire’s cheeks go a little red, a sight which he couldn’t help but grin at and find strangely adorable. Affectionately, he unfolded his arms and gently ran his right hand through the spot of damp mane between her ears, prompting the golden mare to giggling once more at the ticklish sensation.

By that time it was getting late, and the Wonderbolts’ training had, after several hours, finally finished, much to both Spitfire’s and Zack’s relief as it was starting to get dark. Now the team of elite pegasi were heading for the comfort of the showers, allowing the two odd friends to spend a moment alone.

For most of the day Zack had practised his sword skills on spare clouds while Spitfire trained with the rest of her team, the two managing a short conversation at the short lunch period, but otherwise only communicating my smiles and glances.

“Tch, you’re such a flatterer Zack, but thanks,” she said happily, the embers in her cheeks at last dying down, and allowing her to face him directly again. “Say, I’m kind of hungry… you want to go out for dinner tonight?”

Zack’s mouth was open in reply before he fully comprehended what she had just asked, resulting in the usually composed and deadly looking SOLDIER to be stuck embarrassingly with his mouth hanging open. He shut it as quickly as he could, but Spitfire had already began laughing her head off, resulting in Zack having his own turn at having his cheeks go red.

“You sure?”

“Duh,” was Spitfire laughed reply, the golden pegasus grinning and shaking her head in amusement. “Come on Zack, I can’t have you spend your entire time standing in the shadows; you need to get used to being in pony society if you wanna be a 'bolt... besides, you and I both know the hotel food is crap anyway.”

Zack knew that to be true. Breakfast for him had literally been a combination of high-grain toast, a small bowl of bland cereal, and a cup of perhaps the worst possible drink imaginable; he hadn’t even bothered to ask what it was.

“Spitfire, I haven't got any money,” Zack sighed dryly in meek protest, rubbing his temples with a gloved hand. “How am I supposed to pa…”

“Zack, it’s on me dummy,” Spitfire jumped in, as usual wearing an strikingly unnerving grin as she came forward, reared up, and pushed Zack back against the wall with her front hooves. “Let’s just go out for a night, just you and me to celebrate you getting accepted by the team... and kicking Soarin’s arrogant flank in the process. Please?”

The SOLDIER admitted he had suddenly found himself stuck between two hard places; on one hand his honour hated the idea of her having to pay for him to eat, but at the same time she seemed so eager to just relax, and the last thing he wanted to do is spoil that chance and offend her... and after all, it wasn’t like she was asking him on date or anything.

“Alright,” he sighed at last, a small smirk crossing his face a moment later as Spitfire, rather oddly, gave out an excited squeal and did a backflip. “But nowhere overly fancy… I’m not the suit and tie type, and I’m not letting you throw away all your hard earned money on my sorry ass either.”

Spitfire just giggled and shook her head in amusement at the statement, before turning and quickly making her way back towards the mares shower blocks, leaving a still slightly confused and embarrassed Zack behind.

“That’s cool, I’m not the dressy type either, and I happen to know a place that’s perfect for us… just give me a couple minutes to tidy my locker and get cleaned up a little, then we’ll get going.”

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An hour later, Zack found himself slightly regretting that fact he had taken up Spitfire’s offer of a night out together; of all the reasons he had thought to encounter, however, the true reason was not one of them.

He had planned for a thousand different problems to arise, and had mentally prepared for every one of them in turn; most of said resolutions including the use of his fists. Unfortunately, he hadn’t planned for problem number one thousand and one, the exact problem he was currently faced with.

“Ugh… what is wrong with me?” Zack snapped mentally at himself, rubbing his face as he once again tried to push the continually reappearing thought from his head, the one that had lodged itself in his mind the moment Spitfire had left the stadium shower block. “Why I am being like this? I swear I wasn't like this around Aerith.”

Said problem was, strangely, Zack’s inability to take his eyes off his golden mare counterpart.

Zack had, as expected, waited patiently for Spitfire to ready herself back at the stadium, just like any honourable man would have. When she had emerged though, Zack had found himself unable to say anything, and even an hour later now was struggling to contain his wayward eyes.

The golden mare had washed and groomed her coat and wings, so they looked and gleamed as well as the precious metal. She had then seemed to brush her tail so not a single wrinkle existed in the long fiery strands, and brushed her mane so it lay flat against her soft set shoulders, but danced gracefully with each individual step.

It was a strange feeling, to say the absolute least; she was human in every way bar appearance, but still, acknowledging that he found her something along the lines of attractive felt... rather weird.

“Ugh, control yourself,” Zack grunted to himself again, walking a little behind Spitfire so he could slap himself across the face without her seeing him do it. “She’s your friend, and what would Angeal say about this if he saw you acting like you are?”

“You okay back there, Zack?”

Zack instantly silenced his thoughts as he looked up at Spitfire, who was watching him curiously like she was a touch worried.

“Yeah… fine… just a little confused about something is all,” he sighed in reply, rubbing the back of his neck with a gloved hand. “It’s… complicated.”

“How about you stop thinking for a bit,” the mare smiled, slowing for a moment so when she began walking again, she and Zack were side-by-side “You always seem lost in your thoughts, just take a break from them for a little while and enjoy yourself.”

"Little hard not to be," Zack huffed, a little drearier then he'd intended.

Spitfire offered him a nuzzle on the wrist. "I'm just saying that the best way to move on from something, and something that you can't change especially, is probably to stop dwelling on it."

Somewhat grudgingly, Zack took her advice and fixed all mental capacity on the world around him, his glowing blue eyes tracing every detail and locking it into his long term memory.

The two of them were in, or what seemed to Zack, to be quiet suburban area of Cloudsdale. The road they were walking along was lined with single or two story houses, and the occasional shop or similar. Here and there the occasional street lamp illuminated the white cloud which literally everything was made from, the golden light bringing the marble-like substance to life before the SOLDIER’s eyes.

Every so often they would silently pass a house who’s lights would be on and would be filled with voices; it was usually at these Zack noted Spitfire would slow momentarily and close her eyes, like she was listening or perhaps even remembering, although he knew better than to pry into her personal thoughts and hence said nothing. Admittedly, there were times when he would do the same thing, remembering when he was young and things were far simpler.

By now the sun was fully set and the star studded darkness of the night had at last set in, bringing with it the unlikeable edge of cold which was biting into Zack’s skin, resulting in him having to tuck his gloved hands into his arms pits as another gust of icy air swept over his flesh. He wasn’t complaining, as he was used to coping with conditions that were a lot worse, but the feeling of having the cold sink it’s fangs into his warm body was still not a feeling he particularly enjoyed.

“So where exactly are we going?” he asked tentatively at last, trying to break the unnerving silence that had taken over.

“It’s a little place I used to work when I younger,” Spitfire laughed, flicking a few fiery mane strands from her face as she glanced up at him. “You’ll like it. It’s nice without being fancy, and luckily it’s not far either.”

Zack flashed a quick smile and tried to hide the fact he was cold, although considering he wasn’t wearing any sleeves to speak of... it was no doubt kind of obvious.

Eventually, Spitfire’s words rang true, and a medium sized rectangular building awash with bright light came into view.

As soon as it came into full view Zack found his nose bombarded with the smell of cooking food. Admittedly, it wasn’t like any food he had smelt in his life, but it smelt good none the less, and judging by the number of pony customers he could see through the various windows, it tasted good too.

As they got even closer, Zack noted a large mounted neon light sign standing out the front, which flashed every few seconds between various coloured symbols... symbols that meant nothing to the SOLDIER but he guessed were perfectly logical to Spitfire.

“This is Sky High’s Diner,” Spitfire offered as she pushed the glass door open , and then beckoned Zack inside, the scent of cooked food literally flooding out the door and overwhelming his nostrils. “Like I said, I used to work here, so I know the menu off by heart, which helps considering I know you can’t read our language.”

“I’ll let you order for me then,” Zack chuckled, ruffling her mane with his hand as he walked past. “But don’t spend too much, alright.”

As was expected, the two became the centre of everyponies’ attention as soon as they walked in, all eyes following the odd looking pair of the armored SOLDIER and golden pegasus, with a combination of surprise and curiosity being the most prevalent as they crossed the room. Neither, however, took any notice of the gawking, and instead with Spitfire leading quietly made their way to a window side table and sat down, the mare sitting beside Zack in order to help him with his meal.

Just like everything else the table and seats were made of shaped cloud, but were surprisingly still firm and comfortable, plus the view of the crystal clear night sky outside and the Diner's soft background music made the atmosphere a strangely calming one.

“So you used to work here then huh?” Zack asked, looking blankly at the unreadable white paper menu in front of him before turning it Spitfire. “You mind translating for me?”

The pegasus just bit her hoof and giggled a few times, causing everypony else eating in the diner to look strangely at them and for Zack to blush under his black locks.

“How about I just order you a Cloudsdale burger?” She smiled. “It’s my favourite when I feel like something decently sized... plus I know personally that griffins can eat it, so your stomach should be able to handle it as well.”

“Alright, sounds good to me.”

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“Well you weren’t kidding,” Zack chuckled as he scrunched up his sauce dotted napkin and dropped it back on his plate. “These guys can make decent food.”

The mare grinned and finished her drink before replying.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Spitfire replied happily as she downed the last of her strawberry milkshake, using her hoof to wipe the small amount of pink residue from her lips. “I haven’t been back here for a while, so I kinda thought the place might have changed. Thankfully it hasn’t.”

By now it was late, but neither Zack nor Spitfire cared; the night had been perfect, and the meal simple and cheap but filling all the same.

And the eating of it in each other’s company had made it all the better. Then again, Zack liked to think that anything was better done with friends.

He tried not to dwell on that thought too much.

Now with their bill paid the two found themselves simply sitting at their table, looking out the window and watching the stars. After a while the SOLDIER allowed himself to lower his emotional barriers a touch, and affectionately run his right hand through Spitfire’s soft mane, the young mare in turn dropping her composure a tad and eventually moving her head to rest on Zack’s chest while he did.

If this was what simple friendship was like in Equestria, Zack figured he could get used it.

By now just about everypony else who had dined around them had gone home, leaving the two friends to at last enjoy themselves without being stared at constantly. Zack didn’t mind being watched, he knew that being different meant it would happen one way or another, but it was only once he was out of everyponys’ sight that he felt he could actually relax, even with his Buster Sword across his back.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight, Zack,” Spitfire sighed happily. “I just really needed to get away from… my team for a while.”

“You mean from Soarin?” Zack asked quickly, tilting his head so his blue eyes met her own gold ones. “He’s not giving you a hard time about me, is he?”

Spitfire just sighed and closed her eyes before answering.

“It’s nothing to do with you Zack… it’s just being around Soarin in general I can only do in small doses. Training and shows are alright because we don’t talk to each other that much, but having to share a room with him... well, it's kind of like constantly having my tail pulled… it’s painful.”

Zack bit his lip for a moment as he thought about what he wanted to say. He wasn’t exactly sure if he should, but he wanted to understand why the two of them were constantly at each other’s throats.

“Spitfire… what exactly happened between you two?” he asked after a moment, facing her with a stern expression as he stopped stroking her mane. “I know there has to be a reason, and one way or another you both need to work through it. Look… I know he’s a dishonourable pain in the ass, but he’s not by any way what I would call mean. Besides, if there’s something seething between you two, maybe I can help you both work it out.”

Given how proud she came across as, Zack had half expected her to either get up and leave, or kick him in the face.

She did neither though, but instead gave out a sort of defeated groan before shifting a little bit.

“We weren’t always enemies, Zack… actually, when we were younger we were really good friends. We met in Flight School here in Cloudsdale, heh, I still remember it; it was our first day of school, and I was really, really nervous, so I really didn’t talk to anypony unless I had to. Soarin though has always been pretty confident with himself, even back then," a snicker escaped her muzzle. "Anyway, sometime through the day Soarin saw me, and decided to come over and introduce himself. He asked if I wanted to be his friend… and, well, he quickly became my best friend.”

Zack saw a small grin cross her face at the words, though her eyes stayed firmly shut.

“We got along pretty well with each other, and we stayed really close friends through school, but he was a natural flyer and the best in our class… and well, heh, I wasn’t exactly great back then to be honest, so throughout Junior Flight School I always kind of looked up to him in way. As we got older and went into our higher school years though... we drifted apart. Soarin discovered the social side of school, and I had my head in my books… all I wanted was to be a great flyer like him, Zack, so I learnt everything there was to know about flying, and I practised every single day, which meant I didn’t get involved in the social events or dating scenes like he did.”

At last she opened her eyes and cast them around the now quiet diner.

“That’s why I got a job here in the first place; as soon as I was old enough I hired a private trainer to give me some professional guidance in my flying, but my parents weren’t exactly swimming in bits, so I paid myself. All the while Soarin was off having fun with his friends and school-fillies, and in the meantime blitzing classes and beating me in every test without effort. I guess after a while I got jealous of his natural ability… and eventually that got to a point where I didn’t just see him as a friend, but also as a rival… like I no longer wanted to be like him, but I wanted to be even better than him. So I studied hard and worked even harder at my flying, and eventually it paid off; I graduated top of our class in both practical and theory, and Soarin got second… and that was when everything between us unravelled.”

“You mean he couldn’t accept the fact you were better than he was?” Zack asked quietly, drawing the mare a little closer.

Spitfire snorted and nodded. “Yeah… after the graduation ceremony ended, I... I brought him and a few others here to celebrate, but Soarin was acting really weird... and he kept getting agitated by everything. After we all ate I finally had enough and asked him what was wrong… and he actually had the nerve to ask me if I had cheated in our exams, or slept with one of the judging coaches... in front of everypony else. I told him the reason I had beaten him was because I actually studied, and put in every ounce of effort I could at school. Ugh, that was when he just lost it totally and snapped, said some really mean things I’d rather not repeat in front of all my friends, and then... just stormed out.”

Zack in an instant forgot all his emotional barriers, and pulled the quivering mare onto his lap and into the safety and comfort of his arms, not even caring about whether or not they were still being watched. In response she curled her front hooves around his chest and buried her face in his sweatshirt.

“I-I always knew he had a big ego Zack... but I never thought it would make him turn on me in front of everypony like he did that night. He knew how hard I had worked through school, and I thought maybe he’d be happy for me," Spitfire gave a final snort, before seeming to pull herself and her emotions back together... although she seemed to content to stay where she was. "Instead I learnt a lesson that I should have a long time earlier; Soarin only cares about himself. We didn’t talk or have anything to do with each other for ages after that night, not even when we were in Junior Speedsters Flight Camp together… but when we were both selected for the Wonderbolts... well, we agreed to at least try and get along again. He's levelled out a little since then, but Soarin is still the centre of Soarin's world. ”

Zack was silent as he held her in his arms, inwardly trying to fight the idea of introducing the stallion to Ifrit the next time the two of them met.

Eventually, Spitfire's shaking died away, and so did his burning anger. He still, however, refused to let her go from his embrace, and she gave no indication of wanting him to either.

“What he did to you, Spitfire… was wrong.” Zack said at last, his gloved hands tracing her soft golden cheek. “And I will never let him hurt you or any… pony… ever again, because if he does, it'll be me that he'll be answering to. On my honour.”

Spitfire, somewhat to his surprise, let out an amused giggled and lifted her head from his chest, brilliant golden eyes meeting his own glowing blue ones with only a few centimetres between his face and the end of her muzzle. It did reminded him of times spent with Aerith, but those thoughts we're promptly quashed; there was no need to ruin the moment by dragging up such things.

To see her smiling again made Zack bubble inside, and in turn caused a grin spread across his own face; it felt good to know that he had someone to call a friend.

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Notes:

Had to make the romance start somewhere, but I don’t intended to rush it by any means.

Chapter 4: Palace of White Stone

Prior Note: this chapter is faster paced then previous ones, simply because I didn’t want to drag out a series of unexciting building events

Chapter 4: Palace of White Stone

Just outside the glass, the rolling green plains of Equestria rolled by under Zack’s gaze, his sharp blue eyes catching every grey rock, every patch of flowers, and every twisting tree as he stared out the carriage window.

In truth, however, only his eyes saw them, as his mind was a million miles away and stuck in a particularly strange thought, that being his relationship with the golden mare who had brought him into this strange world.

A week and a half had passed since Spitfire had summoned him into her world known as Equestria, and every day since then their bond had grown stronger and stronger, even to the point of him doing things he would normally never do. One such example was going out into pony society with her, but without his Buster Sword across his back... although despite her constant invitations he had refused to share her bed in Cloudsdale, on the grounds of his honour, and had still opted for sleeping on the floor, much to Spitfire’s apparent annoyance of how hung up he was about it.

Plus she kept going on and on about him acting like a 'pet'.

Hence as he sat out the train ride to Canterlot, with nothing to do other than listen to the Wonderbolt's routine plan, he pondered, trying to figure out why exactly he had, without initially realizing it, allowed himself to lower his guard like he had for her. What he was discovering however was a little confronting to say the least.

It took a while to come to a final conclusion, almost three hours of mental debate, emotional analysing, and the looking back at the last week before he finally realized the truth.

“You see her how you did Aerith, don’t you?” his mind mused almost mockingly, like it was trying to twist the ugly dagger of truth even deeper into his side.

There it was, whether he liked it or not, and no matter how he tried he couldn’t deny it either; he had some level of feelings for the golden mare. With every day spent closely together they had grown from a fickle friendship, to an emotional bond as strong as the finest steel, and now it seemed that bond had changed the way he saw her in certain ways, whether he liked it or not.

It was still fickle, barely anything as of yet, but it was still there.

The situation was almost ironic really. Aerith had been there for him when no else had been, and that was how their relationship had really started; Genesis had been falling further and further into madness and hatred, Angeal was being overwhelmed by the nature of what he was, and he hadn't even met Cloud at that point... but she'd been there for him. Now Spitfire, years later, was doing virtually the same thing, protecting him, guiding him, and being an ever-present friend as he adapted to his new life in a country that was very, very different from Shinra.

And now he was stuck as it were, and faced with two choices; the first being to simply admire her, and stay as her close friend and protector. The second was to perhaps, given the apparent acceptance of cross-race partnerships in Equestria, pursue her as a ‘marefriend’ as the ponies said. That brought up the issues of risking the relationship he already had with her, and tearing open the raw wounds the loss of Aerith had left him with.

No matter which path he took, the outcome seemed daunting.

“Just when I thought things couldn't get any more weird,” he sighed to himself as he touched the cold glass with his fingers.

The world outside continuing to hurtle by as he lazily watched it, and began thinking of the Gala that he would be attending the coming night.

He first heard the voices stop, then felt something brush his opposite hand, and finally a sudden shift of weight on his grey mattress. He didn’t need to turn to know what had happened, or who it was who had just invaded his pony-sized bed.

“You seem... awfully quiet today Zack… something wrong?” Spitfire smirked casually, causing a small grin to momentarily cross his face although he didn’t return her gaze.

“I'm… thinking,” he replied dryly as he began tapping the glass, trying to mentally shut out all prior ponderings. “I’m confused is all Spitfire, nothing exactly major, but it's something that I've allowed to get to me.”

“Do you want to talk about?”

“No.”

His reply made her frown both inside and out; to her he seemed so distant and clamed up for some reason, he had been since they had left Cloudsdale, and was even worse when they gotten on the train in Trottingham; it had started off with him seeming a little edgy when she asked him to rub her neck earlier in the day, and now it had gotten to the point of him being almost freighted to touch her.

She could understand why his honour made him uneasy at the idea of sharing her bed, even if it was a harmless proposition so he wouldn't have to sleep on the floor, but at the present moment it was like he didn’t want anything to do with her for some reason.

“Zack,” she sighed at last as she looked down at her hooves. “I didn’t do anything to make you angry, did I? When I offered to let you share my bed... I only meant it because I thought it’d be comfier then the floor.”

The SOLDIER sighed, and at last returned his eyes from the window to her, an unlikeable feeling of guilt seeping into the pit of his stomach as he saw just how sad she looked.

“It’s not you Spits, or anything you’ve said… it’s just that I’m stuck, and I don’t know which way to go right now, and it’s just I can’t think straight when I’m… distracted.”

Nervousness and lots of it, she guessed. She knew the feeling all too well from prior experience, but of what for him she didn’t know.

“Maybe… just forget about it for a while, Zack,” the mare smiled in reply to his words, her mood perking up again while her eyes warmly met his shimmering blue ones. “Just relax and try to be happy. When I started performing, I used to clam up and think of everything that could happen or go wrong for hours before the show, and it only made me stress out even more.”

He gave her a slight snort in reply and rubbed his temples in reply, and with a sly grin from Spitfire that suddenly ended up being his undoing.

Before he could protest, or do anything to stop her, the golden mare jumped forward, and heavily landed on him like hurled sack of wheat, his head falling back slightly against the wooden bed frame with an audible whack. She pinned a shoulder with each hoof, with Zack's normal composure going out the window when he realized what had just happened.

“Would you mind getting off of me?” He asked bluntly, looking down to see her perched on his chest and grinning like a fox, tail flicking to show she was amused at him.

She just smirked and lightly nuzzled his cheek, causing him to fluster and feel even more awkward then he already was under the eyes of her watching teammates.

“Not unless you lighten up a bit. We’ll be in Canterlot soon, and I don’t want you to be acting like somepony’s pulling your tail the entire time.”

He thought over all obvious options he had, of which there were exactly two; the first being to dishonourably and forcefully throw her off his chest, and most likely end the friendship they had there and then, and the other was to go with her request.

He gave a final growl of annoyance at his defeat before slumping further into his bed, the feeling of his Buster Sword digging into his back now getting to point of being plain painful.

“Fine.”

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“Well… welcome to Canterlot Zack,” Spitfire grinned as they disembarked the train with the other Wonderbolts, as well as a herd of other ponies. Her amused grin only widening when she saw the look on his face.

Zack had seen his fair share of vibrant cities in his time, but Canterlot was unlike anything he had yet come across in either his old world, or this new one.

Literally everything was spotless white from the buildings to the road, and everypony he laid eyes on seemed to pride themselves on formal appearance and neatness. Everywhere he looked the city beamed with life and luxury that he was sure cost a fortune... although personally Zack wasn’t sure if he felt impressed or slightly out of place.

What he noticed next, and most above all else, was the royal palace. It was a majestic structure that conquered the skyline, no matter, as he had been told, the time of day or what angle it was observed from, like it literally touched the roof of the world somehow. Spitfire had told him of the ‘awesomeness’ of the royal palace of Celestia and Luna, but to see it there before his eyes made all his earlier mental versions of it seem dull.

And then there was also the fact that he would be sleeping there.

The final thing he took note of as they began walking together, was the vast number of glaring eyes that were fixed on them all as they passed by, or more to the point on him and his rather large Buster Sword. What was strange, however, was that the passing ponies here weren’t only apparently judging him, but by the looks of things judging everything from his warrior-like appearance, to the volume of his boots on the pavement.

Sure, he admitted that he stood out among a group of blue uniformed pegasi, but it didn’t mean everypony had to gawk at him like he was some Wutai barbarian.

“Do they have something against what I’m wearing?” Zack asked coldly as he snapped at last, glaring angrily and cracking his knuckles at a passing maroon stallion wearing a suit, who hurriedly bolted from view as fast as possible.

“Allow me to correct Spitfire’s earlier statement… welcome to the USUAL Canterlot, Zack,” was the unusually humoured reply from Soarin of all ponies, the stallion, for once, actually sounding like he agreed with the SOLDIER as he trotted up beside him. “Because these ponies live beside the princesses, they kind of see themselves as the pinnacle of Equestrian society… ugh, I’ve always hated it here, everypony you meet or talk too... they act like they’ve got a lump of gold and a big bag of bits shoved halfway up their plots.”

“Soarin!” Spitfire scolded before he could finish, the stallion growling to himself but otherwise falling silent, although Zack still found himself grinning none the less.

It was a curious thing, Zack’s view on the blue stallion nowadays, one which even he wasn’t sure of anymore; it was undeniable they were of totally different minds, manners, and morals, and yet the days of watching, conversing, and living with the somewhat arrogant pegasus had brought a small amount of understanding between them.

Zack wasn’t sure he actually liked Soarin, especially after he had learned of his past with the mare who was currently the occupation of his rational thought, although he no longer felt the urge to cut him in half at the first chance or reason that arose.

“But of course, he still knows better than to annoy me,” Zack smirked as he walked, pulling a stray lock of black hair from his face.

As they emerged from the main body of Canterlot, Zack saw the main gates of the palace were truly monolithic by any opinion. The guard towers on either side alone looked as tall as some of the hotels in Cloudsdale. The mighty walls which formed the castles perimeter were of similar make, huge white stone blocks that were draped with the coloured flags and banners of the land's two female rulers.

“Seems they take security seriously,” Zack muttered aloud, looking either way down the great wall as the headed through the towering main gates.

“Canterlot was attacked by changelings last year,” Soarin grimaced, looking by Zack’s account almost like he was shuddering. “And ever since security has been a much higher concern. For your information, those things are downright evil; they feed off love like giant parasites… creep me the buck out just thinking about them.”

At the words, Zack noted the rather large volume of spear wielding pony guards about the place, all of whom shot him looks when he passed through the gates and into the royal grounds, thankfully with the rather casual and calm Wonderbolts at his side. Like those he had seen in Cloudsdale, these guards wore shining golden armor and helms, although in comparison they looked stronger, better equipped, and much more open battle suited in general.

“Now, if there’s ever been a time you don’t want to destroy anything, Zack, it should be now,” Stormwing chuckled from the front of the small group, the old stallion casting a grin over his shoulder at Zack as he caught his wandering attention.

“Yes sir!” Zack replied with a smile and a standard salute, Stormwing and the Wonderbolts all chuckling, while the nearby guards snorted in apparent disgust at their mockery.

Abruptly, Spitfire gently bumped his leg with her flank, and looking down Zack saw her grinning up at him... just like Angeal had after he had returned after his first mission.

“See… not so hard to relax now and then is it?”

It took him a moment to answer, not because he was stuck for words for once, but because his eyes were stuck on her; every time in the last few hours Zack had tried to push his thoughts of the mare from his mind, or if he couldn’t he tried to avoid her all together.

Now though he couldn’t escape, his eyes were wandering over her smiling face, through her fiery mane, across her golden wings and down her gently curving back to her rounded hips and flaming tail.

“It’s either not so hard…” he replied, folding his arms and happily shaking his black locks. “…or it’s just that maybe I’m not so confused anymore.”

She eyed him curiously but said nothing in response, deciding it better that if he wanted to keep his thoughts private, it should stay that way.

Before long the small group found themselves out of the royal grounds, and at the foot of the palace’s majestic main doors, each painted deep red in colour and flanked by two deep grey unicorn guards, with a heavily armored white unicorn standing in between them, a few other guards watching on from various positions around the place, all wielding golden spears.

The guards themselves Zack didn’t mind, but as he stood in the shadow of mighty white stone archway he felt a tad uneasy, and hence instinctively reached for the security of his Buster Sword... like he was wandering into the house of a supreme magical deity he did not trust in the slightest.

He slightly regretted the fact Spitfire had told him the story of Nightmare Moon.

“Zack…” a shallow voice hissed, causing him to momentarily look down, and see Fleetfoot standing directly behind him with her head dipped. “I strongly suggest you take your hand off that sword of yours, like, right now.”

Zack quickly did as he was told, and not a moment too soon either. The white unicorn was now approaching them all with the other guards, and last thing he wanted to do was make a bad impression, especially at the palace of all places.

“Well, well,” the white unicorn guard started, descending the white stairs briskly with the other two guards at his side. “It seems the main attraction just arrived a little early then? So Stormwing, your team ready to give the crowd a show tomorrow night, or are you here now because you needed a last minute training session?”

“Cut me a break, Captain, we’re ready as always,” the aged stallion replied with a slight chuckle, his eyes joining the white guards own in admiring the blue uniformed team behind him.

“Looking sha - woah!”

And as Zack half expected, the stallion stopped talking when their eyes met, or more to the point the stallion at last realized there was a towering, sword-wielding, non-pony creature standing in front of him... that had apparently been there the entire time.

For a moment the two of them traded just odd looks, Zack standing perfectly still with his arms folded while he stared off with the heavily armored unicorn, the other two guards watching and standing ready in case they were needed.

“Stormwing… I hope you’re aware that one of your team members... isn’t a pony?” Shining Armor asked bluntly, returning his gaze to the now actually grinning grey stallion

“Funny that. Captain Shining Armour, this is SOLDIER Zack Fair, whatever the hay that title stands for. Him and his big sword are kind of like the team body guards nowadays, thanks to Spitfire... and I’d highly advise you now to try not to piss him off, I’ve seen what he can do and he’s more than qualified... kinda scary actually.”

Shining Armor simply nodded and further inspected Zack, while Spitfire played nervously with her hooves. The SOLDIER doing the same in return to the unicorn, and giving him a similar blank, but judging look; the heavy yet decorative style of his armor and helmet identified him as one of high rank, and hence probably somepony who shared a direct line with princesses.

In other words, not somepony to go starting a fight with.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain,” Zack started, allowing the edge of smile to spread across his face, but kept his arms folded. "Like Stormwing said, name's Zack Fair, SOLDIER first class."

“Likewise,” was the cautious reply, the royal guard captain running his eyes over Zack like he was sizing him up for a fight. “Look, no offense to either you, or Stormwing, but I can’t just let you into the palace…”

“I can tell you now, on my honour, that I won't bring harm to anypony here. My only concern, like your own with the princesses, is the wellbeing of Spitfire and her team.”

Shining Armor nodded although his look of concern didn’t fade, it was crystal clear he didn’t exactly approve of Zack being there, which was in a way understandable.

“And you swear while you’re here you won’t cause any trouble?”

“On my honour.”

The captain of the royal guard looked at his hooves for a moment like he was thinking, all other eyes, including the SOLDIER’s, on him while he tapped rapidly at the pavement, like a gambler thinking through the risks. Eventually he shook his head and let out a loud snort through clenched teeth, but it seemed by his facial expression that he had been won over.

“I’ll take your word for it… just be aware I’m only allowing you in because your with these guys... and Stormwing trusts you… this is technically a royal invite only event,” the unicorn stallion said bluntly, tapping a hoof on the stone as he eyed Zack. “But I’m going to ask that you give up that sword; only members of the royal guard and night guard are allowed to be armed within the palace.”

Zack tensed up, but tried to make it and his growing annoyance as unobvious as possible; he would leave his Buster Sword somewhere safe for Spitfire, and only Spitfire alone, if this royal guard wanted it surrendered then he’d have to take it by force first.

“Can't do that captain. This sword is was given to me by my late mentor and friend Angeal in his last moments of life, I can't simply surrender it.”

“I respect that, but I'm afraid then that I can’t let you enter the palace,” was the dry reply, Shining armour taking a step back so he and the other two guards formed a barrier between the Zack, the Wonderbolts and the grand doors. “laws are laws, and this one has been set down by the Princess Celestia herself.”

For a single second Zack balled his fists and, was actually tempted to reach for the blade and show the watching guards just what he could do. It wouldn’t be pretty, but a few meteors would at least put them and Shining Armor back in their places.

“Don’t ruin this,” a quiet voice snapped inside his head just as his hands readied to go for it. “For once in your life Zack put your honour aside, you’ll make a complete embarrassment of yourself, Spitfire, and her team.”

The SOLDIER had never listened to voices in his head, and oddly enough usually found himself in trouble for it, but this time it was different and he knew it even if he didn’t like it; personally, he didn’t care if he made an embarrassment of himself, if it meant teaching somepony some proper manners and putting their ego back in check... but the image of Spitfire’s face covered in shame that filled his head tore at him and his conscience. He could never bring himself to hurt her and her reputation like that.

With a slow grudging motion, he raised his hand and removed the blade, Spitfire gaping and everypony else watching warily as he gave a gentle sigh, and offered the grip with an outstretched hand to Shining Armour.

“Have it then.”

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“Why the buck did you do that?” Spitfire snapped abruptly as their escort guard departed, and Zack closed the luxury chamber door behind him, turning to find the mare hovering in front of his face, and looking like she was about to kick his head in. “You just… let him have it?”

“Well what the hell was I supposed to do?” Zack groaned in return, throwing his arms in the air to show how confused he was at her sudden mood swing. “Either I handed it over and we sorted things out, or I protested and made a scene in front of your coach and captain of the royal guard! Which would you prefer?”

“I would prefer for you to have shown some balls back there and stood up to that prick.”

Zack literally froze in shock as she glared at him, if there was one thing he never expected to hear from Spitfire’s mouth, it was something like that directed at him.

Before the argument could get any more heated, or Zack retaliate, the pegasus muttered something under her breath and stormed out off, heading through a nearby doorway which Zack guessed led to the bedroom and bathroom, and leaving him standing there and scratching his head, still not entirely sure about what had just happened.

Actually... very not sure at what had just happened.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wonder for long. A few seconds later she silently trotted back into the room, looking somewhat composed and calm again, but also a little disappointed.

“I’m… sorry Zack,” She sighed gently, sitting back on her hinds on the red carpet in front of him, her wings drooped to show she was sorry. “I really shouldn’t be angry at you… but I just know that Angeal’s sword meant a lot to you, and I didn’t expect you to give it up so easily for no reason.”

For a moment the SOLDIER just stood there, running his fingers through his black locks as he watches the guilty looking pegasus. He had told her about how Angeal’s sword was important to him, but he never thought she really cared, and now for her to be acting in such a way about it was completely out of character.

Above all else though he hated the sight of her being sad. It wasn’t her fault that the palace had strict laws regarding weapons, and it really wasn’t her fault he’d given it up; that had been of his own free will.

“Do you want to know the truth?” he asked almost without thinking, meeting her shimmering golden eyes with his own blue ones as he knelt down. “I actually thought about teaching him a lesson then and there, but in honesty Spitfire... I’d rather give up my sword for a few days then tarnish your reputation and make you look bad like that. After all, Stormwing basically dropped you in it, I mean... he did say you were the main reason I was with your team in the first place.”

He swore her eyes open to the size of dinner plates at the words.

“You… you did it for me? You gave up your sword for me and my reputation?”

“And so your team could get into the palace of course,” He shrugged mildly, watching as Spitfire returned to her hooves. “…But yeah, I could never bring myself to embars-HU!”

For a moment he just knelt there in utter and total shock, realizing that halfway through his admittance she had jumped forward, and with her uncanny speed, caught him unawares, and had wrapped her soft hooves around his neck in an affectionate embrace.

It was only a momentary joining before she broke off, but it was enough to turn both their cheeks crimson. It might've only been a gesture of friendship, but it still felt embarrassing.

“I… um… uh,” she stuttered as she stepped back and lowered her wings, her golden cheeks going even brighter red under her uniform. “I’m sorry, Zack… but thanks for doing what you did back there, I mean it.”

The SOLDIER just smirked and rolled his eyes. “Don't mention it. Heh, besides, I shouldn't really need it while we're here,” he chuckled with a shake of his head as he stood up again, tussling the mane that stuck out atop her blue uniform as he walked past her, and then headed off to explore the rest of the room. “And by the way, I’m still not sharing your bed.”

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Notes:

Zack and Soarin getting along…what is this sorcery?

Anyway this is where the main body of the storyline (other than the romance aspects) starts from. Next chapter I’ll be introducing the main six and antagonists (other than Sephiroth at this stage).

Chapter 5: Under Siege pt.1- Meet and Greet

Zack stood perfectly still as he stared at himself in the mirror, gloved hands resting by his sides, and feet together as he ran his eyes coldly over every slight detail of his reflection.

If it were any other night, or any other type of social event for that matter, he would have gone as he was. But this was no normal evening outing for the SOLDIER. Not a hundred meters behind and roughly twenty meters below him, the Grand Galloping Gala was taking place, perhaps the most important and spectacular night-time event of the pony calendar by Spitfire’s reckoning... and soon he would find himself right in the middle of it.

“Why do I have a feeling this will somehow end badly,” he muttered aloud to his reflection, slowly raising a hand to push the dangling lock of black hair from his face.

If it were any other time, and the circumstances were different, Zack wouldn’t have felt so uneasy, but at that moment two rather unlikable facts were looming over him and his thoughts.

The first, and most notable, was that he would be in the same hall as the two female rulers of Equestria, and hence as the only non-pony creature there, was likely to have every action watched and silently judged by them as well as everypony else.

The second was, to put it bluntly, he doubted that he’d fit in given his appearance. Sure, he had polished up his shoulder guards, washed and had his cloths ironed, and even conditioned his hair using some pony mane products, but when it came to fitting in with suit and tie upper class Equestria... he just wasn’t there, no matter how tidy he was.

“Gh, snap out of it Zack,” he grunted, shaking his head and pushing the thoughts from the front of his mind. “You’re not one of them so don’t try to be. You’re a SOLDIER and you have your honour… what you wear doesn’t matter.”

He still wished he had his trusty Buster Sword though, and silently he promised that if anything happened to it in the slightest, Shining Armor would answer to his wrath.

Luckily, before his inner anger could build up any more momentum, his attention was torn from the mirror to the bathroom door, which loudly opened as Spitfire casually emerged. As usual she was surrounded by an air of confidence and fully dressed in her Wonderbolts uniform, a show of pride and will which made the SOLDIER a tad jealous.

