The Price of Freedom

On the next day...

"Kholanari Warriors!" A white-haired shaman shouted loudly from his seat hanging above the arena fighting pit. "Welcome to the last day of the second tournament of the planet Equestria!"

As the gates to the arena opened, the final thirty of the Red Veil Clan's warriors started marching inside.

"You are, without a doubt, the best that the Red Veil has to offer! And after today, there will be only six of you left, and those six will have the honor of being the future of this clan!"

Too preoccupied to notice anything, the warriors just kept marching into the arena, one after another. Thanks to the loud shouting of their shaman, not a single sound could be heard as the warrior at the very back of the pack got dragged off into the darkness.

After all of the warriors had gathered inside the arena, the gates behind them were immediately shut.

"May Nor'Kholan have mercy on your souls," the shaman gave one final statement and rung the arena bell, which signalized the beginning of the match.

Before the echo of the bell even had a chance to stop ringing, one of the kholanari warriors already got knocked down as a massive war hammer struck him right in his temples. His death was immediately avenged, as his killer was pierced with a giant sword before he even had a chance to recover from his swing. After knocking the warrior off his sword using his foot, the two handed blade wielder immediately spun himself around, bringing his sword with him and taking off the head of someone that was charging at him from behind. He barely took a second to revel in his two kills within such a short time span, before a long spear jabbed him from his right side and exited through his left one.

The bloodshed didn't stop for a second. Torn limbs and guts kept flying around and sometimes even impairing someone's vision, making him an easy target.

Among all the warriors, a specific one caught the shaman's attention. He focused his sights on the only kholanari fighting with a blade in each hand...It was a tactic that he had not seen in a long time. Two-handed axes, swords and hammers and maces were among the most commonly used weapons in all clans. Spears were rare enough. A shield and sword was seen used no more than three times during any tournament, but the only time the shaman had ever seen someone using two blades was when someone was following the example of another, widely known and respected warrior...but anyone deluded enough to try this strategy would usually end up being among the first to fall...Well, anyone apart from one, that is.

That one warrior wielded each blade like an extension to his arms. When he fought with them, it was as though he had eyes in his back. During the fighting, there were at least three times when he would kill off two foes with a single move. That alone gave him a quarter of all the kills necessary to end the tournament.

Before long, only six of the kholanari warriors remained. The shaman held up his hand to let them know that the fighting is to stop. The smell of death filled the air, and soulless bodied filled the arena ground, but the fighting had yet to end.

One of the warriors had gone berserk, refusing to lay down his weapons. Compelled to defend their honor, the other five warriors charged at him.

With a spinning attack swift enough to leave his opponent temporarily dazed, the berserker claimed his first victim.

"Stop!" the shaman shouted to no avail.

Another warrior came charging in fast with his spear aimed at the betrayer, who only dodged his attack by spinning around him and then took his life by slashing his blades deep into his back.

The next warrior came at him while swinging a flail with a massive ball of spikes hanging from it. Despite the fact that a blow from a weapon like that could drive him halfway into the ground with just one hit, the berserker didn't even flinch. As his opponent swung his weapon downwards, he only took a minor sidestep and shoved a blade through the other warrior's neck.

"Cease and decist!" The shaman kept trying to make the conflict end.

The last two warriors came charging both at once. One of them came charging with a giant sword above his head, and the other followed him with his shield in front of himself. Before the warrior with the massive blade could make an attack, his opponent kicked him in the guts, forcing him back a few steps. He did not make the mistake of underestimating the other warrior. He held his shield like it had guided him through many fights before.

The betrayer chose to lure him in and let him make the first move. He kept backing away until the moment his opponent readied his blade for a swing, whilst still shielding himself. It was then that the berserker dropped down and knocked his opponent of his feet with a swift spin attack with his leg. Without giving the fallen warrior so much as a split second to recover, he drove his own sword through his head. After finishing him off, he stared at the only other man left in the pit. He saw the fear in his eyes. He started walking towards him with both of his blades at the ready.

With shaky arms, the other warrior started backing away. After seeing the berserker running towards him, he tucked his tail and ran, dropping his sword in the process. "Open the gates!" he yelled in fear. "Nor'Kholan has betrayed us! We need to warn the other cla-" Before he could finish his sentence, a flying spear nailed his head to the arena wall, leaving him hanging like a scarecrow.

After tossing the spear, the berserker sheathed both his blades and walked closer to the shaman's position.

The shaman clapped slowly. "Well done, son of viciousness...Whatever you came here to accomplish, I'd have to say that you've performed impeccably." Horak'Din jumped down from his spectator seat and walked closer to the traitor. "I suppose this is the part where you try and kill me."