“I wish I had the nerves of steel you do,” Zack sighed in her direction, abandoning his investigation into the state of his appearance. “Right now I feel like I’m walking unarmed into a death-trap…oh wait, I am.”

The mare just grinned and shook her head at him in amusement, her professional composure dropping for a moment as she faced her friend.

“Zack, nopony is going to try and start a fight with you tonight, if somepony did I’d say they were either really drunk or completely out of their right minds.”

Her words of confidence made Zack smile and put his mind at ease a little, although the thought of being in the same room princesses, and not having her around to steer him was still daunting. He wasn’t so much as afraid of the princesses, or anypony else for that matter; what he was afraid of was accidently doing something wrong, offending one of the rulers, and finding himself either thrown in the dungeons or sent to the moon.

“I understand that,” he chuckled, laying a hand affectionately on Spitfire’s shoulder. “I guess I just feel more… comfortable… when you’re at my side, wandering around on my own under the princesses eyes isn’t exactly an appealing proposition.”

“I know you’re more comfortable with me around Zack,” She replied gently, raising a golden wing before lowering across his hand. “But I think it’ll be good for you to meet some ponies outside of my team, and the princesses will probably be more occupied with the nobles and alike to even notice you anyway.”

The SOLDIER nodded in understanding of her point and gently removed his hand; although he would hopefully, for a long while, be spending his time with the Wonderbolts, he knew it wouldn’t hurt to make some outside friends. Besides, even though he was different, he doubted any member of royalty would take much notice of him.

“Alright, sword or no sword, I guess we should go face the demon.”

Spitfire snickered, and with another amused shake of her head made her way to the door, Zack walking beside her and seeming to be feeling a little more at peace, with both himself and his current situation now.

Just as her hoof reached up and met the bronze knob, however, an idea popped into her head, one which made a wicked grin spread across her face; not only put Zack’s mind at ease but also give him the opportunity to make some interesting, and somewhat famous new friends.

“Hey Zack, you mind if I introduce you to somepony before I head off?”

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“Grrr! Where is she?” Rainbow Dash snorted under her breath, weaving her way through the dense crowd of chatting ponies, and past the band stage in search of her illusive target. “I swear, if that mare’s trying to avoid me then I’m gonna give her a piece of my mind.”

Dash was, as usual, pulling at her reins with urgency as she navigated the forest of muzzles and tails that she was stuck in, magenta eyes hungrily scanning for any small sign of her fellow pegasus friend and personal idol, Spitfire. The single question she wished to ask was, as she hunted the hall, burning in her mind like a lit torch; that question being whether or not a spot had suddenly and unexpectedly opened up in the Wonderbolts ranks.

A lot of pegasus ponies kept their ears up for any news surrounding the elite team of stunt flyers, but none as much as their number one fan and possible future member, Rainbow Dash. It was because she kept tabs on them so much she could read the signs no matter how faint, and hence knew exactly when something had happened, even if it wasn’t made public.

Her senses had begun ringing alarm bells the week before, when Spitfire had failed to write a ‘post-performance summary’ in the Cloudsdale Gazette, which to any other pegasus would have meant nothing, but to Dash is signified a lot. As her idol, Rainbow knew everything about Spitfire and her attitude, and she knew the captain would never leave her fans hanging, unless of course something major had happened after the show.

“Ugh… I swear this would be a lot easier if I wasn’t wearing this dress,” she snapped, glaring back at the elegant multi-coloured fashion statement that was trailing behind her, and getting caught under the occasional hoof with disdain. “Since when do I even wear dress…”

“HEY! RAINBOW DASH!”

As her ears heard the voice, Dash actually thought either she was dreaming, fate was playing some kind of cruel trick on her, or possibly both. Turning her head at the call of her name, the pegasus felt her jaw drop, for out of the crowd came none other than the golden mare herself, with a strange towering creature at her side. Everypony else around them spread out, apparently trying to give the whatever-it-was as much space as possible while they muttered under their breaths.

Rainbow Dash literally froze solid as the two came up to her, or rather Spitfire came up to her and the black maned creature took its place at her side, eerie, and she swore glowing blue eyes affixed on her own magenta ones.

Dash had seen her fair share of weird and wacky in her young life, strange and at times dangerous creatures from manticores, to Ursa Minors, to Discord, but this creature was nothing like anything she had yet laid her eyes on.

It stood roughly twice as tall as Celestia's shoulder, had a medium length black mane that was styled into locks, and wore basic clothing, but also boots, gloves, and metal shoulder plates. To say the least... it didn’t exactly look to be the friendliest thing around.

“Uh… hey Spitfire,” Dash said sheepishly, shaking her head to refocus before facing her counterpart. “Who’s the… um… your friend?”

“This is…” Spitfire started.

“Name's Zack Fair, SOLDIER, first class,” said the towering creature with a warm smile, what looked to be a gloved paw extending towards her in a friendly gesture. “And you’re THE Rainbow Dash I’ve heard so much about right?”

Spitfire grinned and watched as all of Dash’s prior fears evaporated in a heartbeat, and were replaced by what she guessed was a look of joy. As she had explained to Zack, it was a true and proven fact that the easiest way to make friends with Rainbow was to feed her ego, a fact that just about every pegasus pony knew.

“Yeah, that’s me!” she beamed, flexing the bicep muscle in one of her forelegs before shaking his hand. “I take it then Spitfire’s informed you of just how awesome I am?”

Spitfire smirked at the statement but kept it to herself, if she wanted to have her plan work the last thing she needed to do was to offend Rainbow.

“Actually, I was going to leave that to you Rainbow. You see, although we haven’t officially announced it, Zack’s been hired as kind of the team bodyguard nowadays… which, although being pretty cool and all, means he doesn’t get to see a lot of ponies outside my team, so I was hoping, since you're both my friends, that you two could get acquainted and maybe keep each other occupied while I go perform.”

“So you basically mean keep an eye on him right?” Dash replied sternly, flicking her uncertain gaze between the SOLDIER and the Wonderbolt captain.

“Well… that’s one way of putting it I guess.”

Rainbow shot her a curious glance at the words as she removed her hoof from Zack’s glove, one which basically said something along the lines of ‘and if I do, what’s in it for me?’.

“I’m sure Zack would enjoy hearing about how your Sonic Rainboom saved our flanks in Cloudsdale last year,” Spitfire grinned, looking up at the SOLDIER, who was roughly twice as tall as everypony else. “And I think if your nice he’d tell you a little about his own tricks… I think you’d like the one with the meteors…”

The words caught a small spark of Dash’s interest, but the thought of foal-sitting a none-pony creature for the entire night was exactly appealing to her, especially given the amount of potential partying to be had; after all, she wasn’t Twilight or Fluttershy for Celestia’s sake.

“…plus given you’d be doing me and my team a favour... it would make me inclined to do one for you, say... personally recommend you’re application for Wonderbolt selection should a space in the team become available.”

“Deal!”

Everypony in their immediate vicinity turned around as Dash realized just how loud she had been, her cyan blue cheeks turning a bright crimson under the many sets of regal eyes and annoyed snorts. Luckily, after a moment of under-breath mutterings and insults, they returned to their apparently important prior conversations, leaving a slightly embarrassed Rainbow Dash, and a chuckling pair of Spitfire and Zack in their wake.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” Spitfire grinned as she peered around the crowd. “Anyway, I better be off then, otherwise Stormwing will hunt me down and bite my tail off for being late; I’ll see you both after our performance is over.”

With that she trotted away and quickly disappeared into the mass of suit and dress attired ponies, leaving Zack to try and fend for himself, with Rainbow his only aid in the sea of other formally dressed equines, both looking to each other for some kind of guidance.

“Well, this is kinda awkward,” Zack muttered after a few moments as he put his hands behind his back, looking in every direction to see if anything caught his attention; the only thing that did being the hawk-eyed form of Shining Armor across the hall. “What exactly does everyone do at these events, Rainbow Dash?”

“Pfft, nothing but chat as far as I know,” Rainbow snorted as she flicked a strand of multi-coloured mane from her face, glaring at the crowd of upper-class Equestrians around her with distaste. “The only reason I ended up coming here tonight was that I knew Spitfire would be here. I realized something unusual had happened behind the scenes last week, and I really wanted to know if a place had somehow opened up in the team because of it.”

“Anywhere we can go to escape this?” He asked bluntly, moving sideways to avoid a brown unicorn magically carrying a tray with glasses of some kind of alcohol. “I’ll explain what exactly happened last week if you want.”

“Follow me,” Dash piped, leading the SOLDIER through the self-occupied crowd and out towards the Palace foyer, the only pony to take any noticed of them being the ever vigilant royal guard captain.

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“I don’t know about you, but I’m glad to be out of there,” Zack grinned as they emerged from the main hall and into the palace foyer, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw most of the invited guests had headed into the main hall, and hence the large vaulted space was just about empty, bar a few royal guards and other guests

Plus it was quiet enough for him to actually hear his own thoughts as well, although given the amount of invited guests, and the volume of the band, there was still a lot of noise echoing throughout the entire palace.

“I take you’re not one for crowds like I am?” Rainbow smirked, her grin only widening when the SOLDIER gave her a blank stare. “Oh relax, I’m not hating on you or anything, I just like being the centre of attention is all as you can tell.”

“So THAT’S why you want to be a Wonderbolt?” he replied as he ruffled her mane, prompting the pegasus to scold in annoyance and jump away from his side; she was no foal and she did not like being handled and played with like one, much less teased.

Zack just chuckled, lazily sat down on one of the marble white stairs, and leant back on it, drawing his gloved hands behind his head as he stared up at the numerous royal banners and amazingly decorated vaulted ceiling above him. It possessed two halves, which depicted the Princesses Celestia and Luna gracefully standing in their elements, Celestia depicted in front of the sun and bright blue sky, while Luna was shown in front of the full moon and a cluster of stars.

“What are Celestia and Luna like Dash?” He asked as Rainbow sat down beside him on the stairs, and after a moment followed his gaze, magenta eyes running over the massive depiction with his own blue ones.

“They're both pretty awesome rulers in my opinion, although personally I only know Celestia decently well, since Luna’s only been back from her… well, being away… for just over a year now. Celestia’s a really kind princess and takes care of everypony. We have no war, poverty, crime or anything else like that… why do you ask?”

“Well, the truth is Rainbow...” he groaned, turning his head so he was looking at her as the sound off clacking hooves occupied his ears. “I was kinda what happened to the Wonderbolts last week… you see Spitfire somehow accidently dragged my sorry ass out of the Lifestream and into Equestria, and now I can’t leave, so I’m realistically I’m stuck here for the rest of my life…”

"Um... Lifestream?"

"Similar to Tartarus for you ponies, I think, but different."

The mare nodded, pretending to understand. “And you’re not sure how the Princesses will take you right?” Rainbow Dash grinned, letting out a rather loud burst of giggles. “Relax Zack, unless you do something majorly wrong then I think you’re fine… besides, you seem alright, so I’m pretty sure both the Princesses would like you…”

“I believe we can decide that for ourselves thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

The moment Zack heard that voice in his ears, his blood went ice cold. It was feminine, elegant, and flowing, but spoke with a deep set authority, one which made Zack wish more than ever he had his sword. In a heartbeat he was up on his feet and turning around with Dash at his side, only to find himself coming face to face with a sight that made him sweat.

Before him stood four ponies, of which he easily recognized three. The first being the heavily armored, and as expected blank faced royal guard captain, Shining Armor, who was looking directly at Zack and generating some rather unlikeable tension in the space between them.

The next two were, as Zack instantly noted, the unmistakable royal alicorns Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both standing calmly still while their manes seemed to float somehow on the none-existent breeze. Both were looking at him directly, but differently; Celestia had a warm and somewhat welcoming smile on her face, while Luna seemed far less trusting of the SOLDIER, her dark expression only helped to confirm that thought to Zack.

The last of the ponies was a lavender coated unicorn, who was wearing a dress which reminded Zack of Rainbow Dash’s own in some aspects; of the three she seemed the most interested and curious, looking up at him like he was a creature to be imprisoned in a lab, deeply studied, and documented in a research report.

“Uh… hi,” Zack said somewhat awkwardly as he looked between the four, instinctively reaching for the handle of his sword before remembering it wasn’t there.

Shining Armour snorted and his face immediately twisted into a look of disdain. “You will address the Princesses with some amount of resp…”

“That is enough, Shining Armor, there is no need for formalities tonight,” Celestia said gently, casting a look down at the stallion which silenced him, before returning her eyes to Zack, the ruler of the day taking a gentle step towards the rather uneasy SOLDIER as their eyes met. “Forgive him, Zack Fair, Shining is very loyal to me as both my captain and family, although I fear he accidently at times takes it a little too far; I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna.”

She said the last few words as she glanced at the darker alicorn, Luna simply inclining her head in acknowledgement but not taking her eyes from the SOLDIER. From the corner of his eye, Zack saw that although Rainbow was still there, everypony else had retreated from the foyer, perhaps fearing what could potentially happen next.

“It is a true honour to meet you both,” he said as all his prior unease quickly left him; gently he lowered himself to one knee before rising again, this time his blue eyes falling on the purple pony who was standing beside Princess Celestia. “And who is this curious one?”

“My sister,” Shining Armor hissed from beneath his helmet, drawing an angry glare from the smaller unicorn.

“This is my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia mused with a grin and a shake of her head, momentarily looking down at her. “And despite her age, perhaps the most powerful unicorn mare in Equestria… she was quite curious to meet you, Zack, considering you are not a pony like ourselves, although her brother preferred that she do so with me at her side.”

Twilight’s cheeks went read with embarrassment as Rainbow grinned wildly at her, the unicorn knowing full well that Dash wasn’t going to let her forget the moment anytime soon, and would probably use it to embarrass her in front of their friends at a later date.

“A pleasure to meet you, Twilight,” Zack grinned, reaching forward and giving her a rub between the soft purple ears, which prompted a giggle from her and a scold from her brother.

“Hehe, nice to meet you two Zack,” Twilight blushed as his hand returned to his side. “I would have come and introduced myself sooner, but navigating that crowd in there is impossible… now can I ask what you are exactly?”

“Tell me about it, Spitfire said there were easily twice as many guests as last year,” Zack chuckled as he folded his arms, the various torches in the room reflecting in his polished shoulder guards. “I’m a SOLDIER, a human-jenova hyb…”

Before he could finish his intended word, the peace was shattered as the double doors to the main hall burst open, and a crowd of ponies literally stampeded out, causing both Celestia and Luna to yelp and jump, and their wings to flare open; if the small group hadn’t been standing on the stairs they would have been trampled.

Zack’s battle instincts immediately engaged and he spun around with his fists up and ready, only to hear a cry that made his start blood boil at the memory of Soarin’s earlier words and descriptions. Now he understood why there were some many attendees and the hall was so packed.

“CHANGELINGS!! CHANGELINGS!!!”

A white blur hurtled past them and into the sea of ponies as Shining Armour charged for the hall with his horn lowered, followed swiftly by the two galloping princesses.

Twilight and Rainbow instantly readying to head after him, before Zack stopped grabbed hold of their manes.

“Oh no way in hell!” he snapped, forcefully pulling the two back as screaming ponies charged by in every direction. “I am not letting you two go in there and get yourselves killed. You want to do something useful, go to wherever you keep your weapons in this place and get my Buster Sword.”

Rainbow spun around, struggled in Zack’s grasp and gave him a half questioning, half enraged glare; she really hated being told what to do by her friends, let lone by somepony she barely knew. By now however they could hear explosions and see flashes of colour through the double doors, it seemed the magical combat had started, even without Twilight.

“Why would we do that for you?" she snorted. "What do me and Twi look like, some kind of servants? The princesses need us.”

“Because Shining Armor took it off me when I arrived yesterday for security reasons,” Zack snapped, blood already boiling. “Look, just go with Twilight and find then damn thing, Dash, it'll take both of you. I can deal with these changelings for the time being, but with my sword I can really do some damage.”

Dash just snorted and pulled some more.

“I’m asking you both nicely,” Zack hissed, glowing blue eyes driving a sense of frustration into her own magenta ones. “Please.”

Rainbow snorted, but gave in. “GRRRR… fine! What does it look like."

"It's bigger then me and weighs a lot, you can't miss it."

"Alright. Come on Twilight!” she snapped at last, kicking herself free of his grasp, and heading off with Twilight charging along just below, Zack readying his own magic as they disappeared down a corridor into the palace, and he headed for the fray.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 6: A Revealing and Revalations

“Oh, please do,” Princess Celestia said somewhat dryly, looking around at the ruins and rubble of what had been, only an hour earlier, the royal hall of Canterlot Palace. “Because with all due respect, Zack, I am seriously contemplating throwing you in a dungeon for this.”

Spitfire, and just about everypony else in the room, nearly jumped out of her fur coats. Zack on the other hand simply groaned and face-palmed with his free hand; he guessed even though his actions were righteous, they were still far from consequence free, especially considering how much damage he had done.

“Guess it’s understandable,” he groaned as he rubbed his temples, and returned his Buster Sword to its rightful place; slung nicely over across his back. “Look, I didn’t intend to do all this… I just kind of lost control of myself in the heat of the moment, it’s hard not to when everyone you care about is in danger.”

“That I can understand, I see my subjects as my own foals when it comes to protecting them,” Celestia nodded as most of her royal guards at last began to exit the ruined hall, a detachment of guards who seemed to belong to Luna taking their places in clearing the rubble. “What I cannot understand, however, is how you wield such destructive power with such ease. I am left to wonder if you are somehow related to Discord.”

Everypony cringed except Zack, who simply raised a curious eyebrow and folded his arms at the strange name. Whoever this Discord was he apparently wasn’t a nice guy, so it probably wasn’t a great idea to go asking questions about him.

“Well, my powers come from being a SOLDIER, which basically translates to a human-jenova hybrid genetically enhanced and engineered for elite combat purposes. Originally I was born human, but when I became a SOLDIER I was exposed to Mako, which I guess for you guys in simple terms... is kind of like raw magical energy, and then I was injected with Jenova cells, Jenova being a powerful extra-terrestrial being... thing…" he shuddered at that particular memory. "Which all together makes me extremely strong, fast and able to perform powerful tricks like you just saw. I’ll admit it’s not a nice process and a lot of try-outs get Mako poisoning or worse, but I made it through, and eventually after a long while and my fair share of missions, I made SOLDIER first class, which basically means I’m one of SOLDIER’s best of the best… or technically I was…”

There were mixed reactions to his admittance; Spitfire and Soarin seemed predominantly unfazed or perhaps a little curious, Rainbow Dash actually somehow seemed impressed, Shining Armor seemed far more suspicious now, and everypony else looked as if they were about to be sick.

He guessed the ‘genetically engineered’ and 'extra-terrestrial cells' thing didn’t really go down well.

“So, just out of curiosity, is that why you can walk on clouds?” Spitfire asked with a slight tilt of her head, drawing odd looks from the other ponies around her. “Us pegasi ponies only can because we have a special type of natural magic in our wings… but you don’t have wings, Zack, so I’m a little confused.”

“My body has been exposed to raw magic energy, so maybe,” Zack replied, his eyes suddenly darkening a little. “Or it could be the jenova cells in me, I don’t want to discuss the subject for personal reasons, but there have been cases of certain SOLDIER’s with high amounts of jenova cells in them… growing wings.”

Everypony, including Spitfire, winced at what he had said, but luckily didn’t pursue any answers. Celestia likewise didn’t say a single thing, but Zack swore her face had paled at his statement, a considerable feat given that her coat was already pure marble white.

“I see you are far more then I first imagined,” she sighed slowly, closing her eyes for a moment like she was thinking before going on. “You have put me in a very difficult position here, Zack, given all the damage you’ve caused to my palace and what I have learnt of you... but I guess I’m willing to let this slide this time, considering you did just defeat Chrysalis.”

Once again everypony in the hall, except Zack and Shining Armor shuddered, the royal guard captain instead clenching his jaw, snorting and looking like he was about to kick a hole in something.

“Considering that I’ve answered you’re question, I’d like one of my own answered Celestia… exactly what the hell was that thing back there? Was it a Chrysalis?”

“Chrysalis is her name; she is the queen of the race of Changelings,” Luna answered distastefully for her sister as she stamped her front hoof, the sentence the first thing, Zack realised, he had heard the princess of the night say. “A most vile and twisted creature if Equestria has even known one.”

There was a few moments of silence afterwards, during which Zack looked to Spitfire for guidance, but the golden mare had none to offer other than to wait.

Eventually, Celestia spoke up again, this time, however, she seemed a little more calm and contained than she had been before.

“Yes, she is a wicked creature with virtually no morals to speak of… so really, I must thank you for succeeding where I failed, and I guess while your awake I’d also like to ask you, Zack, that if you are not in urgent need of sleep, that you may accompany me somewhere a little more private. You see, there are things in light of these events I wish to discuss with the elements, Shining Armor, and yourself.”

“Only if Spitfire and Soarin accompany me,” Zack said firmly, placing a hand on the shoulder of the now utterly surprised pegasus mare. “I have faith in your guards, but I’ve lost too many friends in the past, and with changelings running around I’m not willing to take any chances.”

His words were only half true; he wanted to keep Spitfire safe at his side, but he only wanted to keep Soarin around so he didn’t go prematurely shooting his mouth off to the other Wonderbolts.

“As a Captain and vice-Captain of an Equestrian paramilitary group, I don’t see why not,” Celestia chuckled before turning to one of the stallion night guards, the tone in her voice sounding almost like she was teasing the SOLDIER. “Have the other Wonderbolts escorted back to their chambers, everypony else, please follow me.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Celestia silently led the group deep into the white stone palace she called home, Zack’s hand resting on the grip of his Buster Sword the entire time while his glowing blue eyes hunted the regal and exquisite corridors for any sign of unusual movement; luckily, the only things that were moving were squads of patrolling guards. As was to be expected, Spitfire walked close to the protective SOLDIER’s side, Soarin on the other hand seemed content to apparently trot at the back of the group, and try to start a conversation with a yellow pegasus with a pink mane named Fluttershy.

During their long journey he had learnt the names of the six ‘elements of harmony’ as they were called, wielders of perhaps the most powerful magic known to ponies; Twilight and Rainbow Dash were two, while the other four were known as Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.

Zack now understood why Spitfire had said everything was based on friendship, for even the magic of Equestria had its source in the attributes that would be considered between two beings signs of friendship, such as honesty and kindness, unlike in Shinra where the sources of magic were Mako and Materia.

As they walked along the heavily decorated corridors Twilight happily and excitedly bombarded Zack with questions, apparently enjoying asking him about everything from his childhood to the style of government in Shinra. Some of her more interesting questions drew the occasional odd look from both Zack and the ponies around him.

This mare really liked to learn.

Luckily, the Princess brought them all to a rather large golden door before the mare’s questions got too complicated, or personal; Zack was really not in the mood for discussing how he had ended up in Equestria, and he really didn’t want to talk about his old friends from SOLDIER either.

To say the door was a work of art would be an understatement; a giant sun had been etched into the centre while numerous sparkling gems had been inlaid around it, set into a large marble wall.

“Hold the door,” Luna instructed to the four night guards who had escorted them all through the palace, the dark armored unicorns instantly taking up their positions,

Without a glance back, Celestia promptly opened the door, and beckoned Zack and the others inside, the SOLDIER ending up being forced to duck to fit through.

There was no doubt in Zack’s mind, as he peered around the room he emerged into, that these were Princess Celestia’s private quarters; the pure lavishness of the place put every equivalent he had ever seen to shame, so much so it made his and Spitfire’s chamber look like a fairly standard hotel room by comparison. Every wall had either a painting or royal banner across it, while the furniture looked to be turned out of pure gold, the bed was absolutely massive and the fireplace was probably big enough for him to stand in. In the middle of the room was a circle of what looked to be regal lounging chairs and cushions, which without instruction everypony quickly gathered around.

“Everypony, please make yourselves comfortable,” Celestia stated bluntly, the alicorn sending a flash of golden light into the rooms wood filled fireplace, causing it to burst into burning life, and in an instant banish the prior shadows. “Sister, please close the door, it is important that what we say does not leave this room.”

A small knot twisted in Zack’s gut as he sat down on a large white floor cushion next to Spitfire and Twilight. Gingerly, he removed his Buster Sword, before laying the mighty blade across his lap and gingerly resting his hands on it

The other ponies likewise seated themselves around the sun princess, while the darker alicorn sealed the room’s entrance with a loud metal clang, the sound clarifying they were now alone.

For a few moments after, there was a tense silence as Luna took her own seated place beside Celestia, during which Zack and the other ponies looked somewhat nervously between each other for guidance, but found none, Spitfire apparently making sure she was as close to her bodyguard and his sword as possible.

“Now then,” Celestia began, her eyes gently closing as she spoke, as if it somehow helped bring her thoughts and words together as one. “What I am about to tell you all must not be repeated to anypony within Canterlot, I am understood?”

The words ‘Yes Princess’ just about filled the entire room, so loud it actually made Zack’s ears hurt slightly.

“Good… so then I guess I will be blunt with you, my little ponies, in light of this latest attack I am left to wonder how exactly an army of changelings, once again, penetrated Canterlot’s bolstered defences, and the only conclusion I can see as reasonable is that there are changelings hiding somewhere in the city, and perhaps even the palace itself... changelings I believe who must be found... and destroyed if necessary.”

Zack instinctively grasped the grip of his Buster Sword, as if he were about to leap into combat at any moment, and by the looks of thing everypony was likewise taken back by the princess’s statement.

Admittedly, it was a reasonable explanation, given how tight the notable security had been, and the SOLDIER was forced to wonder for a moment what would have happened if he had not been present when the guards were caught unaware.

“Hence I am now regrettably forced to take drastic action… so, as of tonight I am sealing off Canterlot, so nopony can get in or out of the city by train, hoof, or wing, and I will only lift the enchantment once I am certain that the city is free of these monsters.”

She then turned to Shining Armor, the tense expression on his face telling Zack the white stallion was just about fuming with anger, and Zack guessed he knew what it was, given the same thing formed the pinnacle of his own life.

“Don’t go beating yourself up, Shining,” The SOLDIER said gently before Celestia could speak, drawing an odd look from the princess, but a strange almost relieved one from the stallion. “We all make mistakes, and sometimes we believe we have lost our honour, but in truth you fought very well tonight, so you should be proud of yourself… besides, how were you to know they’d show up tonight.”

The words from a fellow warrior seemed to cheer the royal guard captain up a little, and both Celestia and Twilight nodded their own approval and agreement. Zack just hoped it would put the two of them on slightly better terms than what they had been previously; the captain of the royal guard wasn’t exactly the first pony he wanted to call an enemy.

“I agree with Zack, Captain, you are far too hard on yourself sometimes,” Celestia said, to Zack’s utter amazement nuzzling the stallion like he was her either her foal or close family, causing Zack’s eyebrow to rise almost on its own. “But if you want to try and prove or redeem yourself, this will be your chance; I am putting you in charge of the changeling search teams. Twilight, I wish to keep you and your friends here, in case the elements of harmony are needed in the unlikely event of another attack.”

“You can count on us princess,” Twilight said confidently, her friends all nodding their individual approval, even Fluttershy nodded slightly from the protection of her mane.

“And even if there’s only one of them here princess, I’ll make sure it’s found,” The captain replied with hearty chuckled, giving the princess a heavily metallic salute which made everypony grin with amusement, exactly why he wore so much armor was beyond anypony present.

It was then, however, that Celestia turned her eyes to Zack, Spitfire, and Soarin, her smile fading and now looking a little unhappy.

“Regrettably, Spitfire, you and your team won’t be able to leave Canterlot until the search is complete. As I said, nopony gets in or out, and that includes the Wonderbolts.”

“I understand princess, and if there’s anything we can do to help, just ask,” The golden mare replied, using a hoof to at last reach up and remove the facial cover of her blue uniform before having a quick shake. “Sheesh… sorry about that, but this thing was driving me nuts, and it rubs my muzzle when I try and talk.”

Celestia put a hoof over her muzzle as she giggled lightly; when she herself had to wear a crown all day she knew exactly how good it felt to remove it, and how annoying it was to have something on your head for long periods of time.

“Quite alright, I assure you Spitfire, and it’s good to have your team on side,” she smirked as she lowered her hoof and stood up. “And on that note, I believe that is all for now fillies and gentlecolts, so I will leave you all to return to your chambers… but before you go, Zack, I wish to speak with you in private for a moment.”

Zack flinched inside, but simply nodded in reply, the SOLDIER remaining motionless as everypony else got to their hooves and quickly filed out of the room, led by Shining Armour, the only one to cast a look was a rather cautious looking Spitfire, just before the golden door closed again and they lost sight of each other.

As soon as they were alone, Celestia returned to her haunches and eyed the SOLDIER as if she were examining him, Zack in return doing the same to the white coated princess, while his hand stayed firmly on his sword. Neither said anything, but just sat motionless and traded looks, all the while the fire crackled and burned, both expecting the other to move or flinch first.

“You are a powerful warrior, Zack Fair,” Celestia said bluntly at last after about a minute, the tone in her voice stone cold without a single bit of her former cheerfulness. “But I am warning you now, that should you hurt any of my little ponies, you will answer to my sister and I, and we will not hesitate to deal with you accordingly.”

The amount of venom in her words surprised Zack, but he kept his cool and replied to her in an emotionless tone so as not to provoke her.

“May I ask why you would suddenly think I’d intend any harm?”

Celestia’s face and eyes darkened, to the point where Zack thought they were made of steel, and for the first time he actually felt unnerved by the princess who was glaring at him, or rather who was glaring at his Buster Sword like it was some kind of abomination. He would at that point have much rather left the room, but as fate would have it he was stuck under the unfaltering gaze of Princess Celestia, ruler and protector of all ponies.

“Some weapons are made for self-defence Zack, and I know that sword you carry is not one of them, it is made for bringing a quick and merciless end to one’s life, and not for protecting yourself from others. Your powers are likewise suited for destruction rather than preservation, and despite your good intentions, you have shown me that rather clearly tonight when you dealt with the changelings…take this as a warning, Zack Fair, I am a generous ruler, and whatever your story I would see you live well in Equestria, but I will not allow any harm to come to my subjects. You no doubt know that I sent my own sister to the moon for a thousand years so she could not harm them, so do not expect any lenience from me… have I made myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Zack replied as he wiped a small bead of sweat from his head, whether it was due to Celestia or the fire, however, he wasn’t sure.

“Good… now get some sleep… I have a spell to cast.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Wow… so she basically gave you a roasting then, huh?” Spitfire said dryly after Zack had finished explaining what had happened, eyeing the slightly unnerved black haired SOLDIER, who was sitting on her bed with concern from her seat beside the fireplace. “You sure you’re ok, Zack?”

“Yeah… just a little uneasy I guess Spitfire,” he sighed as he looked over at her, his glowing blue eyes fixing with her own. “You know I’d never hurt anyone without legitimate reason, but I’m not sure if Celestia could see it that way... if such a thing ever happened, I mean.”

The golden mare just smiled and jumped up on the bed beside him, laying her head across his now armor-bare shoulder while her front hooves wrapped around his torso in a soft and affectionate embrace to calm him. After a few moments of tension he finally relaxed, and returned the gesture, it seemed the distinction between who was looking out for who wasn’t exactly clear anymore.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“Everypony needs some support now and then, Zack, and you were there for me in that diner in Cloudsdale, so it’s only fair I’m here for you now.”

Spitfire just giggled and gave him a small lick on the cheek before removing herself from his arms, and then with a shake of her mane headed for the comforting warmth of the bed's blankets, tucking herself in while she watched a slightly blushing Zack remove his Buster Sword and set it down on the floor.

“And I’m glad you are,” he chuckled as he removed his boots and stood up. “Meh, as long as I behave myself I should stay in her good books.”

She knew she probably shouldn’t watch, but the golden mare couldn’t help but feel almost captivated, as for the first time since they had met the SOLDIER reached up, grabbed his collar, and pulled off his changeling-residue dirtied shirt, dropping it beside his sword and already removed shoulder plates.

She had often wondered what he looked like underneath it, and what she saw didn’t disappointed; he was etched with defined muscle both back and front, but his skin looked to be as smooth as the finest moulded glass, a far cry from a fur coat.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’d rather get that washed before I sleep in it again,” Zack said sheepishly with a nod towards his turtleneck, his long black locks now a messy mat from the fight and the removal of his shirt.

“Your choice,” Spitfire smiled in return as she watched him remove his waist belt with half closed eyes, the combination of dancing firelight and the room’s shadows highlighting every line in his frame.

As he usually did, Zack stretched and readied himself for another night bunking on the floor, but, before he could lay down and get comfortable, Spitfire rolled out from her own bed and landed exactly where he intended sleep, looking up and him sternly with all four hooves planted firmly on the floor to show she wasn’t intending to move.

“Oh no you’re not, for once Zack, you are going to sleep in a bed like a civilised pony…er SOLDIER, but you get what I mean.”

Zack just smirked and cross his arms over his bare chest; he had to admit she was cute even when she tried to act serious, the firelight that splashed across her face only made her look even more adorable.

“And what are you going to do if I say no?”

“If you say no, then I’m using you as a mattress.” she replied smugly with a flick of her tail, Zack’s smirk fading in a heartbeat. “Look Zack, let’s get something strait here alright, yes I’m a mare, and yes you’re a stallion, well sort of anyway… but that doesn’t mean that sleeping in the same bed as each other is inappropriate.”

Zack groaned and ran his fingers through his messy black hair as he looked between her and the huge sleeping arrangement of blankets and pillows, knowing that whether he liked it or not he was caught between a rock and a hard place; he didn’t like the idea of sharing the same bed due to his as of yet unadmitted feelings for her, but the idea of trying to sleep on the floor, while she used him as a mattress, was an even more dislikeable proposition.

“Fine,” he snorted at last, an amused giggle becoming the golden mare’s response as she jumped back into the bed, Zack gently, and somewhat awkwardly climbing in under the thick blankets after her.

What happened next though wasn't what he had expected, for just as he got comfortable on his back and put his hands behind his head, something soft fell across his chest, and looking down he saw Spitfire was using him as a pillow. Part of him screamed at him to push her away before things got any more awkward, to perhaps to abandon the bed all together; but he did neither and instead lowered his left hand so it rested on the base of her neck and held her close to him.

“And here I was thinking you didn’t do affection,” Spitfire grinned with closed eyes, her voice barely loud enough to hear as she quickly drifted off to sleep

“Only for you, Spits,” he chuckled, staring at the dark ceiling for a moment before closing his own eyes, his dreams instantly pulling him away. “Only for you.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

Sorry for the lateness everyone but I’m back at uni, so sorry.

So with this story I’m going to follow an in-show phenomenon that I don’t believe has even been explored in fan-fiction, what that is you’ll just have to wait and see. And just so you all understand, Tia doesn't trust Zack because he reminds her of Discord, but they'll get along...eventually.

Chapter 7: A New Job

Wrote this chapter in three days everyone, so if you see a spelling error, please tell me.

Chapter 7: A New Job

It wasn't so much the bright light of the early sun that dragged Zack back to the land of the awake the next morning, nor was it the sunlight caused tossing and turning of the golden mare, who had decided to use him as a pillow the night before. Instead, what had suddenly pulled him awake was the abrupt loud knock at the door, and the scent of food that drifted in shortly after he heard it creak open, along with a set of heavy hoofsteps.

Zack’s blue eyes quickly snapped open as his mind came to a state of groggy, but ready consciousness, the SOLDIER finding himself staring blankly up at the alabaster white ceiling for a moment or two. At last though, with a little effort, he gently began propping up into a sitting position, all the while rubbing his eyes with his palms to remove the last ounces of sleep that fogged his mind.

“Ugh… not good,” he groaned as he blinked a few times, running both his hands through his now matted black locks. “Really not good.”

“We do have some professional groomers here in the Palace,” came a rather amused male voice. “If you’re really that hung up about your mane, that is.”

Zack simply snorted in reply and gave his head a quick shake, not even having to look at the speaker who had for some reason invaded his and Spitfire’s room to know who it was; there was only one stallion in all of Canterlot who could have been mistaken for a dragon, given how loud his hoofsteps usually were.

“Morning to you as well, Shining,” the SOLDIER muttered as he folded his arms and starred across the room, his vision greeted by the sight of a grinning, and for once unarmoured royal guard captain Shining Armor, who was presently leaning against what looked to be a meal cart. “So, to what degree do I owe you for this surprise?”

The white stallion simply chuckled and shook his head.

“If by ‘surprise’ you mean breakfast, it’s on the house Zack. You don’t really think Princess Celestia would have you save everyone's flanks, and then not give you any thanks whatsoever do you?”

“I meant what the hell are you doing in my room?” Zack replied bluntly as he slid from the embrace of the thick blankets, taking extra care not to wake the still slumbering mare who had during the night rolled over, and off her human-jenova hybrid pillow.

As soon as he left the bed, however, she gave a soft moan and shifted a few times in her sleep, like she was searching for an object of comfort that had abruptly been taken from her grasp; it was a truly adorable sight to the SOLDIER, Spitfire’s fiery mane splayed out across her golden neck and face in the morning light, whilst her chest gently rose and fell with her breathing.

She was so cute that Zack couldn’t help but crack a smile, despite Shining Armor’s presence.

However, the rather annoying grin on Shining Armor’s face also widened as he followed the SOLDIER’s gaze, and then spotted the uniform-less Wonderbolt hidden in the depths of the white blankets, the stallion looking between the sleeping golden pegasus, and a now light red faced Zack with a combination of curiosity and cheesy amusement.

“So... bodyguard, huh?”

“This is not how it looks,” Zack started somewhat defensively as he looked down at her again, trying to hide the redness that was growing on his face.

“No offense Zack, but given that I’m married, it looks pretty clear to me,” Shining Armor grinned, tossing his head up and flicking a bit of blue mane from his face. “But I’m not saying it’s wrong, I mean you’re a stallion... ish…”

“IF you hadn’t already noticed, there’s only one bed in here, and she wouldn’t let me sleep on the floor,” Zack hissed, now somewhat tempted to hurl a Thundaga or two in the captain’s direction.

“Of course,” Shining Armor chuckled quietly after a moment, his sly grin still plastered across his face. “Anyway, to answer your original question, I’ve been asked to ask if you had any plans for today... so do you?”

“None whatsoever,” Zack yawned in reply, stretching for a moment to get the blood in his limbs flowing, before heading over to examine the meal cart’s steaming contents, which consisted of a number of breads, pastries, and a platter of fresh cut fruit. “Why?”

The grin on Shining Armor’s face widened even further.

“Well, Princess Celestia isn’t exactly happy about all the damage you caused last night, so she’s decided that in order to make amends, you’re going to make good of yourself while you’re here in Canterlot. I talked it over with her, and we came to the agreement that the Wonderbolt’s really won’t need a bodyguard while they’re staying here in the palace…”

The puzzle pieces fell together in Zack’s mind before Shining Armor could even say the words, and to say it rubbed him all the wrong way was a total and utter understatement; it was easy to see given the captain’s good mood, and the fact that it had been him of all ponies who had awoken the SOLDIER, Zack in response to the revelation just prayed his stay in Canterlot would be short.

“…So the princess has decided that for the length of your stay here, Zack, you’ll be serving as a member of the royal guard instead.”

“Let me guess,” Zack groaned as he rubbed his temples in frustration. “Under your personal command no less?”

“Got it in one,” the stallion said somewhat smugly over his shoulder as he turned and headed for the door. “So I just came to tell you that once you’re finished breakfast, you're to meet me in the palace foyer. My second in command is managing the searches today so I’m taking you out to the training grounds, just so I can examine your fighting skills and test your abilities properly… and before you ask, yes your marefriend here can come as well.”

If not for the fact that he was already leaving, and it would most likely infuriate Princess Celestia further, Zack would have picked the grinning stallion up and thrown him either out, or through, the wooden door then and there.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Zack snorted as he returned his attention to the present food, ignoring the captain’s snarky comment and grabbing himself a pastry. “We’ll be down in a hour or so.”

The door shut with a gentle click, followed by the sound of hoofsteps and laughter proceeding down the hallway, growing quieter and quieter before becoming non-existent. It was then Zack once again groaned and rubbed his temples with his free hand while the other grasped the first part of his breakfast as he tore at it; if there was ever a literal definition of a rude awakening, in the SOLDIER’s opinion, this was probably close to it.

“What was that all about?”

Zack turned around to see Spitfire now sitting up in bed and looking between him and doorway, a look of confusion on her sleepy face as she blinked away the tiredness from her eyes, her mane hanging down her neck in a messy state, which easily rivalled that of the SOLDIER’s own locks.

“A certain royal guard captain jumping to conclusions,” Zack snorted, stuffing the last of his pastry into his mouth before picking up the tray and laying it on the bed so they could share, the awaiting mare gladly and somewhat greedily digging in as soon as the food was within range of her hooves. “And informing me that I’m now a member of the royal guard.”

Spitfire abruptly gagged on the iced bun she had been eating, while her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, both of them fixed on Zack.

“WHAT!”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“So what exactly are you expecting me to do?” Zack asked in an effort to make conversation, the sound of his boots on the white stone floor echoing down the long hallway.

“First I’ll just be putting you through some rookie routines… you know, test your running speed, strength, reflexes and so on,” Shining Armor replied without looking back. “Then I might get you to spar with some of the finer members of the royal guard to test your combat skills. No offense Zack, but fighting a changeling and fighting a trained pony are two very different situations.”

“I really feel sorry for those guards,” Spitfire smirked with a glance up at Zack, the SOLDIER grinning and giving her an affectionate scratch between the ears

For a few moments another wave of silence reigned between the three of them, than Zack decided it was time to get something out the way that had been biting at him since the night before, something which he hoped would shed more light on the changeling’s motives.

“Shining Armor, If it’s not my place I understand… but what did your sister mean last night, when she said ‘you feed off him like you did my brother’ to Chrysalis?”

Shining Armor actually stopped dead in his tracks, and shuddered like a block of ice had been placed between his shoulder blades, causing Zack to wonder if asking had been the best idea; a moment later a hoof slammed down hard on the stone floor in an effort to vent the owner’s anger.

“Chrysalis… that… thing,” he snorted as he looked back at the SOLDIER, his nostrils flaring as the words were forced out between his clenched teeth. “Kidnapped and imprisoned my wife, Cadence… and then tricked and brainwashed me into believing she was my wife, all so she could feed off my love and penetrate Canterlot’s defences for the rest of her kind to invade… and then she subdued Celestia, my sister, and the elements when they tried to stop that… monster.”

Zack instinctively found himself gripping his Buster Sword; he had met and fought vile creatures before, but this Chrysalis was certainly one of the worst he had ever come across, and should they ever meet again...

Shining Armor’s face softened quickly though, and a weak smile crept across his white muzzle as he began walking again. “But my little sister saw right through her, and in the end managed to free Cadence, and the magic of our love for each other was enough to defeat her and her vile subjects.”

“So then why all the fuss this time?” Spitfire inquired with an arched eyebrow and a flick of her fiery tail. “Couldn’t you and Cadence…”

“Unfortunately, a week ago Cadence was called away to Manehatten on royal duties, and since she was away we doubled the amount of royal guards present to compensate,” Shining Armor sighed in reply with a shake of his head as he looked at the golden mare. “The princesses and I thought it would be enough in the event of an attack… but as you both saw last night, it wasn’t… so I guess in all honesty, the way I see it, Zack’s the main reason Canterlot’s still standing... ish.”

The SOLDIER could hardly believe what he was hearing, so much so he could actually feel the expression of surprise, and slight embarrassment, spread across his face as both Shining Armor’s and Spitfire’s eyes looked up at him; he admitted he was proud of his actions, but at the time had only done what he had thought was right.

“Ah… thanks,” he managed to say as he turned away slightly, running his fingers through his now washed black hair as his cheeks began to sting. “But really, I was only doing what any SOLDIER would do.”

“Doesn’t matter, Zack, you saved a lot of lives last night… and if not for the fact you destroyed half the palace in the process, you’d probably be getting a medal of valor. But listen, if it’s any consolation, I’m sorry for how I acted when we first met, and if you ever need somepony on your side you’ve got me.”

An smile spread across Zack’s face; Shining Armour might’ve been a bit painful at times, but the SOLDIER was glad all the same.

“Good to hear, Shiny,” he chuckled playfully, prompting the stallion to grin and Spitfire to burst into giggles. “Maybe you’re not so bad after all.”

The three of them continued walking and exchanging small talk for the rest of the journey, all the while they made their way about the palace of Canterlot, Shining Armor walking briskly through the vibrant winding corridors and hallways in front, while Spitfire and Zack followed close behind, the SOLDIER eyeing every blank faced patrolling guard and fearful pony subject they came across with equal slight suspicion.

The only other thing that caught his attention was the shimmering golden field that now surrounded the white stone capital of Equestria, and everything that lay within it of course, cutting everypony inside the city off from the outside world until the unconfirmed changeling presence was dealt with.

In truth he highly doubted a changeling would dare to still try and hide out in the palace, given what had happened the night prior and the current hype. But Zack wasn’t ready to take any chances given what he knew about them, and hence had his left hand on the grip of his Buster Sword as he followed Shining Armor; he knew from memory that some things could be at their most dangerous when cornered.

Until the plausible cornered changeling was found he unfortunately wasn’t going anywhere.

“Which will hopefully be sooner rather than later,” Zack thought bitterly with a shake of his locks.

Shining Armor, eventually, led the SOLDIER and his golden pegasus counterpart to the very back of the palace, a stone archway abruptly ending the long marble corridor they had been following, and opening up onto the last thing Zack had expected, that being a huge rectangular section of sunlight soaked green lawn that was rimmed with flowering trees, walls, and what Zack guessed was the palace’s servants quarters.

He quickly noticed there were targets and other objects dotted around the place, plus a cluster of ponies already standing in the middle of the lawn, of which from his distance he recognized as being Soarin, Stormwing, the elements of harmony, and Princess Luna.

Then there were two golden armored royal guards, what looked to be a very small dragon, and another white unicorn who Zack didn’t recognize. This particular unicorn was about Shining Armor’s size, but sported a blondish mane and tail, and looked to be wearing a formal dinner suit.

“This, Zack, is the training ground for the royal guard,” Shining Armor offered as he looked around the wide open expanse, and the various scattered objects that lay across it. He looked back and grinned as both Zack and Spitfire’s eyes adjusted the barrage of sunlight. “So… any questions before we get started?”

“Yeah… why exactly are they here,” Zack replied as he stopped rubbing his eyes, inclining his head at the small group of chatting multi-coloured ponies. “I don’t mind, but you never said anyone would be watching.”

Shining Armor glanced over his shoulder and shrugged, an action how they managed to do, while standing on all fours, still eluded Zack’s ability to figure out.

“Eh, Equestria’s a free country, Zack, so they’ve got as much right to watch you as I do… although, I’ll admit I would have preferred some of them not to be present.”

“I’m guessing you’re talking about Prince Blueblood?” Spitfire smirked, jumping into the air and hovering with her forelegs folded across her chest as she turned to Zack. “He’s Celestia and Luna’s nephew… and possibly the biggest royal whiner, cry-foal, and pain in the flank in Equestrian history…”

“…and the brother-in-law from Tartarus to boot,” Shining Armor snorted as he pawed the ground angrily. “He’s never gotten over the fact a ‘commoner’ married his sister, even if this commoner is captain of the royal guard… ugh, anyway, I’d advise you to avoid him at all costs, I have a feeling he’s only here because he wants to lecture you about all the damage you did to ‘his family's’ palace.”

The SOLDIER just sighed and rubbed his temples, if there was one thing he really didn’t want to need it was another scolding from a royal, let alone an arrogant one.

“Let’s just get started, Shining, the faster we get this done the faster we can both get away from him.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The initial introductions and explaining went smoothly, and despite his past differences with the creatures, Zack quickly found a new friend in the dragon named Spike, who was the first creature Zack had met in Equestria who actually knew how to handshake.

He then met the two guards, Lance Point and Double edge. Neither however seemed to want to say much, but rather insisted they start his testing as fast as possible.

Blueblood lived up to Shining Armour’s descriptions as basically being an arrogant prick, amongst other things. luckily, Luna stepped in before the prince could fully start his rather heated and long winded rant on the state of the palace due to Zack’s actions, so, with the meet and greet done, the tests started.

The first hour and a half was spent on basic stamina and strength tests, including Zack continuously running between two wooden markers as fast as possible, and doing push ups with a set of weighted saddle bags across his back, while mostly everypony else either watched, counted or helped grade his performance.

Other than Soarin, who continued to chat with Fluttershy, who eventually began to talk back after a while, and Blueblood who simply stood back a little ways in silence and glared at the SOLDIER.

In the end, Shining Armor and Stormwing measured his running speed to be equal to that of a fit pegasus pony, while they ran out of weights to put on the SOLDIER before he showed any real signs of strain.

The third test was easier than the first two, as it simply measured the strength in his main combat appendages, such as an earth pony’s back legs, or in his case, the strength of his punch; Shining Armour and the other two guards produced a thick wooden board with padding running along its length, and a spring-backed rotating mechanism at the base, and attached to it was a pulley with a set of weights. The idea was that the weights were the equivalent of a standard pony wearing basic armour, so when the pad was struck, the distance the plank flexed backwards, and hence the distance the weights were lifted, indicated how much damage a royal guard would have sustained from the blow.

Apparently Zack’s first punch would've sent the pony flying, armor and all, which made Princess Luna and Blueblood look a little uneasy when Shining Armor announced it.

The next test examined his reflexes and ability to think quickly under pressure; Zack stood some twenty meters away, while Shining Armor used his magic to launch either a blue or black ball towards him at high speed, and Zack was to simply dodge the black ones and catch the blue ones once they came close enough for him to recognize; In the end, he made it through the test without a single misjudgement.

“Do you ever get tired?” Spitfire giggled as she approached Zack, who was tossing a blue ball up and down in one hand while he drank down a flask of water with the other. “It’s been two and a half hours, and you haven’t really broken a sweat.”

“I wasn’t SOLDIER first class for my looks,” Zack grinned as he wiped his mouth and set the flask down on the ground beside him, prompting the mare shake her head in amusement. “But seriously, extreme stamina and the ability to keep going and fighting is a one of our best abilities.”

“I bet I could put that extreme stamina to good use in another way,” Spitfire smirked mentally to herself, and a moment later her eyes widened like somepony had smacked her flank. “Uh… ok… where exactly did THAT thought come from?”

Before she could answer her own question Zack was back to his tests, and despite feeling a little shocked at herself she returned to silently sitting on the grass beside Rainbow Dash and Twilight, and continued watching him. Unfortunately, his next test proved to only override her brain and ability to think straight even further.

“Alright Zack,” Shining Armor began, using his magic to unroll a brown wool wrap, and present the SOLDIER’s awaiting hands with three shoulder height round-point spears. “This next test is just to examine your accuracy over long distance. I know you’re far better at close quarters combat, but like I said, these are the hoops our rookies have to jump through.”

“I’ve had worse,” Zack chuckled as he twirled one of the spears, remembering the rigorous training room exercises and simulations Angeal had put him through. “So let me guess… you want me to throw these at that target?”

With the last few words, he inclined his head to a flat wooden version of what looked to be a changeling some thirty meters away, a few points on the target dictating the position of the heart and other vulnerable places.

“As I’ve said before Zack, we don’t try to kill if we can avoid it… but since last year we’ve been forced to train our guards in a more lethal combat orientated fashion,” Shining Armor sighed, the other two royal guards snorting both their anger and approval at his words. “Before our unicorn’s just used their spells to stun or incapacitate… now as you can see we’ve had to take a little more... permanent approach to stopping changelings at long range.”

He nodded his muzzle towards the golden metal tipped spears in Zack’s hands.

“To me it’s no different,” Zack shrugged in reply. “I’ve always followed the more ‘permanent’ approach to dealing with anything hostile… anyway, if you don’t mind I might take this shirt off, I can’t throw these things with my armor plates on, they affect the rotation of my shoulder.”

Shining simply nodded and allowed Zack to remove the unwanted armor and clothing, and once again Spitfire found herself staring at the slats of muscle that had been etched onto Zack’s frame; this time though her mind decided to throw out her self control. She couldn’t help but feel a slight quiver run through her wings as she saw his body flex as he leant down and picked up the three spears again.

“Seriously… what is with me?” she shuddered with a shake of her head. “I mean… sure, he’s kind of handsome-ish, built, genuinely caring, and… and just what the hay am I thinking?!”

She physically had to facehoof herself in order to stop the wayward train of her thought, by which time Zack had already hurled two of his spears and buried them in the target so deep that only a fraction stuck out of the receiving side. A heartbeat later the third found its mark, and with a satisfying thud slammed into the target at the base of its neck, a broad grin spreading across Zack’s face as he folded his arms and Shining Armor gave an amused whistle.

“Well…I’d hate to be that Changeling,” he grinned as he came up to Zack’s side. “And given that unicorns can aim with their magic, while you’re stuck with just eye sighting, I’m actually surprised at how well you did there.”

“Comes from having to throw the occasional coin or barrage of meteors at something,” Zack chuckled as he rolled his shoulders to relax the muscles in them, drawing an odd look from the stallion. “So anything else or is that it?”

A sly grin spread across Shining Armour’s face.

“There is one more thing… but it’s more of an exercise then a test, and I’m going to need Spitfire’s help for this one.”

“Me?” the golden mare asked as both Zack's and the captain’s own blue eyes fell on her, as well as those of everypony else. Gingerly, she got to her hooves and headed over to where they were standing. “So… what’s the plan?”

Shining Armor inclined his head to Lance Point and Double Edge, the dark coated unicorns nodding in silent understanding, before they all turned back to Zack and Spitfire. “Like I said earlier, I wanted to test Zack’s combat skills against something other than a changeling, and I figured who better than Princess Celestia’s two personal throne guards. Basically what will happen, Spitfire, is that those two will pretend to be holding you against your will, and Zack’s objective is to subdue them and rescue you as fast as possible. When we do this with the new recruits, we hire stallions from the local Canterlot population, usually with no training whatsoever… but given Zack’s abilities, I thought I’d make things a little more, hmm, interesting for him.”

A wild grin spread across Zack’s face as he eyed the two stallions and cracked his knuckles. This was going to be one hell of a show.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The SOLDIER stood perfectly still with his fists clenched, feeling the breeze run over his bare skin and through his hair as he eyed the two unicorns, neither moving other than the occasional blink or twitch of a tail. A short distance away, everypony else was watching and waiting patiently from the sidelines, some of them including Soarin and Rainbow Dash cheering him on, or making bets with each other on how long it would take Zack to subdue the guards if at all, with Twilight acting as the bookie.

Zack had bet them all he could do it in less than ten seconds flat, and of course, everypony had just grinned and laughed at the suggestion.

Just beyond the two guards, Spitfire was standing patiently with a rope around her wings, her calm eyes affixed on him as his were on her, they shared a small grin with each other, before the peace was shattered by Shining Armor.

“Alright Zack, we’re timing this, so get it done as fast as possible by any means necessary… other than killing somepony, of course.”

Zack nodded in understanding and knelt down like a sprinter at the ready, his weight focused so as to direct him straight at Lance Point when the whistle sounded the exercise began.

Out of the corner of his blue eyes he saw Shining Armor with a stopwatch at the ready, and the whistle in his mouth. Taking a breath in, and a heartbeat before the ring sounded in his ears, an orange aura enchased the SOLDIER, and another sound filled his mind. The voice of his mentor, Angeal.

“Prove your honour to me.”

“I got it,” Zack grinned as the entire world around him slowed to a crawl, the SOLDIER sprinting forward as magic surged through his veins like liquid fire.

Lance Point didn’t even get the chance to breath, flinch, or ready his magic before Zack slammed into him like a runaway train. The light speed fast barrage of punches and kicks gave off metallic rings as they found their marks, and the Rush Assault turned the stallion’s heavy, royal guard plate armor into a piece of golden scrap metal, each individual hit giving off a flurry of magic sparks, a flash of golden light, and a painful yelp from the unicorn as he felt his plate cave in.

Double Edge finally snapped to the ready after about a second, and immediately went to his comrades aid, only to find out that the SOLDIER was already done with his first target, and was now headed straight for him at a speed that paled even the Wonderbolts. A moment later, the guard felt several impacts shoot through his upper body as Zack laid into him like he was a furry punching bag, the guard's armor virtually imploding in on itself as if it were a tin can caught under an adult dragon’s claw.

Once he was done with the first two stages, and had more or less stunned the two unicorns, Zack concentrated all his magic into his fists and then into a tight ball within his palms, the magic continually compressing itself until it became dangerously unstable.

It was then Zack firstly backed up a little, then charged forward between the two heavily dazed guards, and finally unleashed it. The magical charge detonated with a fiery explosion so powerful that both the training ground, and the towers around it, shook on their foundations.

Just as the flames came a little too close for comfort, Spitfire found herself snatched up in Zack’s arms, and travelling at a barely believable speed, the SOLDIER digging his boots into the soft grassy earth and quickly bringing them to a sliding stop just out of harm’s way.

“Has anypony ever said you’re crazy?” Spitfire asked between rapid breaths, looking back as the flames from Zack’s explosion died away, and the two royal guards struggled to their hooves, the results of the exercise being a large area of burnt and smoking grass.

“Hehe, a few,” Zack grinned, holding her against his chest as he slowly walked back towards the group of nervous ponies. “But hey, I did my job and earned a few bits while I was at it.”

Spitfire couldn’t help but smirk at his humour and shake her golden locks in amusement, and then her mood changed completely, as her nostrils were assaulted by a scent that caused another quiver to run through her wings.

She realized that although he hadn’t been sweating, Zack’s scent was still strong from all his physical testing, and although she hated to admit it, the golden mare found the smell slightly arousing as she was held against his bare chest.

Shortly after, however, he set her down on the ground, and confronted the captain of the royal guard with his arms across his chest, a grin spreading across the SOLDIER’s face as saw Shining Armor’s dumbfounded expression, along with those of everypony and dragon else who had watched the events unfold.

“So, what’s my time captain?” he asked smugly with a shake of his own black locks.

“Eight… point five one seconds,” Shining Armour replied, raising the stopwatch up to his eyes as if he couldn’t believe the reading on it. “I… don’t know what to say Zack, I’m actually speechless.”

“Well, you could say welcome to the royal guard... or you could just be glad I’m on your side more than anything,” Zack grinned before turning to the other ponies with an outstretched hand. “So, if you guys wouldn’t mind I’d like my bits now rather than later, because if I remember correctly, I said I could do that in under ten seconds.”

Almost grudgingly, Twilight sighed and levitated a small bag of gold coins up to his open hand, the SOLDIER’s fingers gladly wrapping around his prize as everypony else muttered and mumbled things under their breaths, including a rather annoyed pair of Princess Luna and Blueblood, who had both for some reason also taken part in the bet.

“Well, you really earned this one Zack,” Spitfire giggled as she flew up beside him, her wings just as happy to be free of their rope bindings as she was. “So... any idea how you’re going to spend those?”

He looked back at her, smiled, and tossed the bag up and down in his hand a few times... and then he leant in close so only she could hear his words.

“How about I repay you for that dinner in Cloudsdale?” He whispered.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

Zack as royal guard…Chrysalis my dear just give up now

So I’m running with the idea that Blueblood and Cadence are brother and sister, and just so you all know that relationship will play a large part later on including where Sephiroth comes in.

Chapter 8: Matters of Heart pt.1- Scars and Memories

Prior Note: Inspiration for this chapter goes to the song ‘Pathfinder’ by ‘The Unguided’, and the fact I wanted to show Zack in a more emotional way (also spoiler alert for those who haven’t played crisis core).

Chapter 8: Matters of Heart pt.1- Scars and Memories

“What do you think of him?” Princess Celestia asked, not looking back at her intended receiver; her eyes instead lay affixed on the two beings who proceeded to leave the castle grounds via the pathway below her balcony, neither of which realizing they were being watched.

One being was a golden pegasus Wonderbolt, and the other a tall, black haired biped, with a huge sword across his back.

“I know he’s a little rough around the edges princess, and... has a habit of getting carried away during fights,” Shining Armor replied with a shrug from the balcony doorway. “But he doesn’t seem all that bad to me personally… plus his devotion to his honour, and his sense of protecting those he cares about is admirable in my opinion.”

The princess of the sun sighed and shook her head before turning to the stallion, their white coats both shimmering in the light of the moon that washed over the Equestrian capital.

“That, Shining Armour, is what bothers me,” Celestia replied with closed eyes, her front hoof scraping at the stone flooring while she thought. “The fact of just how devoted he is… it is not normal.”

“Princess?” The stallion asked with a confused tilt of his head.

“His need to protect those he cares for captain, is admirable, yes, but the source and extent of that devotion... it haunts my mind with distress for some reason that alludes me… and I fear Zack may be… somewhat over-devoted, and unstable in such regards, perhaps dangerously more so than even you are.”

“P-Princess?!”

Her eyes at last opened, and met his own stunned blue ones, but now the loving motherly glow that they always shone with had dulled to a darkness nigh as cold as stone, the stallion taking an uneasy step backwards in response to her stare.

“When you realized the changelings had returned, you charged into the fray with your horn lowered, Captain, without thinking and without knowing the odds against you as a wise captain would… and I believe that is because of what Chrysalis did to your wife and sister during the events of your wedding. No doubt you are still angry about what happened back then… and if I am right the very mention of Chrysalis’s name makes you angry, yes?”

At first the captain of the royal guard just looked on in surprise at her statement, but quickly found that, without noticing, his jaw had clenched tight like a vice and his nostrils were flaring in frustration and anger.

“I… yes, the very mentioning of that… thing…” he snorted in admittance, resisting the urge to buck something out of pure rage. “…and what she did to my family… makes my blood boil.”

“So let me ask you this… even if you knew there were hundreds of changelings in that hall, would you still have charged in there without thinking of the what could happen… in order to prevent Cadence and Twilight being harmed by Chrysalis again?”

“Without a second thought,” the stallion stated firmly.

“Then I have been proved right, your hatred of Chrysalis, and your need to protect those you love, clouds your judgement, and makes you reckless at times, especially when it comes to protecting your family… hence a case of being overly protective as it were,” Celestia stated bluntly, turning around, and returning her eyes to the shadow flooded streets of Canterlot, the two forms she had been watching earlier now gone from sight. “But my unease does not lie with you, Shining Armor… rather with Zack, somepony who, as we have both learned, has great amounts of power at his disposal, and in my opinion is even more reckless then you are.”

Something clicked in the stallions mind as he realized just what she was insinuating.

“So, just like my hatred of Chrysalis, and my want to protect Cadence and Twily affected my actions last night… you believe some part of Zack’s past affected his?” Shining Armor asked a little hesitantly, slowly advancing across the balcony until he was standing beside his ruler and liege. “Or the actions of somepony he knew caused him to… slaughter… all those changelings like he did…”

The princess of the sun nodded to show her affirmation.

“It is only a thought captain, but yes… I believe he has experienced something far darker than either of us can imagine in his life, something that changed the way he saw, and valued, those he cares about, and hence the extents he is willing to go to protect them.”

The stallion’s eyebrow rose a little at his ruler’s words, the scenes of what Zack had done the night before flooding his mind.

“…and you think his over-devotion to protecting his friends... makes him dangerous? Given his abilities?”

“If the current state of my palace is anything to go by, I believe so… but… I have nothing against him personally, nor his want to protect my little ponies, I simply believe we should be wary of him, and what he is capable of because of it, Shining Armour… perhaps in time we will learn why he is the way he is.”

The white stallion put a hoof to his chin as he tried to make sense of what Celestia was saying, and yet strangely it now made sense in his head, even more so when something Zack had said the night prior began bouncing around his skull

“I just kind of lost control of myself in the heat of the moment,” the stallion whispered aloud as the words haunted his mind, the princess of the sun smiling as she too recalled the SOLDIER’s words. “It’s hard not to when everyone you care about is in danger.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The normally bustling streets of Canterlot were, in Zack’s opinion, much nicer after the sun set and Luna’s night took its rule, especially since there were now very few ponies around and hence very few ponies to gawk at him and his Buster Sword as he explored the city, Spitfire walking at his side.

As he looked around, he realized it was a totally different place under the stars. The ponies they met who by day dressed in the most formal attire possible, seemed to an extent abandon their need for higher grace, opting instead for a more casual approach to the night life, in the form of either plain clothes or none at all, other than the patrolling night guard squads of course.

The city itself was also different in such regards, the white stone buildings now seemed more inviting, and in a way friendly under the moon's white shine and the golden glow of the street lights, and the tables and chairs that lined the sidewalks just about beckoned for the SOLDIER and his golden counterpart to join them. The night itself was similarly calm, the sky was cloudless and filled with millions of shining stars, and a light breeze ran through the heart of the white city like it was actually breathing, all up providing a pleasing prospect for a night out on the town.

It wasn’t so much a ‘date’ that Zack had asked Spitfire for in his opinion, in his mind he was merely casually repaying her for the meal they had shared in Cloudsdale, but both of them in the end had wound up trying to look their formal best; Spitfire had decided to spoil herself with her performance payment, and bought a flowing full length golden dress with red and amber lining, while Zack had secretly approached the palace groomers to style his black hair into neat locks and neaten up his facial presentation.

Despite all the makeup and whatnot, the scar that ran across his face was still evident, serving to most as an impression of strength, while to Zack it simply served as a painful reminder.

“It’s a nice night tonight,” Zack said softly as he walked and breathed out a puff of mist, his gloved hands buried in his pockets to keep them warm in the cold mountain air. “Still, personally I’d prefer to be in Cloudsdale right now.”

“Same here,” Spitfire replied with a smirk as she trotted along beside him, giving a flick of her mane to remove the dangling fiery strands that hung around her face. “But this is the life I live, Zack, when you’re a Wonderbolt traveling comes with the title, and down time isn’t something you get a lot of.”

“I know how that feels; when I was in SOLDIER I was always away on missions and dealing with Shinra’s problems, heh, my only downtime usually came after I got injured.”

“Didn’t you ever get lonely though?” Spitfire asked with an inquiring glance, trotting along in order to keep up with his rapid pace. “I mean… I’ve always had my team for company…”

“I didn’t have a lot, but I still had friends Spitfire,” The SOLDIER said a little defensively, as a sudden gust took hold of his black locks and caused them to dance across his face. “My mentor Angeal, my best friend Cloud, Tseng, Genesis-ish, Cissnei, Tifa and… Aerith.”

Aerith, the very thought of her name bringing back a wave of formerly silent, and highly suppressed memories, including ones of events and nights not unlike the one he was experiencing at that very moment.

“Zack, are you…” she started, her mouth closing shut the moment she saw his expression.

The golden pegasus mare didn’t really want to ask, and risk causing him pain, but she didn’t have too in order to know the last name meant much more than the others did. Ss he had spoken it, Zack had stared at his boots and avoided her gaze, like having the name rebound inside his skull brought with it physical torture, his face twisted in a look of distress and agony.

Whoever Aerith was, she could tell Zack had clearly cared for them dearly.

For the rest of their relatively short walk the mare was silent, other than the occasional statement or remark about something they encountered along the desolate street, both of them avoiding, at all costs, anything to do with the prior conversation, or the SOLDIER’s past. She still continued to watch him, however, and made note of how his expression changed, trying her best to figure out what thoughts were hurtling through his head.

Although he didn’t want to talk about it, Zack had to admit the conversation had left him wondering a great many things, one of which being whether or not telling Spitfire about his friends would be such a bad idea. After all, it wasn’t like there was anyone from SOLDIER around to turn him in for treason.

He wondered if it would, perhaps, even help him move on from those he had left behind, because as it was right now whenever he thought about them, and Aerith in particular, he found himself frustrated, angry, and even sad at times.

And although it made him grit his teeth and he hated to admit it, Zack realized that in a way those emotions, and the memories of Aerith, were also part of what was preventing him telling Spitfire that he liked her.

Zack growled, and stamped his boot into the road as his emotions threatened to get the better of him, the impact of his heel causing a decent dent to form in the cobblestone.

Spitfire saw the unusual movements, but kept it to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was to ruin the night by asking Zack touchy questions.

Unbeknown to her, the SOLDIER’s mind was still going in circles no matter how he tried to stop it; he missed them all dearly, Cloud and Aerith especially, but they were now lost to him, and vice-versa, and he knew that if he continued to grasp the memories too tightly, he would never be able to move on and adapt to Equestrian society.

Something which Spitfire was constantly trying to get him to do.

“I can’t keep living like this anyway,” he grumbled mentally as he rubbed his brow in frustration, fighting back the tears that had formed with the rising memories of Aerith. “I’m in another world now, I’ll never see them again, and I can’t keep running from that truth.”

That of all things, he realized, was true. He had been avoiding it ever since he had been forcefully been brought to Equestria; he had never really spoken in depth about those in his past to Spitfire, or anypony else before, because he simply thought that it wasn’t necessary, but now it was dawning on him that perhaps there was another reason.

He didn’t want to admit it was the past. He didn’t want to acknowledge the fact he’d never see Cloud again, not after everything he and the spikey blond haired youth had been through together, and he hated the very idea of never being able to see, or hold, Aerith in his arms again, after everything he had done to return to her. But this time he realized there was nothing he could do, nothing but try to leave them behind... unless he wanted to end up going insane.

“I should just tell her,” he sighed bitterly to himself. “It’s not like I’m going to see any of them ever again… plus if I keep this up, I’m going to end up mental like Sephiroth did.”

His mind once again wandered back to, and floated over Aerith, but this time the vision of her smiling face called forth a very different reaction from him. A sort of peace and calm that resided in his acceptance, that although they would never see each other again, they would never forget each other, and she would always have a place in his heart, as would Cloud and the others.

But it was time for him to let them all go.

Eventually, the two late night wanderers headed left at a turn, and came across the street-side building Zack had been searching for, a rather well lit, quiet place called the 'Sun and Stars'. According to Shining Armor it was a little known corner about Canterlot that served good food for a decent price, plus he also let slip that it was there he had initially proposed to Cadence.

By the time they found the place, Zack had also decided on his course of action; tonight he was going to be honest with Spitfire, and himself.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It seemed Shining Armor’s recommendation had been worthwhile, if first impressions were anything to go by. The moment he stepped inside Zack actually found himself impressed by the otherwise humble building.

Paintings of Canterlot and Equestria lined the walls, the main source of light were flickering candles that dotted the room and the individual tables, the furnishings were all timber as was the floor, and, just as Shining Armor had promised, there were only a few other diners enjoying the place.

The ordering process was also a lot easier this time around, since Zack by now had a decent grasp of the Equestria language, but the lack of meat was still a minor unvoiced annoyance to him.

“I still can’t believe you’re doing this,” Spitfire grinned from her cushion once the waiter had departed, glancing around the restaurant and taking the lavishness that, despite her well-paying occupation, she rarely experienced on her own, let alone with a partner.

“It’s the least I can do, given you're somepony who’s done so much for me,” Zack chuckled in return as he crossed his legs, and tried to get comfortable on his own cushion. His massive Buster Sword was lying on the floor beside their knee high table, and causing the wooden boards to bow slightly. “Uh, trust me when I say this isn’t as easy as it looks.”

The golden mare giggled and snickered behind her hoof as she, and half of the other diners, watched the black haired SOLDIER try to get comfortable on his own cushion... which was obviously not easy, given that his knees banged against the underside of the wooden table with each shifting movement; it seemed whoever the smart pony was who designed the place, hadn’t done so with a multi-race customer group in mind.

Once Zack did get comfortable he faced her directly, with a hand resting on each knee and his glowing blue eyes locked with her own. His expression was stark and, surprisingly, lacking much emotion despite the happy atmosphere.

"Spitfire… there’s something I need to tell you before we go any further, something I should have told you that night in Cloudsdale.”

“I’m all ears,” she replied with a smile and a flutter of her wings.

“I… thought about what you asked me earlier… about my friends and my past, and I think it’s time for me, to tell you the whole truth. I mean… you stuck your neck out for me when I met your team, you’ve told me things you’ve never told anyone else.”

“I was just being honest,” she blushed. “Besides, you’ve always been honest with me Zack... haven’t you?”

The SOLDIER put his folded his arms across his chest, and gingerly shook his head in reply, causing the mares ears to flick back in slight but well hidden annoyance.

“What little I’ve said about them has all been true, but there have also been… things… I never told you, because they’re painful to even think about… and I realized that the only way for me to try and move on from it, is to first get it all off my chest.”

The mare’s mood changed immediately from suspicion, to surprise, and then to a slight amount of pity. The tone in his voice was calm and controlled, but she could hear the faint cracks that signified his hidden nervousness, and she knew that mask well from countless cases of prior experience with speeches and performances.

“Whatever you want to tell me, Zack, I’ll listen.”

He sighed and put his fingers to his temple before starting, his mind and mouth working as one as the words flowed from his tongue like they were rehearsed.

He told her everything there was to know about himself and SOLDIER, starting off with the units’ accidental beginnings when the shape-shifter Jenova remains, used in the first hybrid creation, had been mistaken for those of a cetra. He informed her of how the boy born of the first experiment, project S, had possessed almost godlike potential compared to the humans that made up the military of Shinra, and hence SOLDIER was born.

He didn’t once mention Sephiroth’s name, and nor did he intend to; the last thing he wanted as for it to fill her nightmares as it often did his.

He then moved onto the second experiment, that had opted for a different approach to the hybrid creation, the results of the project known as G being the two powerful SOLDIER’s Genesis, and his mentor Angeal. Spitfire whistled and sat back a little when Zack told her the truth of his mentor, she was all up surprised, impressed, and horrified that Zack’s mentor had, in a way, been artificially created.

The SOLDIER then explained the major aspects of his training but left it at that, there wasn’t after all much interesting material there.

His tone sobered as he went into a more personal level, explaining how one day Genesis abruptly betrayed Shinra, and soon Angeal disappeared as well while they were out at Fort Tamblin, all because Genesis had learnt the truth about who they truly were and how they come to be. He told her about how he himself had only leant the truth about them when he had eventually tracked down both Angeal and Genesis down in Banora, and found out that both were slowly dying for degradation, both having sprouted massive single wings as proof of their condition.

He skipped over most of Genesis’s attack on headquarters, but he told Spitfire that during the attack he had met, and rescued, his friend Cissnei, a young Turk with a fiery personality and equally fiery hair, just like the mare in front of him. For the first time since the beginning of his tale, Spitfire giggled and smiled.