"That's not why I'm here," Hellbridge replied and took his helmet off.

"Hellbridge..." The shaman recognized him. "Was winning the tournament in one clan not enough for you? Have you grown tired of waiting for Nor'Kholan's blessing?"

"He is nothing like the other kholanari!" a voice came from a distance. Twilight and her friends rushed over to support Hellbridge however they could.

"Redeemer..." Horak'Din exhaled loudly. "This is a dangerous game that you're playing, Hellbridge...Do you honestly hope to take on all five clans with just the help of these harmless creatures?" He waved his arm across the air in the direction of the six ponies.

"I'll give you harmless!" Rainbow Dash jumped up into the air.

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled. Her reproachful look was enough to bring Rainbow Dash back to the ground, however unsatisfied she she may have been with the decision.

After landing, Rainbow Dash snorted and sulked over her denied chance.

"That's why I'm here, Horak'Din," Hellbridge replied and placed his hand on the shaman's shoulder.

"You want me to betray my loyalty to the blood god, and fight side by side with you and these creatures, against my own people!?" the shaman yelled. "Has all the fighting dulled your senses, Hellbridge?"

"It's the only way to end the fighting forever! I know it's what you've been wanting for some time."

Horak'Din shifted his eyes away from Hellbridge and sighed loudly. "Aye, it's true. After seeing thousands of my kin pointlessly dying in the name of a corrupted god, I can't help but wish for a different destiny...For when I look far into our future, I only see our imminent death. It matters very little whether it's by the hands of a more superior race, or by our own hands after wiping the universe clean of anything alive."

"That destiny won't come by itself," Hellbridge said with compassion.

"But of all the allies you could have chosen Hellbridge...Why these peaceful, innocent beings? What is it that you see in them that I do not?"

"Courage and determination," Hellbridge replied firmly. "Fluttershy! Could you join us, please?" Hellbridge called out.

Fluttershy stared at him and then at her own friends with a confused look. After getting a firm nod and a little push from Twilight, she slowly walked closer to the two kholanari tribesmen.

"Umm...h-hello?" Fluttershy addressed the two men in a shaky voice while hiding behind her mane and constantly shifting her sights between them and something else.

"Believe it or not, this was the only creature that was ever brave enough to stand up to me." Hellbridge presented the cute-looking, little pony to the shaman.

Horak'Din squatted down and stared into Fluttershy's eyes with a frighteningly serious glare.

"U-uhh...I..." Fluttershy trembled in fear and backed a few steps away from the shaman.

"Hmm..." The shaman rubbed his teeth together. "I see..." he quietly said while standing up. "Run along now, pony." After seeing the frightened, little being flutter back to her friends, Horak'Din addressed Hellbridge. "I believe there is more to it that just that...isn't there, Hellbridge?"

The redeemer raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I know you well, Inhio, I've known you since before we devoted our lives to serving Nor'Kholan, and I know who you were before that."

"What are you trying to say?" Hellbridge asked, unable to pick up on the shaman's notion.

The shaman shook his head slowly. "Hellbridge...I know who she reminds you of."

The redeemer's eyes suddenly shot open from shock.

"Nor'Kholan's curse took away the love of your life, you had more reason to hate him than any other kholanari...It was because of that incident that the rumors about you being this redeemer even began."

"Do you plan to scold me for being unable to leave my past behind?" Hellbridge asked in a rather reproachful tone.

"Nay," the shaman quickly replied. "I just want to know if I am going into a fight to save my people from the blood god's curse, or will I simply end up blindly following a lover's whim?" Horak'Din stared at Hellbridge with a very solemn expression as he awaited the answer on which their future cooperation depended on.

Hellbridge took a quick glance at Fluttershy and then hung his head...There was no denying it, the painful memory of losing the woman he once loved was still eating away at him...but deep down inside, he already knew the truth, and so did the shaman. All Hellbridge had to do was remind him of it.

"You know I can never love anyone ever again," Hellbridge replied in the same kind of manner as the one asking the question. "Everything that once made me human died on the day I picked up a blade in the name of Nor'Kholan!" He gripped his fists in anger for a short moment, but he quickly calmed himself and said in a soft but serious voice, "And nothing I do could ever bring it back...All that I want is for others to be able to live the kind of life that I was deprived of."

"A noble cause, indeed," the shaman agreed with his beliefs. "Nor'Kholan will rue the day he decided to make you his champion, Hellbridge...That was the biggest mistake he's ever made," Horak'Din spoke in a voice ready for battle.