When he reached her he found it even harder to fight back the tears, but he held firm and told Spitfire everything about his girlfriend, Aerith, about how they had met under less than likeable circumstances. He explained how they'd been in a relationship with each other until he had to leave, and even then he had at the time hoped to return when he could.

Despite his best efforts, his emotions almost got the better of him when he moved onto what had happened in Modeoheim, of how he had gone there with his old friend, Tseng, and his then new friend, Cloud, in search of Genesis, only to find the red haired SOLDIER mad with anger, and his mentor Angeal on the brink of his own sanity.

“…Angeal… just couldn’t take knowing what he was… because the Jenova was a monster, and because his mother killed herself out of shame for bringing him into the world… he thought he was a monster too,” Zack said bitterly with his fist clenched, Spitfire quivering and trying not to give into her own tears. “So when I confronted him in the bathhouse, he decided the easiest thing to do end it all there and then… so he absorbed the clones around us and attacked me so I’d… end his suffering for him.”

The mare watched wordlessly as the SOLDIER sighed, gingerly he lowered his left hand and picked up his Buster Sword, raising it to a height where the pegasus could see the silvery metal blade, and his blue eyes glint in the flicking candle light as he looked between it and her.

“That was the day I gained this sword, the day Angeal passed his honour, and spirit to me… as long as I have those two things I won’t let anyone hurt you, or anypony else I care about. I just want you to know that,”

It was a strange feeling that blossomed in Spitfire’s chest at the words. It’s exact source and meaning she didn’t know, but she was sure it was a pleasant feeling; ever since they had met she had wondered who he had been in his last life, and although the truth wasn’t pretty, she was glad to know, and more then willing to help him rebuild his shattered life all the same.

After all, she was the reason he was here in the first place.

“I’m glad to hear that… and for the record, you encouraged me to let go of the festering loathing I had for Soarin, Zack, so if you ever need somepony when times get tough, to I’m here for you.”

“So… you’re not… freaked out about what I’ve told you?” he asked in genuine surprise with an incline of his head, the mare shaking her own in return.

“We’ve all got a story Zack, and some are prettier than others, but what we’ve been through doesn’t determine who we are, we make that choice… I mean, look at me. I didn’t grow up in a well off family and nor am I naturally good flyer, but look where I managed to get myself. You’re not a bad guy, Zack, you’ve just been put into some bad situations, and been made to make some hard decisions is all, and I’ve known you long enough to be able to see that.”

A small smile crept across his lips as he put the sword down again. Despite being so young, she seemed to have a lot more experience up her sleeve then he first thought, and if it weren’t for the fact they were in a formal restaurant he probably would have picked the mare up, and hugged her there and then.

“Thanks, it’s been a long time since anyone saw me like that,” he chuckled, remembering the battalion of infantry Shinra had sent after him and Cloud.

“Heh, I’m only being honest,” she winked. “But, can I ask… what happened to the first SOLDIER? Did he betray Shinra as well?”

Zack bit his lip, and shivered as his last memory of Sephiroth came rushing back, the day when the silver haired veteran had betrayed SOLDIER, burned Nibelheim to the ground, slaughtered its population, and tried to kill him and Cloud.

“He also went insane when he leant what he was, and did some terrible things I’d rather not talk about… but he’s dead and gone now, Cloud killed him.”

Spitfire simply nodded, and despite her curiosity pushed the subject no further.

When the meal finally arrived they both enjoyed it, Zack even more so because now he no longer had carry the weight of who he had once been, and the memories of those he had left behind.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

I am so glad to get that out of the way (or partly anyway, the rest of Zack’s personal story I want to save for later) emotionally fuelled chapters aren’t something I love writing, but I guess every story needs a balance.

Anyway on a brighter note I have a treat for you all, there is now another FF7 crossover on FIM! With Cloud! (don’t lie to me, I can hear your fan-boy squees). Hence without further ado I present Final Fantasy VII: Darkness in Equestria by Axel IV, enjoy!

Chapter 8: Matters of Heart pt.2- Confessions

Prior Note: Could someone (in the know with grammar) tell me if speech descriptions (e.g. “I know,” she chuckled happily, shaking her head from side to side.) need to be finished with a full stop? Because I think MS word is pretty much useless in terms of helping my grammar.

Chapter 8: Matters of Heart pt.2- Confessions

Around midnight, two figures exited The Sun and Stars together and headed back in the direction of the palace, slightly intoxicated, laughing, and in general going on like teenagers as they wandered through the streets of Canterlot, apparently without a possible care in the world.

“Wow, I feel really tired?” Spitfire yawned as she walked, abruptly teetering one way and nearly falling over both her long dress, and the adjacent stone curb. “How’re you feeling, Zack?”

“Like a giant weight’s been lifted off my shoulders,” he chuckled, reaching up and grasping the handle of his Buster Sword. “Oh wait, it’s still there.”

His joke earned him a playful kick in the shin and a smirk from the golden mare.

“You’re as bad as Rainbow Dash when it comes to jokes, Zack,” Spitfire giggled happily, before shifting her eyes to the metal hulk that was his Buster Sword. “Out of curiosity, how much does that thing actually weigh? I mean, from what Twilight mentioned, to her it was like lifting an Ursa Minor.”

“What’s an Ursa Minor?” The SOLDIER asked with a raised eyebrow.

“A bear, that has a coat like the night sky, and weighs about as much as a standard Canterlot house does.” She stated matter-of-factly, in a terrible impersonation of Twilight. It caused him to face-palm, and due to the decent amount of cider in their bodies, for them both to laugh.

“Heh, well to be honest, I’ve never actually weighed it… but trust me when I say only a SOLDIER can lift it because of our extreme strength, and keep in mind this thing takes two hands to use properly as well.”

“So, pretty bucking heavy then huh?”

“I think ‘pretty bucking heavy’ would probably be an understatement,” Zack grinned as he removed the massive blade from his back, and then began tossing it between his hands as he walked, the golden mare watching on in both awe and slight unease at his apparent strength.

For a few more minutes the two of them walked in silence, Zack mentally going over what had transpired in the last few hours that had left him in such a good mood.

He literally no longer felt weighed down by his past or the memories of those who were in it, and although he would never be able to forget his old friends, the SOLDIER knew that the feelings he had once had for them would no longer dictate his actions in Equestria.

He was finally free to start over again.

“Spitfire, I have to thank you,” Zack said at last, breaking the silence between them as he stopped juggling his sword. “For listening to me back there I mean… it’s been a long time since I’ve felt like I do now… kind of at peace with myself.”

She snickered and a shook her head in amusement. “I’m glad you feel relieved, Zack, but you shouldn’t need to thank me for it, you did the same thing for me when I needed to get all everything off my chest… besides, it’s what friends are for right?”

At the word ‘friends’, a sudden and unexpected thought just about stopped the SOLDIER in his tracks.

He admitted it was no surprise he hadn’t thought about it, especially given he was slightly intoxicated and tired, plus he'd only let go of everything about half and out prior, but now a revelation was dawning on him.

Despite how much it pained him, Zack knew he'd now accepted Aerith was no longer part of his life, and hence, now with that obstacle out of the way, he was free to try and court anyone, or in this case anypony he wanted.

Gingerly, he looked down at Spitfire while she walked beside him, a gloved hand finding its way to his chin, the SOLDIER mentally weighing up the pros and cons his slightly alcohol-fogged mind was throwing at him.

He admitted first and foremost that what he was thinking would perhaps be considered crazy, if not insane by most standards, plus, despite Soarin and Shining Armor’s apparent encouragement of the idea, he was yet to actually see an example a cross-race relationship taking place.

Still, there was a first time for everything, and if he wasn’t going to try whilst his confidence was boosted by the presence of the cider, then he doubted he ever would.

“Hey Spits, can I ask you something?”

she cast him a cheesy, and somewhat drunken grin over her shoulder. “Sure, what’s on your mind?”

Zack nervously scratched the back of his neck and tried not to blush. “Well, uh, this will probably sound weird… but what’s your personal view on… well... cross-race relationships?”

Spitfire’s heart skipped a beat.

she knew she liked him, that attraction had been cemented, but the thought of him liking her back beyond friendship-level was something she had never really considered.

It did, however, make a little more sense when she went over the prior behaviours she had noted from him, especially his unease at sharing a bed, and his stubborn urge to keep her safe.

“Well, if a male and a female like each other, I really don’t think race matters,” she said as she turned on her hooves, fiery tail flicking from side to side in badly hidden excitement. “So… is this… heading where I think it is?”

Under the gaze of her golden eyes, Zack’s cheeks went deep red with embarrassment, forcing the usually calm SOLDIER to shy away as he tried to figure out how to respond; of all the things he had planned to happen, Spitfire guessing what he was going to ask hadn’t been one of them.

Was it really that obvious?

“Well, your guess is probably as good as my own,” Zack sighed as he returned his eyes to her, the stray lock of black hair dancing across his face as he knelt down on the cold pavement in front of her, silently hoping she didn’t get the wrong impression, and think he was proposing. “Look Spitfire, I know this is going to sound a little… out there and all… but in all honesty I really like you, so I was kind of wondering… if you’d go out with me?”

“You mean like a marefriend?” she asked quickly, trying not to let her excitement to overtake her already alcohol-fogged mind.

“Well…” Zack shrugged somewhat hopelessly. “Yeah.”

“YES!”

A moment later, Zack found himself struggling to breath, and held captive in Spitfire’s tight embrace; he had to give it to her that she was decently strong. Still, the tightness in his lungs was overshadowed by the warmth in his chest, and quickly he wrapped his own arms around her, and hugged the mare back while she held her head over his shoulder.

“I take it that means you like the idea then huh?” he chuckled, running a hand gently through her fiery mane.

“Oh hehe, sorry… It’s just that I’ve... never had a serious coltfriend before, Zack,” Spitfire giggled, glad that with the darkness and their position he couldn’t see the happy, but embarrassing, tear roll down her cheek. “With my team’s travel schedule I just… didn’t have time for one. Heh, Soarin suggested once that I just find a good looking stallion for the night after our performances, like he does mares, but I never liked the idea of being…well…you know, promiscuous.”

“Well, no matter where you go, I go,” Zack grinned, at last pulling back and planting a small kiss on her soft furry muzzle. “So I’m pretty sure you don’t have to worry about travel issues.”

“Nope, only team ones,” she giggled, raising her own head and placing a small kiss of her own on his lips. “But I don’t think they need to know about this... just yet.”

Zack snickered as the plausible look on Stormwing’s face when he found out filled his mind, which basically consisted of the old stallion standing there, with mouth agape, and eyes wide in shock.

“On that, I agree,” Zack chuckled at last, rising gently to his feet with Spitfire still cuddled in his arms and smiling. “And just so you know now, I'm not like Soarin, I will never push into anything you’re not comfortable with… if you get me.”

He finished off with a sly wink, which caused her to blush intensely but giggle none the less.

“Thanks Zack, I really like you and all, but it’s going to be a little while before I’m… you know, ready for that,” she sighed happily before yawning loudly. “Uh, but I sure am ready for sleep.”

“It’s midnight, and you are slightly drunk,” Zack chuckled, switching his hold so she was more comfortable, before resuming his walk. “If you need to fall asleep I don’t mind, I can carry you back.”

Within a minute of saying those words, Spitfire had obeyed, her head falling gently against his chest as the SOLDIER walked back towards the palace and she slept quietly; it was for a while an odd feeling to Zack, like perhaps the alcohol in his system had caused him to imagine everything that had happened in the last few minutes, but he was happily reassured every time he looked down at the pegasus lying asleep in his arms.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“GRRR! This is hopeless!” Chrysalis snarled through clenched teeth, slamming a mottled hoof down on the dimly lit stone floor, the queen trying to vent her frustration at another failed search.

Around the changeling queen sat five mounted shards of green crystal, the same type as the thousands upon thousands of other crystals that dotted and illuminated her races underground cavern hideaway with their glow, but it was however only these five that were frustrating her.

Both she, and the crude spire shaped green gems, sat tucked away in a concealed natural chamber, set in the deep grey stone wall high above the cavern floor where her subjects went about their business; normally, this was her place of refuge, a sort of crude throne room in a way, where she could escape the problems that usually plagued her and her race, but tonight her place of escape had turned into a place of torment, because of one thing in particular.

Said thing being the presence of the creature known as Zack Fair.

“If not for him, I would be sitting on the throne of Equestria,” she hissed to the air around her as she began to pace back and forth. “Ugh, there must be something here.”

Shaking her head to clear her building rage, she returned her eyes to the crystals, her horn beginning to glow the same shade of green as the stones. A moment passed before moving images appeared on their glistening surfaces, and hence gingerly she once again sat down on the cold stone and stared at them as she sort through their secrets.

To any other changeling who would’ve dared to disturb her, the moving images would have seemed like projected nightmares, but to the changeling queen they were something far different then dreams or nightmares, they were a chance at revenge.

For these were the memories she had gained when she had invaded Zack Fair’s mind.

Hence she sat there and silently looked through them, looking for any sign of a weakness, or something she could use against him when they faced each other again, but even after hours of searching she was yet to find any hole in his metaphorical armor; his combat skills were devastating, his magic more powerful than even her own, and his willingness to use those abilities unquestionable, plus, there was no hint of a potential poison or even an allergy for that matter.

And, from what she was seeing, he had defeated just about every threat that he had ever faced, even the monstrous creature the red maned one known as Genesis had become during their final encounter.

And yet neither that, nor the lack of useable information was what had made her angry, what she found herself rather enraged at was actually and literally what she wasn’t seeing; although she hadn’t gained much due her lack of time, there still should have been at least five years’ worth of memories, and yet a very large quantity of what she was seeing was just undecipherable black, like Zack’s mind had either been damaged so the memories were erased, or he had been a sleep for a very long time.

“Gah! This makes no sense!” Chrysalis fumed as she shifted through the blackness, silently hoping an idiotic changeling would come in, just so she could blast them. “There must be… wait.”

Her rant stopped as a sudden splash of colour danced across one of the crystals, one that, through her magic, she could feel contained a feeling she was yet to encounter in Zack’s vast amount of other memories, fear. Hastily, she followed it back through the long blackness, realizing it was a tiny fragment, one she had only just managed to gather during her confrontation with the SOLDIER.

The memory filled the surface of the crystal before her while her jaw hung agape; through Zack’s eyes, she saw a long narrow platform on which Zack stood with his sword readied, and on the other side, stood the only being she had encountered in the memories that sparked fear in him.

The creature was a SOLDIER like he was, its mane falling across its shoulders and back in long silver-white locks, while its face reminded her of a hawk, but what truly unnerved Zack, and hence her, was the aura of madness that surrounded it.

“No, you’re not… you’re not the Sephiroth I once knew!” Zack yelled through the memory, massive sword pointed at the figure opposite him.

“I am the chosen one,” The figure replied as he drew his own sword, the tone of his words so cold Chrysalis swore she felt her blood freeze. “I have been chosen to rule this planet.”

With a strange sense of fear and awe she watched the battle rage between the two of them, and slowly a smile spread across her dark muzzle, as she saw the black haired SOLDIER eventually fall to his enemy. That smile dulled a little however when the memory showed another, the one known as Cloud, wound and then finish off the warrior with Zack’s sword.

“How unfortunate, to die by a stab in the back,” Chrysalis murmured distastefully as the memory faded to black whilst Zack fell unconscious, allowing her magic to stop and the memories to cease with it.

Slowly, she once again rose to her hooves and began pacing in circles, pondering on how this new found knowledge would, possibly, enable her to defeat both Zack Fair and the Equestrian princesses; Sephiroth was indeed dead, but as she knew that didn’t mean to say he was completely gone, Zack himself was a prime example of that.

From Zack’s memories, she had gained an understanding of the Lifestream, a sort of river of magic and souls that ran through the heart of his world; she guessed that when the mare Spitfire had wished upon that star, the old magic, that permeated and linked all worlds, had pulled his metaphysical form from the Lifestream and created a physical one on that cloud. The process itself was quite easy for her to understand in terms of how such a spell would work, but the old magic, like that of the stars, was far more powerful than her own or anypony else’s for that matter, and hence trying to summon Sephiroth in physical form from thin air, with just her magic, would be utterly impossible.

“And yet…” she whispered to herself, a smile spreading across her muzzle once more. “Perhaps there is another way.”

The idea that was forming in her head was both desperate and dangerous, but not impossible; from Zack’s memories, she had now found out he had Sephiroth’s cells inside him, thanks to the experiments of Hojo... and hence there was a chance that with the aid of magic, the god-like SOLDIER could be brought back from the dead. Such heinous black magic, however, had never been used by the changelings before, and despite being practised at one stage, had by her memory been banned in Equestria for hundreds of years.

But the ponies, as she knew, would never throw away their knowledge, so there was no doubt in Chrysalis’s mind that buried somewhere, deep within Canterlot, would be the spell she was looking for, all she needed to do was to somehow find it, and acquire some of Zack Fair’s blood.

“But how?” she hissed with a shake of her head. “Celestia would have locked such spells away, so they would never see the light of day again, and where would she have hidden them anyway? As weak as she is, that princess is not stupid, so she wouldn’t simply place them in the royal library.”

There was only one possible answer to her question, that being that such spells would be sealed deep within the royal vault of Canterlot, the same vault she had learned, during her weeks of impersonation, that contained the elements of harmony. As Shining Armor had let slip the vault was protected by an ancient and powerful lock spell, one that only Celestia and the elements knew how to undo, but he had also mentioned that despite that spell, a certain spirit of chaos had been able brake in and steal the elements.

“And for it he was trapped in stone,” Chrysalis spat angrily with a face-hoof, remembering the day Shining Armor had proudly led her past the statue standing in the royal gardens. “Hmm, if I could free Discord, then there would be nothing left to stop me from summoning Sephiroth… but that sealing was cast by the elements of harmony barely over a year ago, only a powerful unicorn would be able to break it.”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth at the new found problem, normally she would have tried to do it herself, but as her spies had informed her a magic barrier had been raised around Canterlot, plus she knew that if she tried to break that barrier Celestia would have her killed on sight.

Mentally she cycled through the unicorns she thought would be powerful enough to perform such a task, and unfortunately the list of useable ponies was quite small; there were the three princesses, the guard captain Shining Armour and Twilight Sparkle. None of those she knew would come close to working.

Just before she gave up hope, however, another name popped into her head, one that she was amazed she had overlooked at first thought; during her stay in the palace he had mistaken the changeling queen for his sister, and rather profusely spouted his disdain of her choice of husband, and of how she had tarnished their royal families honour. That, Chrysalis knew, was something she could very much use against him.

“Oh Blueblood you weak minded fool,” She laughed, the pieces of her plan finally beginning to set in stone.

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Chapter 9: The Freeing of Chaos

Pre-read and edited by GOOPMONSTER.

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Prince Blueblood couldn’t help but clench his teeth in frustration as he watched his family’s palace be invaded by common workers around him, bringing with them copious amounts of dirt, as well as an array of terrible smells that now wafted throughout the home of the royal family, and subsequently into his nostrils.

Their presence, he thought, was an undesirable necessity if the grand hall was to be rebuilt in a decent fashion, but the very thought of having them within his domain had always given him chills, and now they were not only within his home, but he had been instructed to personally represent the royal family in dealing with them.

To say he was currently annoyed would have been a vast understatement.

“So we’re gonna take out these pillars since they’re pretty damaged,” stated the unicorn engineer he was currently stuck with, the ungroomed brown stallion pointing to a blueprint with his hoof. “And then we’ll start to redo these foundations… but we’re gonna need the steel reinforcement before we can do these ones…”

“Just… do what you can with what you currently have,” Blueblood sighed through gritted teeth and a forced smile, trying his utter best to ignore the sounds of pounding hammers and other tools that filled his ears.

The engineer smiled and rolled up the blueprints with his magic before departing back to his work teams, leaving a still frustrated but relieved prince in his wake. Right now, there were a thousand places he’d rather be and countless ponies he’d prefer to be meeting, but thanks to his auntie Luna detesting his outburst at Zack Fair he was now stuck dealing with Equestria’s common filth. Naturally, he had complained and argued that he had better things to do then watch a bunch of filthy labourers go about their work whilst getting his coat dirty, but neither princess had budged despite his protests, overall resulting in him liking Zack even less then he already did.

“I swear auntie Celestia should have sent that… two-legged beast to the moon for this,” he muttered under his breath, running his eyes over the immense amount of damaged caused by the SOLDIER’s wrath.

In his mind Zack should have been sent to the moon, or at very least locked in the dungeon for a few years for what he had done, but his dear auntie Celestia done neither but rather something utterly terrible. Instead she and Shining Armor had, in his opinion anyway, gone and disgraced the proud heritage of the Canterlot royal guard by making the SOLDIER a member.

“And to think this family couldn’t be burdened with any more shame,” Blueblood snorted, stamping a hoof as the face of the royal guard captain Shining Armor flooded into his mind, the second-top on his list of most hated ponies.

The rank of his top hated fellow pony had for a while been the cake-demon Rarity, but the blue maned stallion had taken that post the day his engagement to Cadence had been announced to the rest of the royal family; the title of most hated now however went to Zack Fair.

The prince felt a sudden urge to break something out of pure anger, but his rage subsided quickly when he heard hoofsteps and a regal voice behind him. “You seem burdened by anger my prince… may I ask why that is so?”

Turning on his hooves, he was greeted the first pleasing sight he had experienced that morning, a sight which judging by their sudden stop in work and slack-jawed gazes the various workers around him also found pleasing. Said sight being the noble mare, Fleur de Lis, walking towards him from the palace entrance as she flicked her mane from her face.

“Lady de Lis! What a fine surprise this is,” Blueblood smiled as he approached her. “To what honour can I welcome you to my home?”

Although he didn’t exactly approve of her and Fancy Pants’ adornment of common ponies, the prince had always got along somewhat well with the pair of nobles, although he could only ever bring himself to call Fleur his friend; her husband in his opinion had lowered himself far below that status the day he become friends with the elements of harmony, and in particular, Rarity.

“I was wondering if I could speak to you if possible,” she giggled behind a hood, her eyes darting over the countless workers around the two of them. “But I see you’re busy… ”

“With them?” the blond stallion asked with a grin towards the workers, overjoyed at having a reason to escape his duty. “Nonsense, I assure you lady de Lis you deserve my time and presence much more than they do. Come, let us go find somewhere away from this racket.”

An unnoticed sly grin spread across the mare’s face as he led her up the nearest flight of marble stairs and away from the work-zone. If first impressions meant anything, this would be easier than either she or Queen Chrysalis had first anticipated.

It didn’t take long for him to lead her through the palace and find a free hallway devoid of any other ponies, since with most of the day guards either at breakfast or out searching for changelings the palace was practically empty.

“So you wished to speak to me then?” the prince asked as he stopped walking and turned to face the elegant mare, using his magic to remove a stray gold mane hair from his suit.

“Yes I did. You see, Prince Blueblood, I have a sort of… proposition for you.”

The regal stallion’s right eyebrow lifted slightly at the remark as he watched her with suspicion. “I’m listening.”

An unusual grin spread across her face. “I’ve heard rumours that you… disapprove… of your sister, Princess Cadence, marrying the royal guard captain Shining Armor, is that correct?”

Every rarely exercised muscle in the stallion’s body tensed as his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. The very name Shining Armor brought to him a flood of anger, and this particular morning that name had been filling his mind quite a lot.

He tried to hide his frustration, but the disguised changeling could see it clearly despite his efforts, and it only made her smile widen even further; she knew that very soon he would be like jelly in her hooves, all she needed to do first was make him blind with hatred just as her queen had blinded Shining Armor with love.

And manipulating the prince was becoming easier by the second.

“That… common soldier… has, by marrying my sister, sullied our family’s proud blood line for all time.”

“So I take it that means you disapprove then?” the pretend Fleur de Lis said with a tone of fake sympathy as she put a hoof on his shoulder. “Well you’re not alone in that regard, I’ve never really liked him either to be honest.”

“I do not disapprove of him lady de Lis…”

The mare’s eyes twitched with confusion. “So you disapprove of them being together?”

“No, it’s more than that, I…”

“So you simply dislike him then?” she sighed.

“I DO NOT simply dislike him either Fleur! I HATE him!” Blueblood snorted in her face, a hoof angrily slamming into the marble floor and causing her to step back in surprise. “He has completely corrupted my sister! She should rightfully stand above ponykind as a ruler and a member of the royal family, her royal blood demands it… but she instead sees fit to associate with every common piece of hide in Equestria because of his influence… it’s a complete insult to our family as royalty!”

“Well perhaps together we can fix that,” the disguised changeling grinned as she put a hoof over his mouth to silence him. “Listen to me, Blueblood, I know you’re angry… but there is a way for your family to rid itself of this burden, but you must be willing to trust me and go along with it… it will not be easy but it is possible.”

His eyes widened as her words reached his white furred ears, and without a second thought he pulled her hoof away from his lips. “I may hate him lady de Lis, but even I am not so desperate as to see him killed!”

“Quiet down you foal!” she snapped, her hoof shooting forwards and once again covering his mouth as she looked either direction down the hallway. “I did not mean that! I merely meant to… forcefully break up their marriage.”

She could sense in the prince’s emotions his mind bending as it yearned for such an inviting prospect, and soon she knew he would be too weak to put up any resistance to her, once that happened, all that was left was for Chrysalis to do her part in distracting the guards, and Discord would be free.

“May I ask why you are so against them, Fleur?” he asked at last as she removed her hoof.

The disguised changeling giggled and put a hoof across her heart. “I, like you Blueblood, value and respect social hierarchy above all else… I mean, can you expect a mare like me to enjoy the idea of my own foals growing up and marrying some commoner? That’s what Equestria will come to if we allow these things to happen.”

The white coated prince bit his lip and chewed on her words, debating on what the best course of action was; he loved his sister dearly and wanted her to be happy, but when the nobility of their family name was at stake even her happiness would not stop him protecting it.

“Well… if there is a way to rid my family of his presence, I am all for it.”

With his words the changeling felt all of his mental resistance dissipate, his defences dropping as his urge to see Shining Armour’s presence removed from his family took over both his thoughts and emotions, and hence the changeling put the next part of Queen Chrysalis’s plan into action.

“Good,” she grinned as she stepped closer, her horn sudden beginning to glow a faint green. “Now, Prince Blueblood… look into my eyes.”

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“Will you two lay off?!” Zack snapped, trying his best to ignore both the pounding ache in his head, and the two grinning stallions that were pestering him. “What part of ‘nothing happened’ do you not understand?”

“The whole part Zack,” Soarin’ grinned, giving the SOLDIER a playful shove in the side. “Because we all know you’re lying.”

“If you’ve forgotten Soarin’, unlike you I have some sense of honourable behaviour when it comes to girls.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact you’re lying,” Shining Armor chuckled.

Zack groaned and rolled his eyes as he set his fork down with a clatter, physically struggling against the urge to backhand both the annoying blue Wonderbolt, as well as Shining Armor across the face, both of whom had approached him as he tried to enjoy his breakfast, and had since been in his face and pestering him for what had happened the night before for the entire morning.

As it was, they had seated themselves on one of the long wooden barrack tables beside of him, Soarin’s voice filling his left ear while Shining Armor’s filled his right, all the while the laughs and loud voices of the countless other royal guards in the barrack’s mess hall, only served to make the situation more unpleasant then it already was.

To say the least, Zack had already been in a less-than-perfect mood before they had started to bug him, the late night coupled with the fact he had been drinking had gifted him with tiredness and a throbbing headache. All the added pony annoyances were only causing his early morning mood to quickly deteriorate, more so with the fact the mere presence and laughter of the grinning royal guard captain was drawing the attention of the other guards around them, most of whom had picked up from the two offending stallions’ stray comments what the subject was, and had hence decided to tune in.

“Look Zack we don’t want to know the… intimate details,” Shining Armor grinned, causing the blue stallion seated on the SOLDIER’s opposite side and a few surrounding guards to snigger. “Just give us a run down on how everything played out.”

“Look… we went out to dinner, enjoyed ourselves, came back, and went to sleep,” The black haired SOLDIER grumbled, glowing blue eyes staring down at his temporary commanding officer as a stray fist threated to rearrange his face. “That’s all that happened. End of story.”

“Oh come on, we’re both grown stallions here,” Soarin yawned through another annoying grin. “We’re not school colts looking for something to tease you about; we just want to know what happened.”

“And I’m really not interested in telling you!” Zack snapped at the blue stallion, now literally on the very edge of his temper. “Now can we please talk about something else for a while? like what exactly I’m supposed to be doing today, because right now I’m on the verge hitting you both across the face with the flat side of my Buster Sword.”

Soarin’ snorted in disappointment at the change of topic, but since from personal experience he knew all too well what Zack was capable of, he didn’t complain. Instead, he opted to return to his own barely touched breakfast while Shining Armor quickly pulled a map and a few other documents from his saddlebag. The unicorn quickly arranged them on the table so both he and Zack had a full view of them. From what he could see the SOLDIER guessed these were the reports written by the search party leaders, dictating everything from which houses and buildings they had checked at what time to the name, occupation and description of everypony they had interviewed during their searches.

“You’re kidding me right?” Zack snorted at last from behind his black locks. “With all my skills and abilities, you’re giving me a desk job?”

The royal guard captain just about burst out laughing then and there, much the SOLDIER’s annoyance. “Don’t get your tail in a knot Zack, just trust me on this; I know what I’m doing,”

The SOLDIER wasn’t exactly reaffirmed by the stallion’s words, but decided it best to say nothing, and instead shifted his attention to one of the many documents that now lay beside his breakfast plate.

For roughly an hour they searched the piles of information, during which Soarin’, as well as most of the guards, left the hall for either a day of patrolling or, as in Soarin’s case, a day of team training, eventually leaving only Shining Armour and the lone sword-wielding biped.

To Zack, the various papers were all just names and writing at first, but that was only until he began spotting certain descriptions and names being circled along with the times and locations they had been recorded. Upon closer inspection he realized that each circled name was mentioned in one or more of the documents, like the same pony had been reported by two different guards.

“So… what exactly am I looking at here?” the SOLDIER asked as he peered over one of the documents. “I mean, I can see what these are but... what are they supposed to mean to me?”

“All you and I should care about are these pieces information I’ve circled. They’re anomalies, basically meaning that these are the names of ponies who’ve been seen in two different places, in either a relatively short or unusual space of time.”

“Hence the possibility that one of these ponies was a changeling,” Zack said, rubbing his brow with his free hand as he looked through the list of names. “Or all of these ponies were one changeling for all we know… anything decent here we can actually go on as a lead?”

The white stallion sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof, drawing a confused look from the SOLDIER.

“Well… yes and no Zack. From what I can gather... most of the anomalies were either members of the nobility or higher Canterlot society, models, fashion designers, and so on. Ugh, I know you’re probably thinking that we’ve got some end here Zack… which I guess is possible… but you also have to remember these ponies are in general also pretty social…“

“Which means being seen around town isn’t exactly unusual for them,” Zack finished for him, a hand rubbing his brow in frustration as he peered over the pile of papers. “Well, is there anything el…”

Shining Armor stared awkwardly as the SOLDIER’s voice trailed off, and his hands ceased moving around his forehead.

A moment later the stallion found himself slightly unnerved as a stone cold expression crossed Zack’s face, the gaze of his eerie blue eyes so sharp he felt like they were burning holes through him. For a few seconds silence reigned between them, only to be broken when Zack growled and spoke in a near deathly tone.

“Can you hear that?” he asked as he stood up, a gloved hand already reaching up and gripping his Buster Sword.

“Hear wha…” the stallion started, only to stop when his ears perked up.

It was a faint sound at first, but it was rapidly growing louder in volume, permeating through the stone walls and quickly entering the ears of every guard still in the mess hall, all of whom had now risen to their hooves and were standing with their nostrils flaring. Shining Armor knew the sound in an instant. As the royal guard captain, he had heard the sound more times than he cared to remember, including on his wedding day.

The sound of hundreds of screaming ponies running in terror.
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“May the goddess help us,” Zack whispered to himself, his massive metal blade grasped firmly in his hand as emerged into the daylight and stared up at the sky, his ears flooded with the warning shouts of the guards around him and the frightened screams of Canterlot’s inhabitants.

He momentarily stood perfectly still as he stared up into the sky, along with everypony else around him.

The usually bright blue expanse they were looking at was now covered not only by the golden barrier that encircled Canterlot, but also by hundreds upon hundreds of changelings, all of whom were in a coordinated effort slamming into Celestia’s barrier in an effort to bring it down. Each slam brought with it a boom that caused the entire city to shake, and if what he was seeing was accurate, the barrier wouldn’t be able to take much more before shattering like glass.

Before it did however, there was a pulse of violet light, and the formerly golden barrier turned a deep shade of purple as a second defensive layer was formed beneath the first. The changelings though didn’t seem to notice and continued to pound at the wall that lay between them and Canterlot.

For a moment, Zack found himself frozen in place. A combination of dread and rage ran through him as the vivid memories of Genesis’s attacks and Sephiroth’s destruction of Nibelheim came flooding back.

“Zack!” Shining Armour shouted through the haze of the moment, giving him a none too gentle buck in the side and snapping the SOLDIER back to reality in an instant. “Come on! We need to find Princess Celestia!”

Zack however shook his head and drew his massive blade. “Why don’t we fight, Shining? With the other guards, we can take them!” he yelled back.

For the first time since they had met, Shining Armor stood staring at the SOLDIER and lost for words, his mind going over the almost bloodthirsty tone in his voice.

Then he saw it, and his conversation with Celestia the night prior made the connection; the expression on his pale scared face, a savage combination of hatred, rage, and regret.

Some time in his life, the stallion realized, his black haired friend had faced a situation very much like this one, and either lost or came close to losing somepony close, Zack was right now blinded by anger, just as he had been when Chrysalis had returned.

“Zack, if we fight them like this they’ll overrun Canterlot! Without Cadence, my magic isn’t strong enough to defeat them all and hold the barrier at the same time! We need Celestia’s magic to repel them, and if you haven’t noticed my barrier won’t last that long, Now. Come. The. Buck. On!”

Inside the SOLDIER’s mind it was hard for him to justify running, hard to remember the similar fiery destruction of Nibelheim by Sephiroth, and the subsequent hatred Tifa developed for SOLDIER because of it... but, although he hated to turn and run, Zack knew it was a better option in the long term than standing and attempting to fight off hundreds upon hundreds of changelings.

Hence, without another thought, he gritted his teeth and sprinted after the galloping royal guard captain, his abnormal speed allowing him to easily keep up with the stallion’s pace as they charged back into the palace, all the while the echoing booms and screams continued to rock the city.

There was utter chaos everywhere. Zack looked around as they made their way through the winding marble corridors, the entire palace echoing with the sounds of thundering hooves on stone accompanied by the occasional crash of a collision. Heavily armed guards were now charging in every direction around the SOLDIER and shouting out for their comrades, workers and servants were screaming in terror and panic as they looked for places to run or hide, and everything that got in the way, such as the proud golden suits of armour or priceless decorations that lined the halls, were totalled by anypony unlucky enough to run into them.

While rushing through the corridors, the two were lucky enough to run into a patrol of eight mildly confused guards, six spear wielding earth ponies and two unicorns. Upon Shining Armor’s orders they hastily fell in behind the unicorn and black haired SOLDIER, apparently glad to have some sense of direction in the current chaotic situation.

“What are they doing back here anyway?” he asked, sprinted forward and with a swing of his sword clearing a smashed table from their path.

“I’ve got two theories,” Shining Armour replied without breaking his gallop. “The first is that Chrysalis, in her stupidity, thinks she can take us on numbers alone. The second… I’d rather not mention, right now I’m just praying to Celestia it’s the first.”

“If I ever get my hands on you, Chrysalis, you better pray the goddess shows you mercy,” Zack thought darkly to himself as he passed another group of cowering servants, using his Buster Sword to quickly slash down an obstructive door that was in his way as his boots pounded on the stone floor. “Because I sure as hell won’t.”

There was something else that was far from right. Through the countless windows they ran past, Zack could see the clouds over Canterlot were not only somehow bright pink, but by the looks of things they had started to rain water on the city that was dark brown. Running along the eastern corridor the SOLDIER also saw, much to his utter shock that down below in the palace garden the trees that were growing upside down with their roots in the air.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he hissed under his breath as he gripped his Buster Sword even tighter, taking a right corner and finding both himself and the ponies standing before the mighty double throne room doors.

Amazingly, however, he found they weren’t alone, for heaving at the massive wooden doors with all their might, in a currently unsuccessful effort to get them open, were a collection of guards, the elements of harmony, Spike, and the still uniform wearing Wonderbolts, Soarin and Spitfire included. All of them looked up when they realized who had joined their group; their vain pushing however didn’t stop.

“About bucking time you two showed up!” Stormwing shouted straight at the SOLDIER like he was one of his trainees, his grey wings flapping furiously as he pushed against one of the massive doors. “So you gonna stand there like a pair of hay-brained mules or are you gonna give us a hoof? Princess Celestia’s inside and we can’t get this damn thing open!”

Neither the SOLDIER or the other guards waisted another second, and hurriedly joined them, but even as his muscles bludged with his delivered force and strain the doors refused to move.

“Haven’t you tried using magic?” Zack snapped to nopony in particular, his already boiling anger rising as he too tried and failed to heave the mighty doors open.

“These doors are enchanted so they’re siege-proof, Zack,” Shining Armor grunted from beside him, drops of sweat now running down the unicorn’s forehead. “Doesn’t matter how strong the wielder, pony magic won’t put a scratch on these things,”

The words ‘pony magic’ rebounded inside his skull for a moment before a realization dawned on him. A second later, the SOLDIER stepped back from the double doors and drew his Buster Sword, every pushing and panting pony now ceasing their efforts and watching him in confusion as the blade glistened in his hands.

“Get back! All of you!”

They shot a quick glance between each other before hastily getting out of the way, gathering behind the human-jenova hybrid as he held his blade at the ready.

He took a deep breath, and allowed his own magic to take over and run free through his body like water freed from a dam, the energy running through every fibre of his being. Then, as he directed it out into the blade of his mighty sword, a faint orange and purple aura quickly forming around him.

When he was ready he allowed it to take over, pulling his blade back and leaping high into the air, his glowing blue eyes locked on the set of double doors as a phrase all too familiar to the Wonderbolts escaped his mouth.

“All right, here comes the big one!”

With a swing he arched the blade downwards, the magic that had been surging through him travelling down the blade before bursting into existence in the form of a barrage of burning meteors. All of which hurtled down, and with a combination of a huge burst of flames and an almighty explosion, converted the wooden doors into firewood, the massive pieces flying off in various directions just before Zack even landed with a dull thud.

With a quick glance back he saw most of the present ponies now standing a short distance down the hall and staring at him in shock, their eyes quickly tearing between the two handed sword he held and the now smoking empty doorway.

A slack-jawed Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence as she turned to Spitfire. “S-so… that was the trick with meteors you mentioned then, huh?”

“Yeah it was, but we’ll talk about that later,” she replied as she cantered forward through the smoke, her normally calm face covered with an expression as hard as steal. “Come on Zack, we need to find Princess Celestia.”

The first sight that greeted them as they entered the ruined throne room made every one of them, including Zack Fair with his sword still readied, stop dead in their tracks, the elements of harmony in particular hoping that what, or rather who, they were seeing grinning before them was a dream.

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Notes:

Special thanks goes to GOOPMONSTER for pre-reading and editing, thereby giving you all a grammatically decent chapter and me time to finish my architecture folio. Anyway, you’ve all asked for summons to be included in this story, so next chapter I’ll begin to fulfil that request.

Chapter 10: Playing with Fire

Pre-read by Edragon

Slowly, the SOLDIER ran his eyes around the throne room of the Canterlot Palace with his sword in hand, or technically, what was left of the room anyway. Most of the proud banners and tapestries that lined the walls had either been reduced to ashes or, as in a few cases, hung still burning, and filling the massive room with smoke.

The various colourful and historical stained glass windows had been shattered into thousands of pieces, resulting in the regal red carpet, that led up to the throne itself, being covered in tiny fragments.

Finally the two royal guards Zack had fought only a day earlier, Double Edge and Lance Point, who usually stood beside Celestia’s throne, lay unconscious in the middle of it all with their coats and manes in disarray, the rise and fall of their chests being the only indication they were still alive.

All said destruction and chaos had, apparently, been caused by a being floating before the gathered group.

For a moment Zack could do nothing but stare at the grotesque creature hovering on its tiny wings before him, his glowing blue eyes locked on its twisted and demented form, while his gloved hands gripping the metal handle of his massive Buster Sword.

Much like everypony else his jaw locked in a feral enraged snarl behind his dangling black locks. Beside him, Shining Armor and the other royal guards began to surround the thing with their weapons and magic ready, with Zack acting as their vanguard, but the creature didn’t seem phased in the slightest.

The creature was, in his opinion, best described as a hideous twisted mix of body parts from various beasts that had been stuck together to form a living being. Its scale and fur body was long and serpentine like a snake’s, its slender frame was adorned by an assortment of various mismatching limbs, and it’s grey beast-like face was splayed with eerily golden eyes and an annoying grin that could rival Soarin’s.

“Ugh, well that took you long enough,” the thing quipped deeply with an unnervingly amused smirk, mismatched forelegs folding in apparent disappointment as it hovered in place. “Hmmf, I would have expected better from somepony as pleasantly chaotic as you Zack.”

The creature’s voice burned in the hardened warrior’s ears as he heard it, causing both his hands and jaw to clench down ever harder, for much like Sephiroth’s voice this one bore an evident and obvious edge of madness.

The SOLDIER replied by training the deadly point of his sword on the creatures chest. “What the HELL are you, and where’s Princess Celestia?” he snapped, pulling his blade back in preparation for a deadly vital strike while the other guards raised their spears.

“He…” Twilight cut in as she came up beside Zack, her horn glowing in case her magic was needed. “Is called Discord.”

Discord shot her a look and once again crossed his forelegs. “Oh! How rude! I CAN introduce myself thank you very much,” he pouted for a moment in insult, the action earning an angry snort from the lavender unicorn.

His maniacal grin returned though as he shifted its gaze from the lavender mare to the SOLDIER, pale golden eyes narrowing and meeting Zack’s own glowing blue ones. “But yes, I’m Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony… perhaps you’ve heard of me, and my love of turning all things Equestrian upside down?”

Zack gritted his teeth and tried to contain his now building rage, and from the corner of his vision saw elements of harmony apparently trying to do the same. He’d heard mention or two on the subject of Discord’s recent short, but chaotic, return from being a lawn ornament from Spitfire, and currently would have enjoyed nothing more than impaling the spirit on his blade.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of you alright… and what you’ve done. Now I’ll ask you once more before I cleave you in two, where’s Princess Celestia?”

“Oh psh, you’re no fun just like these ponies, Zack… but if you really must know, both she and Luna are just… floating around here it seems,” He replied with a smirk, pointing an eagle-like talon towards the roof. “Ha! See what I did there?”

The SOLDIER took a single look towards the vaulted marble ceiling, and instantly froze in place, his ears barely hearing the gasps and cries of the ponies gathered around him.

Above all their heads were two shining translucent spheres that resembled giant bubbles, either one floating about the wooden rafters just below the roof and containing an apparently sleeping princess. Zack and Shining Armor could only stand and hold their breaths as they watched on, fearful of what might happen should one of them strike a rafter and pop.

“Zack,” Shining Armor whispered in a barely registered tone. “Listen to me when I say the princesses are my responsibility, and my responsibility alone… you understand?”

The SOLDIER nodded as his blue eyes narrowed and he once again faced the spirit of chaos, fires of pure hatred now igniting inside him as he stared at the demon-like creature, who simply began grinning back at him like an amused child.

“So yes, there they are… are you happy now?” Discord yawned lazily, stretching and cracking his limbs like he had just awoken from slumber. “Ugh, you’re so boring Zack, you’re making m-GAH!”

Before he could finish his insult the massive edge of Zack’s Buster Sword shut the spirit up, the metal edge arching down from above the SOLDIER’s head in an overhead strike.

The living embodiment of chaos hurriedly snapped his fingers, and with a magical crack vanished to clear the sword’s downward path and left it to bury itself deep in the marble floor.

Upon reappearing he now looked far from his usual cocky self, his golden eyes warily watching the now enraged blue eyed SOLDIER and his massive two-handed weapon.

“I swear if you’ve hurt either of them, I’ll make you wish you’d never broken free,” Zack snapped angrily, pulling his blade free from the stone crevice it had formed in the floor. “Now bring them both down, Discord.”

All the spirits prior humour and joviality hastily returned as a maniacal grin spread across his face once more, one that truly reflected all the madness he respected and embodied.

“Ok,” he chuckled, and once again the spirit snapped his fingers.

The two floating spheres, that held the rulers of Equestria within them, abruptly popped like any normal bubble would when poked by a foreign object.

Thereby sending their former alicorn contents plummeting towards the floor below.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Spirit of chaos watched on smiling as the two spheres, which had up until then contained the two alicorn princesses, popped like a pair of bath bubbles at his unvoiced command, just as he had intended.

What happened next, however, wasn’t part of his plan.

The situation he had originally planned, in his chaotically jumbled mind, had been organized such that Zack would have been forced to drop his Buster Sword in order to catch one of the two plummeting princesses, giving the spirit a moment or two to fly forward, and slash the SOLDIER with his talons, and hence gather the small amount of blood that was needed by Chrysalis.

Zack, however, took no notice of the falling alicorns, who just as they began to fall found themselves enveloped in two purple auras.

Instead he had followed Shining Armor’s whispered words, and as instructed had decided to deal with Discord.

Having the experience of hundreds of fights paid off for the SOLDIER. Through his body language, Zack had instantly registered the spirit’s plan to distract and then attack, a thought verified just after Discord had snapped his fingers, when he began rapidly moving towards him. Hence instead of closing the gap between them, the SOLDIER mentally yelled out two deadly words and with all strength brought his mighty Buster Sword around in a mighty arc, aiming the razor sharp at the centre of his target and intending to divide the spirit in two at the waist.

“Firaga Blade!”

At his command the sword’s blade burst into flames, leaving a dancing tongue of fire in its wake as it carved through the air towards the oncoming spirit.

Discord’s eyes widened while he skidded to an immediate stop as the sword entered his path, his serpent-like spine bending backwards with astonishing speed to avoid the it, the flaming razer-sharp tip missing his flesh by the width of a hair.

“What…” Discord cried, realizing his element of surprise was all but gone.

Zack took no notice of the spirit’s shock other than using it to his advantage. Instead, he shifted his body weight and brought his blade down in another massive cleave, this one taking a diagonal path and travelling so fast the stunned ponies in the room barely registered it.

“Shining, you get those two guards out of the way and protect the Princesses! Twilight, you take the others and go get the elements!” the SOLDIER yelled as the spirit jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding losing his head. “And be quick about it! Otherwise I might just end Discord here before you can turn him back to stone!”

He faintly registered the clatter of hooves on marble from the battleground, but that was it; his focus was on Discord and Discord alone. His mind was racing at a million miles an hour, fuelled by a lethal mixture of adrenaline, magic, and pure and utter burning rage; with all of that boiling fury directed straight at the stunned spirit in front of him.

For a single moment he shifted the weight of his Buster Sword to his left hand, and raising his right uttered two words the spirit would immediately dread.

“DARK THUNDAGA!!”

The echoing words were followed by a flash of light, a crack of thunder, and a blistering arch of lightning, which upon leaving his hand flashed across the room and slammed into an unready Discord with a deathly crack of energy.

To the spirit, as Zack guessed by the expression of pure agony that crossed his face, it would have been like having a thousand royal guards drive their back hooves into him at the same time.

"Why you little..." The Spirit started angrily.

Zack took the opportunity he had and charged forward, his blade dancing and ripping through the air as he swung time and time again. Each brilliant slash threating to slice the spirit of chaos and disharmony in two.

Each of the massive sword’s strikes came down like a tonne of stone, and each one that missed sent all that force into the stone floor, quickly creating a patchwork of cracks and crevices.

"You know, you seem pretty skilled with that oversized butter knife." Discord quipped with folded arms as he reappeared once more. "But you certainly don't know how to aim very well."

Zack smirked. "Who said I'm actually aiming for you?"

Shining Armor, along with Spitfire, the other Wonderbolts, and other royal guards watched the nonstop assault from a safe distance. It was a truly freightening display of skill even in his veteran opinion, but the royal guard captain couldn’t help but notice that Zack seemed to be purposely overdriving his attacks, and was perhaps purposely slamming his blade into the marble floor.

“What’s he up to?” the royal guard captain asked as he turned to Spitfire, horn lowered and muscles tensed in case Zack slipped up and needed a hoof.

“Knowing Zack…” the mare replied, not taking her eyes from the fight. “Probably something none of us or Discord would expect.”

Each attack Discord managed to avoid with relative ease, using his magic to teleport, dodge, or throw up barriers, but Zack refused to let up his barrage, and just continued to hound the lord of chaos.

Each time the spirit snapped his fingers and appeared the SOLDIER was on him in a heartbeat with a strike, every time he summoned a brick wall or similar barrier Angeal’s Buster Sword carved through it with ease, no matter how he tried the spirit couldn’t fully escape.

In return Discord could only really try and avoid the SOLDIER’s rampage, but he knew that running and dodging wouldn't allow him to get close to his target, and silently cursed his initial underestimating of the human-jenova hybrid.

Eventually, after at least twenty sword-swings, Zack managed to catch him off guard, and gladly made the unfortunate spirit pay dearly. Just as Discord cracked back into existence Zack charged at him and pulled his blade over his shoulder, making it look as if he intended to try another diagonal cleave or vital slash.

Instead of drawing back and slicing, however, he tensed every muscle in his shoulder, shifted his footing, and with a mighty yell suddenly brought the sword back down again, Zack catching the spirit unready and slamming the flat of his Buster Sword into the side of Discord’s face.

The applied force wasn’t anywhere near enough to kill the stubborn spirit, but it was enough to both temporarily stun him, and send him hurtling backwards into an adjacent pillar on the room’s far side, which the unlucky spirit hit with an almighty crack of splitting rock.

“Way to go Zack!” he heard Spitfire call.

“Yeah Zack! Kick his flank!” Soarin shouted in agreement.

The stallion’s voice was followed by a number of cheers from the other Wonderbolts and the royal guards, but Zack barely took any notice. He once again trained his sword’s deadly point on the slowly rising threat before him, ready to clear the thirty meter distance between them with a single Silence Aerial attack and end the fight for good if need be.

“Give up now, Discord,” The SOLDIER said with his sword still readied. "You can't win this."

“Me? Give up? Bah, never!” The spirit hissed as he staggered around, somewhat haphazardly.

That was when something broken inside Zack, said something being the last barrier that had held his temper in check.

With a swift movement, Zack smiled, closed his eyes and, raised his massive blade to a vertical position against himself, and before the eyes of everypony watching became engulfed in an orange and purple aura.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“I assure you, I am fine, Shining Armor,” Princess Celestia calmly said as she got to her hooves, the white stallion, her dark sister, and a few royal guards supporting her side so she didn’t stumble over. “Discord surprised me is all.”

The royal guard captain shook his head. “Are you sure princess? You look a little more than sha…”

“Me? Give up? Bah, never!”

The moment the voice reached everypony’s ears, they all spun around in ready for the worst... only to find a recently all too familiar sight before them, said sight being Zack standing still, with his sword up, and an orange aura around him.

Shining Armor watched on cautiously as Zack’s blade began to glow, knowing all too well that it meant something big was about to happen. Using his own magic, the royal guard captain quickly formed a protective purple barrier between the SOLDIER, himself, and everypony else present, Spike huddling against his older brother figure’s side as together they watched the scene unfold.

“Zack, what are…” The armored stallion started.

Before he could finish, his ears were greeted by the a chorus of clattering hooves.

Turning down the hallway he saw Twilight and the others galloping towards them, their gold inset elements now adorning their bodies. The moment she saw the purple barrier she looked between it and him in confusion, as if wondering why exactly it was there.

“Princess, Shining, what’s…?”

“Twily, I suggest you and your friends get behind me,” he snorted as she skidded to a stop beside him, his eyes leaving her and returning to the dark frame of the SOLDIER. “Something's about to happen.”

“Yeah, big as in really big,” Spitfire put in hurriedly, her eyes more on Rainbow then the others.

The six mares shot looks between each other before obeying, and a moment later were all thanking Celestia they had listened to the stallion and mare’s words.

The numerous crevices that dotted the white stone floor of the throne room, all of which had been caused by the SOLDIER’s cleaving blade, began to crack and spread as red hot flames, smoke, and honest-to-Celestia magma poured out of them.

A single, massive crack then rapidly began appearing in front of Zack as the stone floor tore itself open, like the mountain beneath Canterlot was a beast opening its long shut maw.

More flames began to fill the ruined throne room at an ever increasing rate, the heat now so intense the pristine white marble around everypony was beginning to glow red hot, like the entire throne room was a giant roiling blast furnace. All the while Zack stood perfectly still like nothing was happening around him, and Discord just stood there in utter shock, his mouth hanging freely agape.

And that was when Shining Armor heard it, a guttural roar that caused the entire palace to shake, caused the royal guards to drop to the floor and cover their heads, and likely would’ve scared the utter buck out of a dragon any day.

A mere second later, his blue tail suddenly crammed up between his legs in fear, as he saw the hellish cause leap forth from the burning cleave in the stone floor, smash a massive hole in the roof like it was made of parchment, and then come back down and land beside Zack.

It easily stood twice as tall as the SOLDIER, and had a similar body shape, but the creature was orange skinned, wore nothing but a garb and assorted bits of armour over its etched muscle, and had deadly curving horns sticking from its skull.

“The… buck…. is… that thing?!” Rainbow yelped from where she was hovering, the usually confident and somewhat cocky pegasus, along with the present royal guards, the other elements, and even the recently awakened pair of princesses, suddenly feeling rather fearful.

“Discord,” Zack chuckled at last, his blue eyes opening and facing the spirit as the burning skinned demon-thing first raised its head, and then roared again. “Meet Ifrit.”

A grin spread across the SOLDIER’s face as he watched the spirit gape at the summon, Discord’s mismatched golden eyes locked on Ifrit’s demonic black ones as he tried, and failed, to back away, the flaming spirit returning the glare with his sword-like fangs bared, and monstrous clawed fists clenched.

Then, before the eyes of everypony present, including the recently returned elements of harmony and the now awake princesses, Ifrit roared like an unholy beast and charged straight at Discord.

Sprinting forward with a speed that could’ve matched Rainbow Dash’s, the demon-creature’s body started becoming a living meteor in a matter of seconds, his entire frame becoming a rampaging inferno.

Then, bathed in a swirling torrent of magical flames that grew hotter and brighter as he surged forward, with a colossal burning fist raised, and before either Discord or anypony else could twitch or blink, Ifrit’s Hellfire attack slammed into the chaos spirit with all the uncontrollable wrath of hell behind it.

What followed was a massive fiery explosion, the shock wave of which could have been easily mistaken for a major earthquake.

Zack just stood and watched the flames blaze around him like he was witnessing the end of the world, and then just as quickly as they and Ifrit had been summoned, the fires died away and the demon disappeared again, leaving the throne room looking just about like nothing had happened.

The only suggestion there had been a fight was the now barely conscious spirit of chaos on the far side of the throne room, who was kneeling over on his claws and knees on the floor in a vein effort to try and stand again, his body covered in the smoking scorch marks of Ifrit’s Hellfire.

His mood darkening when the ponies in the room started cheering at his demise.

Discord first looked up at the massive sword resting between his horns, and then at the glowing blue eyes of its wielder.

“Zack… please, I beg you not to do this,” came the voice of Celestia, and looking over his shoulder, Zack saw her gingerly walking over to his side, a downright shocked and gaping group of Shining Armor, the elements of harmony, and Princess Luna supporting the white alicorn.

He was surprised to see the two princesses awake, let alone walking, although neither looked to be in great shape.

“Celestia, he nearly killed you and your sister. You can't honestly just let that slide.” The SOLDIER replied with his blade still lowered, his remark only drawing a shake of her head from the ruler of the day.

“Discord may be the spirit of chaos and disharmony, and he should be punished for his crimes… but slaying him will only make things wo...”

“Hey!”

“Zack!”

Zack spun around as he felt pain tear up his right shin. In response his leg suddenly kicking out, slamming into Discord’s jaw, and knocking him backwards head over furry tail.

Upon looking down the veteran SOLDIER saw a small claw-made tear in his dark pants, and a patch of blood quickly blotting the weathered fabric; luckily the wound was barely a scratch in his opinion.

And then refocusing his gaze saw Discord strangely smiling up at him, the sticky red substance stained on one of his eagle-like talons.

“It seems the last laugh is mine this time, Zack.” he laughed. Then, with a mad grin and a snap of his fingers, he was gone in a faint magical crack.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

I know Zack may seem… overpowered in some regards, but remember he beat enemies like Genesis (I can’t remember if that demon form of his had a name like Angeal’s) and Bahamut Fury (and we all know what he can do).

Chapter 11: A Mutual Understanding

For a moment Zack could do nothing but stand there and look stunned. His mind, like those of everypony else in the room, desperately not wanting to accept the fact that Discord had just disappeared into thin air.

The entire throne room around him was dead silent, the eyes of everypony present locked on the warrior as they waited for his reaction to what had just happened, some of them now fearing he would either smash something, or possibly summon the demonic creature Ifrit again out of pure frustration.

“He… gone… but,” Zack mumbled as he stepped back in shock, his blue eyes suddenly tearing over his shoulder and locking on an equally surprised Celestia as his fury returned. “Why the hell did you stop me!”

“Zack, please calm…”

“You let him go!” the enraged SOLDIER yelled, everypony, including the pair of stunned princesses, now rapidly back peddling at his voice. “I had him beat and you let him get away!"

Celestia’s face suddenly, and rather frighteningly, darkened like the clouds of a thunder storm. “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I LET YOU!” She yelled in return, her voice easily twice as loud as his.

Within a bare second her fury died along with the fire in her eyes, and, although he was still angry over Discord’s escape, Zack relaxed a little as well after venting his frustration, taking deep breaths to calm his temper as he replaced his Buster Sword.

Celestia silently regretted losing her temper at him after everything he had done, for her and her now frightened subjects alike, but there were things neither he nor anypony else fully understood the consequences of.

“Luna, Shining Armor, please get everypony out of the palace and into the courtyard… and have the royal guard ready to defend Canterlot at all costs if the need arises,” she ordered sharply, casting a look back at both her royal guard captain and younger sister. “I will join you soon… but I wish to speak with Zack alone for a moment. There are certain things he must come to understand.”

The two ponies behind her exchanged unsure looks between themselves, but wordlessly turned and complied with the order of the sun ruler.

Quickly, they led everypony down the hallway until their hoof-beats could no longer be heard inside the desolate throne room, Spitfire casting an uneasy look back at her coltfriend as she disappeared through the arched doorway, the mare silently wondering what Celestia would say or do to him.

It was then, once they were alone in the ruins of her formerly proud throne room, the solar ruler turned back to the awaiting SOLDIER, who was currently rubbing his brow like he had a headache.

“I’m… sorry,” he growled at last, unable to meet the monarchs gaze as she looked over him. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, and for destroying your throne room, and…”

“Zack…” the solar princess continued in her normal voice, her tone now soft like a mother addressing her child. “I am not angry at you if that’s what you’re thinking; you stopped one of the greatest threats to Equestria’s safety, both without support, and without the elements of harmony… I am merely concerned for you.”

She sighed and nuzzled him on the cheek gently before continuing, the SOLDIER now relaxed, but was also a little confused at her sudden change of demeanour.

“You see Zack… I'm pretty sure I know why you did what you did… I know that something has happened to you in your life… something that changed who you are, something that made you almost unnaturally protective of your friends… and I know that because after I banished Luna, I became like you for a time, protective of all those I held dear. It is an honourable trait in my eyes, of that I assure you. But you must understand Discord is the spirit of chaos, Zack, as fundamental to Equestria’s existence as Luna and I are. Without him, the balance between harmony and disharmony would be lost, and hence true chaos would reign… that is why I couldn’t allow you to kill him.”

“Hence the reason you only ever put him in stone then huh?” the SOLDIER sighed as he pushed a black lock aside, wincing as a shot of pain went up his still bleeding leg.

“Yes, unfortunately so. If not for that fact, Luna and I would have destroyed him over a millennia ago,” she sighed with a shake of her head. “But, I would prefer you not to mention this to anypony, Zack, even Twilight as my personal pupil... some knowledge in the wrong hooves is dangerous, as you should know.”

“On my honour, you have my word, princess,” Zack said solemnly.

Then the solar princess caught him off guard, not though by her behaviour or action, but the words that left her muzzle next.

I also… wish to apologize, Zack… for how I acted after the Gala. It was wrong of me to think you’d ever hurt somepony after putting your life on the line for first my subjects, and now my sister and I as well, can you forgive me for the way I acted?”

“I never held a grudge in the first place Princess… and, Uh, can I just say, I shouldn’t have lost it at you like I did… but it’s just that Discord reminded me so much of someone I knew and now hate… someone who did terrible things to innocent people and those I cared about.”

Celestia’s eyebrow shifted towards the crown of her mane at the words, and silently she wondered if this someone was the driving force behind his tendencies. Though given his pained expression and the fact he was staring at his boots, she didn’t think it right to ask.

“I know all too well how it feels to carry painful memories, and if in time you wish for somepony to talk to about them, I am here… and just so you know now, and can put your mind at ease Zack, Discord will be back in time; he has always been one to hold grudges, and now holds a rather large one against you it seems. But, I believe it best we end this conversation now, Canterlot is still in danger.”

As if to emphasize her point, a sudden loud boom shook the palace, reminding them both they still had an army of changelings trying to break down Celestia’s and Shining Armor’s barrier.

The SOLDIER grinned, and then once again drew his Buster Sword, the solar princess galloping along beside him as they made their way towards the courtyard for yet another battle.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“What’s the bet we’re about to get our flanks given to us on a silver plate?” Soarin asked to nopony in particular as he stared up at the sky, his remark drawing mutters and scolds from his uniformed teammates and the other ponies around him.

“If I hear another stupid comment from your muzzle, Soarin, I’ll be the one offering your flank to you on a plate,” Stormwing snorted, giving the younger stallion a none too gentle kick in the side and causing him to yelp. “Now focus you dumb colt before I buck you into next week!”

The blue pegasus snorted but said nothing more, instead shifting his eyes back to the barrier over Canterlot, and much like everypony around him praying to Celestia it would last. He wasn’t a coward, he had been performing death defying stunts and responding to emergencies throughout his career, but now, for the first time in a long time, Soarin felt unease begin to creep into him.

“Where’s Zack when you need a confidence boost?” he sighed to himself, flexing his wings in preparation for aerial combat as he pawed nervously.

“Since when do you care if he’s around?” Spitfire snapped from beside him, the amount of venom in her voice startling both the stallion and her other team members.

“What’s the stick in your plot?” he asked bluntly, his remark drawing another glare from the golden pegasus.

She snorted and looked away hastily, almost like she was afraid to face him. “Nothing,” she snorted in return, flicking her tail and turning away from him.

It was a curious tone for Soarin to hear coming from Spitfire’s muzzle, an unusual, and far from normal mixture of anger, sadness, and fear. It was a tone he hadn’t heard come from her mouth for years, and was in his opinion totally out of character for his captain, but the stallion had three guesses in his mind what the issue was, and the first two he really didn’t need.

He had after all been around mares his whole life, and Spitfire even longer than that.

“You’re worried about him aren’t you?” he asked, quietly enough that none of the other Wonderbolts could hear. “Zack, I mean.”

Spitfire tensed up like he had slapped her, before slowly giving a defeated huff. “Yeah, I am. I’m just worried about what Celestia will do to him after what happened to her throne room and all. I mean, he’s always been there to save my hide when I needed him too, and now I can’t do anything to help him out,”

The blue wonderbolt raised an eyebrow at her statement, wondering if her words, coupled the SOLDIER’s mood that morning, meant anything.

“So… can I just ask… did anything happen between you two last night?”

“SOARIN!” she hissed, putting a hood over his mouth before he could say anymore, her cheeks crimson. “Nothing happened…”

Soarin was glad her hoof was over his muzzle, otherwise he knew he would have burst out laughing then and there. He had known Spitfire ever since she was a filly, and hence could tell in a heartbeat when she was lying.

The grassy lawn of the palace courtyard was, by then, a scene of green covered in marching golden armored ponies, with every battalion of the Canterlot royal guard, earth pony, pegasi, and unicorn alike, all standing in rectangular formations across the grass.

Standing at their head were his and Spitfire’s team, the elements of harmony, Shining Armor, and Princess Luna, the massive swell of equine troops all waiting for orders from their respective leaders.

It was an impressive show of force by anypony’s opinion, but without Zack’s presence, it just seemed to feel inadequate to him. The stallion admitted he hadn’t always liked the SOLDIER, but he always seemed to have an aura of confidence around him, one that could literally make anypony feel like they could do anything. Like the odds just didn’t matter while he was present.

And without him the concept of battle seemed much more daunting, but there was no longer a choice in the matter.

Hence they all stood and waited with tails flicking, wings flexing, hooves pawing, and nostrils flaring, each and every pony present waiting for the moment when the changeling mass would break through and yet another battle for Canterlot would begin, the stallion silently wincing as the first small cracks began appearing in the barrier.

“Looks like we got here just in time.”

At the sound of the mildly cocky voice, Soarin spun around, and a wave of relief washed over him. In a single moment he, the other Wonderbolts, and the royal guards began cheering as both Princess Celestia and the black haired SOLDIER came running out from the palace’s grand main doors, the warrior’s signature sword grasped in his hands.

Before he could stop though a golden blur slammed into him, said golden blur just so happening to be Spitfire, who promptly wrapped her forelegs around the human-jenova hybrid’s shoulders and hugged him.

“You’re ok!” she squealed in delight as she let go, the act perhaps the strangest display of behaviour anypony had ever witnessed from the Wonderbolt captain.

Zack chuckled and scratched her ears fondly. “Yeah, I’m good… Princess Celestia and I just had to come to an understanding was all, which we now have.”

“So… looks like she didn’t send you to the moon after all,” Soarin snickered as the cheering died down, causing the rest of his team to abruptly chuckle as Zack and the princess approached. “And you didn’t end up throwing any meteors at her.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, Soarin,” Celestia smiled playfully as she took her place beside her younger sister, causing the stallion to blush and look away slightly, while Zack just grinned and face palmed.

Her face once again darked as her eyes drifted skywards, along with Zack’s own blue ones. The SOLDIER took his place beside both Spitfire and Shining Armor, his Buster Sword remaining firmly grasped in his hands.

He could feel the fear radiating from everypony around him, even the royal guards, the ponies warily biting their lips and swallowing dry as the thought of oncoming battle threatened to break their nerves.

And if that happened, The SOLDIER knew Canterlot was all but lost.

“So… Zack… you wouldn’t happen to have any spells that could take out an entire army, would you?” Soarin asked sheepishly as he looked up. Part of him was joking while the other part was silently praying for a yes.

Zack quickly found himself the centre of attention from the surrounding ponies, knowing all too well they saw in him as much of a leader as Shining Armor. His eyes, however, remained locked on the changeling mass that was swarming above him, or rather technically the blue the sky beyond it.

The idea forming in his mind was utterly crazy, if not insane. The pure power behind such an attack would level Canterlot and surrounding mountain with ease if something went wrong, but it was the fastest option available.

“Princess Celestia, I think I’ve got an idea… you’re probably not going to like it, but it should spare the city any damage, and you any causalities.”

The princess raised her brow for a moment before turning to him. “Alright, Zack... what do you need us to do?” the alicorn asked with a look over her shoulder, everypony present looking oddly between their ruler and the SOLDIER.

Zack nodded up towards the barrier over Canterlot. “I need every unicorn here to strengthen that barrier with as much of their magic as possible, I mean every unicorn… everypony else… I suggest should start praying that it’ll hold.”

“Are you sure about this plan?” Luna asked from beside her sister, wearing the same look of concern as everypony else. “You seem to believe it could go wrong and badly at that, is it risky?”

“If the barrier fails, things will go very wrong… but right now we’re at a lack of choices, princess.”

Celestia nodded once before turning to her royal guard captain, her stern expression not lightening in the slightest. “Very well… Shining Armor, give the order,” she said as her own horn began to glow.

“ALL UNICORNS! STRENGTHEN THE BARRIER!”

His yelled words echoed through the ranks of pony guards, and a few moments later hundreds upon hundreds of horns began to glow as beams of magic shot upwards, their energies feeding into the barrier and causing it to glow as its cracks healed over as it was thickened. Looking around, Zack saw each and every unicorn giving it their all, Twilight, Celestia and Luna included, willing to sacrifice all their strength and magic for the good and protection of Canterlot.

And now it was time for him to do his part.

“Whatever your plan, I know you can make it work, Zack,” Spitfire said from beside him, the tone in her voice telling him that she, like everypony else, was scared of what could happen, but refused to let it get the better of her.

He smiled as he looked down at her, the golden mare smiling back and giving him all the confidence her needed; she sounded, at that very moment, so much as Aerith did.

Wordlessly he once again raised his blade and put the metal against his forehead, concentrating and bending the magic inside him to his will as he prepared himself.

High above Canterlot, the grey clouds began to swirl like a storm was forming before the eyes of everypony and changeling below, and then the silence of the world was shattered as a blue dragon roared.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

I finished my last uni unit on friday (still have exams, but meh), so I decided to do another double chapter.

Chapter 12: To Burn the Sky

Proofread by GOOPMONSTER!

In a mere instant, the SOLDIER heard just about every royal guard present yell out in shock and alarm, some, judging by the clatter of metallic noises that filled his ears, nearly jumping out of their armor or tripping over their spears and hooves.

In an almost automatic reaction to the guttural roar, Spitfire tucked herself close to Zack’s side for protection, her own golden eyes scanning the overcast sky she usually loved for something she knew she should be afraid of.

The SOLDIER couldn’t help but find himself a little confused at her almost foal-like reaction, given he had never seen the mare act nervous, let alone fearful, the entire time he had known her.

He didn’t respond to the action or move a muscle, as the flood of magic raced through his veins, and what he intended to do with it, was the absolute and unwavering pin point of his attention.

“Just like old times,” he thought, remembering the countless times he had used summons in other fights.

The roar, as he guessed from the ponies reactions, was to them a titanic earth shaking sound that could’ve startled even the sternest royal guard. Like the roar of one of many ancient and powerful beasts, as Spitfire had told him, that were enchained by Celestia and Luna in the dark fiery depths of Tartarus. The bellow washed over the palace grounds and everypony standing on them, and as if the sound was laced with the very essence of the word fear, virtually froze the blood running in the armored ponies’ veins.

Sounds as loud as the one they had just heard, as their years of vigorous training and personal combat experience had taught each and every one of the royal guards, only came from things like Ursa majors or things that were both powerful and big, REALLY big.

Each and every set of now unnerved equine eyes, including those of the two stone faced alicorn princesses, were now flashing their gazes quickly between Zack and the clouded sky in search of the roar’s source, the two rulers’ noble wings flared protectively over their subjects as they looked up at the circling grey storm clouds.

The SOLDIER couldn’t help but grin to himself as the worried mutterings started behind him.

“Zack… what the bucking hay was that?” Soarin’ asked in a barely audible whisper as he trotted over, the stallion sounding almost truly scared for once as he pawed at the grass.

The SOLDIER just shook his head in reply. “Heh, that, Soarin’, is what you’re about to find out,” he smirked wickedly, his hands still grasping the cold metallic grip of his Buster Sword tightly.

“Why do I always get a bad feeling whenever you smile like that?”

That was when, in answer to Zack’s will and call, something bright pierced the heavens like an arrow and shot down from the thick circling clouds. For a moment it was just a speck against the patches of grey, but as it sped earthwards, that speck quickly materialized into something resembling a lightning blue comet that would have easily measured the rough size of a Canterlot house.

Its earth-bound path, if the SOLDIER was right, was carrying it straight towards the magically reinforced barrier... and the royal white stone city that sat proudly right below it, just as he had intended.

Unfortunately, Shining Armor seemed to catch on pretty quickly.

“ZAAAAACK!” the white stallion virtually roared in the SOLDIER’s direction. “What. The buck. Have you done!”

“I know what I’m doing,” The SOLDIER snapped back with equal venom, not even bothering to open his eyes. “Do you want these changelings dealt with or not?”

“I’d prefer for you not to destroy Canterlot and kill us all in the process!”

Zack barely took note of the stallion’s angry outburst, other than a slight mental groan and a small momentary snort, though he could hear the faintest tone of fear in the royal guard captain’s voices, fear that was now spreading amongst the other royal guards. He understood why they’d be scared, having something that looked like a comet plummeting straight at you was a far-from-inviting prospect, but what he needed at that point was their trust and belief above all else.

“Zack, are you… ” Spitfire started.

“Just trust me Spitfire, please,” he cut in as he tightened his sword grip, the rest of his body not moving in the slightest. “I know it seems crazy, but I know what I’m doing… nothing bad will happen to you or anypony else ok, I promise you that… on my honour.”

She looked at him for a moment with a raised eyebrow, before sighing and giving a single nod. “I believe in you,” she whispered.

Despite the unease everypony else, bar apparently Pinkie Pie who was humming for some strange reason, and the general sense of fear that was running through the ranks of armored royal guards, he couldn’t help but smile at her words.

“Zack… for your own sake, you best be right about this,” Celestia said darkly from beside him, looking at the SOLDIER along with her younger sister, both sporting death glares. “If that comet breaks through…”

“That thing’s not a comet.” Zack smirked at last, his glowing blue suddenly snapping open as his pulses of magic faded and everypony suddenly stared at him, followed by a collective wave of “WHAT?!”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mere meters before the descending inferno hit the barrier, it happened, a thunderous explosion of magical energy and blue light unlike anything Equestria had ever witnessed before. Within a heartbeat the powerful magic pulse had converted every drop of moisture in the air and sky to ice, and then, with a colossal crack of white lightning, shattered them with the sound of breaking glass, resulting in Canterlot being caught in a shower of thousands upon thousands of tiny glimmering crystals.