"Then let us waste no more time, brother!" Hellbridge made his way to the exit of the arena. "We have prisoners that need to be rescued and a sun that needs to be raised!" As he walked in front of the pack, he quietly whispered to himself, "And brothers that need to be slaughtered..."

                                                                                                     ***

Canterlot was a big city, so it took them a good while to rescue all of the prisoners that the kholanari had captured. After a good two hours, they finally reached the throne room in Canterlot castle, where the princesses of the sun and moon were being held captive in a special magical prison, designed just for them.

Horak'Din approached them and started waving his staff around, making the bubble surrounding the princesses slowly fade away. Celestia and Luna slowly descended to the ground and started regaining their consciousness.

"Uugghh..." Luna moaned while rubbing her head.

"What has transpired here?" Celestia asked before taking a look around herself. When she opened her eyes, fear ran through every bone in her body as the first two souls that she saw were the vicious shaman that had imprisoned them, and the most feared warrior among the entire tribe of kholanari.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed as she appeared between the two kholanari tribesmen.

"Twilight?..." Celestia asked in a state of stupor. She hugged her beloved student as she rushed closer to her. "How is this possible?" she asked after disengaging from the hug.

Twilight stepped aside and introduced the two gentlemen. "If I may, I would like to present to you, shaman Horak'Din, of the Red Veil Clan."

The shaman just barely bowed his head. "I believe we've already met."

"And the man next to him is none other than Sir Hellbridge! The redeemer himself!" Twilight seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Hellbridge...The redeemer...both the same person?" Celestia whispered in disbelief.

Hellbridge bowed to the princess. "At your service."

"Surely, this cannot be true," Luna interjected.

"I know this is a lot to take in at the moment, but Hellbridge helped us all escape, after which he led us all to Canterlot, where he secured the aid of the only shaman who was willing to help us."

Celestia struggled as she tried to get up. Twilight let her lean on her.

"I have heard a lot about you, Sir Hellbridge..." Celestia walked closer to the man. "But none of what I've heard would lead me to believe that you would be willing to side with us over your own tribesmen." Celestia paused for a moment and looked into the man's eyes. "Why would you ever want to help us?"

"It's not just you that I want to help," Hellbridge answered. He didn't seem to like Celestia's tone too much. "I want to help save the lives of every race that the kholanari would make extinct if not stopped in time."

"And you would choose creatures you don't even know over your own people?"

"They are no longer my people!" Hellbridge retorted. "My people died out ages ago. The kholanari are nothing but soulless puppets under the control of a corrupted god! They kill without even knowing who it is that they're killing!"

"Forgive me..." Celestia took a step backwards. "I didn't mean to question your motives. I was just-"

"There's no need to apologize, you majesty," Hellbridge interrupted her. "But as much as it might pain you, you're going to have to throw your differences aside, if we are to succeed in this ordeal." Hellbridge stepped aside and let the other five bearers of the elements of harmony step closer. As all six of the ponies stared at Celestia with such conviction in their eyes, it was impossible to stand against it.

With a dead serious expression and a confident tone, Celestia asked, "What's our situation?"

"There are three more clans out there that are full of Equestrian prisoners," Hellbridge explained. "We need to get to the Iceblood Clan before the end of the next day, which is when their final round in the tournament will be held."

Both princess Celestia and Luna nodded in approval.

"What's our role in all of this?"

"What it always has been," Hellbridge replied, confusing both princesses. "We need you to lower the moon and raise the sun," he clarified.

Without faltering, both princesses looked upon one another and nodded before walking over to a large window and gazing at the sky, where the sun and moon were floating alongside one another. As they began the process to bring back balance to the sky, only a dim, flickering light appeared around their horns.

"It's of no use!" Luna regrettably admitted.

"The magic of the shamans has left us weakened, and I feel an interference whenever I try to move the sun. Something's blocking my magic."

"As expected," Horak'Din quietly added, drawing everyone's attention towards him. "Unlike the other magical chains that we shamans used to enslave all of the ponies, the spell which we used on your supreme rulers required the combined power of all five of our shamans...As long as the other three are still out there, you will experience difficulties while trying to use your magic."

"Then we must put an end to this!" Luna exclaimed.

Hellbridge nodded. "We will set out for the Crystal Empire, early on the next morning."

"We would accompany you, but I fear we will not be of much use to you without our magic," Celestia sad with a touch of regret in her tone.

"In that case, the two of you should remain here and bring balance back to the skies as soon as you feel you are ready," Hellbridge instructed. Both princesses nodded in approval. "As for everyone else not under Nor'Kholan's curse, get some rest...That's an order!"