With an almost blinding flash of light, so intense it caused every pony present to shut their eyes in pain, the magical energy dissipated away, leaving in its wake a sight which made Zack’s grin widen as a few memories came rushing back. Every pony and changeling else, including the two alicorn rulers and the six element wielders, gaped and went completely silent in total shock.

“Buck… me… sideways,” he heard Soarin’ gasp at last, his comment followed by a chain of similar murmurs.

“Wow,” Spike whispered, the SOLDIER’s mouth breaking smile at the young dragon’s amazement.

“Yeah… wow,” Rainbow Dash added, hovering next to her scaly friend.

Almost everypony around him let out some description of amazement, even Twilight and the two princesses were utterly amazed at what they were seeing, much to the veteran SOLDIER’s silent unvoiced amusement.

“Zack…” Shining Armor started before trailing off, any other words quickly becoming lodged in his throat.

“Now you know some of the true power of SOLDIER,” Zack grinned, slowly replacing his massive Buster Sword across his back before raising his own eyes skywards. “I said you could trust me didn’t I?”

Residing just above the purple barrier, before the very eyes of both the respective pony and changeling masses below, was a dragon, a dragon, in Spitfire’s eyes, of near godlike appearance and powerful majesty that could rival that of Princess Celestia’s own.

Unlike every other dragon she had either heard of or seen, Spitfire saw its colossal figure was covered not in thousands of individual scales, but what looked to be a combination of thick coloured plates, some of which seemed to be glowing with blue magic. Its scythe-like talons were not white like the talons of Equestria’s dragons, but rather a brilliant metallic silver colour, like they were actually forged from steel, and the beasts eyes, almost like those of the SOLDIER who had summoned it, were literally glowing a bright and eerie blue.

This time, it was Soarin’ who decided to yell at the SOLDIER. “Zack! Please tell me that I'm just seeing things!”

“Z-Zack,” Spitfire chocked out a moment later, her golden eyes bulging to a near unnerving size, and her tail tightening between her legs as she looked up at the massive creature. “What… is that?”

“That, Spits, is a summon called Bahamut.” Zack chuckled smugly, his voice being cut off by a titanic roar.

For a single moment after the monstrous sound, the entire world stood perfectly still and was deathly silent, bar the deep pounding beats and movements of the wings of the king of dragons. Every pony and changeling looking up at the silent beast’s hulking shape in a combination of awe and horror.

That moment though ended quickly.

With another and final thunderous roar, the dragon was gone, sending another blast of blue energy outwards before shooting back up through the clouds, and into the highest possible piece of reachable sky, its glowing blue eyes locked downward on the awaiting world that sat far below its talons grasp. In the depths of its mind it knew exactly why it had been summoned, by the very SOLDIER who had long ago beaten it in a fight of all creatures, and it also knew what was now required of it.

The very power it had once used against the SOLDIER as they had clashed.

Flaring its wings out to their fullest extent and opening its colossal maw, the dragon began its devastating attack, absorbing and focusing the magical energy in the air around it into a tight shining ball between its jaws. With every passing second the ball grew in size and power as it was fed by glowing streaks of energy, building up to a titanic concentration of magic that could raze a city to the ground with ease.

Within bare seconds it became almost too much to control, and hence with a momentary pause and swift arch of its neck, the dragon opened its jaws and finally released the megaflare blast, sending a crackling ball of blue energy hurtling downwards towards the city of Canterlot.

Five seconds later, the world once again shook as it collided with the barrier.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It had been just over a year since the first invasion of Canterlot by the changelings hordes, but the majestic flash of magical light, caused by the bond of love shared by Shining Armor and Cadence, still burned brightly in the mind and memories of everypony who had been there that fateful day.

Many of those ponies, civilian and royal guard alike, now crowded the paved streets of Canterlot and the lawn grounds of the Palace, their eyes locked skywards as they all, half curiously and half fearfully, watched the various movements and actions of the dragon who had answered Zack’s call and appeared above their city. Some had their jaws freely hanging open in awe, mainly due to the fact that seeing a dragon up close was a rare event in Equestria.

Others though, including a stone faced Shining Armor, were far less impressed and far more worried about the creature’s presence.

As captain of the royal guard, he had seen and dealt with all sorts of threats before, including a rogue dragon every so often, but the beast he had just seen had been by far the most terrifying thing he had ever laid his eyes on.

“Zack, What exactly is that thing goi…”

The stallion had intended to further berate the SOLDIER on his course of action, but his voice was suddenly, and rather violently, cut off by yet another barrage of fearful yells erupting from the guards around him, and more than a few loud curses from nearby ponies as they either ducked, or tried to turn their tails and run.

“What the…” The stallion wondered aloud.

A moment later, and before he had the faintest idea of what was truly going on, the entire city was shaken on its foundations by yet another titanic explosion, and flooded with a third wave of blinding blue light. These ones though were so loud and intense they made the first and second look like small fireworks in comparison, the blast causing a decent amount of royal guards to tumble over as the entire mountain beneath Canterlot shook.

Frantically getting to his hooves again and looking up, the royal guard captain’s blood just about chilled to ice as he realized just what had happened, and what Zack had been planning the entire time, took place before his eyes.

The dragon’s blast had a moment prior collided with his barrier, and a second after it had the very air seemed to erupt into a sea of blue magical fire as the monstrous explosion followed on, the blast vaporizing every single screeching changeling that had graced the sky over Canterlot in a single heartbeat, and leaving not one of the insect creatures alive in its wake.

His own magical barrier was quickly strained and stressed under the immense wave of energy, and the stallion began to sweat as he saw faint cracks begin to appear in the purple surface, like at any moment it would shatter like glass.

He understood then and there why Zack had wanted the barrier reinforced so strongly; whatever the magical nature of the dragon’s attack was, it was powerful even by his standards.

“Remember how I said you should pray this worked? Now you know why,” Zack grinned after a few moments with a shake of his black locks, the last of flames dying away as he spoke.

His obvious amusement, despite the severity of the situation, and Shining Armor’s current sense of dread, ended up resulting in the stallion wanting nothing more than a chance to buck the SOLDIER square in the face.

“ARE YOU ACTUALLY OUT OF YOUR MIND!” Shining Armor yelled, tensing his legs and readying to charge straight at the burly part-human, who swiftly drew his Buster sword in response while Spitfire flared her wings aggressively. “NOT ONLY DID YOU SUMMON A DRAGON, ZACK, BUT YOU NEARLY HAD IT CONVERT CANTERLOT AND EVERYPONY IN IT, INCLUDING BOTH PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA, TO ASHES!”

“Look, just calm down Shining…” Spitfire started, only to be cut off by a loud snort from Princess Celestia’s muzzle.

“That is quite enough, Shining Armor.” Celestia cut in from behind both of them, the captain looking back over his shoulder to see her glaring fiercely at him, and a none-too-impressed expression plastered across the alicorn’s face. “I agree with you that his actions were dangerous, yes, but the barrier held, nopony has been hurt, and Canterlot is now safe once again… hence I am asking you to drop the issue.”

“But Princess…”

“Captain, that is an order, the threat to Canterlot has been dealt with and everypony is safe, now I suggest you stand down, and calm down, before you make an embarrassment of yourself, because with all due respect I find the thought of you being able to subdue Zack a little hard to believe.”

Turning his head in response, He saw first and foremost his little sister was glaring daggers at him, while the other Elements of Harmony, Princess Luna, Stormwing, Spike, the Wonderbolts’ team members, and a decent amount of his fellow royal guards were also watching on, many with eyebrows raised in either confusion of scepticism of his actions.

Shining Armor shot the SOLDIER a dirty look, before shaking his head and sighing in defeat as he scraped at the grass in embarrassment. “Ugh, alright, alright… sorry Zack… sorry Spitfire,” he snorted somewhat bitterly, not looking up to meet his two friends’ gazes.

The SOLDIER just gave the guard captain one of his signature smirks. “Heh, don’t worry about it.”

Nodding, taking a few deep breaths, and eventually calming down, the stallion shook his head again and backed off a few paces while Zack slowly replaced his sword across his back, his wary eyes still not leaving the burly white unicorn. The royal guard captain then gingerly retreated to his sister’s side as the solar princess to came forward, and wordlessly approached the black haired SOLDIER until they were a bare meter apart. A few other royal guards continued to watch on while the rest moved off to secure the rest of the palace.

He didn’t move or flinch under her unfaltering gaze, and neither did the golden pegasus mare still standing firmly beside him, but they could both tell she wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with joy at what had happened.

“What you did was both near crazy and dangerous Zack, and I want you to know that,” she said firmly through what looked to be slightly clenched jaw, her own eyes locked with his glowing blue ones, and her gaze making him feel a little more than unnerved. “You put the lives of a lot of my little ponies on the line today, as well as this entire city itself, something which I personally would have much preferred you hadn’t done, and strongly suggest you never do ever again…”

“Look, Celestia, I Just…” he started defensively, only to find the alicorn’s white hoof quickly moving forward and covering his mouth.

“But…” she continued as she removed her hoof. “I accept, Zack, as you seem to have made a habit of doing, only did so with the intention of protecting Canterlot and its citizens, so… I believe my sister and I are willing to let it go this once… are we in agreement on the issue, Luna?”

“For once, yes we are ‘Tia,” the darker alicorn smiled almost cheekily, the happy grin being one of the very few Zack had seen cross her face since meeting the night ruler. “But, as my sister said Zack, we would both prefer you refrain from doing such dangerous and stupid things again.”

Zack sighed, shrugged, and nodded in reply, aware he and the white alicorn were now the centre of pretty much everypony else’s attention.

“I understand, but like I said earlier, it was an idea neither of you probably would have liked in the first place, but it was the best chance we had… so, yeah, that’s kinda why I didn’t exactly explain everything beforehan… uh, hoof.”

Celestia nodded calmly, the faint fire of anger in her eyes now dying away. “I know it was, and all I ask is that you heed our words, Zack… you know we care about the wellbeing of our subjects above all else,” she said softly, a smile slowly beginning to grow across her alabaster muzzle. “But enough of that, Canterlot is safe once again it seems….”

“Yeah, only for now though,” Zack spat, his right still holding his sword grip. “Discord’s still out there, Princess, and I really don’t think it’s a coincidence he gets out the same day Chrysalis launches a second attack.”

“You think they’re working together?” Spitfire asked in utter confusion, looking between her princess and coltfriend curiously.

The SOLDIER sighed. “Well, if Discord breaking out on the same day Chrysalis sends a changeling army to Canterlot is anything to go on, I’d say so.”

Spitfire snorted. “But that doesn’t make any sense,” she groaned, rubbing her forehead with one of her hooves. “Chrysalis would never have even met Discord, let alone struck a deal with him… I mean, the only time he’s escaped in the last… millennia or two… he was only out for a day before being trapped in stone again, right Twilight?”

“Less than a full day actually,” the lavender mare shrugged from where she was standing beside her friends, her lips curling into a small scowl. “And most of that time he was either taunting, humiliating, and manipulating us, or wreaking havoc in Ponyville, so I can’t see how Chrysalis… unless…” she trailed off.

Spitfire nodded and beckoned. “Unless…?”

Her purple eyes suddenly darted sideways, and came to a sudden stop on the face of her adjacent older brother, those of Spitfire, her close friends, a still steel faced Zack, the two Princesses, and everypony else present quickly following suit.

“Shining… did you mention anything about Discord when Chrysalis was… pretending to be Cadence?”

A mere instant after the lavender mare spoke, the SOLDIER noticed that her brother’s eyes shot open like something sharp had been prodded into his flank, and a moment later his jaw clenched shut like a steel vice on a piece of worked metal.

“Well?” she pestered.

“I… before the wedding, I remember walking her through gardens a few times, including past Discord’s statue every so often, Cadence and I used to do it so she could unwind from her duties…” he snorted with a vigorous shake of his head. “Ugh, it’s been over a year. How the hay is that still coming back to haunt me?”

“Simple, Chrysalis is one to hold a grudge,” Soarin replied bluntly with a shrug of his shoulders, prompting a face palm from Zack, and a glare in his direction from both Spitfire and Stormwing. “I mean, you and Cadence gave her a fair flank kicking that d…”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA! PRINCESS LUNA! COME QUICKLY!”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

I’m back! Anyway, this chapter, as you can guess, was delayed due to my exams (plus a rather annoying power outage)

Chapter 13: Reminiscing before the Storm

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from Goopmonster!

Nopony could bring themselves to say a single word, not even the usually talkative pair of Soarin and Pinkie Pie, instead like everypony else they stood perfectly and utterly quiet. The bright pink mare’s seemingly constant happy and bubbly personality, which was often loved and enjoyed by everypony who had ever known her, was for now nowhere to be seen; the blue pegasus stallion in turn, for once in his life, apparently wasn’t going to try and find a humorous angle to the situation before him either.

If he did, Zack was sure he would’ve very quickly ended up on the moon.

The cluster of ponies, plus one black haired SOLDIER, were standing solemnly in a circle around a bed in the palace medical wing, all eyes focused on the patient it contained, who was by the looks of things currently lying unconscious and barely breathing; around them, the medical staff were giving each other instructions as they hurried up and down the wing, scurrying between their other patients as quickly as possible, most of which were palace servants or royal guards, including both Lance Point and Double Edge.

The pony they were looking at, though, was neither a servant nor a royal guard, it was Prince Blueblood.

“From what I can tell... he’s suffered a case of near fatal magical exhaustion, Princess, in my opinion, probably brought on by the performing of magic far beyond his level of ability,” the dark grey coated doctor sighed as he looked over his clipboard, his eyes flicking between the silent prince and his patient report.

“Given he is a member of the royal family, and a fairly adept unicorn at that, may I ask… what exactly you mean by that?” Princess Celestia asked from beside Zack, speaking without taking her eyes off of her nephew, and an obvious edge of worry in her words.

“To put it basically, Princess, the knowledge of how to perform the magic was there, but the strength wasn’t; like a young school-colt trying to levitate a carriage all on his own,” the coal colored unicorn sighed with a shake of his muzzle. “I hate to say this Princess, but this is probably the worst case I’ve ever seen to be honest... but, I guess that comes with releasing Discord all on your o...”

“That... is yet to be established, doctor,” the white alicorn cut in both sharply and coldly, the hard tone in her voice causing everypony else, including the normally stern SOLDIER, to flinch. “And I’d very much appreciate it if you would not voice such claims against my family, or at least until it has been proven as fact anyway.”

The grey unicorn lowered his floating board, and stared at his ruler with a raised eyebrow. “Princess, with all due respect, he was found unconscious, and alone, beside the remains of Discord’s statue...”

“Although our nephew has never been the easiest pony to get along with...” Luna snorted as she loudly stamped a hoof, her statement causing both Rarity and Spike to mutter a few choice words under their breaths. “He has always disdained Discord just as much as my sister and I have, and I simply cannot see him betraying us like this; I agree with Celestia on this matter, something is very much amiss here… now please, leave us before you insult my sister or I any further.”

“But…”

“If you have any sense of honor,” Zack growled, blue eyes silencing the stallion as they fell on him. “You’ll respect your rulers’ wishes.”

The stallion gave a small bow and hastily departed Blueblood’s bedside, the sound of his hooves on the marble floor echoing in Zack’s ear. The SOLDIER didn’t like Blueblood in the slightest, and he doubted he ever would, but he hated what had been done to him even more. It reminded him too much of his last experiences with Cloud, of how he had supported his friend as they headed back towards Midgar, with Cloud barely able to move and unable to speak in the slightest, thanks to what Hojo had done to them both.

He couldn’t help but ball his fists in frustration as the memories crawled to the front of his mind, an action which didn’t go unnoticed by the ever vigilant princess of the night.

“This sight seems to anger you, Zack Fair, despite our nephew having only ever caused you grief since you both met.” Luna said quietly from beside him, her words drawing everypony else’s eyes to the two of them. “May we ask why that is?”

Celestia’s eyes hardened as she stared at her darker sister. “Luna, it is impolite to...”

Zack shook his head, and couldn’t help but clench his jaw. “A best friend of mine, Cloud... ended up like this at one stage when we were together, and I couldn’t do anything to really help him... I’d rather not talk about rest.”

The group of ponies fell dead silent as his words sank in with each of them, bar Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who both let out a sympathetic whimper and sniffled; Zack knew they were no longer part of his life, whether he liked that fact or not, but the memories of both the good times and bad times spent with Cloud, Tseng, and his other friends were still there, and they still hurt.

“Forgive me, Zack, it was not right of me to ask.” Luna said as she chewed her lip.

“Don’t worry about,” he replied with a slight smirk, running a gloved hand through his messy locks of untamed black hair. “It’s all... history… and I’ve got you guys now,”

With the last words he smiled down affectionately at Spitfire, who was presently standing pressed against his left side, and ran a gloved hand down her back, much to the golden mare’s mirth.

“So… you and this ‘Cloud’ guy were pretty close then huh?” Rainbow Dash cut in curiously, sharply beating her wings as she hovered just about her personal idol, and just in front of Zack. “Was he a member of SOLDIER too? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Zack shook his head. “No, Cloud was a great fighter, but he was just a Shinra infantryman… like a regular guard for you guys… although he did always want to be a member of SOLDIER. Heh, in a way though, I’m glad he wasn’t… otherwise he would’ve ended up like the rest of us.”

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked. “Ended up like the rest of us?”

Her words, unintentionally of course, caused a memory to spark in the dark depths of Zack’s mind, and for him to fall silent as it began to play; it was a memory of a moment in time when everything had changed for him, including his views on two of his long-time friends, fellow SOLDIER’s, and idols.

“Is this… is this your idea of honour?!” he yelled in fury as he glared down at Angeal, his mentor’s mother lying dead right behind him.

“My mother… could not continue to live,” the old SOLDIER groaned, slowly but surely rising to his feet. “And now neither… can the son.”

“What are you talking about?! What’s going on here?”

“I told you…” an all too familiar voice answered, the source revealed to him as Genesis appeared in the doorway, dark red locks obscuring one eye. “You can’t live on that side anymore.”

………………

“Summons aren’t supposed to be used like this! What happened to dreams… and honour?”

“We are… monsters...” Genesis sighed heavily with turning around, a massive black wing suddenly tearing a hole in his coat as it emerged from his back. “We have neither dreams, nor honor.” He muttered almost sadly, jumping into the air, and leaving behind a rain of dark feathers as he disappeared into the sky.

“SOLDIER… doesn’t mean monster,” Zack murmured, gripping one of the black feathers of his former friend.

“That’s… a long story,” He answered at last in a bare whisper, his words resulting in the unicorn’s face going into a pout.

For a few very long and slightly awkward moments, silence took its reign over the small group of friends, a silence Zack figured he was the cause of; they’d all suddenly found themselves at a sort of crossroads, no doubt half wanting to know more about his past and this ‘Cloud’, and half not daring to ask, given that they knew it was a touchy subject for him.

Quietly, he was glad they didn’t ask for further details.

Though he couldn’t help but smirk slightly when his glowing blue eyes passed over Twilight specifically, who looked to mentally be just about pulling her mane out in wanting of answers, though physically she was doing nothing more than biting her tongue.

“Look, Twilight, as much I admire you’re need to learn, there are some things that you’re better off not knowing about,” he smiled as he gave the unicorn a rub between the ears, causing her to blush in embarrassment, and causing both Spitfire and Shining Armor to snort in amusement. “Anyway, I reckon we should let Blueblood get some rest for now, hopefully he’ll give his own account when he wakes up”

“A good plan if I have ever heard one,” Celestia smiled warmly, the ruler of the day turning to her royal guard captain. “Shining Armor, since my nephew is unable to attend to his duties, would you please make sure the palace reconstructions are continuing as scheduled? My sister and I will join you shortly, but there is something I wish to check on… with the elements of harmony.”

“Of course Princess,” the stallion smiled with a swift bow of his head.

“And Princess,” Stormwing put in. “If you don’t mind, I’d also like to get my team back to training if possible, I’m afraid that if they keep missing sessions and eating like they do… well, some members might actually become even lazier then they already are.”

He smirked as he cast a grin towards Soarin, who in return snorted and looked away, and mumbled something under his breath about pie while his teammates laughed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Wow… I must’ve really done some damage,” Zack chuckled aloud, his arms folded across his chest as he descended a flight of marble palace stairs, and looked over the crowd of laboring engineers and workers that were rebuilding the ruins of the hall.

“That? You call that damage?” Shining Armor snickered from beside the SOLDIER, the purple dragon on his back joining in with his own bought of laughter. “Zack, may I remind you that about an hour ago, you nearly levelled this entire city with that summon of yours.”

“Yeah, but that dragon he summoned was awesome, so it was totally worth it.”

Both the SOLDIER and white stallion stopped walking, turned their heads, and looked back at Spike with raised eyebrows, the young dragon’s cheeks immediately flaring red under their combined gazes; a second passed when nothing happened, and then both warrior’s went into bouts of near hysterical laughter, which echoed of the walls, and just about filled the entire palace foyer, their actions drawing odd looks and mutterings from the gather trades-ponies, and supervising royal guards.

“Wow, after all this hell that’s been going on lately, I really needed that,” Zack sighed happily as he regained himself. “Thanks Spike, and just a heads up, that dragon is far more than just awesome… that was Bahamut, the king of dragons.”

As soon as the words ‘king of dragons’ left his mouth, both the royal guard captain, and his adopted purple scaled younger brother fell dead silent and once again stopped walking; despite his best attempts, the buster swordsman couldn’t help but smirk when he saw them both staring slack jawed at him, with their eyes just about bludging out of their sockets.

“T-the king of dragons?” Spike managed to choke out at last, looking like he was about to slide over and fall off of Shining Armor’s back. “I… got to see… the king of dragons?”

The SOLDIER chuckled to himself as he descended the stairs, a hand resting on the hilt of his Buster Sword. “Yeah, you did Spike, and since you’re a dragon like him, he’s basically your king too.”

“R-really?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Shining Armor snorted playfully, the stallion finally shaking his head free of his former shock. “Spike may be a dragon, but as a citizen of Equestria and my little brother, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are his rulers.”

“Ah, you’re no fun Shining,” The purple dragon groaned.

“Spike, being fun isn’t part of my job description,” Shining laughed as he rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Zack, can I just ask… how exactly are you able to summon something like that?” the royal guard captain asked, the three of them now reaching the bottom of the staircase. “And that Ifrit… whatever it was… for that matter?”

Zack blushed slightly as he crossed the foyer beside the pair, his boots making unusually loud clacks on the marble floor, his unusual form making him the centre of attention for the present builders and engineers. “Well… you’re probably not going to believe me here, but I gained each of my summons predominantly through beating them in one on one combat. Admittedly I didn’t exactly ask for some of those fights…” he shrugged, remembering the various situations and fights Genesis had basically thrown him into. “But I won each of them.”

Shining Armor just looked over at him, with an expression that basically screamed ‘you’re actually kidding me right?’ across his face.

“Hey, you asked,” Zack grinned smugly.

Spike, on the other hand, couldn’t help but gape in amazement. “Wow, you actually beat the king of dragons one on one? That’s awesome! Is there anything that’s ever beaten you?”

Zack flinched, stopped walking, and silently wished Spike hadn’t gone and asked that particular question; he wasn’t ashamed of having been beaten by Sephiroth all those years ago, no, that wasn’t the issue, his issue was that he hated having to spill such dark memories, especially on minds that didn’t need to be tainted.

“Well… in terms of beasts and monsters, no, but… I… had a friend at one stage, he was SOLDIER first class like I was, but even more powerful than I’ve ever been. For the longest time he was kind of the pinnacle of the unit, and in a way SOLDIER’s reputation, the one who inspired the new recruits to come and join up… the one the people of Shinra always saw as a hero. But… one day he discovered something about himself, something he shouldn’t have, and it drove him into a state of madness.”

“So… he beat you?” Shining Armor asked tentatively.

“Beat me?” Zack spat through clenched teeth, glowing blue eyes falling on the stallion, and burning so brightly with anger the guard captain actually backed. “He went insane, then he slaughtered an entire town of innocent people, then he beat me, and then finally he nearly killed my best friend.”

Despite his coat already being as white as a piece of polished marble, Zack swore Shining Armor’s face paled even further at his words, Spike’s, on the other hand, seemed to instead quickly go a sickly shade of green.

“I’m… sorry, Zack,” the stallion said at last, wincing as the words left his muzzle. “We shouldn’t have as-GAH! Spike!”

Both the royal guard captain and the former member of SOLDIER ducked just in time to avoid a sudden tongue of bright dragon fire, said fire being a green flame which had abruptly erupted from Spike’s maw. As he regained his former composure, Zack watched curiously as the flame twisted around itself mid-air, and materialized into a piece of rolled up yellow parchment bearing a golden seal, which Spike hurriedly snatched from the air and unrolled.

“Shining Armor, please see to it that yourself, Zack, and Spike, make your way to the palace vault at once; we will be waiting there for you, and will explain everything upon your arrival. Princess Celestia.”

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“You know, it wouldn’t hurt to try and liven this place up a bit.” Discord remarked dryly as he floated about, mismatched eyes running over the black stone walls of Chrysalis’s ‘throne room’. “It’s ever so dull and dreary in here.”

Chrysalis groaned and rolled her eyes. “Do you actually wish for me to drag you back to Canterlot, throw before Celestia and Luna, and have the elements turn you into statue again?” she hissed venomously as she looked up from a dusty tome, the vein in her forehead looking like it was about to rupture. “Ugh, now I understand why those two alicorns imprisoned you in the first place.”

“You mean because they were jealous of my looks?” the spirit smirked playfully, using his magic to turn a stray chunk of stone into a small mirror. “I can’t help being…”

“BECAUSE YOU ARE THE BIGGEST PAIN IN THE FLANK I’VE EVER MET!”

“Ouch,” Discord pouted as he folded his forelegs and looked down at her. “A little harsh, don’t you think?”

Chrysalis didn’t do anything to openly respond, but rather just hissed quietly to herself, and returned her attention to the ancient book that lay across her hooves; it’s pages were old to say the least, even by her age and standards, and contained spell layouts and incantations that she doubted many alive would be able to understand, especially in the current day and age.

But to her, the pages were two very definitive things; the first was power, for where others couldn’t interpret even one part of the numerous bygone age spell scripts, she understood every black ink character and symbol with ease, and hence in them she found a weapon no other could possibly possess.

The second was opportunity, opportunity to finally succeed in her goals, to finally take the throne of Equestria she had sort for so long, and had failed at gaining twice before. Soon, it would all come together at last, and all would be hers, and hers alone.

Or so she thought.

Author's Note

Notes:

This’ll probably sound like a silly question, but as the readers here, do you guys want me to go with Sephiroth as he was during Crisis Core (wingless)? Or Advent Children (one-winged angel)? I know how to make both work, and I’m for it either way, so it’s really up to you guys.

Also, Merry Christmas everyone!

Chapter 14: And thus the horizon Darkened

Proofread by GOOPMONSTER!

“You know, Chrissie… I think you’re taking this whole revenge thing far too seriously,” Discord yawned as he lazily floated about Chrysalis’s throne room. “Revenge should be fun, or a good laugh at very least, not something that leaves you in a chronic state of absolute boredom; you should really try and enjoy yourself while you’re at it.”

His words, as the changeling ruler noted when she turned around to snarl at him, were accompanied by the spirit scratching what looked to be a stick-bodied depiction of her and Celestia into the wall with his talons, and then snickering in amusement as her crude double chased the alicorn’s around the stone surface.

Chrysalis just looked up and glared at him. “I will enjoy myself as I either watch Canterlot burn to the ground… or suck Princess Cadence dry of every drop of love she has in her,” the changeling hissed, baring her short fangs at the totally undeterred embodiment of chaos. “Is that clear?”

Her two present throne guards buzzed and clicked in agreement, though they both quickly fell silent, and hastily skittered backwards, when she turned away from Discord and glared disapprovingly at them instead.

“Ugh, why so serious? I know both Luna and little miss royal sun plot are utterly against my magnificently creative displays of chaos, but even they aren’t this drab.”

“Well perhaps if you were serious about something once in a while, Discord,” the changeling queen hissed again in return, this time not even bothering to look at him as she spoke. “You wouldn’t have twice ended up as a decorative garden ornament.”

The spirit of chaos snorted in reply, now going about adding a crude depiction of himself to the living wall scene. “I find being serious is just soooo boring though; it’s like making sense, there’s absolutely no fun in it.”

For what felt like roughly the thousand time in the last hour, Chrysalis couldn’t help but grind her fangs and roll her eyes at both the pain-in-the-flank spirit, as well his pointless remark. She was quietly beginning to guess there was a second reason Celestia had sealed him away as she had; on top of being the entity of disharmony and chaos, he apparently didn’t know when or how to just shut his muzzle.

All he had done since entering the confines her subterranean hive was, to put it quite simply, complain about literally everything. He was constantly reminding her just how “drab” the colour scheme of the black cave rock was, how “dull” her changings were in terms of both personality and physical appearance, and how he was “bored” to the point of going even madder than he already was.

Truth be told, she had had it up to her horn with him.

Still, that didn’t mean the past hour hadn’t been somewhat useful. For Chrysalis, the last hour had consisted of lying on her throne room floor, and when she wasn’t angrily snapping at Discord for getting on her nerves, reading through the dusty ancient yellow pages of the nameless tome he’d stolen from Princess Celestia’s vault. The changeling’s sharp green eyes had focused on firstly finding, and running and re-running over one spell, and that one particular spell alone… Reincarnation of a fallen soul.

“Anyhow, are you almost done there yet?” Discord asked as he floated down beside her, his muzzle sporting one of his signature single-fanged grins as he drew his eagle claws through her blue-green mane. “I’m truly looking forward to meeting this special guest of ours; who knows, he might actually have a sense of humour.”

“Ugh, I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve asked that question.”

The spirit once again burst into a fit of laughter. “So have I!” he cackled manically. “But… uh, gag, seriously, who's this Sephiroth character anyway? What’s so spectacularly special about him?” He asked as his laughter died down.

As he ended his toying with her mane, and then returned to floating about the ceiling, Chrysalis frantically tried to resist the urge to groan and face-hoof at his question; she managed not to in the end, but only just.

“Because, I don’t know if you’ve realized yet, Discord, but that Zack brat seems to be a far bigger pain in the flank then even you are,” she groaned through clenched jaws. “As it is right now, he’s currently standing between us and our goal of dealing with ‘little miss royal sun plot’, and he happens to have a few abilities that seem to put both of us to shame.”

“Put me to shame? Bah! Speak for yourself,” Discord scoffed loudly in mock insult, though he did end up unintentionally rubbing the left side of his head where Zack’s sword had connected.

“Because you can go and summon a demon just on a whim then, right?”

“Hmmf, touché my dear.”

Chrysalis just rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. “Look, the reason is that as far as Zack’s memories revealed to me, Sephiroth is the only one to have beaten him sword-to-sword at full strength… and by beaten, I mean within a mere inch of his life, now that’s the kind of someone we need. Now do you understand where I’m coming from?”

“I still think the whole plan lacks flair and is utterly boring,” the chaos spirit sighed. “But I guess so.”

“Good, so how about do us both a favour and get out of my mane for a while, I’m busy.”

“No promises, but I’ll try.”

Chrysalis hissed to herself. “There is just no winning with you, is there?” she muttered before turning to her pair of present guards. “Both of you need to leave us now as well; I cannot risk any more unwarranted distractions, especially while I cast the incantation. It could prove fatal for all of us.”

The two changelings momentarily shared a puzzled glance with each other, before taking to their wings and departing the throne room, the eyes of their ruler following them as they left. Realistically, she wouldn’t have cared if they’d died in the event of the spell going wrong, there were countless more like them flying about just beyond her throne room walls, but, as selfish as it was, she frankly refused to even risk putting herself in such a dangerous position.

Without another thought she turned away from the crude doorway, and refocused on the pages of her book, allowing Discord to once again loose himself in the creativity of his own warped imagination, while her horn began to glow an eerie green, the changeling queen directing her magic into putting the tome’s words to action.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“That was… somewhat unpleasant,” a tired Chrysalis huffed aloud as she rubbed the base of her jagged horn, a dull ache now throbbing in the forefront of her head from magical exertion.

“You could’ve just asked me for help,” the voice of Discord answered with a touch of humour.

The spirit himself, as she saw after casting her gaze back and blinking a few times in surprise, was currently sipping from small glass of a substance that the ponies called ‘chocolate milk’, while apparently taking a bath in the now somehow liquefied shadow of a large stalactite, the inky blackness apparently steaming and splashing about as if it were hot water as he moved.

“Uh…”

“I got bored,” he shrugged flatly in response to her confused look.

“He’s the living embodiment of chaos,” she told herself as she shook her head. “Just… forget it.”

Despite how tired she was though, Chrysalis silently figured it was worth it, for the changeling queen now found herself standing tall and proud, with the ancient tome still floating beside her within the grasp of her green aura, as she herself looked over her incantation.

Before her lay a glowing circle of eerie green runes, each having been neatly carved into the floor, and then individually empowered by the magic of her own horn. Truth be told, Chrysalis quietly felt herself filled with a combination of awe and dread. It was, after all, both a fascinating and frightening scene for her, to behold runes and magic of such dangerous power that ponykind had willingly allowed it to be forgotten as they passed through the ages.

As such, she had found herself darting her eyes between the pages and the glowing runes themselves, making sure the overall layout itself mirrored the book’s own elaborate illustrations and instructions down to the finest and tiniest details. As Chrysalis shuddered and remembered from Shining Armor’s wedding all too well, powerful magic was not something you wanted to be on the wrong end of.

Hence the reason she had blatantly refused to ask for Discord’s help in the first place; he was, after all, downright trouble at the best of times.

“Mark the centre with the desired blood, and then draw a sun for Celestia, and a moon for Luna…” Chrysalis read from the ancient pages aloud as she made sure It was perfect, the names of the two pony princesses each accompanied by a venomous snort. “Both standing guard outside the caster’s circle, and thus watching over all that transpires within it. The circle is drawn from the runes of each element and their respective opposite, generosity and greed, kindness and cruelty, harmony and…”

“Chaos?” Discord chimed in, his voice causing Chrysalis to groan again and stamp her hooves. “Oh come now, everypony loves a bit of-Gah!”

BOOM!

The room was momentarily illuminated by a bright burst of green magic, which erupted from the changeling’s horn, travelled the entire length of the room in under a second, and just about managed to take Discord’s own left horn off when it reached him.

It had apparently caught him by surprise, and only missed thanks to the spirit’s abnormally quick reflexes, instead the spell ended up blowing a hoof sized chunk out of the wall directly behind him.

Chrysalis couldn’t help but put a holed hoof to her lips and smirk as the normally composed, and rather annoying chaos spirit was forced to leap out sideways from his makeshift bath to avoid her magic bolt, resulting in him landing sprawled on his stomach across her throne room floor.

Quickly he got up from the floor as she laughed, and rather pointlessly began dusting himself off, seemingly trying to act as if nothing had just happened. His folded forelegs though, as well as the pout worn by his pointed face, only caused her grin to widen.

“That was very much uncalled for,” he said flatly as he squinted and glared at the pony-like ruler.

“Like I said before, dear Discord, you need to take some things seriously,” Chrysalis smirked wickedly in response, the sly and almost mischievous expression she wore, complete with a smug grin and half-lidded eyes, rubbing the spirit all the wrong ways.

“As I said before, you’re absolutely no fun at all.”

“Or perhaps you just don’t my idea of fun,” Chrysalis retorted as she turned away from him, at last placing the ancient book down beside her, and redirecting her attention to spell that crisscrossed her floor as her horn began to glow. “Now then… I think we’re done with the preparations,” she snickered. “Let’s tear Celestia’s pretty little land apart.”

Taking a deep breath in, and with a final hope that this was all worth the effort, Chrysalis willed her magic to act.

Despite being the living embodiment of chaos, and hence generally seeing what others considered extraordinary magic as little more than an everyday party trick, Discord couldn’t help but back away a few paces and simultaneously feel his jaw slacken at what happened next. Tentatively, and with a decent amount of his own magic ready, he watched the scene unfold in a combination of intrigue and awe.

If the initial event was anything to go by, this was certainly going to be interesting.

As if mirroring the glow from Chrysalis’s own horn, the runes that lay craved into the floor suddenly burst into life, or rather roared violently and erupted with fierce green light to be exact, the individual strands of magical energy twisting and dancing as if they were tongues of green fire within a far greater overall flame, flooding the room with blinding light as they scattered the shadows in every direction.

Discord could do nothing but hold his breath, and watch as the magical flames rapidly grew in intensity, quickly growing into a raging inferno of magical power that dwarfed Chrysalis in size, and looked as if it would consume the unmoving changeling within its burning embrace at any moment.

“And I thought I was the mad one here,” the spirit of chaos groaned under his breath, bringing his furry paw up to cover his eyes from the relentless barrage of light.

Upon closer observation, he did somewhat understand why the spell looked like that though; the flames were presumably the magical representation of Tartarus and its gates of damnation. It was only logical that if one wished to bring someone or something back into the world of the living, they’d have to summon it back via the very gates which said someone or something exited life through upon dying.

It made sense to him, but as the spirit of chaos… well, that didn’t exactly mean much in the overall scheme of things.

Thankfully, the light began thinning within a few moments as the spell reached it’s apparent climax, and then began to dissipate, the magical green flames subsequently dying down, and slowly shrinking away until only a small amount of stray flicks of fire remained; in those moments of change, Discord’s thoughts went from intrigued, to amazed…

And then to totally and utterly fearful.

The final thought came about when a tall figure took a single step out from the still slightly glowing circle, one gloved appendage grasping a slender, but truly massive, curving sword that glistened with lethal grace in the low light, and the other simultaneously wiping a shimmering dancing lock of silver hair from one of his piercing cyan eyes.

Discord quickly noted that said piercing cyan eyes were currently locked on Chrysalis and himself, and contained only one emotion, an emotion he, as the spirit of chaos, knew all too well.

Madness.

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The loud clacks of galloping pony hooves meeting marble flooring, followed by the thundering of booted footsteps meeting the same white material, as well as the metallic ring of armor plates banging together, resounded and echoed through the decorated winding halls of Canterlot palace, catching both the ears and interest of anypony and everypony who heard them.

Given that running in the palace was a rare occurrence, unless of course something was direly wrong, the two sounds served to quickly alert said anypony caught wandering the corridors, whether they be patrolling royal guard or working royal subject, to quickly get the hay out of the way; that was unless they wished to find themselves being bowled over by a six-foot something SOLDIER, carrying the added weight of a massive two-handed sword, or worse, an utterly fuming and rather vocal royal guard captain, as they charged through side by side.

Admittedly, they ended up receiving more than a few odd looks, mutterings, and even cries of alarm from the various ponies they encountered, though whether that was due to their haste, Zack simply not being a pony, or the fact that Spike was gripping Shining Armor’s blue mane for dear life as he tried to stay on the charging stallion, was yet to be figured out.

“I swear on my rank as captain of the royal guard, that when I get my hooves on you Discord…” Shining Armor snorted as he galloped beside Zack down a long hallway, a pair of earth pony maids whinnying in fright as they were forced to jump out of the pair’s way. “I’m going to make you beg my sister to turn you into a Tartarus-damned statue again.”

Zack couldn’t help but roll his own blue eyes. “Shining, you need to calm down before…” He started.

“Calm down?! Do have any idea big of a pain in the flank these last few days have been? First you show up at the Gala with the Wonderbolts, Chrysalis launches a second major offensive against Canterlot on Gala night, with a small army no less, and then you proceed to blow up half the damn palace while fighting them.”

“Heh, made last year’s fireworks display look pretty ordinary in comparison.” Spike smirked from his furry seat, drawing a loud and obviously unimpressed snort from his adopted older brother.

“Haha, not funny Spike; next up, Discord gets freed from imprisonment… again, with Prince Blue Blood as the main and only suspect no less; Chrysalis launches a third attack while Discord’s being freed, and then, as we’ve just learned, while we were all busy watching you incinerate changelings with a damn dragon, Discord went and broke into the royal vault… do you have any idea just how this week could actually get any bucking worse?”

“Discord could’ve actually hurt the Princesses.” Spike answered first.

“Your shield spell could’ve failed when I summoned Bahamut,” Zack added in flatly, his right hand rising up and then drawing his massive Buster Sword.

Shining Armor flinched at the two thoughts. “Ugh, alright, fair point.”

“Glad we could help, now could you tell me just where the hell we’re going exactly?”

Wordlessly, royal guard captain gave a short snort of effort and, with a swift burst of speed, pulled both himself and Spike ahead of their companion, the loud ringing of the stallion’s armored hooves quickly drowning out the thumps of Zack’s own quickened footfalls.

“Just follow me,” He replied sharply. “And whatever you do, don’t go falling behind; I really don’t have time to wait up for your sorry flank.”

“Psh, like that’d ever happen.” Zack smirked, though his remark only earned him another unamused snort from Shining Armor.

The SOLDIER couldn’t help but shake his black locks, and give a small mentally groan in annoyance at the unicorn’s sourly commanding attitude, though he didn’t openly try to fight it, after all, he knew doing so probably wouldn’t do either of them any good.

Instead, he opted to follow the order, and quickly took his place in following roughly a pace or two behind Shining Armor, the huge blade of his sword seeming to float beside him as he gripped its handle, and continued sprinting behind the dragon-carrying stallion down the corridor.

The length of lavish hallway, much to Zack’s surprise, ended up carrying on for at least another hundred meters or so.

Eventually though, it did come to an end. The corridor abruptly finished with a set of large wooden doors, and then opened up into the expanse of a large vaulted foyer. The path they’d been following subsequently split at a crossroad in the middle of the room, with two narrower wings running off through large doors in either direction, and a large banner-sided staircase rising upwards directly ahead, its width easily the equivalent of the stairs which lead up to the Palace’s main entrance; if Zack’s memory served him right, he’d ran through this particular foyer and past these stairs earlier on his way to the throne room, though he hadn’t the slightest clue as to where the stairs themselves led.

A small number of ponies, most as Zack quickly noted from either their armor or black suit apparel, ranging from on duty royal guards to apparent members of the nobility, were standing scattered about the red carpet which floored the open space. Most of them seemed presently engaged in simple banter and chatter with one another, and doing so while painfully oblivious to their surroundings.

A fact which quickly proved to be to their detriment as the two warriors came charging through.

Shining Armor headed for the staircase without missing a beat, and Zack, although silently, found it a little surprising how well his four legs took the sudden change in constructed terrain, especially with the added weight of Spike being perched on his back. What was more surprising, however, was that anypony who made the mistake of not getting out of the stallion’s way in time, was instantly picked up by his magic, and then moved aside and deposited forcefully whether they were elegant about it or not.

“What did I say about falling behind?” he shouted as he bolted up the stairs, the silver maned noble who he’d just tossed aside cursing at them as they ran past.

With two quick jumps in acknowledgement, Zack easily pulled level with him again. “Are you even allowed to do that?” he asked, taking a moment to glance back down the flight of stairs at a group of now angry ponies below.

“I’m the captain of the royal guard. If they don’t like the way I do my job, then they can take it up with Princess Celestia.”

“Heh, sometimes I think you and Angeal wouldn’t get along in the slightest.” The black haired SOLDIER grinned as he resumed his normal pace. “Where does this thing lead to anyway?”

Of the two, Spike proved to be the faster. “The memorial hall and the royal vault of Canterlot.” He answered with pride.

“Yeah, Spike’s correct.” Shining Armor continued. “And if you’re wondering, whenever a pony performs an act of valour, such as when my sister and her friends used the elements to free Princess Luna, they have a window inset in the memorial hall, so others can commemorate and remember their actions.”

“Yeah, heh, remember.” Zack sighed under his breath, a touch of bitterness creeping into his voice as he recalled the small memorial he’d erected for his friends Essai and Sebastian. “Hey Shining, this is just out of curiosity more than anything, but what kinds of things does this vault actually contain anyway?”

For the first time since taking the lead, Shining Armor cast a glance back over his shoulder. “Strictly speaking, only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know the complete contents,” he answered in a flat tone truly befitting of a royal guard. “But as an example, off the top of my head, the elements of harmony.”

Zack raised a curious eyebrow. “You do realize Twilight and her friends were wearing the elements earlier, right?”

“I know, and that’s exactly why I’m worried.” The stallion sighed as he shook his head, his tone containing what sounded to be a touch of defeat. “If it were the elements of harmony Discord had stolen, then at least we’d know the worst he’d probably end up doing is hiding them, that’s what he did last time he got free… ugh, I don’t know what else Discord could’ve taken, but if it’s got the Princesses worked up this much… trust me when I say that it can’t be good.”

“He’s got a point there,” Zack thought, a slight shiver running down the length of spine as the top of the stairs came into view. “Celestia wouldn’t have summoned us both so urgently if it wasn’t something dire… just what the hell were those two keeping in that vault?”

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“EEEP!”

“Ok… just… just what the actual feathering hay?”

“Ya’ll better darn well be pulling ma’ reins here Princess.”

“Oh this is bad! Like mega-super-giant-doozy bad.”

“B-but those types of spells are absolutely forbidden! You told me yourself!”

“Please… tell me… you’re both joking.” Shining Armor managed to choke out from his hanging jaw at last, the near horrified expression on his face matching those of Spike, his younger sister Twilight, and her five present friends almost perfectly.

Sure, he’d had a decent amount of surprises thrown at him over his relatively short lifetime, both good ones and bad; such examples included finding out his sister was the elements of magic, realizing he’d been tricked into believing a changeling was his fiancé, and having a member of a previously unknown species turn up at the Grand Galloping Gala to name a few major ones.

But finding out that Princess Celestia, of all possible ponies, had been keeping a collection of darker magic spells in the royal vault of Canterlot… yeah, that blew a few brain cells. What bothered him even more though, was that he was presently looking directly at that same massive golden vault, but now it’s great door hung freely open, and the collection of spells at the very root of his fear, as he’d just been told by his sworn liege, was now gone.

The stallion watched as Princess Celestia, primary ruler of Equestria and alicorn of the day, sighed and unroyally bit her lip like a nervous filly, her golden hooves carrying the princess before one of the many memorial windows which lined the marble walls, the combination of colour filtered light and broken shadow illuminating and enhancing her saddened expression.

“In this day and age captain, you are indeed very correct in that statement, experimenting with such magic is absolutely forbidden, much less it’s actual use by anypony… but centuries and millennia ago… there was no distinction between what was acceptable and unacceptable magic.”

“Please forgive me for this, Princess.” The royal guard captain just about spat, now visibly shaking in his metal hoof-guards. “But we’re basically talking about BUCKING BLACK MAGIC HERE! A bucking half-brained diamond dog could see there’s nothing even remotely acceptable about it!”

“SHINING ARMOR!” Twilight screamed as she turned on him, the sudden volume in her voice startling everypony else present. “You’re talking to Princess Cel…”

“Be still, Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Luna cut in sharply, the darker alicorn flaring her wings, taking a few steps forward, and placing herself between the pair of now seething brother and sister. “Captain Armor’s outrage is both warranted and understandable…”

“Outrage doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel.” Shining Armor grunted as he pawed in agitation, his sister’s glare narrowing on him further in reaction. “I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, Princess, but the royal guard has a standing order to detain anypony found to be either practising or in possession of such spells.”

“Though I do understand your feelings, captain Armor, I for one still request that you at least try to remain calm.”

Everypony present watched, and cringed slightly, as the white stallion and lavender unicorn both gave off unamused snorts, and looked away from each other in disdain, both wearing expressions of utter annoyance.

After a few more moments though, of both ponies apparently grinding his or her respective teeth and flaring their nostrils, the pair of siblings raging tempers seemed to burn themselves out like unfuelled fires; slowly, and somewhat reluctantly at first, they both returned turned back, and replaced their focuses on the two princesses.

Only once they did so did Zack relax a little, and gingerly lower his Buster Sword.

“Sorry, Princess,” they both said quietly in unison.

Princess Luna gave a sigh of relief, and returned to her former place, said place being her own older sister’s side. “We accept your apologies,” she said flatly at last, a dark hoof rising up and rubbing her brow like she was experiencing a headache. “I know this time is stressful, it is for all of us, my sister and I included… but the last thing we need to do is try and make unnecessary enemies of each other, am I understood?”

“Yes, Princess,” the two siblings responded in repeat unison, both playing with their hooves, and now sounding more than a little embarrassed.

“Thank you, Luna,” Celestia smiled softly as she turned around. “And for what it’s worth Shining Armor, I fully acknowledge that my choice in allowing such materials to continue to exist was… a very foalish choice indeed.”

“Then why did you choose to keep them in the first place?” he asked, an obvious edge of venom creeping back into his voice.

“I tried to learn from a previous mistake, Shining Armor…” the solar monarch sighed, the images of a beautiful blue heart carved from crystal, and a dark-grey coated stallion with a steel crown, crawling to the front of her mind. “My sister and I once allowed something that shouldn’t have been forgotten… to be lost to us, and the act of doing so cost many, many of our little ponies dearly… but enough of that, merely acknowledging my wrongs will not fix this problem.”

Her circular pacing started again, but this time her eyes stayed closed as her four hooves moved, as if she was trying to remember something she’d long since forgotten. “Now then, as Luna and I have just explained, the spells which Discord has stolen are of a darker form of magic. As Shining Armor has stated, this magic, so you all know from now on, is commonly referred to as being ‘black’ magic.”

“So… when you say black magic, what kind of magic are we talking about here anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering above her friends. “Like… Discord’s sort of weirdo chaos magic?”

Celestia shook her head. “Sadly, it’s far worse than that kind of magic, Rainbow Dash. Black magic was conceived in a far harsher point in Equestria’s history, when magic was… explored freely and unrestrained… a time without any set lawful or moral boundaries to distinguish what was deemed ‘acceptable’ or ‘unacceptable’ in magical practise.”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Um, Princess, Starswirl the bearded wrote a book called Arcane Ethics and Proper Magical Practise in…”

“…In the year 1792 A.D.” The Princess ended.

“A.D?” Zack asked, his words reminding everypony the palace’s resident SOLDIER was still there, plus drawing him a number of curious looks.

“It means After Discord, or the first time my sister and I imprisoned him in stone.” Celestia replied, a slight grin pulling at the edge of her muzzle at his curiosity. “And yes, Twilight, I know that book quite well, it forms the guidelines for all magical study, and brought about the end of open exploration into the darker workings of magic… but the magic we are talking about, and the spells which Discord has stolen, were both discovered and recorded in the years before Starswirl was even born.”

Applejack loudly cleared her throat. “Princess, Just for the sake ah’ us who ain’t unicorns, and quite frankly don’t know ponyfeathers about magic in general, could ya’ll just… you know, say it straight. Like, could ya just tell us what this ‘black magic’ whooe that ya’ll keep referring to is?”

“By definition, ‘black magic’ refers to any type of magic that would be deemed to be either outright dangerous or unethical in today’s society,” Twilight sighed in frustration, turning around and facing her five confused friends. “Such as lethal combat or destruction orientated spells, darker types of incantations, rune magic…” she groaned, and almost face-hoofed at the blank stares she got. “Ugh, in short, kind of like some of the magic Zack uses.”

“I’m still here, you know,” the black haired SOLDIER in question growled, folding his arms across his chest as he did.

“Twilight is correct.” Celestia went on calmly. “And those are the types of spells which Discord now has in his possession. However, I know myself that because he is the spirit of chaos, and thus lacks any true sense of harmony, Discord himself cannot harness the magic we ponies use. Instead, I am led to believe that due to the changelings’ involvement in his release… those spells were perhaps actually intended for use by Chrysalis.”

A loud snort left Shining Armor’s muzzle, followed promptly by the stomping of one of his armored hooves. “So Discord’s definitely working with that… that thing? Grah! I’m going to geld that damn spirit when I catch him.”

His angry words caused everypony, the two Princesses included, to cringe substantially.

“Why would she be interested in pony magic?” Spike asked, now backing away from beside his now fuming older brother.

The solar alicorn sighed, lowered her head, and partly raised her alabaster wings like she was shrugging. “In that matter, even I haven’t a clue. My only guess is that she believes it will somehow aid her effort against Equestria.”

Her rose colored eyes then slowly floated around the group, taking in the nervous and uneasy expressions of each of her little ponies individually, before finally ending up coming to rest on an apparently still stoic and expressionless Zack.

“However, there is still something I cannot fully make sense of,” she went on, the tone in her normally motherly voice taking on an even more serious edge, and sounding as if she were threatening to draw a sword as she spoke. “When you initially subdued Discord, Zack, and he then managed to claw you while your back was turned, he seemed rather overly triumphant about it, as if simply by drawing blood he had struck a killing blow… tell me, Zack Fair, why do you think that would be?”

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Notes:

So, uh, sorry about me being a tosser and making you all wait for so long, but uni’s been draining me dry of free time (courtesy of a 14 page drawing assignment + a 5 week studio group assignment + an anthropology essay).

As always, special thanks goes to GOOPMONSTER! for pre-reading/editing.

Chapter 15: The Demon Inside of Me (pre-read, unedited)

Chapter 15: The Demon Inside of Me

Pre-read by: Jman796

“What is this?”

Chrysalis had always liked to pride herself on fearing very little. The tree pony tribes she saw as little more than a food source for her changelings, and her initial invasion of Canterlot had proved them to be next useless at defending themselves, even when they were working together.

Given their fire and tough scales, dragons usually posed a some threat to the hive’s safety, but the sheer numbers of the hive’s warriors could overcome such a threat without too much trouble.

Griffins she regarded as winged rats, what with their lacking of any magic beside the passive kind in their wings. They were near no threat to the hive, even with their claws, as they were often found only in small flocks of three or four, or by themselves. But then again she’d rarely ever encountered them, what with the hive being so far south of the Griffinian border.

But this pale creature, Sephiroth… his very voice scared her.

There was just something about it that rubbed her carapace all the wrong way. It was monotone, deep, and devoid of any sense of emotion whatsoever, and yet it carried the suggestion of something dark and cruel in every possible sense of the words; something that you knew you didn’t want to annoy, much less challenge.

If that wasn’t enough to unnerve her, then his eyes were. Zack’s, perhaps like those of all members of SOLDIER, had glowed a bright blue in the dark of Canterlot Castle’s hall. Sephiroth’s were likewise glowing as he stood in the low light of her throne room, the last green flames of the spell having now winked out of existence and taken with them most of the limited light… but his were a pale cyan rather than blue in colour, with their dark pupils more slit-like then round, similar to that of a dragon.

They too betrayed no obvious emotion to the changeling, and that small fact was sending an uncomfortable large shiver down Chrysalis’s back. A changeling’s greatest strength was the ability to know their food source’s emotions, and thus be able to react accordingly. But Sephiroth was like something akin to a bare slate; unreadable.

To top it all off, he looked like something that would’ve made Nightmare Moon’s skin crawl. His armor and hairless skin, or what she assumed was skin, were both pale white like one of Canterlot’s marble garden ornaments. His long mane was somewhere between grey and silver, and his overall attire was as black as her own exterior.

And then there was his sword...

“I take it you are Sephiroth, then? ” she asked calmly at last, eyes flicking between the SOLDIER and the massive sword he was holding.

Sephiroth’s face seemed to twitch behind his long silver hair, but he otherwise remained completely still and silent, his pale skin making him look very much like a statue. If he was at all confused, then he was doing a very good job of hiding it.

Chrysalis took it as a sign to continue, and gave a small incline of her head. “Forgive me, I am Chrysalis, Queen of the race of Changelings,” she motioned over her shoulder. “And this is Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.”

“Charmed,” Discord said, remaining as far from the towering form of Sephiroth and his sword as possible.

“And we have summoned you here in the hope that you may aid us in our plight.”

“Aid you?”

His voice remained as cold and emotionless as before, but Sephiroth’s cyan eyes were no longer lingering around the room or inspecting Discord. Instead, they had locked themselves firmly on Chrysalis as he said the words, their piercing gaze prompting an uneasy step backwards from the changeling.

Given that his face was still virtually unreadable, she couldn’t tell if he was curious or annoyed at her request; she hoped the earlier.

“W-well, yes. Help us,” Chrysalis answered, quickly recomposing herself. Knowing just what kind of power she was playing with, she did her best to be respectful. “Allow me to explain the situation, just so you understand. An old enemy of yours, Zack Fair, happens to have been pulled into our world recently, and in that short time has managed to become our enemy...”

That seemed to catch Sephiroth’s attention. “Zack Fair is your enemy?”

“Sadly, yes, but I will go through that in a moment,” the changeling admitted, resisting the urge to roll her eyes and hiss out the admission. “Anyhow, through his memories...”

She motioned to the cluster of green crystals in the center of the room, which with a quick spell began to play through the memories she’d stolen during her second assault on the night of the Gala; Chrysalis swore that Sephiroth’s features tightened upon seeing them.

“I learned of you and your victory against him the last time you two fought, so I have brought you here in the hope that you would aid us in getting rid of Zack. I myself have tried to destroy him, but because he’s so powerful… well, it seems that he’s a problem that only you can deal with.”

She looked to Discord for some kind of support, though she saw the floating spirit was about as unnerved as she was.

Upon turning back though, she came face to face with something that scared her far more so than Sephiroth’s voice had. The point of his massive was now hovering a horn’s width above her muzzle, the metal’s razor sharp edge poised down at her, while Sephiroth himself loomed over her like a mountain, cyan eyes drilling into her own green ones.

“If Zack Fair is here… just where is it that you have brought me?” the silver-haired SOLDIER asked. “It was only for an instant, but I remember feeling Zack Fair join me in the Lifestream, meaning that we were both dead.”

His voice still betrayed no emotion, but his sword was telling Chrysalis he was far from happy.

“Y-you are in Equestria, the l-land of ponies,” she stuttered out, not daring to move away. “Ruled over by the alicorns Celestia and Luna; Zack was accidentally brought here by one of their subjects pulling him from this… Lifestream that you’re talking about, probably just as I have done with you.”

Much to the changeling queen’s surprise, the sword blade was removed after a moment.

“Pulled from the Lifestream, and brought to this... Equestria,” Sephiroth echoed, his glowing cyan eyes closing. With his arms spread and his expression, he looked like he’d suddenly understood something that had long been puzzling him. “And Zack Fair serving its rulers as well, how strange that it mirrors what once was… hm, perhaps I can fulfill mother’s dream after all.”

The changeling blinked in utter confusion. “M-mother?” Chrysalis asked. That was unexpected.

“You had a mother?” Discord asked from the background of the conversation, sounding equally surprised, before scoffing. “Tch, she must’ve been a barrel of laughs.”

“My mother was Jenova,” Sephiroth said simply, his face twisting into a look of mild annoyance. “Mother was destined to rule our planet and make it her own, she was stronger and smarter than the others before her. But then those fools, those humans, they came and took the planet from her. They used her to make themselves stronger, to make themselves smarter, but still they were weak. I was to rule in her place, to wield her true power, her true strength… but Zack Fair and Cloud Strife dared to stand in my way, and because of them I was cast into the Lifestream.”

For the first time since he’d appeared in her throne room, Chrysalis tasted something akin to love radiating from Sephiroth, the affection centred around the memory of whoever it was he had called his ‘mother’. Cautiously, she allowed herself to lap up a mouthful.

She hissed and backed away as soon as she tasted it, however. The feeling didn’t nourish her at all, and if anything she found the taste of it utterly revolting.

There was taste of lust in his love, but this was a lust purely for power and nothing else. It was one that would see anyone, and anything, that stood in his way cut down as he sought after his goals; to Sephiroth, no else’s life mattered in the slightest.

All because he believed himself chosen to be some kind of divine ruler.

It was then that his cyan eyes then flicked open, and then slowly lowered themselves until they were at Chrysalis’s level.

“And yet I am here instead, though perhaps that is not a loss, but a gift,” he said, outstretching his arms. “I am the chosen one, and it was mother’s will that she would rule over all, and I through her.”

All Chrysalis saw was a thin line of silver cross in front of Sephiroth, and a moment later both she and Discord yelped as they were forced to duck their heads. The streak of blue energy missed the top of her horn by a hair’s width, and thankfully so, as glancing back she saw the slash carve a deep gouge in the wall of throne room.

Without thinking any further, Chrysalis charged her horn in retaliation, and then fired a bolt of green magic at the former SOLDIER, aiming the spell between his eyes… only for it to be deflected with apparent ease by a flick of his blade, and then blow it’s own pony sized hole in the wall.

“What are you doing?!” she hissed, lowering her head in ready for a fight.

Sephiroth just laughed and raised his massive blade again, though to call it a laugh was a stretch. It held no joviality or happiness in it, only a cold, mocking note of amusement that chilled Chrysalis to the core.

“I will rule this planet,” he answered. “But I will not make the same mistake mother did. I will not allow dullards like you to linger and threaten my rule…” a sadistic smile grew across his lips. “Now tell me, Chrysalis, do you know the true meaning of despair?”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

An air of hostility filled the hall as Princess Celestia finished.

With every owner still standing in complete and perfect silence, every pair of present eyes removed themselves from the rainbow-maned alicorn, and, as everypony and dragon sharply turned on their respective hooves or claws, refocused their gazes on the black-haired former SOLDIER.

Zack’s heartbeat doubled in an instant.

In an instinctual response, he took an uneasy step backwards and allowed his right hand to reach for the grip of his Buster Sword. He highly doubted it was necessary, but his arm’s muscles twitched and tensed in anticipation of drawing the massive blade all the same.

Some of the looks he was receiving appeared to be simply curious, while some were questioning. Some, perhaps, even showing glimmers of what he guessed was outright distrust.

“Zack, I want you to listen to me,” Celestia went on after a long moment, taking a slow step forward. “If you have any idea why Chrysalis would want such a thing from you in particular, no matter how trivial it might seem, I need you to tell us.”

“My sister is right, Zack Fair,” Princess Luna put in. “There is something that either Chrysalis or Discord see in your blood that is useful, and right now you have to let us know what it is. Otherwise we all risk being unprepared for our next encounter with them.”

The dark alicorn spoke while nodding in agreement with older sibling, as if to emphasize their combined desperation, as well as the severity of their present situation.

Zack, though trying to do so subtly, just huffed and shrugged his armoured shoulders.

“Look, I don’t know for the life of me why Chrysalis would want my blood,” the SOLDIER groaned at last, relinquishing his grip a little on Angeal’s sword. “I’ve encountered that bug-queen once, once, and that’s it. And that was for less than a minute at most.”

If the snorts, groans, and face-hoofs were anything to go by, that was apparently the let-down answer nopony wanted to hear.

“Well… what about all your strength, and all those blowy-upy spells you have for that matter?” Rainbow Dash challenged after a moment. “There’s no way Chrysalis wouldn’t want those for herself.”

The pegasus spoke as she abruptly jumped into the air, flew over, and crossed her hooves in front of the former SOLDIER’s face, as if demanding an answer on the spot.

Her friends, while she sat hovering in line with Zack’s head, collectively winced and shivered at the thoughts that her words gave rise to; Chrysalis with that kind of power wasn’t something you’d even try and joke about.

“As much as I hate to agree with dear Rainbow, Zack, she has a point.” Rarity stated firmly, with Applejack and Twilight also nodding their approvals of Rainbow Dash’s thoughts. “That does seem like a rather reasonable explanation.”

Zack, however, just shook his head. His building frustration at the situation, combined will the still minor present hang-over, now seemed to be threatening to combine and form into a throbbing headache.

“It’s a nice theory, I’ll give you all that,” he said flatly, a gloved hand tracing its way through his black locks. “But even if she wanted my skills that kind of thing’s impossible; Chrysalis would need a large amount of either Cetra or Jenova cells, plus a source of Mako, neither of which she can acquire in your world… as far as I know anyway.”

“Um, what’s a Cetra?”

Zack glanced over just in time to see Twilight, with her cheeks flaring an unusual shade of crimson, suddenly shrinking into the floor under the collective ‘are you kidding?’ type looks she was getting from Spike, her brother, and the other elements.

He also swore he heard Rainbow growl the word “egghead” under her breath, and Shining Armor mumble something like “Twily, priorities”.

“Hehe… sorry,” Twilight mumbled, the lavender mare apparently finding her hooves suddenly rather interesting.

“I’ll tell you when we have time.” Zack offered.

His words quickly earned him a flat look from both Shining Armor and Spike, as if they were both asking something along the lines of ‘you’re actually trying to encourage her, aren’t you?’.

The resounding thud of a golden shoed hoof meeting the marble floor though, courtesy of a mildly agitated Princess Celestia, resounded down the length of the lavish hallway before the conversation could go on any longer.

“I ask you all, please; can we not wander form the subject at hoof?” Princess Luna spoke first, her tone and dark-eyed glare, despite no longer being that of a deranged Nightmare Moon, sending cold shivers up even Zack’s spine. “I don’t think I need to remind you all how dire this situation is?”

She didn’t, but just to emphasize her point, the princess cast her muzzle back over her shoulder, and motioned to the massive golden vault that stood directly behind her and her sister... the vault still with its mighty door hanging open freely on its hinges.

Her expression softened a little after everypony, SOLDIER, and dragon began nodding furiously.

“Good,” she went on, her eyes affixing themselves on Zack again. “Now then, Zack Fair, you say you have no idea why Chrysalis would want such a thing from you. Is that the truth?”

Zack, once again, shrugged his armored shoulders. “Like I said before, I’ve only ever met the bug once, so I haven’t got the faintest idea.”

“So even you don’t know?” Celestia responded for the both of them, visibly deflating at his prior answer. “Zack, are you sure there isn’t anything, anything, which you may have overlooked? Something to do with your blood that perhaps you might not think of as even being relevant?” she asked, the white alicorn’s expression and words looking and sounding like she was now pleading for an answer.

It was at those words that Zack’s blood turned to ice. No, she couldn’t actually… could she?

“There… might be one thing.” Zack said at last, his words only coming out in a bare whisper, given how tight his jaw were clenched, though they still instantly caught everypony’s attention. “Celestia, I need to ask you, these spells that Discord stole for Chrysalis… is there any of them by chance that relates to summons?”

“Summons?” Princess Luna asked with a cocked eyebrow and a tilted head. “You mean spells to do with the summoning and controlling of other beings?”

“Yeah, kind of,” Zack went on, rubbing his brow as he hunted for the right words. “But what I’m really trying to get at is spells that… ugh, well, spells to do with summoning someone or something that’s… already dead.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The former quiet murmurings of everypony, collectively, quickly turned into a rather loud gasp of sickened horror.

All of said gathered ponies’ faces, likewise, quickly warped and rearranged themselves into new expressions at his words, all of them being for the far worse. The cheeks of Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight all somehow turned a nasty shade of pale green, the three now looking about ready to lose their lunches in absolute disgust.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash fared a little better, with both managing to maintain something of their prior composure; the two long-time friends jaw’s simultaneously dropped, and they themselves looked utterly horrified more than anything.

Shining Armor, the two Princesses, and Spike, to give a fairly accurate description, seemed to have just been frozen to the spot where they were standing; none of them seemed to be able to move, and, coupled with the fact they’d each paled substantially, their figures now reminded Zack something of living statues.

“Zack, just… what?!” Shining Armor groaned at last, the stallion shaking his head furiously, like his mind had just thrown up mental images he didn’t need nor want to imagine.

Spike gulped and stuttered. “Y-you mean like… z-zombie ponies?”

“Zombie ponies?”

“Spike! I told you before, there’s no such thing as zombie ponies!” Twilight snapped, shooting her assistant an unimpressed glare, while her friends, bar Pinkie Pie, all started at him curiously. “They aren’t real!”

“I’m… afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you on that statement, Twilight.”

Both Zack and Twilight, at the exact same second even, both abruptly turned their attention to a very uneasy looking Princess Celestia, and both suddenly feeling a chill of icy dread build up in their inside them, though each for their own reasons.

Twilight at the very thought of such spells being real, and Zack at what they could possibly achieve.

“P-princess?” Twilight quivered.

Celestia unceremoniously winced at the reaction. “I wish I could say such spells don’t exist, Twilight, but I’d be lying to you, and that is something I cannot do at a time like this,” the alicorn said quietly, speaking as she slowly approached the mare and former SOLDIER, with both her eyes and words carrying nothing but concern, and her horn glowing brightly.

The moment his blue eyes noticed the glow, Zack tensed, and immediately went for his Buster Sword in expectancy of the worst; before he could even grasp the handle, however, the hall’s golden doors boomed shut, sealing the nine ponies, young dragon, and SOLDIER from the outside world.

“It is best nopony outside this room hears this, Zack,” Celestia sighed tensely, acknowledging the uneasy SOLDIER’s obvious confusion before turning to her student. “The kinds of magic Zack is referring to, Twilight, are known as reanimation magic and resurrection magic respectively, depending on the nature of the spell being cast. Reanimation is more basic of the two, and deals with the empowering and controlling of a deceased body; in short, what we know as zombie ponies.”

“Told you.” Spike hissed quietly.

His words gained him a rough shove in the side, and a disapproving glare from Shining Armor

“The other, resurrection, is far more complex and dangerous; whereas reanimation works to simply revive a fallen body, resurrection attempts to bring back a fallen soul. There have, sadly, been cases of unicorns attempting to bring back loved ones lost to tragedy in the past, and that is where this particular magic has its roots.”

“Ok, that’s… really, really creepy.” Rainbow Dash shuddered.

Judging by their murmurs of agreement, Dash was voicing what everypony else was thinking.

Princess Celestia nodded. “I agree, and I want to make this clear before we go any further; these are by far some of the rarest, darkest, and most dangerous types of magic in existence, and are hence never even spoken of unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. They are perhaps the evilest forms of magic known to ponykind… but yes, sadly, such spells are indeed very real, and I’ll admit, Zack, that there is a chance that Chrysalis may have gotten her hooves on one or two of such forbidden spells... now, why exactly do ask?”

Reaching up with his hands as everypony once again looked his way, Zack sighed as he ran his fingers through his black locks, thinking as his blue eyes tried to find the individual tails of the plush red carpet interesting…

Lest he risk making eye contact when the one mare in Equestria who could send him to the moon for what he was about to say.

Of all the possible questions and conversations he could’ve been faced with, and of all the potential problems that could have arisen, it had to be this one, and it had to have been brought up by the Princess of the sun herself…

... While Princess Luna, the captain of the royal guard, and each and every one of the elements of harmony were present and listening as well.

“You asked me if there was anything I hadn’t told you, and there is one thing that I can think of. Basically, not too long before I came here I was… used to physically test what was called the Jenova Reunion Theory.”

“The… Jenova Reunion Theory?” Celestia mused aloud.

“Yeah… basically, let’s say it was an experiment… and leave it at that, the rest if kinda unpleasant. The exact specifics of that theory are still kind of a mystery even to me, but I’m pretty sure it’s irrelevant anyway. What you really need to know, Princess, is that for the purpose of the experiment… I had cells from one of the two original SOLDIER development programs, Project S, implanted in me.”

To Zack’s own slight surprise, he’d managed to explain everything clearly despite his jaw being tightly clenched.

Still, long suppressed memories rose to the surface all the same; memories of the countless slaughtered civilians of Nibelheim, memories of Tifa’s venomous declaration of pure hatred for SOLDIER, memories of Angeal’s despair at what he was, of Genesis’s desperation in finding a cure as his body degraded, and Sephiroth’s descent into violent madness upon discovering just how he’d come to be.

All of them stemming from the secrecy that had surrounded SOLDIER’s beginnings.

“Project… S?” Twilight asked after a moment, her voice snapping Zack out of his sudden bout of silent anger.

The young mare’s tone sounded somewhere between intrigue and fear, like she wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear any more of this particular story, and the uneasy facial expressions of her friends also happened to match that theory perfectly.

Celestia, after a long moment of simply looking at him, put a golden shoed hoof to her lips. “And these cells… from this ‘Project S’, they are why you believe your blood is dangerous?”

“Yes.”

“Wait, wait, wait; what does this have to do with zombie ponies and freaky magic?” Rainbow Dash interrupted, frowning like she was trying to make sense of everything, but failing.

“And just why’d ya think it’d be dangerous for that matter?” Applejack asked from beside the rainbow-maned mare.

“That’s the thing…” Zack snarled through his own gritted teeth.

The next few words were perhaps some of the hardest Zack had ever been forced to say. Ever since coming to Equestria, he’d forced himself never to say his name, but fate, as if to satisfy its own sick sense of humour, had pushed him between a rock and hard place with nowhere to run.

“Project S… wasn’t just an experiment. It was a trial that led to the creation the first and most powerful member of SOLDIER who’s ever existed, a SOLDIER first class… named Sephiroth.”

Zack tried to avoid spitting the name Sephiroth without emphasizing his anger, but each of the six element wielders still managed to pick it up.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged concerned looks. “But if he’s another one you SOLDIERs, why would ya have any reason to be so afraid of him?” The amber pony asked.

“Two reasons,” Zack snapped angrily. “One, because he was far more powerful than either me or my mentor, and two, before my best friend Cloud killed him, he went insane, destroyed an entire town, killed nearly everyone in it, and then proclaimed himself to be the ‘chosen one’ and ruler of our planet. That’s why.”

If either Rainbow or Applejack had anything more to ask, they didn’t dare voice their questions; the sight of Zack and his sword, at the very best of times, was something they and any other pony would consider somewhat scary…

… But to see him standing there, with a hand on his massive sword’s grip, teeth bore in snarl, and glowing blue eyes burning with a hatred that only a true monster could insight… it was something else entirely.

“So then…” Celestia started, only to have her own words die in her throat as all the pieces fell into place, and the blade of fear was subsequently thrust squarely into her gut. “Zack, are you saying that using your blood… Chrysalis may be able to summon this Sephiroth to Equestria?”

Zack nodded warily as he faced her, a gloved hand tensing around the cold metal of his Buster Sword’s grip. “I’m not saying that that’s her plan… but if what you’re telling me about this dark magic is true, then that’s exactly what I’m getting at,” He snarled. “And trust me, if there’s even the slightest chance of Chrysalis bringing Sephiroth here to Equestria, then we need to find and stop her, fast… because if we don’t, and that crazy bug brings him here…” The battle hardened SOLDIER shuddered at the thought.

“You don’t even want to imagine what he’ll do.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Blood.

Perhaps it was their insect-like appearance that had led to the false belief, but throughout Equestria’s history, many races had held the belief that changelings didn’t have blood running through their veins like others did.

Chrysalis choked out a sad chuckle at the thought, trying to ignore the intense pain coming her punctured side as she did so; if that was true, then why was her hive covered in it?

The very air of the hive now reeked with the stench of death. The changeling queen was still in her makeshift throne room, but she could smell it even from her hideaway high above the cavern floor.

The mangled bodies of her guards didn’t help either.

She didn’t dare look out the doorway to what lay below, but really she didn’t need to. Swarms of her loyal warriors probably now lay as nothing but mountainous piles of mangled corpses about the hive’s floor, with most of them lying in two parts where Sephiroth’s sword had cut through their tough carapaces as if they were nothing. All would have fallen and died in a vain effort to defend the hive.

The intricate structures of the hive itself had probably fared the onslaught no better. Most had no doubt been brought down by wayward sword cuts that seemed to have had slashed through air and rock without effort, the buildings collapsing and falling from the hive walls as tumbling piles of rubble. Chrysalis had watched what had once been a nursery for the hive’s young fall from the hive wall, the former crystalline structure now likely nothing but an unrecognizable pile of stone somewhere in the darkness.

She hissed as another shriek filled her ears from beyond her throne room, the sound of another one of her changelings dying.

Sephiroth was likely in the centre of the hive’s main chamber by now, a dark mountain of bodies rising ever higher around him with every life took. She had seen what he was capable off when everything had initially gone sideways, her guards rushing in to try and help her while Discord snapped out of existence like a coward.

With every stroke Sephiroth’s massive sword sliced through four drones, if not more at times, the metal edge moving so fast Chrysalis had struggled to see it.

From what she could hear, the few warriors remaining were locked in a hopeless one-sided combat with him, her changelings sending bolts of green magic at the pale demon as they frantically tried to avoid getting rend in half; she knew they had no chance of winning, and guessed that her changelings by now new the same.

Still, their sacrifice had given the workers and younglings enough time to escape, and thus the hive could hopefully rebuild somewhere else.

Somewhere far, far away.

“If only the same could be said for me,” she hissed to herself, glaring down at the open wound her side.

Green blood was seeping freely from it where Sephiroth’s blade had found it’s mark, and if not the fact she’d virtually stayed still since receiving it, Chrysalis figured that she’d would’ve been long dead by now. She could already feel light-headedness taking it’s toll on her.

Given that the initial strike had severed one wing on its way out of her flesh, and coupled with the fact that she’d exhausted her magic during the summoning, escape was now impossible.

Her green eyes drifted to the bodies that littered her throne room, and she hissed in her throat as anger began to fill her brain. How could she have been so blind? To think that she could’ve controlled a creature that had bested someone like Zack Fair, and believed itself to be some sort of divine being chosen to rule as it saw fit. Now she had, and for what? To have her kind literally put to the sword in their thousands.

“This… this was my mistake,” she snarled, shakily leaning forward in an attempt to rise to her hooves, jaws clenched in an effort to fight the searing pain. “I’m not going to sit here like die like this,”

“And just where do you think you’re going?”

Despite another wave of agony shooting up her side, the changeling’s head snapped around at the voice. She wasn’t sure if the light-headedness was playing tricks on her.

“If I could, I’d probably end you here and now,” she snarled through gritted fangs, glaring at the suddenly present spirit of chaos as he flew into the throne room, who surprisingly looked… concerned? That wasn’t like him. “Where by the great queen have you been?!”

All of her prior anger, however, disappeared when Discord snarled at her and bore his own fangs. That was also new.

“Helping your subjects escape, you foal,” Discord growled back in a bare whisper, quickly floating down beside her. “Now keep your voice down; we don’t want him knowing I’m here.”

Without so much as a word, he went about first investigating the changeling’s bleeding side, and then magically sealing up her wound, eyes all the while glued to the stone doorway.

“Well, you’re certainly lucky,’ he commented after a long moment, still keeping his voice as quiet as possible.

Chrysalis scoffed, and then winced as her carapace was knitted back together. “How?”

“Firstly, our friend seems to have missed anything vital here, and secondly because he must’ve thought you were dead. Otherwise I don’t think you’d still have a head on your shoulders,” he ended by motioning to the dead guards that littered Chrysalis’s throne room.

“You? Being concerned about someone beside yourself?”

“Being the entity of chaos doesn’t mean I’m completely heartless,” he said flatly, apparently catching the look she was giving him. “And by the way, I thought you’d be pleased to know that what our ‘guest’ is dealing with is an illusion of mine… though I don’t know how much longer he’ll be buying it for.”

A small glimmer of hope filled Chrysalis. “You mean…”

“You’ve lost a lot of changelings, I won’t lie. I just thought I’d save as many as I could while I had the chance, seeing as you couldn’t do much.”

The changeling winced as her side was painfully mended back together, though not entirely from the discomfort. Did he have to go and put it like that?

Discord huffed and shook his head. “Enough of that. What’s left of your hive is safe for now, but if we stay here then I can’t say the same thing about the two of us,” he sighed, motioning out the throne room door with his muzzle. “We’ve bitten off far more than we can chew here, Chrissie.”

“I know, and now I have to put…” the shape of Discord suddenly filled her view as she tried to take a step, his mismatched arms crossed and a look of annoyance across his face.

“If you honestly think I’m going to let you go and get yourself killed, you don’t know me well enough,” he motion to her side. “You’re in no state to fight anything.”

“So now what?” Chrysalis asked bluntly, taking the moment to inspect her healed wound; she’d be forever living with a rather large scar across her carapace’s surface, but at least she’d still be living. “Do you think you could stop him?”

“Me? You want me to go down there and confront him? I have some very good friends in Tartarus who’d look like bunnies compared to that… thing.”

Gingerly, he floated down and put his claws around her waist, prompting a confused and slightly surprised hiss from the changeling.

“Now, seeing as you can’t fly, I suggest you try and hold on as best you can. We are getting out of here,” he said. “First we’re going to gather up what’s left of your hive and get them somewhere safe, the Badlands in my opinion, and then there’s somepony you and I need to go talk to about how to deal with this mess we’ve gotten Equestria into.”

Chrysalis gulped. She knew exactly who he was implying, and she didn’t like it one bit.

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Author's Note

Notes:

Well, after an age and a half, it’s done! I still have a few mixed feelings about my decision to let Chrysalis live, but... eh, tell me what you all think.

I won’t say that I’m taking this of hiatus, just because third year uni’s a bitch and a half, but I’ll be back to working on new chapters. Anyway, next chapter will be focused primarily on our (yet to be) one-winged angel, and the utter hell he stirs up during his first day in Equestria.

Also, let me know if you see any errors that I’ve missed.

Prologue: To Wish Upon A Star

Prior Note: If you hadn't realized from the tags, I decided to take a different path then most crossovers when it came to Character gets pulled into Equestria and meets ponies. I have nothing against other writers whatsoever, but the idea of character X is brought to Equestria via one of Twilight's spells (and meets / ships with either Celestia, Luna, or the mane 6) is rather common.

Also, if you thumbs down, please tell me why, just so I know where I can improve.

Prologue: To Wish Upon A Star

Spitfire’s ears were once again filled with filly-like giggling from beside her, and, for what she guessed was the hundredth time in the last hour, she groaned and shook her head in utter annoyance.

Sitting on the barstool on her left, though 'teetering' was probably a more accurate description, was a half-drunk Soarin, the stallion being the current, and main, source of her frustration and increasingly bad mood.

The show earlier in the day had gone perfectly, a huge cheering crowd had turned out to watch and cheer them on, and their stunts had been performed without a single hitch; no real complaints in that department. Nope, the real reason she was so wound up was because the team couldn’t go anywhere, not even for a quiet drink at a bar after a performance, without Soarin trying his luck with the local mares.

Mares such as the silver-grey pegasus who was currently sitting on his lap.

Normally Spitfire just dismissed it and let him have his fun, it wasn't her life after all. The problem on this particular night, however, was the fact the captain and vice-captain happened to be stuck sharing a two bed Cloudsdale hotel room, and the thought of trying to get some sleep beside a pair of bucking ponies was a far from inviting one.

She wasn't sure who she was more angry at, Soarin or the hotel manager.

“Ugh… I’ve had enough of this,” the mare snorted mentally at last, downing the last of her fifth cider in a single gulp before stumbling out the door, not even bothering to say goodbye to her other present team mates.

Once outside, she spread her wings, and with mild awkwardness took to the air, her skyward path leading her through the now silent city of Cloudsdale. She used her wings to try and dispel the surprising amount of anger that had built up inside her, courtesy of the last few hours spent at the bar with Soarin and his antics. Flying was, as she had learned over the many years of doing it, like a medicine to her emotions, freeing her of all painful and dark thoughts, and leaving behind only pure and radiant happiness.

Well... most of the time anyway.

Like a burning arrow she shot upwards from the quiet street, aiming her heart and her rapid accent at one of the highest clouds that dotted Princess Luna's night sky she could see, driving her trained body to its limits as it brought forth a surge of joy and adrenaline inside her. Around her the low clouds and white buildings raced by, before she in turn left them and the world below far behind her fiery tail; she would settle for no less than the highest reachable cloud, and that was final.

Her lungs could feel the air getting thinner as she headed skyward, but the subtle ache neither bothered nor hampered her in any way. As a Wonderbolt she'd flown in every condition a pony would dare to, everything from storms to blizzards. A little thin air wasn’t going to bother her tonight.

By the time she at last came to rest at her destination her body was covered in sweat, bringing with it the return of a small amount of metal clarify; definitely not sober, but a hay of a lot better then what she'd been. Hence, in a sort of joyful exhaustion, she collapsed backward onto her cloud, sparkling eyes wandering over the dark expanse of Luna’s night sky that sat before her.

Slowly, as the last few pieces of anger and frustration departed, she brought her front hooves behind her head and closed her eyes, her head buzzing happily due to the combination of her physcial effort, and her earlier drinking session.

“I guess sleeping up here wouldn’t be so bad,” she chuckled lightly to herself, slowing her breathing rate as she readied herself for sleep. “At least I won’t need to put up with Soarin and his piece of flank.”

It seemed though that Princess Luna had one more surprise in store for this particular night; just before she began to slip away and was drawn into the realm of dreams, a blinding light filled the vision beneath her eyelids.

Spitfire's already heavy eyes grudgingly creaked open once again, and a groan escaped her muzzle at it's interruption to her attempt at finding sleep... although her jaw dropped a heartbeat later.

Racing across the blackness of the night sky was a shooting star, the ball of fire burning white hot and leaving a trail that went on for miles. It felt so close that Spitfire actually swore if she raised her hoof skyward, she would probably be able to feel its white-hot fire on her skin.

In her mind's eyes, the sight was something of truly magical splendour, and for once it was all hers, and hers alone to enjoy; she did after all have the best seat in Equestria to watch it.

It did, however, in turn cause a momentary sting of pain as the thought trailed off; the fact she was enjoying such a beautiful sight alone subtly weighed down on her, almost like a block of training lead tied to her wings... it wasn't like she suddenly wanted Soarin to be lying there beside her or anything, drunk or not she put up with him enough in day-to-day terms... but some matter of company would've been nice. Fleet or Blaze seemed more likely candidates, but Fleet never stopped talking and Blaze probably would've found it boring.

Still, she knew she didn't have much say in the matter.

Life as Wonderbolt, as the mare had come to realize over the years, came with a combination of both ups and downs; one of said downs happened to be a packed travel agenda, and hence virtually no time to stop and make friends outside her team as they, quite literally, raced around Equestria and beyond.

Hastily, Spitfire shook the moronic thoughts from her head. She wasn’t going to let such a foalish worry ruin the spectacular sight before her.

As it came closer still, her smile only widened as a somewhat amusing and cheeky thought came to mind; Spitfire wasn't somepony who believed in silly old mares’ tales, she was a full grown mare herself now and long past such foalish beliefs... but deciding to do it just for a drunken laugh, she closed her eyes, and made a slightly intoxicated wish as the star passed over her.

“I wish… I had somepony to lie here with me… and perhaps keep Soarin's flank in line for once.”

Before she could go over her choice of words, or even think about anything again for that matter, another wave of brilliant light filled her vision, this one so intense it actually stung her eyes despite them being closed behind their lids.

At last the immense light faded away in oblivion, and the sky was replaced once again by the peaceful darkness of Princess Luna's night, just as before; in a show of somewhat foal-like amusement, Spitfire abruptly burst into fits of laughter, forgetting the world around her, and simply allowing herself to relax and enjoy the peaceful and somewhat blurred moment, alone and without a care in Equestria for a minute or two.

As she happily she lowered her head sideways onto her makeshift pillow, however, she swore her heart skipped a beat or two; her eyes just about grew to the size of the overarching moon as she, finally, realized she was no longer alone on her little cloud.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Zack’s head, if he had to give a way to describe the feeling, felt like someone had driven a hot sword into it; the pain at the front of his skull was truly just about too unbearable for mere words to describe. Other than the immense ache he wasn’t really aware of anything, except perhaps the prescence of his own mind, and his dull state of alive consciousness, and those he could only barely feel even with strenuous effort.

For a moment he did nothing other than look over his mind, and scrutinize it for what he remembered clearly; he remembered the fight with the Shinra soldiers, killing them all to protect Cloud, feeling weak and buckling over because of his wounds, at last saying goodbye to his blond haired friend, and then finally handing him his sword as he blacked out. They were vague and blurry snippets at best, but they were there and real none the less.

The next and final memory he had was a huge momentary flash of white light, right before his vision had once again returned to black. That, he guessed, was where he was stuck now, possibly floating somewhere the vastness of the Lifestream.

"This is getting old, really quickly."

Tired of seeing only darkness and feeling nothing, Zack grit his teeth and set about re-engaging with the rest of his body, first sending out lines of thought to each of his limbs. The first to respond were his legs; they, like his head, ached with an intense agony, but somehow still managed to move at his request. Next he felt his arms and flexed them a little to get his blood flowing once more. Again though, they hurt a lot, but still reacted to his impulses none the less.

Finally, he pulled the rest of his mind and body together, and at last his senses seemed to have returned; if he wasn't deceived, then he could feel he was apparently lying on something soft, and perhaps also slightly cold, to be more accurate; the sound of howling wind was in his ears, and something hard was sticking into his back.

Then, at long last, he pulled his blue eyes open and gazed up at the world that awaited him.

Covering the world above him was a cloudless star studded night sky, the millions of stars shining like diamonds inset in a layer of obsidian. For a long moment, Zack could nothing other than stare dumbfounded at the sight, his SOLDIER mind trying to process the fact what what he was seeing was real.

that process though abruptly ended when he felt something soft brush against his leg. A second later he shot up with a start, ready for a fight if need be... the golden coated creature that awaited him, however, only made his eyes widen even further.

His shimmering blue eyes took another moment to register, yet again, just what he was looking at; the creature was golden coated, with a set of similarly bright wings, and had what he guessed was the equivalent of hair that looked somewhat like tongues of dancing flames.

"Well... this is different."

On appearance alone, he couldn't confidently say if it was dangerous or not, but, given the situation, his training was telling him to be wary of it's appearance.

That was, realistically, the best available option given the pure weirdness of the situation. And after all, most of the none-human creatures he had ever encountered had tried to kill him, or worse.

“What…exactly are you?”

“I…” Zack started slowly, only to realize halfway through the next word that the creature had just spoken. “Wait… you can… talk?” he asked tentatively.

“No, I can’t talk, you’re just imagining things,” was the slightly mocking reply to his confusion.

The creature, for its part, gave him a look of what seemed like amused sarcasm, and Zack couldn’t help but blink slightly back in return at it's snark; the tone in the creature’s somewhat slurred voice suggested it was female, and, judging by its sleek and streamlined body proportions, he wasn’t wrong on that assumption.

Before replying to her question he took a quick look around, and realized the two of them were sitting on a cloud, the last place he expected to end up after apparently dying.

Still, it probably could've been worse.

“I’m... a SOLDIER,” was his firm by casual reply at last, leaning up a little so he was more comfortable on their shared seat. He still wasn't sure if this was all a figment of his imagination, or perhaps what the Lifestream actually looked like. “A human-jenova hybrid, and lastly, you can call me Zack… so who... and what the hell are you exactly? And... where the hell am I?”

“I’m a pegasus, and you can call me Spitfire, Mr. SOLDIER, and you're in Equestria… and I have no idea what a human or a jenova is,” she laughed in reply, the golden mare suddenly collapsing into a new fit of immense giggling, while Zack just sat there, utterly confused at the situation. "Hehe, you look really funny right now!"

"Um, yeah. Equestria... is that anywhere near Shinra?"

"Pfft, what's a Shinra?"

Zack lifted a curious eyebrow at the hysterical pegasus. Normally when two very different creatures met, one would usually attack, or run away as fast as possible, and the fact Spitfire was rather chilled about the entire ordeal was a little unnerving to the veteran SOLDIER.

It was then though he smelt something on her breath that made everything a little clearer. The unmistakable scent of alcohol.

“Let me guess… you’ve been drinking?”

“Duh,” she replied with a giggled smirk, pulling her front hooves up to her chest in an effort to control herself. “What? You hating on me already? Don’t you SOLDIER guys drink?”

Zack sighed and rubbed his temples. He had known Spitfire for all of five minutes, and she was already giving him a headache on top of his current one.

Her eyes then suddenly darted up to his shoulder. “By the way what’s that big metal thing you’ve got across your back?” She asked before he could say anything, sitting up with her tail flicking, and an obnoxiously wide smile on her face.

For the first time since waking up, Zack looked back at what had been sticking into his back earlier, and to his utter shock realized not only was he still in his armor, but was somehow also still in possession of Angeal’s huge Buster Sword.

Now, that didn’t make any sense whatsoever, considering he had given it to Cloud before he had…died?

“Now this is just getting plain damn weird,” he remarked dryly as he reached up and felt the handle, his words prompting the already intoxicated and hysterical pegasus mare to go into another fit of laughter. “Seriously, what is so funny?”

“Zack, buddy, you’re just plain weird to me… but hay, you seem alright…”

“Well, can you at least stop laughing and tell me why I’m sitting on a cloud of all places, beside a drunken… pegasus… in a world that's apparently completely different from my own?”

“Oh sure, I can explain that,” she giggled as she clapped her front hooves together excitedly. “I brought you here when I wished upon that shooting star for someone to lie with me.”

“…What?”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

This was an idea I had and needed to get down before I forgot… and no, I wasn't smoking anything.

Chapter 5: Under Siege pt.2- The Might of SOLDIER

“How the hay did these guys get in?!” Shining Armor snapped aloud, firing bolts of magic at every black coated Changeling his eyes crossed. The other unicorn royal guards did the same, while the earth ponies engaged the hostiles with either their spears or their back legs. “We doubled security so this wouldn’t happen again.”

Around the royal guard captain there was nothing but utter chaos; the guards, four of the elements of harmony, and the Princesses were all locked in heated combat with the invaders. All the while, the remaining guests were fleeing the hallway as fast as they could, the hall itself was now a complete mess, and after all the hard work the Grand Galloping Gala was prematurely all but over.

The only upside was nopony had been hurt as of yet.

“I swear if I get my hooves around that Changeling Queen’s neck, I’ll break it,” He snorted angrily, rearing up and slamming his back hooves into a changeling who came too close, the creature shrieking as the impact sounded with a meaty thud and sent the it flying.

“THUNDAGA!”

The obscure word reached Shining Armor's ears a moment before something horrifying happened; the changeling he had just kicked was suddenly struck by a barrage of lightning bolts before his very eyes, and then literally exploded with a flash of bluish light.

His head immediately snapped around at the source of the unusual spell, but rather than seeing one of the Princesses, or even his sister Twilight with her horn lowered, his ears dropped as he saw Zack Fair. The SOLDIER was darting around the hall with incredible speed, while he either punched or blasted any changeling he came across, and to say the least, if a changeling got in his way, they didn’t survive.

“HELL FIRAGA!”

Shining Armor could, for a moment or so, only stare gobsmacked as Zack produced three massive balls of fire, which hurtled towards individual changelings, hunting down each one like animals before reducing their prey to nothing but small piles of ashes, it seemed that in taking Zack’s sword, he had only given the SOLDIER a reason to use a very different kind of weapon.

“Why the hell are you standing there captain?!” Zack shouted, hitting an unlucky changeling with a clenched fist, the resulting force that met his face the rough equivalent of an Equestria train. “There’s more of them then us if you haven’t already noticed!”

“We are going to have words later Zack,” Shining Armor hissed as he returned to fighting, his own horn igniting into a magically canon.

Zack for his part couldn’t feel better unless he had his sword; a week of tension, frustration, confusion, and anger was all washed away as he devastated the changeling ranks with a combination of his magic and superhuman strength. Every ugly, snarling Changeling that dared get in his way met an unsavoury, and somewhat bloody end, usually with either their pulverised remains sliding down a wall, or simply having their bodies reduced to residue.

Despite his best efforts and those of his fellow combatants, however, the massive hall was still full of changelings, plus more were somehow streaming in through the shattered windows, and various other doorways; if there was ever a time he truly needed his Buster Sword, it was now.

“How many of these guys are there? ELECTROCUTE!”

A barrage of lightning bolts materialized and rained down on the unsuspecting and unprepared Changelings, annihilating just under half of the current flying black hostile combatants, and doing it before they could even twitch.

The attack gave the other guards a momentary reprieve and allowed Zack to actually see his fellow defenders, plus it also gave his ears a rest from the clanging sounds of clashing metal armour. Most were royal guards, while there was also Shining Armor and the Princesses, but he also noted four ponies he didn’t recognize as well as…

“Oh hell no!” he snapped, darting over to an all too familiar group of blue uniformed pegasi, and in particular a golden mare. “Spits, what the hell are you doing?”

The golden mare drove her back hooves into an unlucky changeling’s face before replying.

“What does it look like I’m doing Zack?” she snapped, using a foreleg to wipe the sweat from her brows. “You think just because I’m a mare I can’t handle myself in a fight? We’re Equestrian military remember.”

“Whatever happened to me keeping you out of harms way, huh?”

“Whether you’ve noticed it or not Zack, we’re all fully grown pegasi here, so to put it bluntly to you we can take care of ourselv-ghaa!”

Just before she finished, a Changeling somehow managed to avoid her vision, and subsequently make it in on her right side, sickly deranged back hooves meeting her soft side and pounding into her exposed ribcage; it would probably only bruise and be sore for a few days after, but at that moment it felt like a wave of pure an utter agony ripped through her side.

Before she could recover and get it back, Zack’s boot imploded the creatures face like a sledgehammer meeting a watermelon... to put it words, the sight wasn’t pretty.

“Now do me a favour and get your flank out of here!” he basically yelled at her while his glowing blue eyes stared daggers into her face, grabbing a changeling that flew past before breaking its neck like a toothpick. “I am not having you getting seriously injured on my conscience.”

Spitfire glared and snorted at him once before giving in, after seeing what Zack was capable of in Cloudsdale, she guessed it better to leave the dirty work to him and his skills... plus she had to admit her ribs were in a decent amount of pain.

“Fine, but if I you hadn’t distracted me I wouldn’t have been hit.”

Zack just snarled and headed for the shattered windows, sending a combination of lightning bolts and fire balls at the frames which the changelings were swarming through into the palace, while slamming his fists into any one of them that managed to escape his magical barrage.

Just as he hit a changeling’s stomach and rearranged its lower organs, he felt something brush against his back, followed by a chorus of laughter of all things.

“I see you’re the dominant one in the relationship,” came a rather annoying voice, causing Zack to pivot around and see Soarin just about right beside him, a rather stupid smirk on his blue face as each of his back legs met a different changeling

“What are you going on about?” Zack snapped, already feeling a strange fire build in his cheeks as he grabbed a shrieking changeling, and brought its back down over his knee with a crack. “I’m just keeping her saf…”

“Keeping her safe? My flank Zack! You’re talking to the stallion who’s had just about every mare in Equestria fall head over hooves for him, so no offense dude, but I know how to read the signs… but listen, I ain’t mad with you, if you can make her happy, then you’ve got my approval.”

Zack just hissed to himself as he discarded the corpse, and called down another wave of lightning bolts on his opponents, now almost to a point of anger where he was tempted to aim one at Soarin. He admitted he may have had feelings her, but the last thing he wanted now was for someone to know, and the pony he wanted to know least was Soarin.

“We'll discus this later,” The SOLDIER snarled, looking around to see the changelings were still streaming in just as fast as ever, seemingly undeterred by the amount of their comrades who had already fallen to his and the others efforts.

It was then something deep inside Zack snapped, something that had been building ever since he had been forced to slay Angeal; he had lost his friends once, far too many in fact, and he would not lose them again, not to some disgusting creatures that fed off happiness and love like monstrous parasites.

“SOARIN! GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!” Zack roared as loud as he could, summoning every bit of magic that resided deep inside him as he eyed off the awaiting mass of changelings, ready to unleash all matter of hell. “I’m about to bring the pain on these things!”

The blue stallion took one look back at Zack, before he and his teammates did just that. They knew exactly what he was capable of when he wanted things to happen.

Forcefully, they pushed the guards back towards the far side of the room where the Princesses, the elements and the royal guard captain were locked in combat, all of them looking at Zack in both horror and confusion.

He took a single look over his shoulder at Zack, and just as the SOLDIER seemed to be about to fall to the horde of creatures a word echoed from his throat and filled the hall, followed a heartbeat later by a blinding flash of light... but it wasn’t the work of Princess Celestia.

“ULTIMA!”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Did you feel that, Twi?” Dash asked nervously, looking around the torch-lit hallway as she hovered a meter or so off the ground, and directly next to her friend. “like… everything just shook for a moment there.”

“Not now Dash,” Twilight replied bluntly, her horn glowing brightly as she magically hacked away at Shining Armour’s lock spell that had been placed on the armory door. “Just about… there… AHHA!”

Dash looked down to see a flurry of bright sparks go off and the door gently swing open, Twilight not waiting another second, and marching in with her horn still glowing, casting a purple light around the room as she searched for Zack’s sword.

To Dash the room was just about pitch black if not for the magic of her unicorn counterpart, the purple glow causing anything metallic from spears to sets of keys to sparkle, and reflect the light as they ventured around the room in search of the mysterious object, checking every possible and presumable hiding place for it.

They eventually found it standing against the back wall, given how big the thing was it made a little sense to even try and hide it. Gingerly, Twilight used her magic to raise it to full view, although she was amazed at how much strain it put on her magic, and she could lift the mass of an Ursa Minor and more for Celestia’s sake.

“Whatever this thing’s made of… it’s heavy!” Twilight snorted as she lifted it, floating the massive sword in front of herself and Dash, the pegasus hovering around the blade and touching the cold metal.

“Oh come on Twi, sure it’s big but it can’t weight that mu-Ghaa!”

CLANG!

Just for a laugh, Twilight had let go of her spell as Rainbow had wrapped her hooves around the grip, resulting in the metal blade and the pegasus both impacting with the floor a moment later. Dash was immediately up again and dusting herself off like nothing happened, but as she tried to pick the blade up she couldn’t even get airborne despite her wings going into overdrive, odd curses and words coming out as she strained her wings to the maximum.

“Oh for buck sake… what… the buck… is this… thing… made of!”

“I think we’ll get Zack to tell us that,” Twilight chuckled, gripping the blade and Dash in a purple glow before casting her teleportation spell, her desired location the main hall.

Or, as she realized when they arrived with a magically ‘crack!’, what was left of it.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT!” Shining Armor just about yelled in Zack’s face, looking around what was left of the now destroyed royal hall. “ARE YOU ACTUALLY TRYING TO BRING DOWN THE PALACE AND GET US ALL KILLED HERE?!”

Zack just put his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes as the stallion vented his rage. If there was ever a pony he liked less than Soarin, then it would probably soon be Shining Armor. Alright, he admitted that Ultima was perhaps a little over the top in terms of power, but on the upside was that it had basically taken out every changeling in the room... along with it the roof and the outer walls, leaving the floor covered in rubble, and the remaining roof supported by the wall which separated the hall from the grand foyer.

Now it seemed the hostiles were momentarily retreating, leaving in their wake a sweaty and exhausted pair of Princesses, the four present and panting elements of harmony who Zack was yet to meet, the somewhat unnerved Wonderbolts squad, a battalion of very uneasy royal guards, and a rather tired SOLDIER.

“Well my job would have been a LOT easier if you hadn’t taken my Buster Sword in the first place,” Zack snapped with equal venom at the stallion, his temper just about at its peak. “But since you did, I had to improvise with what I had at my disposal to kill these things.”

Shining Armor just snorted and slammed his hooves into the already massively cracked floor, the result being the tiles breaking into even smaller pieces.

“In Equestria we DON’T intentionally try to kill if it can be avoided,” Shining Armor snorted with a shake of his blue mane. “… ugh… Look at this Zack! Because of you it’s going to take weeks, maybe even months, and a mountain of bits to repair all of this damage… I swear if I hadn’t seen you kill those changelings with my own eyes, I’d bet you’re were somehow on their side…”

CRACK!

THUMP!

SMACK!

For a moment, all the dozens of royal guards could do was look on in shock, trying to register what they had just seen. Zack’s volcano of fury had at last reached its breaking point, and with a flurry of mighty punches he sent the royal guard captain hurtling into one of the still standing walls with an almighty thump, if not for his now heavily dented armour, and Zack’s minor amount of remaining control he would probably be dead.

“If you ever DARE to question my honour like that...”

The royal guard captain did nothing but groan as he hit the floor, still rather out of it from the beating and his initial impact with the still fairly solid and stable wall. In the end, it was only by the frantic intervention of Spitfire that Zack calmed down some, and didn’t go in for another round of punches.

“Woah! Take it easy Zack!” Spitfire grimaced as she pushed her hooves against his shoulders, hastily looking between the royal guard captain, and her seething SOLDIER friend. “Take a few deep breaths before you do something in front of the princesses you’ll regret later,”

Still teetering on the edge, Zack followed her instructions, slowly breathing repeatedly and calming himself to a point of somewhat levelheadedness, sighing to himself as he ran his fingers through his now mildly bloody black hair.

Once the last fires of anger died away he flashed his eyes around the room before, settling them on Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, who were standing amongst another four colourful dress-wearing ponies, with his sword magically hanging in the air between them, Twilight still looking a little shocked at what he had just done to her brother.

“Heh, I see you found my Buster Sword,” he said as he walked over, a small feeling of renewed happiness blossoming inside him as he felt the cold metal grip on his fingers, lifting the blade so it ran parallel to his body and the point headed for the ceiling. “Wish I had this a few minutes ago,”

That was when he heard the flutter of wings returning.

“Oh you will wish many things creature,” came a voice that made Zack’s skin crawl, followed by a chorus of shouts from the royal guards that signified they were under attack again. The SOLDIER immediately turned with his sword ready and Spitfire and Soarin at his side. “One of them being that I had killed you quicker by the end of this night.”

“YOU AGAIN!” came at least twenty voices at once

.........................................................................................................................................................................................

If Zack was correct in assuming what he was seeing, It seemed that the changelings could get even uglier than he had previously thought.

The changeling surrounded beast that floated down through the now non-existent roof, and landed in front of him, was downright hideous to say the least; it resembled a twisted evil changeling version of Princess Celestia, with a green-blue mane, sickly green eyes, and a set of dagger like white fangs.

It seemed the changelings were back with reinforcements.

“Well, well, such a peculiar creature aren’t we now? I almost wish you weren’t so tired, perhaps one on one you’d put up a better fight then high royal highness over there,” she hissed mockingly as she inhaled and paced towards him, Zack’s hands only tightening on his sword as more, and more, changelings dropped from the air, landed beside her, and then began to circle, by his count close to fifty of the fanged bug-things. “Of course, I will still kill you for what you’ve done to my children… Oh, but it’s regrettable since your love is soooo tasty, sweet and noble with a rich aftertaste, so refreshing after months of feeding off that dim-witted moron and then nothing for a year.”

She said the last few words with a hiss and a glance at the still unconscious royal guard captain.

“I have no idea who or what you are,” Zack snapped deeply, glowing blue eyes locked on the creature as she stared back at him. “But you’re not getting a hoof on me or anyone else, so you’d better leave right now.”

“Oh? And with your power you believe you could best me hmmm? I have beaten her royal highness in a duel of magic before, what makes you think you can best me?”

“Keep pissing me off and you’ll find out.”

The strange changeling-thing just raised a hoof to its mouth and laughed; the rest of the smaller changelings all grinning in an equally unnerving, and somewhat annoying fashion, all with pointed teeth protruding from their lips.

He got the impression she was either trying to be seductive, or just trying to make him angry.

“Oh come now, that is no way to address a queen as powerful as myself,” She snickered, evil green eyes watching him intently as her sword-like horn began to glow deep green. “So fearless it seems, and so much love for your friends as well… If only you hadn’t slaughtered all my little ones, perhaps we could have gotten along.”

That was when he felt it, something pulling at his mind and struggling with his mental steel as she glared at him and her horn glowed; somehow, the changeling queen was trying to break into his mind, over-riding his ability to think straight, and warping his thoughts of his friends.

“Gotten along? As in you feed off him like you did my brother?” Twilight snapped as she trotted up beside Zack, her own horn glowing and teeth looking like she was about to go for the creatures throat. “Don’t even try it!”

The changeling queen’s attitude changed in a heartbeat, all prior calm and grace leaving her to be replaced by a deathly look of hate, that was directed straight at the unicorn standing beside Zack. Immediately, he felt the presence in his head evaporate as his enemy prepared a different spell, the SOLDIER drawing his sword and bolting forward at the opportunity.

“Oh be quiet you little runt!” The changeling queen snapped, a bright green blast bursting forth from her lowered horn towards Twilight, she didn’t however get the chance to see the bolt bounce of the unicorns own defensive spell before Zack slammed into her.

Every ounce of his soul was on fire, building up inside him and feeding his magic with more and more power, before he unleashed all his might on the changeling queen in a furious Octaslash.

She realized just in time how close he was, and frantically through up a green wall of energy to defend herself, but it did little good as the SOLDIER’s blade came crashing down, the voice of his friend former friend Sephiroth rebounding in his skull.

"Concentrate!"

“I got this!”

Every pony and every Changeling, including the princesses, watched on in awe and horror as Zack’s massive glowing blade made contact with the evil queen’s shield, throwing off a huge amount of magically energy with each rapid and deadly strike. Celestia knew full well how powerful the Changeling was, and although with each of the first seven strikes her shield reformed, the ruler of the day could sense her power being drained immensely with each hit.

And with each hit Zack’s voice filled the hall with one word, along with the ringing sound of his magic-charged blade striking the Changeling queen's shield.

“YOU! WILL! NOT! HARM! ANY! FRIEND! OF! MINE!”

As Zack jumped into the air, and brought down his final mighty slash, the wall of green energy gave way, the resulting powerful burst of magic catapulting the screaming changeling queen over her now terrified subjects, through the hole where the wall had previously stood, and out into the darkness of the night.

The remaining Changeling’s looked like they were about to run, but Zack refused to give them the chance, his rage was still burning brightly, and he decided he would ingrain a memory in the mind of every changeling, one that would make them fear the very name Zack Fair for all eternity.

“Show me the true power of SOLDIER!” a voice whispered inside his head, the words of Genesis.

Drawing on every drop of magic in him Zack felt himself lift into the air, sword in one hand and an immense amount of concentrated magic forming into a ball in the other. As he neared twenty meters, he raised his glowing hand to the night sky and stared down at the amassed Changelings, a single word roaring from his lips.

“APOCOLYPSE!”

At the single word, a huge runic symbol flashed into existence and flowed out underneath the crowded group of changelings, causing their black coats to shimmer in the eerie blood red light. Then, with all his will focused on his task, Zack sent down a wave of lightning bolts, causing the changelings to shriek and begin to flee... just before the rune exploded like a bomb had gone off directly underneath them.

Once again, the hall was filled with a combination of light, heat, and the sound of an almighty explosion, the force of the limit break causing the entire palace to shake, and forming a huge crater.

Whatever changelings were left made a hasty retreat and didn't look back.

As the fire and smoke died down, Zack landed with a light thud and took note of his work, mighty Buster Sword gripped firmly in his hand as he watched over the destruction he had caused with his strongest limit break.

“Finally… that’s done… well, for now anyway,” he panted to himself as the exhaustion began to kick ib, turning around to face the numerous ponies he had fought beside for the last hour or so...

... All of whom were looking absolutely stunned, including the princesses and Spitfire, and each covered in a combination of sweat, dust, and debris. “

What?”

“Yo… you just… how… what… was that?” Twilight gibbered hurriedly, looking rapidly between Zack, the ruins of the palace hall, and the smouldering crater behind him that had once been the hall's marble tiled floor.

Zack just groaned and ran his fingers through his hair as readied his explanations. It seemed this rough night wasn’t quiet over yet for him, if anything it was only just about half-done.

“Alright… let me explain a few things about myself and SOLDIER…”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

For a view of Zack’s breaks and summons here’s a link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1-m4E31WV0&feature=related

As for spell materia here’s another

http://www.eyesonff.com/ff7cc/materia.php

How the hell the changelings got into Canterlot AGAIN…you’ll just have to wait until next chapter...and no I'm not giving out two chapters at once again, my mind barely survived this ordeal.